Notes from Alderleaf Wilderness College

Photo Highlights from Fall 2011

2011-12-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

We've had another excellent & busy fall here at Alderleaf. Here's a few photo highlights:

Survival bow making days at the Wilderness Certification Program

Making primitive arrows for the sapling bows

Working with cattail plants to make mats and survival sleeping pads

Sue Morse teaching about a mountain lion scrape

Alderleaf Farm in September (from atop the west house roof)

Making teas from wild medicinal plants

Nutty squirrels blindfolded awareness game

Bow drill fire making challenge - pop the water balloon with fire!

Bow drill fire making challenge

The 2012 Course Calendar is now live on our website.

Have a great holiday season!

Olympic Peninsula with the Certification Program

2011-10-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program crew spent an amazing 3 days on the Olympic Peninsula. The first day involved a visit to the Makah museum. Here students go to see first hand how the Makah used their skills to hunt, gather, build homes, maintain villages, and much more. The Makah have traditionally relied on the bounty of the Pacific coast to provide them with all of their needs. The Makah continue to live on the Olympic peninsula, and have a living culture and language.

The following day, we hiked out to the Olympic coast to visit Cape Alava. There students got to experience some of that bounty from the ocean for themselves. Here Alderleaf student Oscar Lugo Jr. samples some wild seaweeds.

The coast has many species of edible seaweeds, as well as a rich variety of other sea life. Students got to see bald eagles, harbor seals, California and Steller's sea lions, sea otters and more. Even the tracks of a cougar and bear were spotted walking along the beach!

The next day was spent getting acquainted with the old-growth forests of along the Hoh river, an area known as the Hoh Rainforest, within Olympic National Park. Many of the trees in this forest are grand, gnarly old giants like the Sitka spruce tree being embraced below.

Here, Alderleaf student Amy explores the roots of the another massive spruce tree. This forest can make you feel small and help you really appreciate how big trees can get under the right conditions.

The Olympic peninsula is always an amazing place to visit. We all headed home both satisfied and a bit regretful at having to leave such a magical place behind.

Trailing in the Eastern Cascades

2011-10-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

The wildlife tracking apprenticeship headed out for a day of trailing in the pine forests of the eastern cascade mountains. As we wandered out into the beautiful fall landscape, we saw the tracks of a variety of animals including elk, mule deer and coyote.

Our main goal was to pick up the fresh trail of an elk. After wandering through the crisp air and sunshine, we found the relatively fresh trails of not 1, but 6 elk wandering together.

These we followed through challenging terrain and a variety of tracking substrates. We saw where they had bedded down together, where they grazed and browsed, and where a large bull started following this group of 6. In several spots we observed where he trashed some small shrubs and left some antler rubs. His fur was still stuck to the sap.

We ended the day having learned more about elk, ourselves and about the skills of trailing. All of us are already looking forward to another visit to the eastern cascades.

AWCP 2011-2012 Off and Running!

2011-09-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

The 2011-2012 Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program (AWCP) is off to a great start! 40 new students began their year on September 6th. They've already completed basic training on wilderness survival shelter-building, bow drill fire-making, fall wild edible plants, wildlife track identification, outdoor leadership, and navigation!

AWCP Class of 2011-2012

First fire with bow drill friction fire method

Teaching track identification skills along the Skykomish River

Oasis at the Oregon Dunes wildlife tracking field trip

Next month, the AWCP students will begin their training in permaculture, continue survival and ethnobotany studies, and take a field trip to the old growth forests and coast of the Olympic Peninsula.

Learn more about the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

Another Great Summer of Courses!

2011-08-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great summer of classes up at Alderleaf. A big thanks out to all the students, staff, volunteers, and interns! It was a another adventure-filled season of teaching, learning, and having fun on the farm and in the forest. Here's a few photos:

Students testing out their figure four and paiute traps at the Wilderness Survival Traps and Snares Class.

Creating additional food forest at the Permaculture Design Course by sheet mulching and building plant guilds around the young fruit trees.

