Humble Oak Folk School

Traditonal Spoon Carving

with Nicholas WazeeGale

Saturday, April 12th 2025

9:00am- 4pm 

This one day carving class will focus on some basic carving strokes for spoon and utensil carving, carving safety, working with 'green' wood, and methodology for reduction of a blank into an utensil. We will have a demo and discussion on axe work, sharpening, and finishing of projects, but there will only be time to go over these parts briefly. We will work at carving a spoon with the later part of our day but participants will likely leave with a little work to do, but also with the know-how to carve in a more skilled, effective, and safe way in  their future. 

Youth Earth Skills Day (Ages 10-15)

with Nicholas WazeeGale

Friday, April 11th 2025

9:30am- 4:30pm 

In our day together we will endeavor to learn some old methods and crafts of long ago times that can connect us to our landscape today. We will work with hand made bow-drill sets to bring fire to life with only what the land gives us. We will learn cord and rope making with fibers of nettle stalk and basswood inner bark. And we will endeavor to make bowls from small half logs using coals from the fire and our breath. These skills bring us into closer connection with our ecosystems and instill in us more resiliency and competency in the wilds. These skills also take time to gain proficiency with but with a good introduction we can proceed in that direction! 

Click Here to Register 

The Individualities of the Far Out Planets

with Colin Treiber

Saturday, March 22nd 2025

6pm- 7:30pm 

Since time immemorial the stars have spoken to humankind.  For example, the far out planets of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto - despite being invisible to the naked human eye - are written into story and myth thousands of years before their physical, technological discovery.  Imagine what oral history, could we recall it, would make of them?  Indeed, they were massively important individualities of spirit and soul long before human consciousness gained their physicality.  Now that we are aware of their physical characteristics, have we all but forgotten their individualities?  Individualities which work upon us with increasing force...

This talk will look into the mythological and symbolic history of the far out planets (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) in an attempt to present an understanding of their unique individualities.  We will further the mythological history by also looking into the events in American history that were unfolding at the time of physical discovery of these three planets. 

Seed Saving Skillshare + Sharing Table

with Holly Morgan

Saturday, March 15th 2025

This Spring Equinox join experienced gardener Holly Morgan in The Woods as she discusses the art and importance of seed saving. This course will explore the historical connections that seed saving has to building relationship with the land and our bioregional ecosystems. Learn how to plan your growing spaces for seed saving, how to choose the plants from which to save, and ways to prepare and store saved seeds.There will be an opportunity for hands on seed preparation and to take home seeds of your own through a Community Sharing Table  where participants are invited to bring seeds to swap for the upcoming growing season. 

Broom Making: Hearth Broom

with Carol May

Saturday, February 8th, 2025

Brooms have been made and used for centuries throughout the world.  Using natural broom corn and simple tools, craft your own hearth broom for use at your fireplace or for simple decoration.  Students will learn to prepare handles and broom corn, assemble and tie brooms securely using a foot spindle, weave handles, attach hangers, and stitch brooms.      

Norwegian Dragon Carving

with Mitch Vesaas

Saturday, February 8th, 2025

Learn different wood carving techniques to create a traditional Norwegian inspired Dragon motif carved on soft Bass Wood. 

Students are to provide their own carving tools.

Stone Wrapping

with Nan Calvert

Saturday, January 18th 2025

Stone wrapping in the Japanese tradition of Mizuhiki knots originated thousands of years ago. Using caning and other materials, decorative knots and swirling patterns are fashioned around smooth, flat, river rocks. The result is a unique and beautiful piece of art to grace your home and hearth. Each one imparts a sense of calm and well being. 

Guided Forest Therapy Walk - Nature Connection 

with Gwen Ripp

Saturday, January 4th 2025

Begin 2025 with the intention of cultivating your relationship with nature, slowing down and being present. If you are looking to spend more time outdoors, reduce stress and provide moments of rest and rejuvenation for yourself in the new year then this walk is for you. 

Join Intentionally Outdoors on a 2 hour guided Forest Therapy walk, where we invite you back to nature, connection and community. This walk takes place in a wooded area on a gentle trail. Your guide, Gwen will lead you through a series of sensory-based invitations designed to encourage mindful interactions with nature. We move at a leisurely pace with opportunities to connect and share with fellow participants. Walks typically conclude with a gathering where tea and refreshments are provided.

Our walks are designed for adults aged 18 and older. These gentle and restorative walks are for all activity levels and usually cover less than one mile.

Light snacks will be provided.

What is Forest Therapy? 

Forest Therapy, inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku or forest bathing, involves immersing yourself in nature through all five senses. 

Gwen, a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide leads you through a series of sensory based invitations that encourage mindful interactions with nature. These walks are not a traditional hike, exercise or naturalist walk, instead Forest Therapy focuses on nurturing your relationship with nature and yourself, fostering relaxation and rejuvenation. It is a practice where we slow down, awaken our senses and reconnect to the land.

You can find more information about Intentionally Outdoors and Forest Therapy on our website www.intentionallyoutdoors.com

Learning from the Land in Early Fall

with Nicholas WazeeGale

Saturday, September 28th,  2024

In this explorative and experiential program we will delve into a more up close and personal relationship with Nature and perceiving more deeply the workings of our local wilds. Through using a fuller range of our senses, looking in the right places for the tracks and signs animals leave us, and gaining a greater knowledge base of our wild neighbors and their habits, we will begin to see into the overlooked workings of our ecosystem. Whether examining a nibbled-upon plant, a fresh set of animal prints, a nest in a fencerow, or the details of an unfamiliar plant in the understory, we can begin to learn so much more about our animal and plant neighbors by observing things thoroughly, using background knowledge, and applying some basic problem solving techniques. Practicing and integrating these tools into our time outdoors will open up a dynamic and intriguing world and also offer us a healthy and harmonious way to connect more deeply with Nature. These methods can even offer personal lessons and help us become more beneficial and aware stewards of our local wild communities.

