Retreats, Workshops & Classes for Women+ Only

Female students learn how to build during one of Wild Abundance's construction classes for women

Our classes for women and the female-identified are inclusive, noncompetitive, comprehensive, and they take a feminine approach to the subject matter. You’ll come away from them with real, practical skills to nourish your life, your community, and your sense of esteem as a woman.

Feeling capable is a human birthright. Living with confidence in our ability to care for and do things for ourselves is empowering and satisfying. For too long, women haven’t had opportunities to learn the tools for self-sufficient living or practice women’s primitive skills. Oftentimes, when we have had the chance to learn, it’s been on male terms and in male-dominated situations. We’re excited to make a change in our women’s classes!

Classes for women that put empowerment in your own two hands.


All Classes for Women and Women’s Workshops

You can browse all of our classes for women here, or learn more details about each below.

Carpentry and DIY Classes for Women

Women’s Basic Carpentry

Women’s Basic Carpentry is a hands-on DIY class for women, including trans women, and non-binary folks who want to build confidence with tools, wood, and practical carpentry skills. This four-day workshop introduces students to hand tools, power tools, measuring, cutting, drilling, fastening, and basic building techniques in a supportive, noncompetitive environment. It is designed for beginners and intermediate students who want to feel more capable taking on home projects, creative builds, and future carpentry learning.

What You’ll learn:

  • Build comfort using essential hand tools and power tools in a supportive learning environment
  • Practice accurate measuring, marking, cutting, drilling, fastening, and assembly
  • Learn beginner-friendly carpentry skills you can apply to practical projects at home
  • Understand which tools are most useful for simple repairs, builds, and DIY projects
  • Complete a small hands-on project while learning each step of the building process
  • Leave with more confidence to take on future carpentry classes, home projects, and basic repairs

who this class is for:

This class is for women and non-binary adults who want a welcoming place to learn basic building skills without intimidation, competition, or pressure to already know what they are doing. It is especially helpful for people who were never taught how to use tools, feel nervous around saws or drills, or want clearer instruction before attempting projects at home. If you are searching for DIY classes for women near me or beginner workshops for women that teach real, practical skills, Women’s Basic Carpentry is a strong place to start.

Women’s Carpentry Classes

Our Women’s Basic Carpentry Class is a four-day, hands-on workshop near Asheville, NC that teaches women and non-binary folks foundational carpentry skills in a welcoming, low-stress environment. Through demos, short lectures, and lots of tool time, students get comfortable using hand and power tools while working on real-world projects in an outdoor woodshop. Instructors emphasize tool safety, confidence-building, and body-aware techniques, so beginners can genuinely thrive.

What You’ll learn:

  • Safe, confident use of hand & power tools like saws, drills & drivers
  • Accurate measuring, marking cuts, and basic lumber selection
  • Planning and building a simple personal woodworking project
  • Practicing carpentry skills on real-world group projects
  • Building confidence with tools and working in a supportive crew

who this class is for:

This class is designed for women (including trans women) and non-binary people who want a friendly, non-macho place to get comfortable with tools. It’s perfect whether you’ve never picked up a power tool before or have done some DIY and want safer technique, better ergonomics, and more confidence, alongside a diverse group of peers of all ages. If you dream of tackling household repairs, building small projects, or eventually moving on to advanced carpentry or tiny house building, this course gives you a solid, supportive starting point.

Women’s Advanced Carpentry

Women’s Advanced Carpentry is a hands-on DIY course for women and non-binary students who already have basic tool experience and want to move into structural building. This class builds on the foundation of Women’s Basic Carpentry and helps students understand layout, framing, squaring, leveling, roof concepts, small building design, and the teamwork required for larger projects. Students gain practical experience designing and constructing small buildings, sheds, or similar structures in a supportive women-centered learning environment.

What You’ll learn:

  • Learn how to interpret simple building plans and translate them into real framing work
  • Practice laying out floors and walls for small-scale building projects
  • Build stronger skills in squaring, leveling, plumbing, and structural accuracy
  • Explore the basics of roof framing, including rafter layout and key framing concepts
  • Apply your tool skills to the process of building a small structure from the ground up
  • Gain experience working safely, clearly, and cooperatively with a small building crew
  • Build confidence for larger DIY projects, home repairs, and future carpentry training

who this class is for:

This class is designed for women and non-binary students who have either completed Women’s Basic Carpentry or are currently registered and ready to build on those skills with more advanced hands-on practice. It is ideal for students who know how to use a drill and circular saw but want more confidence building sheds, saunas, outbuildings, or other small structures. If you are looking for DIY courses for women that go beyond basic tool use and into real construction skills, Women’s Advanced Carpentry offers a practical and empowering next step.

