Speaking and Workshops with Trail of Adventure.
Holly Phillips of Trail of Adventure offers engaging talks and hands-on workshops that reconnect people with the plants, rhythms, and skills of the natural world. Rooted in the boreal forest and aspen parkland of Alberta, these presentations blend herbalism, seasonal living, and practical plant knowledge in ways that are accessible, inspiring, and grounded in real experience.
Whether speaking at conferences, garden clubs, libraries, or community gatherings, Holly brings stories, demonstrations, and practical skills that help participants see the living landscape around them in a new way.
Popular Talks
Spring Foraging
Learn to recognize common edible and medicinal plants growing in fields, forests, and along trails.
No Till Organic Gardening
Drawing from years of hands-on experience in organic gardening and managing a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, Holly shares practical approaches to building fertile, living soil without turning or tilling the ground.
Gardening with the Moon
Exploring lunar gardening traditions and how gardeners use moon phases to guide planting, harvesting, and garden rhythms.
How to Start a Medicine Wheel Garden
Grow your own simple home apothecary! In this workshop, participants are introduced to hardy, beginner-friendly herbs that thrive in our northern climate and can be used for teas, culinary seasoning, and gentle everyday support.
Hands On Workshops
Botanical Cyanotype Printing
Create striking blue botanical prints using sunlight and fresh plants. Participants learn the basics of cyanotype printing while exploring plants as both artistic subjects and living teachers. Everyone leaves with several unique botanical prints and a new way to document the plants around them.
Kitchen Herbalism
Learn simple ways to bring herbs into everyday life through food and drink. Participants make herbal salts, infused honeys, or simple syrups while learning how common culinary herbs support health and seasonal wellbeing.
Wild Soda & Herbal Fermentation
A lively workshop exploring traditional herbal fermentation using a ginger bug. Participants learn how to make naturally fermented herbal sodas and experiment with seasonal plant flavours.
Simple Herbal Remedies
An introduction to making simple herbal medicines using accessible plants. Participants may prepare remedies such as infused oils, salves, or syrups while learning the foundational principles of herbal medicine making.
Herbal Tea Blending
Explore the art of crafting herbal teas for flavour and wellbeing. Participants learn the principles of blending herbs and create their own custom tea blends to take home.
About Holly
Holly Phillips is a community herbalist, educator, gardener, artist, and founder of Trail of Adventure, a project dedicated to helping people reconnect with plants, seasonal rhythms, and traditional skills.
She has been gardening her whole life and brings decades of hands-on experience growing food and herbs using organic and no-till methods, including running a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program serving 20 households.
Her work weaves together art, flower essences, herbalism, and the deep relationship between plants, soil, and human well-being.
Holly teaches across Canada, sharing practical plant knowledge rooted in the boreal forest and aspen parkland ecosystems of Alberta. She is a co-organizer of the Canadian Herb Conference, the Vancouver Island Herb Gathering, and Sangudo RegenFest, leads the Mayerthorpe Herb Club, and is involved in the development of the Harmonic Hills Land Trust, a project focused on regenerative community.
Holly is currently studying clinical herbalism with Emery Herbals.