Fire is the oldest way to cook food and also one of the most delicious.  This class will teach you to quickly light a fire in any weather condition with natural materials.  We will practice different ignition methods, learn to create a tinder bundle, and arrange a firelay, and how to cook ash baked pita bread.

This class gives participants and understanding of basic Anishinaabe/three fires Confederacy history. This course will teach about the three communities  of the (Ojibwe, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples). Participants will gain knowledge of basic greetings, value systems, and resources for future learning/connection building. 

Come into your body, heart, and mind with a somatic movement class held in the woods by a babbling brook. Bring something to lay on the earth and anything you need to make your body feel cozy. 

As the sun sinks low, come drop into your body and notice your breath, your legs, and your feet on the earth. Let's slow down and really feel each step we take. I will bring my background of real-world hunting into a realm of play. We will practice "fox walking" as well as a few other stalking techniques and then put them into practice with a big group stalking game. Let's feel our feet, deeply listen, move slowly, and tune into our intuition.

Sonic sound bath healing group session. 

Creating and tending fire is one of the most uniquely human things there is. I feel that getting closer to fire by starting it in this ancient way re-connects us to nature, our ancestors, our bodies, community, and ourselves. Come feel this joy and re-connection and spin a fire into existence with just a few sticks and a stone.

I will start with a demo and go over some fundamentals. Then, everyone can grab a set and play with it themselves. Most of this class will be a "bow drill open mat" where you can learn hands-on with some coaching. Bow drill sets will be provided and for sale at the end of class.

Please bring a knife if you have one!

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Birch Bark Winnowing baskets are an essential tool for traditional wild rice processing. This lovely basket is used to separate the chaff from the rice grain. Birch Bark Harvested by Roger.

Spend some time with our long-eared friends Olga and Bernice. You will have the opportunity to experience hands-on grooming and harnessing while learning about the uniqueness of our honest friends! We will top off the experience with a wagon ride around Tillers'  beautiful farm!

We plan to highlight Janie's Mill (Ashkum, IL) organically grown, and milled on farm grains for pasta making.  We will demonstrate traditional pasta making focused on whole grains and specialty grains along with finishing some pasta dishes to showcase the flavors and options for ready to serve meal ideas.   

Spend a few hours learning the basics of our powerful draft horses, from grooming and care to harnessing to a wagon for a ride around Tillers' beautiful farm! You might even get a chance to drive these amazing animals! 

This is a basic class on foraging. We will learn how to utilize the foods that are growing and thriving on our landscape. Foraging is an excellent way to get involved in ancestral living as it is one of the most intimate ways we can learn to interact with the world. Identification, sustainability, ethics and morals plus why we do it will all be topics discussed! 

Doing a deep dive Jim is famous for on one of his Trees. There are so many surprising aspects and application of Malus Domestica. Hear the lively tale of this tree and all the gifts it has to offer.

This session will delve into the connection between the human animal and the rest of the natural life-death-life cycle. We are all inescapably linked to the food web. As omnivores, humans have an abundance of choices about how we connect to that natural web. The choice to connect directly as an omnivorous meso-predator opens the door to a sacred practice of balancing ethics and survival, of facing death and reconciliation with its place in the food web. As animals our life-sustaining practice has within it a cost of the life of another being, animal, vegetable, or both. The hunter's mindset is a sacred right of humankind, that can be accessed through an openness to the Gaian mind. To serve us best it must be nurtured, understood, and cultivated carefully.

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Have you ever wanted to be more connected to your food? Or know exactly where every bite of meat came from, what it does, and how to cook it? 

Come learn all of this and more! We will break down and process the whole goat that we killed the day before. We will start with a whole carcass and finish with ready-to-eat meat. As we work will tell stories, laugh, sing, and share gratitude for this animal. Come feel an ancient feeling of abundance and richness that is unlike anything else... Fresh meat, warm food, good friends. 

As we progress, subgroups can break off and cook meat over the fire. We will end the day with an abundant feast. Bone broth, stew, smoked ribs, and fresh smoky steak. 

There is a hidden magic in the alchemy of bloody flesh to warm feast, and it will change you. This meal will be something special.

Make the essential tools to respectfully gather Manoomin (wild rice.)

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Crafting a Push-poll and  a set of small Knockers with a draw knife and shave horse. 

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Honored to have Roger sharing this!

This class looks at practical ways to fill a frying pan or freezer with some of Michigan's terrific fish resources. Appropriate for first timers. 

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*Fishing license encouraged (Not needed for Youth.)

Oxen are a practical alternative to tractors on a small farm or in a woodlot, and they’re a heck of a lot of fun, too. In this half day session, you’ll quickly learn the three basic ways teamsters communicate with a team of oxen; then we’ll yoke up a team or two and put them to work. Even if you’ve never worked with cattle before, you’ll be impressed at how much communication you can share with a team and how responsive they can be. 

Bats! What are these majestic and misunderstood creatures of the night?

Join us on this evening walk to learn more about Michigan's native and migratory bat species and their critical role in a functioning ecosystem. Participants will observe bats in real-time using a portable bat detector, making it possible to hear, identify, and record nearby bats.

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Instructors will take you through the theory of stone construction and shaping of fieldstone into building stone. Discussion will cover the characteristics of different stone types and the mechanics of splitting and dressing stone. You will then have opportunities to practice selecting, splitting, and building with raw materials quarried locally.

Hand tool woodworking is a pleasure when the tools are sharp. Learn how to grind a bevel to the correct angle, and use oil stones, water stones, and diamond plates with a honing guide to get a razor-sharp edge. The focus of this class will be on sharpening wood chisels and plane irons. You can sharpen some of our tools, or bring your own dull tools with you to work on.

