Over the past two months I have joined our Adult Earth Skills program as they harvested cattails, built shelters, cooked, and crafted. During the November 8 session, I sat down with Sophia as she was carving a beautiful wooden spoon. We had just spent the day building a cattail shelter in preparation for the Adult Program sleepover this December. The cattails we used for the roof were collected back in October by the same group. As Sophia worked on her spoon, I asked her how her time in the program had been going–
How did you hear about the program? Through the Ithaca reddit!
What do you get out of the program? It helps me as an adult safely learn skills about surviving in nature but also just having fun in nature. It’s a well rounded program for both the serious survival things but also the enjoyment of it. Like when we played tag today, that’s the best part but also the hickory nuts we gathered on the first day it was like “this is serious” if we were stuck with nothing to eat this would be an important way to sustain yourself. But its also just a very fun natural activity, looking at your collection of nuts
She elaborated more on what she had learned in the program: It’s also cool learning to use tools that are important to survival, like fire making tools, and understanding the proper ways to use them. Not only for my safety but also for the people around me. How to hold a knife properly, how to split wood properly, what kind of clothing to wear when you’re diving into a swamp…
Did you have any prior experience with this sort of thing? I’ve always been a hiker, but my grandfather who is 90 knows all these trees and plants and identifies them whenever we are out together. I know that skill is important in my family and I wanted to have that knowledge too. It’s a good balance of working with experienced people while also getting to experience it for yourself
Our adult workshops and skill series are for all skill levels! We love helping folks get back outside and learning completely new skills. Thank you so much to Sophia for chatting with me about the program.
