Adult Programming
We believe in a reciprocal relationship between community and skill building, finding that community enriches the adoption of new skills and skills enrich community. Whether you join us for a single workshop or one of our extended earth skills programs, we welcome you into our community and hope you will take what you have learned back to yours. AND WE ARE HIRING!
Double the fun. Bring a friend and you each get $25 off your workshop enrollment!
Adult Earth skills series
Select Saturdays by Season – NEXT UP: Spring with bow making focus
AGES 18+
10:00AM – 4:00PM
Adult Workshops
Selected Dates by Season – NEXT UP: Hide Tanning
AGES 18+
10:00AM – 4:00PM
INTRODUCTION TO HIDE TANNING
Ages 18+ | April 26 – 27, 2025 9am-5pm
Locations: 4-H Acres, Lower Creek Road, Ithaca, NY
Instructor: Danielle Prizzi (see bio on our people page).
Photo credit: Danielle Prizzi and Lyla White
In this 2 day introductory tanning workshop, we will be transforming local white-tailed deer hides into buckskin using the smoke tanning method.
Participants will practice:
- bucking a hide
- fleshing & graining – wet scraping method
- prepping the hide for applying fat emulsion
- framing & dry scraping
- rehydrating & stretching
- smoking a hide
In addition to processing the hides we will discuss methods for storage and preservation of fresh hides, creating your own at-home hide step up, and future hide tanning opportunities.
Background:
The process of turning animal skins into usable cloth or leather is a universal earth living skill, very likely in all of our ancestral lineages in some form. Regionally adapted methods of tanning hides, using the earth-based resources provided, have been a part of human existence for thousands of years! More recently evident in history, indigenous cultures all across the world still use/used the entire animal when processing them, turning raw hides into usable cloth. The warm, soft, durable and water-resistant buckskin being a highly valued resource for clothing, structures, vessels, shoes etc.
Tanning hides in old, natural, from the Earth ways using smoke, bark, brains, eggs, soap, salt, oil and minerals is having a slow revival. Over the last two centuries, much of the specific land-based nuance of tanning hides regionally has been lost due to the invention of chromium and harsh chemical tanning has dominated tanneries all over the world, having huge environmental impacts.
Disclaimer:
Hide tanning is physically (and often emotionally) enduring, hard and smelly work! This skill requires patience, persistence, and self-care. We will be working in a deeply heart-centered, intentional and held way, where Danielle will pass along my personal rituals around animal processing. Her intention is to make sure everyone feels comfortable and informed as this process is for your learning. Taking a break to stretch and move your body, root yourself in the Earth, and step away is always welcome. The deer hides provided were all sourced from local hunters.
Hide Tanning Fee:
$250 – $350 (income based tiered pricing)
About the Instructor:
Danielle Prizzi is an ancestral earth skills guide, craftswoman, an earth-centered somatic healing practitioner, community herbalist, naturalist, and a humbly radical homesteader, who weaves together a deep connection with each step. She has dedicated my life to living the skills that she teachs. Through embodying ancestral skills as the foundation of her life, she has been facilitating workshops and programs for everyone from kids to adults for the last 12 years and offers private earth skills & hide tanning mentorship.
Photo credit: Danielle Prizzi and Lyla White
Adult Earth Skills Series
Ages 18+ | Saturdays 10:00AM – 4:00PM
Location: 4-H Acres, 418Lower Creek Road, Ithaca and various other locations TBD.Each session of this program focusing on skills and activities of the season. Scroll down for some details relating to Fall, Winter and Spring Sessions.
Winter 2025 Dates:
- January 11th + 25th
- February 8th + 22nd
- March 8
Spring 2025 Dates:
- March 22nd
- April 5th + 19th
- May 10th + 24th
Winter Earth Skills
Fee: $495-$595*Sliding scale and scholarships are available!* Applications can be accessed through your Account
Spring Earth Skills
Fee: $495-$595*Sliding scale and scholarships are available!* Applications can be accessed through your Account
Spring Earth Skills SESSION
Focus: traditional long bow making
Spring is the time of birds, bows and ephemeral flowers. In this session we will focus on crafting handmade bows and arrows, foraging spring wild edibles and learning the birds as they return from the south. By opening our senses and learning to interpret what the land is telling us, we can reconnect to what it means to be part of the natural world.
The traditional wooden longbow is legendary for its power and accuracy. For thousands of years and all across the globe the longbow has built nations, fed families, protected homes and provided sport for people of all descriptions.Today this elemental tool continues to earn its singular place in history as a form of functional art that is just as effective and beautiful now as it was in the hands of our ancestors.
This Spring the Adult Earth Skills Series will dive deep into the art of wooden bow making. With more than 30 years of experience, our instructors will guide you through the process from identifying and harvesting a good “bow-tree” through final tillering and shooting your finished longbow. Using traditional techniques and simple hand tools you will craft a custom wooden bow suitable for hunting or target archery. Making arrows, arm-guards, and finger tabs will also be covered so you will be leaving with a complete archery set and the knowledge to continue your natural archery journey on your own.
There is really nothing like shooting a beautiful bow that you crafted with gratitude from living wood. Come with us as we follow our ancestors into the adventurous world of natural archery!
Our Basecamp and main teaching location will be at 4-H Acres 418 Lower Creek Rd Ithaca. Other locations for exploring and foraging TBD. A pre-camp email will give details of where we will meet and what to bring.
FALL SESSION Focus
Fall is all about celebrating abundance and preparing for winter. In this session we will focus on building shelters for our campout on November 9th and gathering and storing food for our final feast on December 14. We will learn fire skills including friction fire.
Our Basecamp and main teaching location will be at 4-H Acres, 418 Lower Creek Rd Ithaca. Other locations for foraging to be announced. A pre-program email will give details of where we will meet and what to bring.