Classes
The following classes will be offered at this year's gathering
*** Denotes a Thursday Skills Faire Class or Demo
Acorn Processing with Julieann Hartley
Advanced Primitive Fire Making Techniques with Barry Keegan
$5 materials fee per kit (3 possible methods)
Atlatl Darts (Bamboo with Copper Points) with Bob Berg
$TBA materials fee
Baton Sling Workshop with Dug North
Learn how to make and use the intriguing baton sling. In this hands-on class, participants will learn about material selection, construction techniques, and the fundamentals of launching projectiles. Participants will leave with a baton sling and the knowledge to continue practicing on their own. No prior experience required. $10 materials fee
Birch Bark Baskets with Barry Keegan
Make a traditional makak style basket!
$25 materials fee
Black Powder Rifle with Kevin Bouck
Botanical Illustration with Jackie Ryan
Description coming soon!
Broom Making with Hannah Mitchell
Cobwebber-Made to be thin and long, this design is great for over-head and corner dustings. We will use basic woodworking skills and tools and will weave sorghum, also called broom corn, to create a cobwebber broom together. This is a great class for kids 6yrs and up or first-time broom makers. $15-$30 materials fee
Full Size Broom- this large traditional broom is a beautiful and functional tool for home and hearth. We will use basic woodworking skills and tools and will weave sorghum, also called broom corn. This class is an intermediate level but first-time makers welcome! $30-$60 materials fee
Buckskin Round Braiding, 8 ply with Robin Blankenship
Work leather lacing into a round strong cord for multiple uses:
animal halters or leads, camp chores or shelter rope.
$10 materials fee
Campfire Cookery with Kevin Bouck
Learn how to cook over an open fire in cast iron.
Candle Making with JT Stokes
(Ages 13+)
Learn how to make hand-dipped beeswax candles!
$12 materials fee
Carving 'Little Dudes' with Tim Swanson
We will be carving pieces of wood into little dudes in this class! What is a "little dude"? Is it a troll, a gnome, a beast, or some other creature? There is only one way to find out and that is to make one for yourself! We will also go over wood carving tools, techniques, and safety. We will also be using bone and animal fur to add to your little dude if time allows. Adults, teens, and kids welcome. Bring your own carving knife or purchase one from Tim!
Chicken Harvesting with Jillian Erice
Copper Cloak Pins with Dug North
Step back in time and learn to craft a traditional copper cloak pin — a fastener used for centuries throughout Europe.
In this hands-on workshop, you'll bend, hammer, shape, and finish copper wire using simple hand tools. No prior metalworking experience is required. By the end of the class, you'll leave with a fully functional handcrafted cloak pin.
$10 materials fee
Drum Circle and Drumming Class with William Ruiz
Description coming soon!
*** Felted Soap with Marie Somers
$5 materials fee
*** Fire Making for Beginners with Robin Blankenship
Fish Skin Tanning with Thabani Ndlovu
Description coming soon! $20 materials fee
Forest Feast with Anthony Pono and Kelly Stanley
Friction Fire with Nick Spadaro & Anthony Pono
Fruit Tree Pruning & Grafting with David Vincent
Ham Radio Intro with Nathan Glaser
Could you communicate with friends and family if cell service went down? Ham radio is a great 'old-school' way to increase self-reliance and emergency preparedness, or just to have fun talking to people all over the world!
Handcrafted Leather Shoes with Becky Naughton
$10 materials fee
Herbal First Aid with Aileen Peterson
Homesteading as Homeschooling Chat with Kitty Michelotti
Hunting Talk with Nick Spadaro
Making Jewelry from Coins with Bob Berg
$10 materials fee plus cost of individual coin
Jute Bottle Nets with Kitty Michelotti
Knife Sharpening with Cameron Silva
Knots with Cheeny Plante
Learn how to tie handy and practical knots to make life easier!
Medicinal Mushroom Extractions with Grace Krupkowski
Learn about the major medicinal mushrooms, how to resource them ethically and learn how to make effective remedies! You will learn how to make a double extraction and see in real time how to make a tea decoction. You will be able to participate in formulating a double extraction to take home as well! If time allows, we will take a walk in the woods and see if we can spot any medicinal mushrooms. Walk away with your own mushroom double extract!
