Homesteading 101: A beginners mindset
Oct 23th, 5:30-7:30pm.
About this workshop
Join us for an intimate and inspiring workshop where we will explore what it truly means to live more connected to the natural world around us. Though the land is sizable, the actual space where we will demonstrate these ancient practices is a mere 1/4 acre. Our intention for this workshop is to make living off the land accessible, no matter your experience level, land access, or resources. You’ll learn actionable practices that you can start to implement in your life right away.
Each class will offer a general overview of homesteading, but, being in alignment with the natural cycles and seasons of life, we will highlight certain skills during each class, including;
Foraging wild food and medicine.
Learning how to DIY projects with reclaimed materials.
Assessing your land and building your homestead from the ground up.
Preserving your garden harvest or fresh farmers market tomatoes and peaches at peak ripeness.
Basic permaculture principals as a way to understand the needs and possibilities of your land.
Raising a few chickens for fresh daily eggs while making top-quality compost for your garden.
This is an overview of general homesteading practices with a focus on helping you find your way, doing what makes sense for your specific situation. We’ll offer a taste (both literally and figuratively) of what it means to share a sacred connection to the land and natural world around us, going right to the source when it comes to nourishing ourselves and our community.
Homesteading isn’t something we do out of fear or concern for a bleak future; rather, we focus on the simple things in life that just make sense. The more we connect to ourselves and the beauty that nature has to offer, the more we find our life slowly shifts in ways that support not only our own well-being but those around us. While we recognize that the current paradigm and system we are part of is not sustainable and has wreaked havoc on our environment, we don’t want to impart guilt on those that do not know and rather inspire people to start making micro changes today, changes that will slowly ripple out over time.
Through years of intimately getting to know the local flora and fauna, crafting our own wild medicines, and foraging for wild edibles, through the practice of growing food that thrives in a dry mountain climate, we have come to see that there are so many access points for people to commune with nature. Instead of getting bogged down with superfoods this and exotic medicines that, we have found there is a great reciprocal relationship to learning about the plants around us and working with what wants to grow here, rather than forcing or imposing our own desires on the land, we have fallen deeply in love with what is HERE NOW.
This way of living can also be much more affordable as we start to make the shift from consumer to creator. Not to mention, it’s way more fun and fulfilling :)
“Joshua and Aja opened up their life to us on their beautiful homestead and just shared the ways they live in harmony with their animals and the land. They are so deeply rooted in the methods they showed us; it was amazing material that came through them, rather than was “taught” to us. It was hands on and we always left with our stomachs full of the most delicious in-season snacks, as well as balms and tinctures to take with us. ”
How It Works and What is Included
Join us on our 5 acre homestead in North Boulder for a two hour experience. During this class you’ll get to tour our homestead and learn simple ways to expand, or start, your homestead journey. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and can bring your journal to start envisioning your own homestead journey. These are intimate classes with up to 8 people.
We will share a meal of fermented, preserved and homemade goodies, featuring foods from our gardens and farms around the area. (The meal will feature sourdough, fermented foods and meats, but there are gluten free and vegan options available).
Time: 5:30-7:30pm.
Date: 10/23.
Location: An email with details will be sent out after participant signs up.
Cost: $75.
Contact: Please feel free to reach out to Yoshua with any questions at friends@youenjoylife.us We also offer discounted and scholarship slots to those in need.
*Cancellation/Refund Policy. If for some reason you are not able to make the class and let us know one week in advance, you will get a full refund, after that it is non-refundable, however you’d be able to transfer your class to another so long as you let us know within 2 days of the class.
“Yosh and Aja are of the magic sort, weaving culture in community through sourdough and breaking bread. An active and tactile learning environment, the class was collaborative. And then we gathered around a table of many fermented jewels- kraut, cured meats, cultured butter and cheese, the brilliant yellow of preserved lemons, garlic honey…if you believe me I could continue. And isn’t this the true culturing? Living wisdom of the ancestral roots of food. Chickens in the backyard and conversations about spring water as sacred. The background music is connection and laughter. It’s with full hearted gratitude that I found these two beautiful people breathing life into human relationship with food.”
About Yoshua and Aja:
Yoshua Greenfield has been foraging for food for over 15 years, engaged in homesteading for 8 years, and cooking ever since his mom told him, “If you don’t like my cooking, then do it yourself!” He carries a deep passion for teaching others to find inspiring and simple ways to deepen their connection to the things they consume. As a lover of all things nature, he spends much of his time tending to various foods and animals around our home, hiking barefoot in the woods while foraging for medicinal and edible plants, and fermenting and preserving just about everything under the sun. For 7 years, he hosted an alternative cooking show that attracted millions of viewers but eventually left that world behind to focus on connecting with place and community, using food as a vehicle for inspiration, connection, growth, and well-being.
Aja Rose has spent many years in the health and wellness space and has dedicated the past 4 years to immersing into herbal medicine, wild foraging, and gardening. She is deeply passionate about connecting with the ‘medicine of place’ and forming reciprocal relationships with the spirits of the plants and trees we feel naturally drawn to. Some of her dearest plant allies are Pine, Yarrow, and Rose. Currently, she is most inspired by planting and working with native plants to support local ecosystems. She also loves anything related to food, especially anything she grows or buys locally.
Collectively, we have been tending to the land together for nearly four years, recently welcomed our first child, and hold a deep reverence for the sacred land we inhabit (but never truly own). We have discovered that the magic lies in the mundane, the medicine in our connection to place, and the sacred joy and profound peace that comes from being in a state of deep reverence, in a place of careful listening. After noticing how many people in and around Boulder have been feeling deeply burnt out by what we call “the healing trap”—a never-ending cycle of always looking inward to find more things wrong with ourselves to “improve”—we sensed a growing desire of more people wanting to learn practical skills that are inherently healing. We like to say that healing always happens when we are present and listening. In this way, as we move away from the self-obsessed culture of trying to constantly heal things we were told were wrong, we begin to give back, to engage in actions that support not only ourselves but also the people and land around us.
Location:
10 minutes from downtown Boulder, this 5-acre farm property nestled against the foothills is a collaborative project with a friend and has a long-term vision for raising animals, growing food, fermenting/preservation, community farm dinners, sacred rest retreats, kid sanctuary, and overall living classroom for how we can live more harmoniously with this sacred land. You will have the opportunity to see it in its beginning stages and hopefully be apart of our community for many years to come!
