We are building a house with local materials. For insulation, we are using something called light straw clay. This is a mix of straw, clay, and water packed into temporary forms to take the place of synthetic insulation. It is a fun and messy process made even more enjoyable with a group! This Saturday, from … More Light-Straw Clay Work Day — Work and Learn
It is time for our annual prairie-seed-gathering workshop. Prairies are a growing part of our landscape out here. Until 2003, Jim Danky and Christine Schelshorn’s land was under agricultural cultivation, but they decided to turn it back into a prairie habitat after Christine took a workshop at the UW Arboretum. Through their friendship with Steve … More Upcoming Workshop — Gathering Prairie Seeds, Oct. 10, 1–3(ish) p.m., Free (Space is Limited)
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
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
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’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 into a prairie habitat. The Danky-Schelshorn Prairie was established … More Upcoming Workshop — Gathering Prairie Seeds, Sep. 21, 1–3(ish) p.m., Free (Space is Limited)