What Our Female, Trans & Non-Binary Students Say

Women’s Empowerment Workshops & Retreats

Rewilding Retreat for Women

The Rewilding Retreat for Women is a long weekend of connection, hands-on crafting, nature-based learning, and soulful time outdoors. Rather than functioning like a conventional skills class, this women’s empowerment workshop invites students to reconnect with the land, their bodies, their intuition, and a supportive circle of women. Possible activities may include basketry, medicine making, wild foods cookery, friction fire, womb wisdom, songs, stories, ceremony, and time in nature.

What You’ll learn:

  • Rewilding practices for reconnecting with land, body, and community
  • Possible hands-on skills such as basketry, fire building, broom making, and medicine making
  • Wild foods and plant-based practices that support seasonal living
  • Ways to build comfort and confidence outdoors
  • Group practices rooted in story, song, ceremony, and shared experience
  • How practical skills and inner reconnection can support one another
  • How to bring wild threads back into everyday modern life

who this class is for:

This retreat is for women who want a workshop that includes both practical earth-based skills and deeper personal reconnection. It is a good fit for students who feel drawn to women’s workshops, rewilding, nature connection, seasonal living, traditional craft, and community. If you are looking for women’s empowerment workshops that feel grounded, embodied, and connected to the natural world, this retreat offers a meaningful place to gather and learn.

4-Month Carpentry Training School

Our Carpentry Training Program is a four-month, in-person carpentry school for adults near Asheville, NC where a small crew learns to design and build real projects. For two days each week you’ll frame and finish a tiny house, work on smaller design-build projects, and learn directly from experienced mentors. The program blends hands-on training with assigned lessons from the Online Tiny House Academy so you build both clear understanding and solid muscle memory.

What You’ll learn:

  • Core tool safety, use, and on-site workflow
  • Framing, sheathing, roofing, siding, and trim basics
  • Reading plans, making cut lists, and ordering materials
  • Finishing a tiny house interior with paneling, flooring, and details
  • Thinking like a builder through problem-solving and project planning

who this class is for:

This carpentry training is for beginner and intermediate adults who are ready to commit two days a week to learning by doing. It’s a great fit if you want to build your own small home, feel confident tackling renovation projects, or explore carpentry as a possible career in a supportive, all-genders environment. You’ll need enthusiasm, reliability, and the physical ability to do hands-on outdoor work with a small team.

7-Day Timber Framing Workshop

Our Timber Framing Class is a seven-day, in-person workshop near Asheville, NC where you and a crew raise a beautiful timber-framed structure from raw timbers. Through step-by-step demos and plenty of tool time, you’ll learn to lay out, cut, and assemble joinery that needs no metal fasteners. The vibe is hands-on, safety-focused, and collaborative, so you stay engaged while building real skills quickly.

What You’ll learn:

  • Laying out, marking, and cutting timbers from plans
  • Safely using hand tools and big power tools for timber framing
  • Creating precise mortise-and-tenon joints pegged with hardwood
  • Reading building plans and understanding basic timber frame design
  • Working as a team to assemble and raise a complete timber frame

who this class is for:

These timber framing classes are for motivated owner-builders, aspiring professionals, and carpenters who want to add traditional joinery to their toolkits. You should be ready for a challenge that includes math, angles, and moving hefty timbers, but you don’t need prior timber framing experience. The instructors group students by skill level, so both handy beginners and seasoned builders can participate fully and safely while stretching their skills.

Nourishing Kitchen Retreat

The Nourishing Kitchen Retreat is a holistic cooking retreat for women that connects food, nourishment, pleasure, vitality, togetherness, and seasonal living. Students gain hands-on experience with practical kitchen skills such as fermentation, sourdough, meat canning, condiments, edible flowers, herbs, and nourishing meals. This retreat belongs in the women’s empowerment workshop category because it honors the kitchen as a place of creativity, resilience, beauty, care, and community rather than drudgery or obligation.

What You’ll learn:

  • Holistic cooking skills rooted in nourishment, pleasure, vitality, and seasonal awareness
  • Fermentation, sourdough, meat canning, condiments, and traditional food preparation
  • How to work with herbs, edible flowers, garden produce, and whole foods
  • Kitchen skills that support resilience, care, and everyday self-reliance
  • How food preparation can support women’s health and community connection
  • Ways to bring rhythm, beauty, and confidence into the kitchen
  • How nourishment connects with broader rewilding and earth-based living

who this class is for:

This retreat is for women who want to reconnect with food as a source of nourishment, creativity, pleasure, and practical skill. It is especially relevant for students who are interested in women’s workshops that combine hands-on learning, seasonal ingredients, traditional food skills, and supportive community. If your idea of empowerment includes feeding yourself and others with more confidence, joy, and care, The Nourishing Kitchen Retreat offers a deeply grounded learning experience.