Sharing a feast at the Permaculture Design Course made entirely of food grown and raised at Alderleaf Farm, including roasted herbed chicken, a potato dish, a cabbage dish, beautiful salad, kombucha, and a pumpkin pudding made with sheep milk and eggs from the farm!

Primitive fishing with fish spears at the Wilderness Survival Skills Intensive, 5-day survival course.

Now on to preparing for our upcoming programs including:
Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program which begins September 6th;
Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship which begins September 17th;
Wild Mushroom Identification Class on September 24th;
Survival Fire Making Skills Class on November 5th; and
Carnivore Tracking Workshop with Sue Morse on November 19-20th!

New Sign at Alderleaf Farm!

2011-06-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

A huge, huge thank you to Georgie Lilgreen for creating this amazing sign for the entrance to Alderleaf! Its been receiving continuous compliments from all the staff, students, residents and visitors. Georgie is a tremendous artist and is skilled at many crafts. She recently graduated from the Wilderness Certification Program and we are very much looking forward to her involvement as an intern! Thanks Georgie!

Congratulations AWCP graduates!

2011-06-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Congratulations again to the 2010-2011 graduates of the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program!

In case you missed it, here's the video slideshow of the their year that was shown at graduation:

You can view more photos, as well as videos, radio interviews, press, and more at our Media Coverage page: http://www.wildernesscollege.com/media-coverage.html

Five Trackers receive Track & Sign Specialist Certificates! (Including 3 Alderleaf Instructors!)

2011-04-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

Alderleaf Wilderness College hosted a CyberTracker Specialist Track & Sign Evaluation with evaluators Casey McFarland and Mark Elbroch. The CyberTracker Evaluations are the international standard for assessing and certifying wildlife trackers, and uphold a high standard of competency.

It was an amazing weekend full of challenging track & sign questions - from tiny shrew, mouse, & partial frog prints; to robin, sparrow, & dove tracks; rat, weasel, & gray squirrel footprints; male/female, gait, and interpretive questions; many kinds of scat, feeding, and tree marking sign; and much more.

Alderleaf staff and students had a very strong showing. Instructors, Filip Tkaczyk, Dave Scott, and Jason Knight, all scored 100%, receiving the specialist level qualification, along with Marcus Reynerson of Wilderness Awareness School and Chris Byrd. It is quite an honor, as they are now part of only fifteen trackers in North America who've reached the specialist level out of over 700 who've taken the test. Staff member, Steve Nicolini, and student, Phil "Jackrabbit" Johnston, also performed extremely well, receiving level 3 certificates!

It was an intense and exciting weekend, and all came away with a strong sense of accomplishment, learning, and camaraderie! Its so great to be in a region with such a talented crew of trackers, who are so dedicated to sharing what they know and growing the field.

A big thank you goes out to Casey and Mark for taking time away from their mountain lion research project and traveling out from Colorado to facilitate the evaluation!

Interested in attending a tracking class? Check out our Wildlife Tracking Weekend Course and Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship.

Hosting a Hunter Education Class!

2011-04-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Alderleaf Wilderness College hosted an official Hunter Education Class run by Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife instructors / master hunters - Sharon Rose, Wes Childers, and Ron & Sherry Poppe. It was an excellent class with amazing staff and a great field course. In the photo above, Wes Childers teaches about wildlife identification.

Here students are learning about safe firearm handling, hunting ethics, and sportsmanship. The course also covers wildlife conservation, bow-hunting, rifle & shotgun mechanics, hunting laws and regulations, basic wilderness survival, first aid, and more.

The students had a great time and all passed with flying colors, receiving their Hunter Education Certificates - a requirement for acquiring hunting licenses and tags. We hope to host another class next spring!

A huge thanks goes out to the instructors - Sharon, Wes, Ron, and Sherry - who volunteer their time to teach - thank you thank you!

Tracking Wildlife East of the Cascade Mountains

2011-04-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Students and staff from the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship traveled east of the Cascade Mountains to track animals in preparation for upcoming tracker evaluations. We visited the foothills on the eastside of the Cascade mountains on our first day.

