Emergency Preparedness, Self-Reliance & Traditional Living
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Acorn Processing
Yes, Acorn does taste good! In fact, when properly
prepared, it tastes DELICIOUS. Plus, it is a highly nutritious and extremely
versatile food that can be incorporated into a whole list of everyday baked
goods.
Acorn has long been a staple food for indigenous people
all over North America and the world, and is definitely worth the time it takes
to make. You'll learn to identify and harvest the best acorns for your purpose,
how to store and preserve them, and most importantly, how to remove the tannins
that cause that bitter taste so often associated with Acorn.
You will process and prepare the Acorn to create an incredibly nutritious
and protein-rich flour, which we will use to make a variety of tasty treats,
including griddle cakes, dumplings, pizza/pie crusts, crumbles, and our favorite...
Acorn bread!
You will also discover just how easy it can be to incorporate
Acorn into your everyday baking to increase both fiber and nutritional values,
and deliver a nutty punch that can't be beat. It takes time, it takes effort,
but once you've discovered the benefits and tasted the results we know you'll
agree that Acorn is definitely worth it!
| March 24 | Clifton, TX | $95 | Register Now! |
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| October 27 | $85 | Register Now! |
Medicinal Plant Preparations: Tinctures, Salves, Decoctions, Infusions, Syrups & Lozenges
Begin your journey into unlocking the powerful medicines the plant
kingdom has to offer as you learn how to decode the amazing
properties in common "weeds" that surround us; many of which
are the original bases for items found in your local pharmacy! You'll
process many different parts of several different plants as you prepare
your own tinctures, salves, decoctions and infusions to take home with
you.
Begin your own herbal first aid kit and be prepared with
options to help strengthen your immune system and assist your
body to better use it's own resources, as well as natural
options to combat both the symptoms and the underlying causes
of those bugs to which you eventually succumb.
We'll
cover all the basics, including where to find your materials and ingredients (both
in nature and online), how to easily discern some of the key medicinal
properties of a plant, and the indispensable resources that will
assist you as you continue on this new and exciting path.
Open yourself up to a whole new world in the incredible wonders of nature's
own pharmacy!
(For more on medicinal plant identification and use
in their natural state, please check out our Medicinal
Plants workshop.)
›› CHECK
THIS OUT!
The
Photos: Our Medicinal Plants workshop in Texas
this past June was a great day of discovery and fun! Everyone
left with the beginnings of their own "natural medicinals
kit", and the knowledge to keep adding to it! Check out some
of the photos to see for yourself.
Skill
of the Month: Our September '08 newsletter profiled one
of the easiest (and tastiest) natural cold remedies around. Pine
Needle Tea is super-high in vitamin C and the expectorant and
decongestant qualities can be very helpful when fighting a cough and cold.
See these step-by-step instructions to try it for yourself.
Natural Dyes
Goldenrod, Red Osier Dogwood, Osage Orange, Black Walnut, Indigo, Cochineal Beetle...
The art and alchemy of using natural materials to dye fibers will be fully
explored and experimented with in this workshop. You will process a variety
of plants and other sources and use them to produce multiple beautiful dyes
of various colors.
In addition, you'll learn the secrets to using natural dyes
on plant-based fibers like cotton and linen, with spectacular and vibrant results!.
›› Great for Holiday Gift-giving!
›› CHECK
THIS OUT!
Student Comments: Read
what past students of this workshop have to say.
Skill
of the Month: Black Walnuts make one of the strongest
and most color-fast brown natural dyes available, and we featured
it in our Ocotber '08 issue of our monthly e-newsletter, Practically
Speaking.
Soap Making
With all of the additives, chemicals and allergies that plague our world today,
natural soaps have begun popping up in more and more mainstream stores. But
why pay a premium to have a soap that contains ingredients that you can actually
pronounce when you can make your own? Forget the idea of a harsh, rough, sandpaper
soap — the creamy, soap you'll make today will make lots of lather
that will leave your skin soft and smooth, never dry.
In this one-day workhsop you will participate in making both cold-process
and hot-process soap, using all-natural, vegetable materials. You will also learn
how to incorporate essential oils and natural botanicals that will allow you
to personalize your soaps, based on your own preferences or allergies.
In addition, you will be introduced to the proper way of making soap in primitive conditions that will NOT be gritty, greasy or full of ash!
(Workshop price includes the cost of mailing your cold-process soap to you once it is free from the mold. You'll take your hot-process bars home with you that day!)
›› This workshop is not currently on the schedule, but we'll let you know the next time it's offered.‹‹
Felt Making
Hats, shoes, rugs, placemats, clothing, shelter, decorative objects…
All of these and much, much more can be made using the ancient
art of Felt Making. "Wet Felting" is the process of binding
fibers together with water, heat and soap — a simple and extremely
effective way in which to create strong, usable material for a multitude
of purposes. In this workshop you'll have the chance to choose from several
different projects to felt and take home with you, including a hat, mittens,
a bag, or even a Christmas stocking!
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Emergency Preparedness & the "GO" Bag
GO Bag — Bug-out Bag — GOOD Bag (Get Out
Of Dodge) — Emergency Survival Kit — Whatever you choose
to call it, this is the one piece of indespensible equipement that EVERYONE
must have. There is no excuse for being unprepared in an emergency
situation, whatever it may be. The ability to move quickly and easily,
knowing everything you need is ready to be picked up on a moment's notice,
can make all the difference. Self-reliance is about
knowing that you are prepared for virtually any type of emergency situation,
and while a thorough knowledge of survival strategies is indispensable,
a well-prepared emergency kit at home, work and in the car can make the
unexpected far less dangerous, and increase your odds of safety and survival
exponentially.
