Fermentation + 3 more workshops at the Orion starting this week

Starting this week, The Orion Amphitheater is hosting a workshop series presented by Hillfolk Farmacy. There will be four events on different topics including fermentation, seed saving, herbalism and more. Keep reading for all the details.

Where and when

If you’ve never visited the Orion’s Artist Dining, now’s your chance. Each one of the four workshops will be held there at 6PM. They’ll be presented every Thursday night from September 22 through October 13. Each one will be taught by a different teacher who specializes in the class topic.

• Location: The Orion Amphitheater Artist Dining | 701 Amphitheater Dr NW, Huntsville, AL 35806
• Dates: September 22, September 29, October 6, October 13 each at 6PM
• Website

The workshops

So, wondering what each workshop is about? Here’s the lineup , what you’ll learn, who you’ll learn it from and what you’ll take home.

Workshop #1—Southern Folk Herbalism: Cold and Flu

This workshop will focus on natural herbal remedies that help with seasonal viruses. You’ll learn about several different herbs and their uses as well as how to make an herbal tea that helps with the immune and respiratory systems.

Phyllis Light, an herbalist and the teacher of this workshop, has been working in this field for over 30 years. She attended the University of Alabama, earning her master’s degree in Health Studies. She has a wide range of experience and achievements in practicing herbalism and has authored her own book.

“The South has a rich herbal tradition and we are blessed with an abundance of wild plants. Our folk tradition has so much to offer and it is my deep and most sincere wish to share our herbal heritage with all who are interested.”

Phyllis Light

You’ll leave with a handout about the different herbs discussed as well as dried herbs that you can make your own herbal tea from.

• Date: September 22, 6PM (doors open at 5:30PM)
• Tickets

Workshop #2—Fermentation Demystified

In this workshop, you’ll learn how fermentation works and how you can use it to make your own fermented vegetables.

Sandor Katz, the teacher of this workshop, is the author of five books about food and fermentation. He’s taught hundreds of fermentation workshops around the world and won a James Beard Award. The New York Times has called him “one of the unlikely rock stars of the American food scene.

Fermentation makes foods more nutritious, as well as delicious. Microscopic organisms – our ancestors and allies – transform food and extend its usefulness.

Sandor Katz, from his website Wild Fermentation

You get to make your own sauerkraut and take it home with you at the end of class.

• Date: September 29, 6PM (doors open at 5:30PM)
• Tickets

Workshop #3—Farm to the Family Table

This workshop will essentially be a cooking class focused on using seasonal foods from local farmers markets.

BONUS: Check out our guide to 7 Huntsville farmers markets.

Chef Jessica Hanners will be teaching this class. She worked in restaurants across the nation and held an executive chef role in Atlanta after earning her Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts degrees. She now owns Homecoming Cafe in Guntersville, Alabama, as well as a Homecoming Sideshow, a food truck.

After this class, you’ll want to grab some local produce and head into the kitchen to make one of Chef Jessica’s simple and delicious meals.

• Date: October 6, 6PM (doors open at 5:30PM)
• Tickets

Workshop #4—Seed Saving

The last workshop in the series is the basics of seed saving. As an introduction to the practice of seed saving, the class will go through three groups of seeds and how to process them.

The instructors for this class, Charlotte Hagood and Dove Stackhouse, are the co-founders of Sand Mountain Seed Bank. Charlotte has been saving seeds since the 1980s, is a member of Seed Savers Exchange and has given many talks about the topic. Dove has a forestry degree and runs Whirlwind Farm, a local sustainable farm, with her husband Russell.

Participants will get to take home bean seeds, tomato seeds and squash seeds—each of which use a different seed-saving process)—that will be ready to plant or swap next spring.

• Date: October 13, 6PM (doors open at 5:30PM)
• Tickets

And that’s all the workshops presented by Hillfolk Farmacy! Who knew you could learn so much at an amphitheater?

Excited about these workshops? Let us know on social media by using our hashtag #hvilleblast or tagging us @hvilleblast.