What do you want to learn?
Crowley Folk School offers instruction on traditional and modern crafts.
Jasper Crowley donated the land home to Crowley Folk School in 1972. The land was settled by John Crowley, an Old Miakka pioneer, in the late 1800’s. Jasper was a teacher at the Old Miakka one room schoolhouse from 1931 to 1944. He then became the Sarasota county instructor for Future Farmers of America, FFA. He brought students to this land to teach them practical skills for living. We now have secure online registration at Crowley Folk School to book your classes online. Please visit this website to process your visa or mastercard payments.
In continuing the mission, tradition, and intention of Jasper Crowley, we are a school offering a wide range of practical skills. Here, you can learn the basic skills that never lose their usefulness. Our teachers are members of the community and our classes are based on community desire, need, and participation. Come and learn useful skills surrounded by Florida’s beautiful natural wilderness.
February 2016 Course Offerings:
Saturday, February 13, 2016
10-12:00 pm Perennial Vegetable Crops for Florida. Learn growth requirements, methods of growing, and nutritional content of the various perennial vegetable plants we can grow easily here in Sarasota. Included in the presentation are Moringa, Katuk, Chaya, Okinawa Spinach, Cassava (Yuca), Ube Yam, sweet potatoes, Cuban Oregano, Ginger, Turmeric, Galangal, Taro, Malanga, Papaya, and many others. Snack on some of these plants through prepared vegetables and teas during class. A water bottle and a notebook and pen are recommended.
Instructor: Nick Keebler. $20/person
12:30–2:30 p.m. Nature and Mindfulness: Photography as Meditation. Use your camera as a meditation tool! Slow down, become more present, explore nature, and have fun. You need not be a “good” photographer. This class is not so much about photography as it is learning to “be” and to “see”. Several methods will be taught. Bring a camera of some sort, (smart phone is fine) with plenty of memory available. Also bring a pen, notebook and bottle of water. Dress appropriately for the weather. Some gentle walking included.
Instructor: Anne Cederberg. $20/person.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
10-12 pm Natural Vegetable Fermentation & Kombucha Combination Workshop. Learn to make fermented vegetables (kim chee, sauerkraut, etc.) & Kombucha (a naturally carbonated, healthy drink). We will snack on samples of both at the end of class. Bring a water bottle and pen and notebook.
Instructor: Nick Keebler. $20/person.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
10-12:00 pm Intro to Agro-forestry (How to Grow a Food Forest). An agroforestry system or food forest, is an intensively planted, bio-diverse, perennial garden that mimics the design of a natural forest ecosystem. Once established, a properly designed food forest yields more food with less human inputs required. Agroforestry is an ancient method of growing food sustainably. Western agriculturalists are now studying it as a sustainable, environmentally responsible and economically profitable alternative to mono cropped, annual agricultural systems. Bring water bottle and pen and notebook.
Instructor: Nick Keebler. $20/person.
12:30–2:30 p.m. Nature as Healer: Forest Medicine and Earthing Experience. Into the woods! Learn how recent scientific research validates what indigenous peoples have always known—nature heals! Learn how to let the nature in you heal and experience the healing force of nature all around you. Very experiential. Bring a pen, notebook, and bottle of water. Dress appropriately for the weather. Some gentle walking included.
Instructor: Anne Cederberg, Interpretive Naturalist. $15/person.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
10:00-11:30 a.m. Grapevine wreath making. Make grapevine wreaths using locally harvested grapevines, other natural items, ribbons, shells, and more! Bring water bottle and any decorations, ribbons, etc. you would like to use in your wreath. Grapevines and some decorations will be provided.
Instructor: To be announced. $15/person.
12-2 p.m. Nature Journaling: An Inner and Outer Experience “Most people are on the world, not in it; have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them,” wrote Naturalist John Muir in the late 1800’s. Observing and journaling helps us regain our sense of being part of the natural world. We can draw, write poetry, express our feelings, or document observations and experiences while in the outdoors. You don’t have to be an artist or a writer. Learn basic sensory awareness and nature observation skills and journaling methods. A basic beginning class journal will be provided. Bring a pen, any art supplies you’d like such as colored pencils or chalks, and your imagination! Please dress appropriately for the weather. Some gentle walking included.
Instructor: Anne Cederberg. $20/person.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
10-12 noon Small scale Bio char production and Composting Combination Workshop. Learn how to make and use these different kinds of soil amendments. Bio-char is pure crystalline carbon created by burning wood chips or other woody material in a special, low oxygen environment. This form of carbon is highly stable and will stay within the soil for over 1000 years, helping to mitigate carbon levels in the atmosphere long term. Bring a water bottle and pen and notebook.
Instructor: Nick Keebler. $20/person.
12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Firestarting. Learn seven different ways to start fires without matches! Ages 8 thru adult (children under 15 accompanied by parent.) Location: Tatum House (if rain, the Learning Center)
Instructor: Riley Wimans $30/person.
For further information on all Crowley Folk School classes, please contact Anne Cederberg at acederberg@crowleyfl.org, or call (941) 322-1000.