Along with our fully stocked In-home Emergency Kit, we each have
our own Bug-out Bags
that GO everywhere
we do, and so should you and each member of your family (including pets!)
This workshop will teach you how to put together your own House Kit that
will prepare you & your whole family to Shelter-in-Place for a week or
longer during an emergency situation, or can be picked up and packed
without fuss or muss should an evacuation become necessary. We will also
go through other important emergency kits to have prepared, of which the GOOD
Bag is
the main portable module. You will learn what to put in your kit, how
to use each item in various survival and emergency scenarios, and methods
of packing your emergency supplies that will keep the items in
a safe and useable condition over the long term.
While
the odds of having to use your House Kit and GO Bag are (hopefully!)
slim, never forget the old saying: "Failure to Plan is
Planning to Fail."
›› This workshop is not currently on the schedule, but we'll let you know the next time it's offered.‹‹
Don't
want to wait to begin your Emergency Preparations?
Check
out our Emeregency Preparedness Webinar Series!
Emergency Preparedness 1: What Am
I Preparing For???? — Watch the RECORDING as
many times as you want for 30 days! ($25)
Emergency Preparedness 2: The
GO Bag — Attend the LIVE
BROADCAST of this Interactive
Online Webinar Workshop ($20)
December 28th, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
(Includes access to the Recording for the
entire month of January!
Backwoods Hygiene & Improvised First Aid
Good hygiene is even more important when you are out in the woods than it
is when you are at home and the importance of proper
sanitation in a backwoods or survival situation can not be overstated
— more people become sick from a "casual" attitude toward
hygiene and sanitation than from almost anything else!
This new workshop will
teach you how and where to dig a latrine, ways to keep your perishables
safe, plants that can be used as soaps and several other simple rules that
will help you keep your food, your camp and your self in a state
of safe cleanliness.
But what if you're out in the back country and
something DOES go wrong? Learn how to improvise
bandages, deal with cuts and wounds using some "must-know"
medicinal plants, and amazing alternative uses for common bathroom
items that should always be in your backpack or GO Bag.
NOTE: The improvised first aid techniques taught in
this workshop have been used and proven effective
by our good friend Mark Wright throughout his 20 year career as an Independant
Duty Corpsman with the US Navy. As with all of our workshops, we only teach
what we KNOW!
›› CHECK
THIS OUT!
The
Photos: See the pictures that we took during this workshop
at our Texas location in June '09
›› This workshop is not currently on the schedule, but we'll let you know the next time it's offered.‹‹
Building a Reed Boat
In this workshop we will construct a simple boat using commonly available reeds that are easy to find in any coastal environment. Begining with the freshly harvested materials, the group will work together to make a full-sized reed boat approximately 12-15 feet in length.
You will be a part of the entire boat-building process, and will also learn variations on the building style that originated in several different parts of the world.
At the end of the day we will head to the coast, when you will have the opportunity to climb aboard the newly finished vessel and test the day's handiwork for yourself!
›› This workshop is not currently on the schedule, but we'll let you know the next time it's offered.‹‹
Out of the Darkness: Primitive Candles, Lamps & Illumination
The ability to create light is one of the greatest unsung advances of our ancestors. Without artificial illumination the winter nights would have been VERY long indeed, and many necessary tasks would have gone undone. No baskets made, no nets mended, no pottery formed, no cordage processed… just waiting until the sun rose again. There are many ways to bring light and break out of the darkness, and in this workshop you will learn how to make a variety primitive lamps, torches, candles and other forms of illumination. You'll make candles from beeswax, render fat to make lamp oil, discover what you can use for wicks, as well as which materials will last the longest, produce the brightest flames, and the least smoke. Never worry about a blackout again!
| February 5, 2012 | Great Meadows, NJ | $95 | Register Now! |
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››NEW! Keeping the Harvest: Food Drying, Storage & Preservation
We've all been there — our garden is bursting at the seams or
our berry bushes are overflowing or meat locker is stuffed full and we
are begging friends and neighbors to please take some
of our bounty off our hands! Well no more!
This workshop will teach you the many different ways - both primitive and
modern - that you can dry, store and preserve your food for the coming
months. Drying racks, root cellars, canning, fermenting and many different
methods of preserving food in all sorts of different forms will be covered,
and you will leave here with a much broader understanding of the many ways
people, both past and present, have stored and prepared for winter. This
workshop has been purposefully scheduled at a time when (we hope) our own
gardens will be brimming with delicious freshness, and we will be busily
squirreling away for the coming leaner months! Because believe me, $4/lb
cardboard tomatoes is something that we can all do without! :-)
››NEW! Making Jams, Jellies & Preserves
One of our FAVORITE times of year! Jams & jellies are
a wonderful way to preserve both the flavor and memory of summer throughout
the rest of the year. Scheduled during peak berry season, we will use
both fresh and frozen berries to make jams and jellies, and other available
in-season fruits to make canned preserves of all sorts. We will cover
both "hot process" and freezer jams, the role of pectin and when you
can do without, sugar-free and natural sweetner options, and how to choose
which is the best option for your fruits.
Jam, jellies and preserves are easy to make, DELICIOUS to eat and make
a wonderful and welcome gift any time of the year. Making them is one of
the things we love the most, and we look forward to sharing that passion
(and the "fruits" of our day) with you!