Field Botany for Herbalists & Foragers

with Linda Conroy

Sunday, July 14th, 2024

Plant Observations and Field Botany for Herbalists and Foragers

This program is intended to increase the skills and confidence of herbal enthusiasts, herbalists and foragers.  Learning and practicing field botany is fun and one of the most important skills for any forager. Through playful and engaging observation exercises, as well as practices with plant keys, you will leave this program feeling confident and excited about engaging with the plant world. Bring your favorite ID books and a hand lens (if you do not have one, there will be some for you to use and/or purchase). 

Handbuilding with Clay

with Jared Janovec

Saturday, June 8th, 2024

This class is focused towards learning about and experiencing foundational approaches in creating small, utilitarian, handbuilt clay/ceramic drinking vessels and bowl forms. Students will receive a variety of hands-on demonstrations during the early part of the class session, with the remainder of the session being dedicated for students to develop their own clay vessel form outcomes with guided mentorship as needed. Focus will be in the development of utilitarian, user-friendly ceramic vessel forms with personalized textural and other surface enhancement features.

Farm to Yarn Immersive Class, with Rachel Catlett from Brown Dog Farm & Ellie Barbeau

Saturday, April 27th, 2024

Immerse yourself in a full day of wooly goodness and the wonderful world of farm and fiber! Spend the morning at a sheep farm meeting new lambs, learning about wool and how the regenerative farm operates. Then in the afternoon, learn how to spin your own handmade yarn from the sheep you met that morning!

We will start the day at Brown Dog Farm, in Sugar Creek Wisconsin, and meet some Icelandic and Shetland sheep and their new lambs!! Farmer, Rachel, will explain the difference between sheep and goats and the different aspects of their fleece.

See up close examples of wool on the hoof, shorn fleeces, skirting, cleaning, scouring and prepping for mill carding or hand carding,  and spinning. Learn how a regenerative farm raises sheep on rotationally grazed pastures and learn a bit about raising grass fed healthy foraging sheep.

In the afternoon, we will gather at the Honey Creek Collective to learn how to spin yarn and continue learning about how to prepare raw wool for spinning– washing, carding, storage, etc. Participants will become familiar with the amazing variety of fibers that can be spun and the work, time and care needed to go from animal to finished garment or product. 

This class will also be a great introduction to cover the basics of drop spinning. If you can whirl a top, you can spin your own yarn using a drop spindle! A very traditional and ancient craft, this spinning technique has been around for a LONG time – some of the earliest man-made artifacts are spindle whorls- made from wood, bone, and stone! A drop spindle is a versatile and portable spinning tool that with a little patience and a flick of the wrist can create exquisitely unique, handmade yarn. Using prepared wool roving and a top whorl spindle, we’ll work on putting the spindle in motion, drafting the fiber, and putting twist into the fiber.

The class will include lots of hands-on learning. Various different types of spinning wheels and wool processing equipment such as hand carders, pickers, blending boards, and drum carders will be available for students to try and become familiar with.

Conversation with Beekeeper

 Dan O'Leary

Saturday, April 13, 2024

In this conversation style workshop we will learn from each other collaboratively in dialogue with Dan O’Leary. Dan has been keeping bees in Walworth Co. for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience. Be ready to ask your questions about beginning beekeeping. This workshop will be discussion based and participants can actively be involved with getting their questions asked and answered. 

Introduction to Needle Felting

with Jodie Janovec

Saturday, March 23rd, 2024 

This class is a good continuation to the Introduction to Wet Felting class. We will use the same felt made at the Introduction to Wet Felting class, however, if you were not in that class, not a problem, as a piece of handmade felt will be provided. This Introduction to Needle Felting class will focus on embellishing flat felt surfaces via the needle-felting process and cover how to make small wet felted beads. We will learn about the different supplies needed and the various types of fibers that can be used to essentially draw and paint through the needle-felting process onto prepared pieces of felt fiber. The class time will include time to try and further experiment with the various needle-felting techniques and make beads. 

The course will end with participants having finished bookmarks, felt coasters and/or felted beads which can be made into earrings, used as buttons or as adornments to take with them.

Broom Making

with Ellie Barbeau

Saturday, March 16th, 2024

This hands on class will explore the whimsical and mysterious craft, traditions, and history of Broom Making. Students will learn how to craft two different styles of broom: a Turkey Wing, (a traditional Appalachian style of hand broom) and the students choice of a pot scrubber or cake testing broom.

Students will learn the process of how to tie a broom, assemble the broom and plait a beautiful woven handle with a leather hanger using broom corn stems and reed. Students will leave class with their very own handmade brooms to sweep away dirt and dust from the home, release energy that no longer serves you or to just hang it proudly in your home as a work of art. Broom Making is a wonderful craft that allows you to experience natural materials to explore your creativity and  create practical and useful tools.

Introduction to Wet Felting

with Jodie Janovec

Saturday, March 2nd, 2024

Learn the basics of Wet Felting. An ancient traditional practice. We will lay out the wool batting in alternative layers. Along the way we will discuss the principles of how the fiber is laid out and how these methods directly dictate the final piece of felt and ensure it’s technically sound and strong. The beauty of felt comes naturally. I have never found the need to work at making something with wool beautiful. It naturally is. 

We then wet and rub the work until it is ready for the next steps of “felting” and “fulling”.

You will have a nice size piece of wool felt when finished. This felt can then be constructed into any number of utilitarian or decorative final pieces such as bookmarks, coasters, patches, and more. 

Felting requires some hand strength to be successful.