We're looking for a Resident Herbalist!

Common Good City Farm is looking for a Resident Herbalist to work with both the medicinal herb gardens at Common Good City Farm and LeDroit Park Community Garden, located directly south of Common Good.

We are looking for applications by Monday, January 14, 2019. I. Background Common Good City Farm (CGCF) is partnering with the LeDroit Park Community Garden (LPCG) to provide herbalism programming in both the Tricia McCauley Memorial Garden at CGCF and the new Tricia Lynn McCauley Public Herb Garden in the LPCG, which will open in spring 2019. (For background on the new LPCG garden and its design, see the project page here: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Common-Good-City-Farm. LPCG is leading the fundraising efforts for the new garden, in partnership with CGCF.)

We are looking for a proposal from an herbalist to teach both free stand-alone workshops and a paid Herbalism 101 course or Herbal Apprenticeship Program. We are looking for someone with an open, approachable, down-to-earth teaching style who can create a dynamic program that can bring in earned income and develop a robust herbalism community. Proposals make take whatever format is most useful to the Herbalist, but should not exceed 6 pages, and should address the application questions at the end of this RFP. II.

Project Requirements

1. Workshops

Proposals should include plans to deliver two related but distinct Workshop series: 1) a Public Workshop Series and 2) a Fee-Based Herbalism series. The Workshops will likely take place on a weekend morning or weekday evening. We will finalize exact dates/times in coordination with the Resident Herbalist's schedule. The location of any ‘classroom’ component of the Workshops will be a mix of the Common Good pavilion or LPCG, per discussions with LPCG / Common Good leadership. LPCG / Common Good will be responsible for publicizing the Workshops and organizing attendance, though the herbalist is encouraged to spread the world through their own networks.

1a. Public Workshop Series The proposal should include a plan for a minimum of three, one-hour long workshops that will be open to the public, with an anticipated size of 15 - 30 attendees. While we are open to a variety of topics, the workshops should help educate attendees about herbs: how to grow them, care for them, and harvest/utilize them, and each workshop should include some ‘hands-on’ component. If there are herbs that are ready for harvesting during the time of the workshop, this should be an aspect of the workshop. The Resident Herbalist will develop a brief proposed outline of the workshops, given his/her expertise and suggestions. The LPCG/Common Good leadership will review the outline and provide feedback. Once the feedback is reviewed and discussed, the Resident Herbalist can finalize the content.

1b. Fee-Based Herbalism Series We are very open to considering different models for the herbalism series. The series may take place over multiple weeks or multiple months, and include a minimum of 6-8 workshops. Included workshops should include, at a minimum, common herbs and how to use them safely, herbs in the Tricia McCauley Memorial Herb Garden, fundamentals of herbalism, and the basics of making tea and tinctures. Other topics are encouraged.

2. Support for LPCG Public Herb Garden

2a. Garden Design Assistance and Monitoring LPCG is seeking assistance from the Resident Herbalist in assisting the LPCG leadership in several aspects related to the initial launch of the Tricia Lynn McCauley Public Herb Garden. Specific tasks include: 1. Review anticipated list of herbs that will be planted in the garden and offer any advice (e.g., varieties to avoid, highlight any herbs that should be excluded, etc.). 2. Offer advice on ideal planting pattern/layout for the garden (see link in footnote 1 for garden design images) 3. Review and provide edits to a garden didactic sign. LPCG will design the layout and illustrations and draft herb descriptions. The Resident Herbalist will review and suggest edits. 4. Attend initial planting event to oversee & advise the gardeners (who will do the manual work); date TBD. 5. Visit the herb garden on monthly basis May - October to monitor plant health; highlight any concerns (pests, disease, watering needs) in email/phone call to LPCG leadership. (Visits can be coordinated around other activities, such as delivering Workshops.)

2b. Harvesting Support This task is to support ensuring the herbs grown in the LPCG public herb garden are utilized. We are very open to creative ideas to make sure this goal is reached. Especially during this first year, we are unsure of the extent to which community gardeners or other neighbors will be able to harvest and use the less-known herbs. This activity is in addition to the harvesting activities described in the Public Workshop Series section above.

Specific tasks include: 1. Develop tentative harvesting timeline/calendar for selected herbs. 2. Communicate with LPCG leadership ahead of any community gardener workdays (1-2 per month) to advise on herbs that can be harvested. LPCG will provide a schedule of community gardener workdays in advance. 3. We are open to proposals for how to use the herbs harvested in a way that benefits the community, the herbalist, and Common Good City Farm.

III. Payment

We are committed to paying herbalists in a way that is equitable and works best for that herbalist so please indicate what you prefer.

We are open to multiple herbalists collaborating on one proposal as well. The proposal should indicate pricing by service (stand-alone workshop and workshop series) and payment preferences. Common Good City Farm will provide payment to the Resident Herbalist. Common Good and LPCG are coordinating on sharing costs appropriately.

IV. Timeline (subject to change)

Monday, January 14, 2019: Resident Herbalist applications due

Friday, January 18, 2019: Common Good City Farm will follow up with questions

Friday, January 25, 2019: Selection of Resident Herbalist Monday, January 28, 2019: Common Good City Farm works with Resident Herbalist to choose workshop dates, determine workshop logistics, start promoting workshops

April - November 2019: Resident Herbalist offers workshops and implements other project requirements as described above

To submit a proposal or if you have any questions, please contact Josephine Chu at josephine@commongoodcityfarm.org.

V. Proposal Application Please provide the following information as part of your proposal: 1) Name 2) Email Address 3) Phone 4) Will you have availability to teach workshops on the weekends and/or weekday evenings? Please add any information about your schedule that may be helpful. We are looking for someone to teach workshops from April to November. 5) Please elaborate on your experience teaching herbalism workshops or any relevant qualifications. 6) Public Workshop Series: Please provide a brief description of suggested or potential topics for the Public Workshop Series, including proposed length of the workshops and a proposed schedule of workshops. 7) Fee-Based Herbalism Series: Please provide a brief outline of topics you can cover in a Herbalism 101/ Herbal Apprenticeship Program. Additionally, please provide a brief outline of the included workshops, the proposed workshop length, and the proposed schedule of workshops. 8) Garden Design Assistance and Monitoring: Please provide a brief description of your ability to assist in designing and monitoring the LPCG public garden. 9) Harvesting Support: Please provide a brief description of your ability to support harvesting activities for the LPCG public garden. 10) Please provide a breakdown of your requested fees for each Project Requirement (e.g., Public Workshop Series; Fee-Based Herbalism Series; Garden Design Assistance and Monitoring; Harvesting Support). If requesting an hourly fee for any requirement, please include estimated range of hours to complete the requirement.

Note: In the past, we have provided a % of ticket sales for paid workshops and a flat rate for free workshops. However, please let us know what works best for you. 11) Any additional information that you would like to share. 12) Any questions you may have.