Classes & Programs

Upcoming Classes

Permaculture Design Certificate

September 5 - September 16, 2018

This permaculture class empowers students to become effective ecological designers and planners. You will come out of this class with deep knowledge about creating forest gardens, ecology, permaculture principles, plant species and variety choices, holistic forestry, and more.

Wildcrafting and Medicine Making Intensive

September 27 - September 30, 2018

Identify and wild forage medicinal plants in the Appalachian mountains. Learn to make medicine and cultivate herbs in your garden. Make and take home herbal salves, tinctures, flower essences, decoctions, cough syrups, herbal liqueurs, oxymels and vinegars.

Advanced Wild Foraging and Herbal Medicine

October 5 - October 8, 2018

Deepen your knowledge of wild crafting and plant medicine in this advanced herbal medicine class. Learn acorn processing, how to make flower essences, advanced plant ID, botany, foraging through the cycle of the seasons, and more.

Hide Tanning Class

November 9 - November 11, 2018

Learn from expert brain-tanners the process of transforming deer hide into soft, supple, beautiful buckskin, suitable for fabulously comfortable clothing and accessories. Leave the class with your very own finished hide tanned in the traditional and completely natural way.

Online Hide Tanning Class

November 23 - January 5, 2019

Learn from expert brain-tanners the process of transforming deer hide into soft, supple, beautiful buckskin, suitable for fabulously comfortable clothing and accessories. Leave the class with your very own finished hide tanned in the traditional and completely natural way.

Classes For Next Year

Tiny Homes and Natural Building

August 17 - August 25, 2018

Gain the skills you need to build your own tiny house from local, natural, or conventional materials. Tour beautifully crafted tiny houses and natural buildings, learn about each stage of building from expert lectures, experience hands-on learning as we build a tiny house from scratch, and practice natural plaster and paint. This is the most practical Natural Building Course out there.

Advanced Women's Carpentry

August 6 - August 9, 2018

So, you know how to use a drill and a skillsaw and you can build a basic shelf, but you want to get proficient with building bigger things. Do you have buildings in your sights? This class will give you the skills you need for designing and constructing small buildings and sheds and will set you on the road toward more complex structures.

Fall Tiny House & Natural Building Apprenticeship

August 1 - November 1, 2018

Fall Wild Abundance Apprenticeship The fall natural building apprenticeship starts at the height of summer and builds into the abundance of autumn. From carpentry to a wide range of natural and sustainable building techniques, apprentices will gain well-rounded and hands-on skill sets. They will be part of a complete tiny house build and will gain […]

Women's Basic Carpentry

July 19 - July 22, 2018

This class is intended to get ladies up-to-speed on basic building skills, working with wood, and using hand tools as well as power tools. Focus is placed on creating a safe, comfortable, relaxed and fun learning environment in which students with beginning to intermediate skill levels can thrive. Trans welcome.

Firefly Gathering

June 21 - June 24, 2018

Near Asheville, NC A one-of-a-kind, highly dynamic and intimate community-based skill sharing festival, the Firefly Gathering welcomes children and adults interested in Earth-based knowledge and primitive skills to transform for your life. Co-founded by Kaleb Wallace and our own Natalie Bogwalker in 2007, Firefly gathers a bevy of inspiring community members and skilled teachers, highlighting […]

Women’s Rewilding Weekend

May 4 - May 7, 2018

Gather with other women for a long weekend of connection, learning, and rewilding. Basketry, medicine making, cheese and soap making, wild foods cookery, friction fire, and more In the mountains near Asheville, NC.

Wild Foods Hike

April 27 - April 29, 2018

Spend three days foraging and eating wild foods in the forest near Asheville, NC. Rewild yourself with local plant experts in the biodiverse mountains. Meet wild edibles, medicinals, mushrooms, and amazing people.

Earthskills and Permaculture Immersion

April 27 - November 3, 2018

This is our Flagship program. Go way deeper than other Permaculture Design Courses. Learn building, wild foods, forest gardening and primitive skills, as well as standard PDC course content near Asheville, NC. We meet for one 3-day weekend-a-month for 8 months, which allows the knowledge sink in.

Apprenticeship

April 1 - November 30, 2018

Our Apprenticeship Programs equip participants with the skills they need to live with the web of life: natural building & tiny house construction, foraging & wildcrafting; hide tanning & basket-making; permaculture design & organic gardening; herbalism & nature connection; functional communication & community living; storytelling; deep ecology; and much, much more!

How To Live Off The Land 8 Month Apprenticeship

April 1 - November 15, 2018

Through the Seasons Apprenticeship Learn How to Live Off the Grid Learn how to build your own tiny house, design with passive solar, work with solar panels and other alternative energies, catch water, and build with wood, mud and more conventional techniques. Gain the skills you need to live off the land Apprentices will […]

Gardening Apprenticeship

April 1 - June 30, 2018

Do you love plants? Our spring Gardening Apprenticeship is focused on growing, caring for, harvesting and utilizing a plethora of wild and cultivated plants. You will go into depth with garden planning, soil science, seed starting, companion planting, crop rotation, harvesting techniques, and more. Springtime apprentices will gain a solid foundation in annual vegetable gardening, […]