Create your own funeral or ceremony to suit your needs and the wishes of your loved one.

Learn to hold a nurturing and healing environment for those present at the transition and funeral.

Covering:

- Washing and preparing the body

- Dressing the body

- Shrouding and moving the body

- Preparing for vigil

- Which supplies are needed

- Local options for environmentally friendly burial

- Legalities in Michigan

- Ceremony and creating your own celebration of life

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Knitting is found in Egypt around 300 AD.

It comes to Europe around 1400 AD.

We will learn the cast on, knit stitch, and bind off to make garters to hold your socks up. 

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Needles and yarn provided or bring your own!

Naalbinding is an ancient technique for constructing hats, socks and mittens.
It has minimal tools, a needle, and uses short pieces of wool yarn. 

It is a weaving technique that uses your thumb for tensioning.
Construction can be compared to crochet for increases and decreases.

We will be making a small bag to carry your supplies . 

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$20 Supply Fee.

Needle to keep and Wool Included in fee. 

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Learn to extract, process, and work materials to make a cord. This is typically done with fibers like cattail, milkweed, dogsbane, yucca and many others. The finished cordage can used for any type of net-making. 

Catch some wild yeaty bugs and learn to make soda, cordial, sourdough starter, champagne and lots more!

Learn to Attach several types of tools to a shaft or handle. Arrowheads, knive blades, awesome and 

Learn the basics of distillation including how to use a still, what plants work well in distillation, and uses of herbal distillates.  We will have a copper alembic still, a stainless steel electric still, a stovetop pot still, and a basic setup using typical kitchen equipment for participants to explore.  We will run an herb through one of the stills, and participants will leave with a sample of the distillate.

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Weave your own garlic hanging basket or "fish trap."  This basket will be made with opportunistic plants growing on-site. Easily made in one sitting. 

Cold processed goat milk soap made in the traditional cold process method and shared by Tiller’s neighbors. ACCORN is a working farm catering to adults with ASD. We are so excited to host them! 

This class is focused on providing easy, high quality animal foods, from insects to eggs, mice to deer. It is NOT a conventional hunting, fishing or trapping class. 

Learning to handle an animal through dispatch, butchering, and cooking is a skill as old as time. Take the step and know what it takes to really appreciate where your meat comes from. . Rabbit is a good introduction for animal processing. Raised humanely and locally. 

Craft a pinecone basket with Ponderosa pine needle foraged from Florida. These very long needles make the basket come together faster. These are stunning and fun to make. 

Learn this timeless and exciting skill!
 

This will be open to Bows and Atlatls. Bring yours along. 

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Friendly Competitions each day.

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Range will be open multiple sessions during the gatherings.

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Kids encouraged 

Fashion a scratch awl or hatpin. 

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Great all around tool or secret weapon!

Learn the ancient art of Brain tanning. We will be showcasing all the steps to finish a supple deer hide.

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From fleshing to streching and smoking.

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Will cover Bark tanning methods . 

This session will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of smithing: basic hammer skills, heat treating, forge welding, and identification of “found” steels. Safety, tools, techniques, and materials will be reviewed. With an anvil for each student, there will be an opportunity for hands-on learning with superb coaching.

Learn the ancient process of taking flint and turning it into an arrowhead. 

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Open Pit.

In this class we will go over the basics of how to take a landscape from a barren wasteland to a fulfilling and biodiverse paradise that feeds both humans and beasts alike. Class requires some existing knowledge of plants for it to make any sense.

Cyanotypes are a contact print using the sun's power to react gorgeous blue-hued prints. We will use foraged materials and make a series of Large format images! 

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All skills levels!

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Unlock the secrets of your emotional world and discover the hidden treasures of your inner landscape in our one-time class, "Your Moon Sign - Your Inner Landscape." Join me for an enlightening journey into the depths of your soul as we explore the profound influence of your Moon sign on your emotional wellbeing and inner fulfillment.
 

This class offers a unique opportunity to delve into the mystical realm of the Moon and gain profound insights into your emotional needs, instincts, and subconscious patterns. Through a comprehensive exploration of each Moon sign's influence on the psyche, participants will uncover the keys to unlocking their deepest desires, and learn practical steps for working with and embodying their Moon sign more fully.

In this transformative class, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the significance of the Moon in their birth chart and how it shapes their emotional landscape. From the nurturing embrace of Cancer to the adventurous spirit of Sagittarius, each Moon sign holds valuable insights into our innermost needs and longings, offering guidance for cultivating greater self-awareness and emotional fulfillment.

Whether you're seeking to heal emotional wounds, enhance your relationships, or simply gain a deeper understanding of yourself, this class offers invaluable wisdom and guidance for embracing the transformative energy of the Moon.

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In this class you will learn the technique originally taught by my teacher and founder of evolutionary astrology, Jeff Wolf Green.  By looking at Venus as well as the 2nd, 7th and 12th houses we can explore our needs in relationships to ourselves (2nd house and Taurus side of Venus), to others (7th house and Libra side of Venus) as well as where we project expectation and ideal onto ourselves and others (12th house and Neptune as higher octave of Venus).

Venus represents our relationship to ourselves and others, she is our likes and dislikes, our values, innate resources, our sensual pleasures as well as how we listen to ourselves and others.  By delving into the Venus archetype within our charts we can see where we’ve been projecting needs on others and how to better meet our own needs. Join me as we learn to take better care of ourselves and meet others on a more conscious and balanced level.

This interactive class is perfect for: anyone new or “new-ish” to incorporating plants and mushrooms into their everyday lives and people who want to gain more confidence about experimenting with plant and mushroom products in their household (especially homemade ones!). Bring the natural world into your household and your life and watch the magic unfold as plants and mushrooms change us in unexpected ways the more we work with them.

More coming soon.....