Something New

July 27 – August 7: $49 

Over the past couple of months, Heather and I have been cookin’ up something pretty cool (well, we think it’s pretty cool, anyway). We’re calling it Harvest, and it’s a two-week online workshop that covers a ridiculously wide range of topics related to growing, processing, and preserving the goodness of the season.

Here’s how Heather describes it over at her site: In this workshop, we will teach you how to process and store the season’s bounty. In this very full two week program, you will learn how to get it all from the field to the freezer, dehydrator, cold storage, fermenting crock, and on occasion, the canner. We will discuss various growing and storage techniques, all with an emphasis on healthy soils, bodies, hearts, and minds. Expect to explore the art of foraging fields and forest, and if you’re looking for some new favorite recipes, Harvest is the workshop for you. Finally, we will be available every weekday to answer specific questions. 

Here’s how I describe it: In this workshop, Heather will offer crazy amounts of incredibly useful information pertaining to all of the above topics, while I chime in every so often with a bawdy joke or complete non sequitur. I will also discuss the proper pairing of cheap American lagers with associated processing and preserving tasks. Finally, I will reveal my top 10 secret tips for compelling my wife and children to do all the heavy lifting whilst I recline in the shade (#1: Feigned incompetence)

In all seriousness, I’m really looking forward to this. I get an awful lot of questions pertaining to raising, processing, and preserving food, but I’m generally so busy actually doing these things (along with the trifling details of building house and barn) that I’m often not able to reply as thoroughly as I’d like. This is an opportunity to remedy that, as Heather and I will be available every weekday to answer specific questions.

Also, don’t think you need to be some sort of master gardener to participate. Heck, you don’t even need to be growing anything. From the outset, Heather and I determined that Harvest would be inclusive of anyone with a desire to strengthen their connection to their food, whether that food is coming from their back yard, their local farmer’s market, or even the grocery store.

This is my first collaboration with Heather, and it’s been wicked fun. As many of you know already, she’s got great energy and a real gift for teaching. We’ve spent a lot time defining our “curriculum,” but still left plenty of space for spontaneity and inspiration.

To summarize, here’s what you get:

New material Monday – Friday.
Rustic and delicious garden to tables recipes.
Daily, essays from Ben on a wide range of topics related to homesteading, gardening, family, and food preservation (Heather describes these essays as “thought provoking.” Me, I’d prefer not to set the bar quite that high)
Tips and tutorials from Ben and Heather – learn how to process, store, and make the most of 20 different fruits, vegetables, herbs, and wild edibles.
Instructional cooking videos each weekday from Heather’s kitchen, featuring garden recipes as well as preservation tutorials.
Daily content will be presented in beautifully designed, easy to download ebooks.
An interactive community where you can ask Ben and Heather questions, and share experiences/methods of your own. (This will happen right on our private website, no social media is required.)
And so much more!

And here’s what you need to know.

Dates: July 27 – August 7

$49

The first few days of registration are open to you sharing the cost with a friend, or gifting your extra spot to someone you know. Please follow these simple instructions to do so:

1. Register between 6/30 – 7/3. One person registers, unfortunately we are not able to split invoices.

2. Once registered, email the FULL NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS OF YOUR GUEST to harvestonlineworkshop@gmail.com

3. Deadline for having your guest’s info to us is Monday, 7/6. We will add them to the roster and email them on 7/10.