Instructors
Natalie Bogwalker
Natalie Bogwalker is the founder and primary instructor of Wild Abundance.
Natalie divides her time between a homestead near Boone, NC and a home outside of Asheville, NC. No matter where she is, she enjoys wildcrafting edible plants, tending and eating from her garden, tanning deer hides to make leather and clothing, building natural structures, making crafts, organizing events, and teaching workshops. She is co-founder and organizer of the Firefly gathering, an event for people seeking to deepen and expand their connection with the natural world (www.fireflygathering.org). Natalie teaches primitive living skills at many locations, including: Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, Earth Connection primitive skills school, Firefly Gathering, Earthskills Rendezvous, LEAF festival, MAPS Meet, and various school programs. She has also given numerous presentations about primitive living and has led edible plant walks at universities and community venues around the country. She successfully ran a small catering business specializing in wild, local and organic foods. Her educational highlights include an Herbal Apprenticeship with Juliet Blankespoor (completed in 2006), a BA in Ecological Agriculture from Evergreen State College (2000), and participation in many craft and skill workshops too numerous to mention.
Alex Kilgore
Alex Kilgore has been learning and teaching primitive and traditional living skills since 1995. He began with a formative apprenticeship with Steve Watts, founder of the Society of Primitive Technology and Director of the Aboriginal Studies Program at the Schiele Museum of Natural History. In 1997 Alex completed his degree in Outdoor Experiential Education at Appalachian State University. For the last 14 years he has worked and taught at Earthcamp, Earthskills Rendezvous, Mountain Quest, LEAF festival as well as in public and private schools. Alex lives in a strawbale house that he built on his off the grid homestead in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He prides himself on continuously learning and improving upon his skills in order to practice a more sustainable, self sufficient lifestyle.