*Note: this is not a mushroom ID course- this is specifically for learning about mushrooms used in herbal traditions.
$20 materials fee
Men’s Lodge with Ryan Johns
Miniature Bows with Barry Keegan
Kids and adults welcome! Learn bow making techniques on a small scale to make a working mini bow. Apply the same techniques to full size bow making.
Morning Meditation with Sarah White
Natural Dyeing with Inga Sidor
Join Inga for a hands-on dye experience, from plant to pot to final color on yarn. You'll explore the basic techniques of natural dyeing, learn about a range of plants that can be coaxed to give color, and go away with a palette of wool yarn skeins that you've hand-dyed. $10 materials fee
Nature Awareness with Nick Neddo
Net Making with Aileen Peterson
Not Your Average Plant Walk with Jackie Ryan
Think not about what plants can do for you, but what you can do for the plants. We will venture off on a walk, find plants we admire and find what arises inside of us to give as an offering to these plants. Be it an art installation, a drawing, a poem, dance, song or bouquet of flowers, we will express our love and adoration of the plants using our imagination and creativity. All ages welcome and no artistic or outdoor experience is necessary.
Pack Baskets (Small Explorer Size) with Jes Steele
A pack basket is a traditional type of backpack used for carrying items while hiking, hunting, or for general outdoor activities. Pack baskets have a long history dating back centuries and have been used by various cultures around the world. Here in Maine, many people walked the woods with these packs to transport tools, supplies, and wild game through rugged terrain.
In this course, we will weave a 10-12” tall basket with premium reed (Ash will be available at an additional cost). We will go over the history of pack baskets and what materials have been used. The instructor will go through the process of making the basket step-by-step ensuring all will walk away with a finished basket. The baskets will have a base and feet along with pack straps. We will bring a variety of color straps and even color reeds to add a little color to your basket.
An Ash log will be available for students to watch a demo and have some hands on time for making their own splints. Due to the length of the class, we will not have time to process our own ash splints, all material will be provided.
Walk away with a pack basket and the knowledge for life!
All level weavers are welcome EVEN if you have never weaved! $75 materials fee
Paint from Rocks with Nick Neddo
Plein Air Oil Painting with Bob Berg
Learn about stretching linen on a frame, rabbitskin priming and gessoing canvas, preparing oil paint from pigments, medium preparation, linseed oil and safflower drying mediums, selecting brushes, pallet knives and pallets, and making an easel. All day class.
$30 materials fee
*** Primitive Pottery with Emma Markowitz & Laura Wolfer
Primitive Sauna with Tom Turck
Rawhide Containers with Robin Blankenship
Cut rawhide with an obsidian blade. Stitch with buckskin lacing.
Attach an antler button.
$10 materials fee
Sewing with a Bone Awl and Sinew with Robin Blankenship
Strip sinew off bone to make thread. Split the bone and shape an
awl point. Stitch a leather neck pouch.
$10 materials fee
*** Shelter with Cheeny Plante
Small Animal Hide Tanning with Emma Markowitz
$10 materials fee
Soap Making with Marie Somers
Once you learn this traditional skill, you will never have to buy soap again. Everyone will go home with their own batch. $40 materials fee
Solar Battery Systems for Camper Vans with Robert Newmyer
Soldier's Rations with Kevin Bouck
Learn how a Revolutionary soldier made do with the rations they were given, how they cooked over a fire each day, and the different ways they used the ingredients they had on hand.
Sour Dough with Sarah White
Spoon Carving with Andy Dobos
***Trapping Talk & Demo with Kelly Stanley
Wild Plants for Healing the Gut with Grace Krupkowski
Take a walk around the wilderness to discover all the wild plants that support the digestive tract. From the stomach to the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and intestines! There are plants we can use in our own backyards that remedy any situation.
Women's Circle with Laura Wolfer Description
Woven Quivers with Jes Steele
$50 materials fee
Kid's Camp Classes