Song of the Ridge is a community apothecary offering workshops and gatherings in the Shawangunk Ridge region and beyond. Currently led by folk herbalist and storyteller Holden Abigail Osborne Burr, Song seeks to connect people with their local plants and herbal medicine and to create community space where today's weary humans may find respite.

From Holden:

I began working with the plants over 14 years ago, when I first returned to the land and began shifting away from life in the modern digital world. What began as a film project (Adelyne) whose protagonist was a backwoods medicine woman eventually became my own path as a community folk herbalist.

As a mother of two nature children born at home, I specialize in local herbs for conception, pregnancy, birth, labor, postpartum healing, and basic family first aid. In 2020 with the arrival of Covid, I began study in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the use of non native plants as it seemed our local bodies might require global plants to protect and heal from a global virus. These days, I have returned to mostly working with plants that grow locally and in the wild, though I am still getting to know some ancient plant medicines through my own cultivation and gardens.

This fall, workshops are being offered in the Shawangunk Ridge and surrounding regions, including the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Berkshires.

Workshops usually feature a story or short intro to the plant, hands-on time with the living plant, an overview of medicinal uses, and medicine making with a take-home remedy.

I will be available for limited travel workshops starting in 2025. Please be in touch if you or your organization are interested in hosting! Workshops are always adapted to the local land, as I prefer to use the most gentle and local living plants when possible. Workshops are usually offered on a donation basis with all welcome regardless of funds. I love to work with children (Green Magic Club Coming Soon!), schools, churches, organizations, and any group seeking a closer relationship with nature.

Please check our calendar of upcoming workshops!

More to come soon. Blessings to you all.