What we’re about
This is a group for everyone who feels we've lost touch with our roots -- feeling lost that most urban dwellers no longer know how to grow and preserve food, find food, etc. We'll meet and discuss, and do hands-on workshops to get back to our fundamental skills of self-reliance. This is all about modern empowerment -- looking to the past to find meaning in the future. This is an opportunity to network with like-minded people and learn what they are doing, and to learn and practice new skills each time we meet.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- MIDDAY FIRE WORKSHOP — hands-onHahamonga Watershed County Park (formerly Oak Grove), La canada, CA
To attend and for exact location, register HERE
SURVIVAL, BUSHCRAFT, SELF-RELIANCE!
Primitive skills are very popular, and the ability to make fire without matches is at the top of the list.
We will practice a few of the primitive methods of fire-starting methods, and you will learn some of the secrets that come from years of experience.
You will get to practice the bow drill, the hand drill, flint and steel, and the fire piston.
We will also go for a short walk (if time) so you can see the types of woods that are best for making fire, and the tinders that are best for getting your fire to light.
And enjoyable gathering. Bring a bowl and water.
And yes, you will learn about a few wild plants at this class as well.
Location sent when you register — most likely Hahamongna. - WILD FOOD COOKING — edible wild plants of Southern CaliforniaHahamonga Watershed County Park (formerly Oak Grove), La canada, CA
WILD FOOD COOKING WORKSHOP
Learn Edible Wild Plants of Southern California
Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m.
$65 ($45 for students and seniors)
We’re going to explore a local area, and do our best to create a local meal provided by nature.To attend and for exact location - Register HERE
We’ll create a meal with a salad, soup, vegetable dish, egg dish, pancakes, and a drink, from plants that we collect today and from plants that were previously collected. Our walk will not be long — it will be somewhat leisurely. We will collect along the way, learning how to identify food plants, as well as other non-food plants that we encounter.
Foraging has gotten popular — learn how to ethically forage, and how to properly identify wild plants. A great survival skill!
We never know exactly what we’ll find, but we are likely to have wild greens for salad and soup, buckwheat for pancakes, herbs for tea, cactus for an omelette, and possibly some wild fruits for a dessert item. But we don’t really know until after we do our walk about.
THIS COUNTS TOWARDS THE ETHNO-BOTANY CERTIFICATE.
Location sent out when you register.
$65 (senior/student $45) - LUNCHTIME NATURALIST & FORAGING WALKHahamonga Watershed County Park (formerly Oak Grove), La canada, CA
To attend and for exact location, register HERE
## July 31 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
$30.00 – $45.00
Thursday, July 31, Noon
FORAGING WALK
Join us as we explore the landscape with a naturalist’s eyes. We’ll learn about plants used by generations of indigenous peoples. We’ll see the many plants used for generations of people for wild foods, medicines, and utility. We’ll see California native plants, and we’ll see non-native edibles and medicinals.
And, if we get that far, we’ll explore some of the uses of yucca and other natural fibres.Bring water, and your bowl. Hahamongna Watershed Park, Location 2.
Regular $45 (senior/students $30)
Exact location sent with registration - FIBRE-CRAFT 101 (including introduction to basketry)Hahamonga Watershed County Park (formerly Oak Grove), La canada, CA
To attend and for exact location - Register HERE
Saturday, August 2, 10 a.m. FIBRE-CRAFT 101:
The Art of Turning Plant Fibres into Bags, Baskets, Nets, String, Sandals.
We’ve had some requests for a BASKETRY Workshop. This class will include Basketry basics, though this class will not be only basketry.
The art of working fibre is nearly a lost art. You’ll learn to recognize some of the common plants which yield a useful fibre, and learn how to work them into strings, and baskets, and nets, and sandals, and more. In the old days of the Southwest, the lives of the people were literally tied together with fibre: for shelter, for clothing (hats, belts, shoes), fishing nets, bags, weaponry, fire-making, brushes, looms for fabric.
In the past, most people had a more intimate connection to plant fibres. There are so many practical applications, though today someone makes everything we use. So it’s become a lost art.
You will learn how to process a few plant fibres and how to make them into a usable product!
