Working as a multidisciplinary project team, this year-long program has a mission. Students will engage in hands-on work to enhance the fledgling ethnobotanical garden at the Evergreen “House of Welcome” Longhouse by refining and caring for existing habitat and theme areas. Through this work, we will create a valuable educational resource and contribute to multiple communities including Evergreen, local K-12 schools, local First Nations, and a growing global collective of ethnobotanical gardens that promote environmental, medical, and cultural diversity and sustainability.

During winter quarter, students will focus on the garden's "story" through continued work on existing signage, a book draft, and/or other interpretive materials such as a web page. Students will work independently on skill development, research, and project planning or implementation in their selected areas of interest and garden areas. Students will also be active during the winter transplant season and will prepare procurement and planting plans for the spring season.

During spring quarter, students will plant and care for the garden, wrapping up all of the work they have begun. They will complete interpretive materials, create and implement educational activities, and participate in the Longhouse Cleansing Ceremony.

Since this unique program is grounded in community-service learning, topics in various subject areas – including field botany, community-based herbalism, horticulture, and Indigenous studies – are woven into the fabric of student learning when most appropriate to overall objectives, and are introduced through readings, lectures, workshops, assignments, and projects.

The program cultivates community by nurturing each member's contributions and growth, and acknowledges the broader context of sustainability, especially with regard to food and medicine.