We offer workshops on a variety of topics. We are currently accepting proposals for workshops taught by local experts. If you have experience in a traditional or sustainable technology and would like to earn a little money while sharing your skills, please contact us.
Upcoming Workshops
Some of the below workshops have dates, but join as a member to get a discount and/or subscribe our our listserv to be notified when signup is possible.
Timber Framing Build Classes
This is offered as a “work-and-learn” workshop, meaning it is less formal than a class — but it provides good hands-on experience. Each class is $20 or as noted. Get a “season pass” and attend any or all of the $20 classes all season for $200. Materials fees are extra. Students must have some of their own tools as our supplies are limited.
If you are particularly interested in a specific class, please email me to be notified of a date when it is set.
Workdates:
| March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| 25 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 9 | ||
| 15 | 20 | 24 | 22 | 26 | 15 | ||
| 22 | 27 | 29 | |||||
| 29 |
Previous Workshops
03 Dec 16 — Bread Baking
22 Apr 17 — Beehive Inspection
13 May 17 — Basic Carpentry
29 Jul 17 — DIY Solar Water Heating
12 Aug 17 — DIY Solar Water Heating
28 Oct 17 — Cordial Making
29 Oct 17 — Walipini Greenhouse I: Foundation and Earthbags
04 Nov 17 — Walipini Greenhouse II: Earthbags
11 Nov 17 — Snowshoe Building
12 Nov 17 — Walipini Greenhouse III: Earthbags and Superstructure
02 Dec 17 — Venison Butchery
18 Feb 18 — Knife Sharpening
24 Feb 18 — Flintknapping
03 Mar 18 — Maple Sugaring
25 Mar 18 — Nukadoko – Traditional Japanese Pickles
22 Apr 18 — Apple Planting, Grafting, and Pruning
28 Apr 18 — Garden Tool Use and Care
12 May 18 — Basic Carpentry, Aldo Leopold Bench
18–20 May 18 — Working Zen Retreat
26 May 18 — Grape Vine Establishment and Care
28 Jul 18 — Shibori, Japanese Fabric Dying
22 Sep 18 — Mite-Tolerant Bee-Breeding Program Field Day
27 Jan 19 — Beeswax Food Wraps
1–2 Jun 19 — Skill Share Classes: Rocket Stove Construction, Basic and Improving Scything, Knife and Tool Sharpening, Backyard Permaculture and Sacred Space, Spoon Carving, Shiitake and Wincap Mushroom Growing
05 Oct 19 — Installing Solar Panels
19 Oct 19 — Prairie-Seed Gathering
25 Jul 20 — Harvesting and Processing Wheat by Hand
18 Oct 20 — Prairie-Seed Gathering
Jun–Aug 21 — Timber Framing and Thatching Work Days
Jul–Aug 21 — Flax to Linen
17 Jul 21 — Harvesting Wheat By Hand
Oct 21 — Learn to Spin: Fleece to Yarn
09 Apr 22 — Refurbishing Antique Tools (at Schumacher Farm)
16 Apr 22 — Learn to Spin Wool
17 Apr 22 — Planting, Grafting, and Pruning Apple Trees
06 Jul 22 — Harvest and Process Wheat and Rye by Hand
20 Aug 22 — Flax to Linen
Information for Instructors
You send us an email at lowtechinstitute@gmail.com with your name, contact info, a 2–4 sentence description of the course, your qualifications, some possible dates, and suggested price. Also please note what type of facilities you’d need on hand (e.g., work benches, chairs, outdoor space, and audio/visual set ups). Once we’ve got the details hammered out, the institute staff will promote the workshop on local social networks, take reservations and fees, and get everything set up for the course. You come out, teach the course, and head home with $25-50 per class hour (dependent on attendance) plus reimbursement for direct costs (e.g., handouts, samples, take-home items for students). For example, if you teach a sold-out three-hour class on tying flies and provide $25 worth of tying supplies, you’d head home with $175 ((3 hr × $50/hr) + $25). We will work together to decide on the cost of the class and minimum number of attendees. For our part, we provide insurance, space and infrastructure for the class, reservation coordination, fee collection, and staff hours to advertise, coordinate, prepare, and facilitate.
Transition Series
The institute is committed to supporting the skills we need as individuals and communities to be self-sufficient without major fossil-fuel inputs. In that light, we’re looking for instructors to teach courses on skills in the rubric found here. For example, these can range from caring for and raising animals to planning gardens and propagating plants, building skills and home water systems, and permaculture and energy audits. Really any skill that is useful on a homestead — and there are many — would be welcome. Please read the transition description and contact us to pitch your class and see below for how it works to teach a class with us.