Female students embrace during one of Wild Abundance women's classes

It’s time to learn on our terms. Classes for women aren’t just classes for men with female teachers.

We believe that women’s empowerment is as much about the specific skills we need as it is about reclaiming our natural way of doing things. Teaching women’s classes is rewarding and fun because we get to create the kind of gender equity and acceptance that we want to see in the world.

The reason that women don’t often feel confident with “hard skills” like carpentry and woodworking is not because we aren’t good at them. It’s also not because we’re not interested. Too often these skills are taught by men in a very linear, outcome-oriented, male sort of way. Our women’s woodworking classes serve to develop our unique strengths and build skills that we can take home to our communities.

Women’s classes highlight your unique strengths and abilities.

Our classes for women and the female-identified take into account a more feminine learning style. We put a focus on learning as we go and always encourage students to ask questions and ask for help. We work on group projects, along with individual ones, and we invite people to share meals together. This sense of togetherness and connection with the group helps everyone feel safe and welcome. We highlight different abilities and strengths, noticing that everyone’s contributions are needed and that they come in handy in different ways.

Join Our Community

Sign up below to get $50 off your first class!

You’ll also get our newsletter, which is full of how-to’s, seasonal tips, specials on classes and more! Don’t worry, we won’t share your info with anyone. We care about your privacy!

Why we love women’s classes: teaching the trades to women opens doors.

One of our most popular classes for women is Women’s Basic Carpentry. So many women want to know how to build things! And over the years, we’ve seen that they have really good ideas and designs. Many women are really good builders. Without our women’s woodworking classes, who knows if these students would have ever been able to realize their visions? Their projects could have stayed in their imaginations forever.

Our Advanced Women’s Carpentry teaches structural building, so women and the female-identified can put up their own sheds and gazebos and even build their own houses. Teaching these foundational skills allows women to follow their dreams. Some women dream of working in the trades, but just don’t know how to break into such a male-dominated world. Our humble hope is that our classes for women open the door for those women who want to be builders.

If you’re asking: Where can I find beginner carpentry classes near me?…

Know that it’s unusual to find carpentry classes designed specifically for women. We have students join us from all over the country…even from all over the world…to learn basic and advanced carpentry skills in a patient, welcoming, and woman-led atmosphere. Plus, taking a class with us is a true experience: our outdoor classrooms are gorgeous, our instructors are knowledgeable and highly skilled, and community is nurtured at every turn.

Rewilding & women’s primitive skills connect you with your roots.

The roots of our school go deep into the earth-based ancestral arts that inspired us so many years ago. Interacting with the natural environment and learning the women’s primitive skills and crafts of our ancestors has enriched our lives. Rewilding has grown our confidence and sense of place.

We know from personal experience that connecting with the undomesticated parts of ourselves is at the foundation of empowerment. We’re excited to offer a course in women’s primitive skills that covers such basic human tasks as making fire and foraging for medicinal plants. This rewilding retreat may also include basketry, broom making, and menstrual, moon, and menopause rituals. Of all our classes for women, this one dives deep into what it means to be a human woman and how we can embrace the feminine parts of ourselves in our everyday lives

Frequently Asked Questions About Classes for Women

What kinds of classes for women does Wild Abundance offer?

Wild Abundance offers several classes for women, including carpentry workshops, DIY classes, rewilding retreats, and nourishing kitchen experiences. Some classes focus on hard skills like using tools, building with wood, framing small structures, and gaining confidence with home projects. Others focus on earth-based skills, traditional craft, food, herbal practices, nature connection, and women-centered community. Together, these women’s workshops are designed to help students build practical capability while also feeling supported, seen, and encouraged.

The current women-focused offerings include Women’s Basic Carpentry, Women’s Advanced Carpentry, Rewilding Retreat for Women, and The Nourishing Kitchen Retreat. Each class has its own focus, but all of them are rooted in the belief that women deserve learning spaces that feel safe, empowering, and deeply practical. These are not watered-down versions of other classes; they are intentionally designed around the ways many women learn, collaborate, and build confidence. Whether you want DIY skills, outdoor connection, or nourishment-based learning, there is a pathway into hands-on women’s education.

Are these classes for women beginner-friendly?

Yes, several of these classes are beginner-friendly and are designed for students who may be new to the subject. Women’s Basic Carpentry is especially approachable for people who have never used power tools or who feel nervous around saws, drills, and building projects. Rewilding Retreat for Women and The Nourishing Kitchen Retreat also welcome students who are curious, open, and ready to participate, even if they do not already have formal experience. The goal is to help students begin from where they are rather than expecting them to arrive already confident.