As we explored the sagebrush steppe, we observed a herd of elk and big horned sheep. We also saw the sign of these animals, including some huge elk antlers that had been shed this springtime. Brandon demonstrates a magnificent pair of antlers in the photo above. Incredible how heavy and large they are!

We also discovered many bones, including skulls, legs and this lower mandible being displayed by tracking apprenticeship student Phil. Such bones and other signs tells the story of the struggles of the animals that lived in this open terrain. The challenges of winter can claim the lives of many animals. But their death is life to many other animals including coyotes, cougars, bears, and a variety of birds and other small animals. Nothing is wasted in the natural world.

The second day, we found our way to the isolated Juniper Dunes. This location has the northern most significant stand of juniper trees. This dune system was deposited by the giant Missoula Floods of the last ice age.

The dunes are home to a variety of creatures, many of which are cryptically colored to blend into their sandy habitat. One such creatures is the pygmy horned lizard (Phrynosoma douglasii).

These little horned lizards are sometimes mistakenly called "horned toads." Though, they are reptiles, not amphibians. Their chunky profiles, and large, rounded heads with wide mouths do look somewhat like a toad.

Some of the insects in the dunes are even more cryptically colored. The grasshopper in this image is practically invisible against the sand, and we only noticed it when it moved!

Another interesting find where several egg cases of a praying mantis (called ootheca). We also found these in the cough pellets of a raven! Seeing this distinct insect sign helped all of us be more prepared for the upcoming Track & Sign Evaluations.

What an amazing way to wrap up our spring studies! The 2 day trip was so packed full of amazing encounters and observations that it felt more like a 4 day trip.

More Alderleaf updates coming soon...!

Tracking: the Rabbit and the Fox

2011-03-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the Alderleaf Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship did a day-long outing to San Juan Island, a unique piece of land in the rain shadow of the Olympic peninsula. This island, once contented over by both the American and British government is home to some unique wildlife. Both European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) where brought to the island to provide sport and food. Though European red foxes were introduced throughout the valleys of the west coast of the USA, the only place European rabbits can be found in the USA is on San Juan Island, in WA state.

Unlike the native Brush rabbits or Mountain cottontails that live in WA state, European rabbits dig burrows and live colonially.

The rabbits are not native to the island, but they do provide food for foxes and eagles.

While tracking recent rabbit activity in a warren, Michelle spotted a silver phase red fox pop out of one of the holes. For a moment they both looked at each other, then the fox ran off over the hill and we ended up trailing it through the dunes.

The foxes trail led us through the prairie and we ended up finding some older fox sign in the process. One of the signs we found from the foxes were these vole nests that had been dug up. In the native prairie throughout the American Camp area, you can observe countless vole runs that ran in many directions under the cover of the grasses.

After exploring the prairie, we checked out the forested area on the hill above. Here we came across some feathers from a recently consumed varied thrush. The forest is home to a variety of birds, including several woodpecker species.

This male hairy woodpecker allowed us to observe its foraging activities from up close. We got to see the freshly made holes where the woodpecker had excavated and consumed some beetle grubs.

Towards the end of our day, we spotted another fox sitting and soaking up the early springtime sunshine. This fox did not run when it saw us, and allowed us to observe its hunting efforts through the grasses and shrubs of the prairie edge.

Here the same fox can be seen flying through air as it pounces as a hidden rodent in the grass. It showed amazing agility and skill as it hunted for its hidden prey.

We felt incredibly lucky to have observed the intimate details of their lives, both through direct observation and through the track and sign they left behind. The day was a tracker's dream, and we left for home inspired and deeply satisfied!

Highlights from Late Feb. and Early March

2011-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program has been very busy over the past few weeks. Students embarked on a variety of educational adventures. Here are some of the highlights from their class days:

Here Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program student Danny Roaman prepares to fire his primitive hunting tools: a bow and arrow made in class with Frank Sherwood. The theme of this class day was primitive hunting skills, which included the use of rabbitsticks, atlatls and primitive long bows. Danny was practicing firing the bow from a partially concealed position at a moving target.

