California School of Herbal Studies

Located two miles west of Forestville, in beautiful Sonoma County, the California School of Herbal Studies is one of North America’s oldest centers for herbal education.

Founded in 1978 by Rosemary Gladstar, and led today by School Directors Rebecca Maxfield and Jason Miller, along with Program Coordinator Autumn Summers, CSHS continues in the spirit in which it was created.

Our mission is to help create sustainable communities by providing Earth-centered, community based herbal education. CSHS works to empower individuals with the skills, experience and confidence needed by the community herbalist.

Our school teaches from the tradition of western herbalism, with a materia medica primarily made up of North American and European herbs. Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine perspectives and herbs are used to complement the Western tradition.

Our full time, 8 month intensive offers students a broad based foundation in herbal medicine. For those who can't make a full time commitment we also offer a broad range of weekend series courses and one day workshops.

Successful graduates of our intensive program leave here with the knowledge they need to enter and contribute to the field of herbalism. Upon graduation students receive certificates of completion that are highly regarded by the herbal community.

CSHS located on a lovely, rustic 80 acre sanctuary known as Emerald Valley. Our campus includes a classroom with an adjacent kitchen, a one-half acre garden with over 400 herb species, a medicine making building and forested hiking trails. Forestville is an hour and a half drive north of San Francisco.

Visitors to the school are welcome, but please call first so we can be sure someone will be available to greet you! We look forward to meeting you and sharing friendship and herbal experiences.