OSLSS Sourdough Starter Course

Harness natural yeasts to create hearty, nutritious, delicious bread. Discuss how to feed and keep a starter and go home with your own. Bake and taste a loaf. Grind grain, mix dough, and cook pancakes. Sew a bread storage bag for fresher loaves.

OSLSS Wool Gathering

Area “spin-sters” demonstrate carding, spinning, knitting, weaving and felting with natural wool. Meet a sheep. Make your own knitting needles and try your hand at these soothing traditional arts.

OSLSS The Care and Feeding of Saw Horses

Thanks to a recently awarded Arts Presentation Grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Motherhouse had Joe Brien, Lost Arts Workshops, lead a day long workshop on building saw horses. Seventeen people attended and nine pairs of sawhorses were built. Each building team had their own set of hand tools, materials, and a workbench.

Summer We’d Walk

Join outdoor enthusiast, Joseph Jude Brien for a leisurely walk around Local Farm to learn about a unique use for common “weeds” – fiber production. Learn how to identify, harvest and process plants which have been traditionally used to make cordage, rope and woven fabric. Participants will hand-process bast fiber from a dried plant stalk and make a cordage sample to take home. (Pictured to the right: Dogbane Cordage) Bring a dish to share for a potluck lunch.