Here, fellow student Alex Steventon demonstrates the use of an atlatl. This primitive hunting tool was used for hunting everything from deer to mastodons! It is composed of 2 main parts: a throwing dart or arrow and the dart thrower.

One another class day students took a trip to the amazing wildlife park known as Northwest Trek. This location houses only wildlife native to the greater Northwest region. This location provides a unique opportunity for students to closely observe some of the more elusive animals native to the Pacific Northwest, such as bears, cougars and wolves. Through the process of observation, students learned more about how these animals behaved and, therefore, what kind of tracks they left under what circumstances. This opportunity allows the students to grow as both naturalists and wildlife trackers.

Here, a bobcat perches on a fallen tree soaking up the late winter sun. Such relaxed behaviors are very difficult to observe in the wild.

New Video: Introduction to Alderleaf Wilderness College

2011-03-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

Alderleaf Wilderness College Winter Trip 2011

2011-02-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program spent a wonderful week tracking and working on winter survival skills in the Okanagon region of eastern Washington.

Students got to track a variety of wildlife through the snowy landscape of Ponderosa pine forests, meadows and aspen groves. Some groups traveled through the valley, while others climbed the ridges. Each becoming familiar with the plants and animals of the eastern cascade mountain region. Some of the highlights included: most of the class getting to watch a white long-tailed weasel repeatedly hunting voles through the snow near are main camp, finding tracks of many creatures including pine marten, snowshoe hare, grouse, and cougar, and hearing a chorus of coyotes echoing through the night air.

Students built a variety of snow shelters, including quinzees and snow trench shelters. Such shelters can be surprisingly warm when properly made and are key to surviving the extremely low temperatures of winters. Students constructed them, and slept in them for the week.

Here Alderleaf instructor Dave Scott demonstrates a snow trench shelter, created with an additional wind block wall near the door to help reduce wind chill. The entrance to the shelter can be seen next to Dave's right leg.

The trip was a great success, with many amazing experiences and memories made. The Alderleaf crew left the Okanagon with deep gratitude for all the gifts we received and we look forward to another trip out next winter!

December at the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

2011-02-01T10:50:00.000-08:00

Just before the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program took a break for winter, they were engaged with some naturalists challenges. One of them was a fire making challenging involving small group of students, to see who could pop a balloon full of water first using only flames.

Here students Alex, Dannielle and Ryan work together to feed the fire, while Trevor blows air into the structure to make the flames grow more quickly.

And here is the moment of triumph, when the water in the balloon doses the flames!

Another naturalist challenge involved being led to a tree while blindfolded, then led away and having to find that same tree when the blindfold is removed.

Here student Miles uses his other senses to meet a tree. Later, he successfully found his way back to this same beautiful bigleaf maple tree!

Bird Feather ID and Shelter Overnight

2010-12-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last week, students in the Wilderness Certification Program had the great opportunity to learn from Alderleaf instructor Dave Scott about feathers. They learned about feather structure, function and species identification. As part of the class, we used Dave's new book Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species. Feather identification is a skill helpful not only in having a greater appreciation for the natural world, but also is an asset in wilderness survival. Knowing which species are around that might provide a source of potential food is vital in a survival situation.

On the next two days, students built shelters known as "debri-tipis" or "debri-pees" for short. The challenge was to build these shelters from natural materials found at the location, and to sleep in them overnight. That night, the rain fell steadily and the temperatures dropped. In the morning, the students were pleased with what they had accomplished, and how dry and warm they had been!

Here Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students Richard and Connor setting up the framework for the roof of their groups debri-pee.

Here fellow students Jackie and Melissa show off their groups' nearly completed shelter. You can see the low doorway near the ground between them.

Advanced Fire Making and much more...

2010-12-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weeks, Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students have engaged in all kinds of learning adventures. First of all they had a challenging day of advanced fire making, which involved creating bow-drill friction fire kits from wild harvested materials.