Some offerings, such as Women’s Advanced Carpentry, do have prerequisites or are better suited for students with basic tool experience. That class is designed for people who have completed or are registered for Women’s Basic Carpentry and want to move into structural building. If you are comparing workshops for women, read each course description carefully so you can choose the right level of challenge and support. Starting with the right class helps the experience feel empowering rather than overwhelming.

Are these DIY classes for women near Asheville, NC?

Yes, Wild Abundance’s in-person classes for women are held near Asheville, North Carolina. Students come from Asheville, the broader region, and many other parts of the country to attend hands-on women’s workshops in carpentry, rewilding, and nourishment. The campuses offer outdoor teaching spaces, forests, gardens, and hands-on learning environments that support the school’s practical, land-based approach. If you are searching for DIY classes for women near me and you are in western North Carolina, Wild Abundance is a strong local option.

Even if you are not local, these classes are designed as immersive experiences that can be worth traveling for. Many students attend because it can be difficult to find women-centered carpentry, rewilding, or DIY courses in their own area. The combination of skilled instructors, supportive group culture, and beautiful Appalachian surroundings makes the experience feel different from a typical class. For people seeking classes for women near Asheville, the setting becomes part of the learning.

What makes women’s workshops different from all-gender classes?

Women’s workshops can create a different kind of learning environment because they are designed around the lived experiences, questions, strengths, and concerns many women bring into skill-building spaces. In subjects like carpentry, tools, construction, outdoor skills, and traditional craft, women have often been excluded, underestimated, or expected to learn in male-dominated settings. A women-centered class can make more room for questions, collaboration, emotional safety, shared meals, and supportive pacing. That can help students relax enough to learn skills that once felt intimidating.

This does not mean women are less capable or need easier classes. In fact, the goal is the opposite: to create conditions where women can learn deeply, practice fully, and discover how capable they already are. A good women’s empowerment workshop honors the whole person, not just the technical outcome. At Wild Abundance, that means teaching real skills while also nurturing confidence, connection, self-trust, and community.

Are trans women and non-binary students welcome?

Yes, Wild Abundance’s women-focused carpentry classes welcome women, including trans women, and non-binary folks. The intention is to create a supportive learning environment for people who may not feel fully comfortable or represented in conventional carpentry, DIY, outdoor, or skills-based classes. Students are encouraged to show up with their questions, curiosity, nervousness, experience, and desire to learn. Respect, care, and community are important parts of the classroom culture.

Each class description may use slightly different language depending on the course, so it is always helpful to read the current registration page before signing up. The broader goal is to make skill-building more accessible to people who have often been left out of tool, trade, and earthskills spaces. Inclusive workshops for women can be especially powerful when they allow students to learn practical skills without having to defend their right to be there. That sense of belonging is part of what makes the learning stick.

What should I bring to a women’s workshop?

What you should bring depends on the specific workshop, season, and campus. For carpentry and DIY classes, students may need comfortable work clothes, sturdy closed-toe shoes, safety gear, layers, and any tools listed in the class preparation materials. For rewilding or kitchen retreats, the packing list may include outdoor clothing, personal items, comfortable layers, notebooks, water bottles, or items specific to cooking, crafting, ceremony, or time outside. Wild Abundance typically provides class-specific guidance before the course begins.

The most important thing to bring is a willingness to learn, ask questions, and participate. Hands-on workshops for women often involve trying new things, making mistakes, working in groups, and being a beginner in front of other people. Comfortable clothing, good preparation, and the right supplies help, but they are not the whole experience. These classes are also about showing up with curiosity, courage, and openness to what becomes possible when women learn together.

Can women’s empowerment workshops teach practical skills too?

Yes, women’s empowerment workshops can absolutely teach practical skills. At Wild Abundance, empowerment is not treated as an abstract idea; it is something students can feel in their bodies when they build a shelf, use a saw, cook nourishing food, make medicine, start a fire, or learn alongside other women. Practical skills help confidence become real because they give students direct evidence of their own capability. That is especially powerful when the skill is something they were once told, directly or indirectly, was not for them.

This is why the classes for women include both hands-on technical learning and community-centered support. DIY classes for women can open doors to home repair, building, and self-reliance. Rewilding retreats can help students reconnect with land, intuition, and embodied confidence. Nourishing kitchen workshops can transform food preparation into a source of creativity, resilience, and joy. In each case, empowerment comes from learning something useful and feeling more at home in your own ability.

Female students learn survival skills for women from a female teacher

Join Our Community

Sign up below to get $50 off your first class!

You'll also get our newsletter, which is full of how-to's, seasonal tips, specials on classes and more! Don't worry, we won't share your info with anyone. We care about your privacy!