Classes & Programs

Upcoming Classes

Online Hide Tanning Class

December 30 - January 20, 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.

Women's Basic Carpentry

April 4 - April 7, 2019

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.

Apprenticeship

April 15 - November 15, 2019

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 15 - November 15, 2019

Through the Seasons Apprenticeship Learn How to Live with the Land 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 […]

Gardening Apprenticeship

April 15 - July 30, 2019

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, […]

Wild Foods Hike

April 26 - April 28, 2019

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 26 - November 3, 2019

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.

Wildcrafting and Medicine Making Intensive

May 24 - May 27, 2019

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.

Women’s Rewilding Weekend

June 20 - June 23, 2019

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.

Fall Tiny House & Natural Building Apprenticeship

August 1 - November 16, 2019

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 […]

Advanced Women's Carpentry

August 15 - August 18, 2019

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.

Tiny Homes and Natural Building

August 23 - September 1, 2019

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.

Permaculture Design Certificate

September 20 - September 29, 2019

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.

Hide Tanning Class

November 7 - November 10, 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

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 […]