We manage an abandoned apple orchard of about a hundred trees. This year appears to have a bumper crop. We need your help clearing out run away growth. In exchange, we’ll be hosting a apple-picking and cider-making event in September and volunteers will be invited! Experience is not required. We will have enough experienced folks … More Apple Orchard Work Days — Volunteer Sign Up
Apples are one of the world’s most popular fruit trees, but they are especially important in American history. At previous times, the government required homesteaders to plant an apple orchard to prove their investment in their land. The prohibitionist’s axe was for cutting down apple trees, as cider was as popular as beer up until … More Upcoming Workshop: Planting, Grafting, and Pruning Apple Trees, April 19 | Pay What You Can
We’re back at the Wisconsin Garden & Green Living Expo, February 13–15. It’d be great for you to stop by our booth, or even volunteer and get free entry! … More Visit the WI Garden & Green Living Expo for Free (by Volunteering with Us)
In this workshop, participants will learn to card and spin wool from a cleaned fleece, into yarn suitable for crochet, knitting, or weaving. We will use fleeces sourced from the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival Fleece Show for this class, which will be processed from washed wool into roving by carding in the morning. After … More Learn to Spin: Fleece to Yarn — Upcoming Workshop, Oct. 4–5 | $175/class
It is time for our 5th annual prairie-seed-gathering workshop. We’ll start by visiting a “baby” prairie, established just this last year, across the commons from the institute. Then we’ll head just down the road to the Danky-Schelshorn Prairie. Until 2003, this land was under agricultural cultivation, but Jim and Christine decided to turn it back … More Upcoming Workshop — Gathering Prairie Seeds, Sep. 27, 1–3(ish) p.m., Free (Space is Limited)
NOTE: This workshop has been cancelled. Please sign up to our listserve (see the footer of the page) to be notified when we offer this again. In this three-part workshop, participants will learn to harvest, process, and spin flax plants into linen thread suitable for weaving. We have a small flax plot that we’ll be harvesting … More Flax to Linen — Upcoming Workshop, August 30-31 – $250
Today Scott will be joining the Larry Meiller Show for “Garden Talk” on WPR from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can listen on 88.7 FM in the Madison area. You can also listen online at: https://wpr-ice.streamguys1.com/wpr-ideas-mp3-64 Listeners can ask garden questions by calling 800-642-1234 during the show or emailing talk@wpr.org.
We’ve been growing and processing wheat and rye by hand for a years. This weekend, we will harvest it using scythes and sickles. Then it has to get tied into sheaves and stood up in shocks to dry. Once dry, it has to be threshed to remove the grains from the heads, and then winnowed … More Upcoming Workshop — Hand-Harvesting Wheat and Rye, Jul. 19, 9 a.m.–12 p.m., $35 ($25 for members)
Join us this May for a masonry heater build here at LTI. … More Masonry Heater Workshop, May 1-4, $400-800
We’re back at the rebranded Wisconsin Garden & Green Living Expo, February 7–9. It’d be great for you to stop by our booth, or even volunteer and get free entry! Every year this event draws thousands from the southern Wisconsin area to see presentations, demonstrations, and vendors all focused on gardening and sustainability. You can … More Volunteer with Us and Visit the WI Garden Expo for Free