Here (from left to right) Danny S., Mellisa L., Georgie L. and Jackie W. team up to get a coal.

Here, Alderleaf instructor Dave Scott demonstrates the use of a challenging friction fire technique called the "fire plow." It requires a lot of pressure and fairly dry conditions, and so are generally preferred in dry parts of the country.

For the next 2 days, the Alderleaf students had their first experience mentoring the youth students at OWLE camp.

Alderleaf Student Miles helps an OWLE camp student create a tule mat.

Here an OWLE student demonstrates a creative use for a pine-needle basket.

Snow for Thanksgiving Week!

2010-11-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

To the surprise of many, Alderleaf got several inches of snow this week! It turned the property into a white winter wonderland. Here are some images of the property in the snow:

Happy Thanksgiving Day Everyone!

Flintknapping at Alderleaf

2010-11-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Students of the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program got an opportunity to learn from experienced survival skills teacher Frank Sherwood recently.

They worked both with raw obsidian as well as glass bottles. Here students Georgie and Connor show their enthusiasm for the craft. They learned techniques such as abrading, pressure flaking, notching and percussion flaking. Then they put them together to create their first flintknapped arrow points.

Cedar Baskets with Karen Sherwood

2010-11-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

Recently Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students experienced using the bark from "the tree of life" (western red cedar) to make beautiful and functional baskets. With Karen Sherwood's instruction and guidance, they got their hands into the task.

Students like Phil J. pictured below, learned to make cedar baskets in the Lummi style.

Baskets have been used by many tribes throughout North America for tasks such as carrying berries, wild game, and even water. These baskets are small containers, traditionally used for gathering berries.

More highlights soon!

Superadobe Root Cellar Nears Completion!

2010-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

With patience and persistence, many hands came together to make the Superadobe Root Cellar project possible. The project is now very near completion, with the main body of work completed.

Here Danny R., Phil J. and Steve N. celebrate a day of work completed.

Finishing touches will be to back-fill around the root cellar, do some plastering and/or masonry on bags, complete the awning, and depositing soil on top of the structure. Finally the soil will be seeded and the root cellar will be all but invisible, beautifully blended into the landscape.

Primitive Water Purification

2010-11-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Water is one of the essential aspects of survival. Knowing how to make it safe to drink is a vital skill. Imagine being in a survival situation without access to more modern means of purifying water... what to do?

Rock boiling water is an excellent way to purify water. If you, however, do not have a container to boil water in you are presented with an additional problem.

Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students were faced with this situation on Friday in class. First, they spent some time burning out bowls using coals from a fire.

Then, once it it has been hollowed out enough and scraped smooth, they poured water into it. Next they dropped red-hot golf-ball sized stones into the water to bring it to a boil. The water was allowed to boil for several minutes to allow time to kill water borne parasites. Some western hemlock needles were added for flavor, and allowed to cool.

Students gained a new appreciation for having easily available clean drinking water and learned skills they will have to put to the use on their survival trip at the end of the year.

Olympic Peninsula Magic

2010-11-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

This past week the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students went on a several day adventure to the Olympic Peninsula. We visited the incredible collection at the Makah Museum in Neah Bay on our first day. Practically all of the artifacts found in the museum came from a site at Cape Alava, where a landslide buried and preserved an entire Native village.

The following day, we explored the boggy cedar forests and wild coastline of the Ozette area. The collection in the museum came from this same area!

Students got the opportunity to get to know the seashore life, and learn more about edible seaweeds and other edible seashore creatures.

The tide pools were rich with a wide assortment of life forms.

One group of students found a freshly dead adult brown pelican. The bird had no obviously apparent external injuries. We wondered if this bird was perhaps a victim of the red tide that was happening out in the ocean.

Though sad, this animal provided close looks at the details of its beautiful plumage and amazing beak. It's 6 foot plus wingspan was also incredible to see!

Deer are incredibly tame along this stretch of coastline as they have not been hunted here for many years. The area is abundant with many kinds of wildlife, including bald eagles, sea lions, sea otters, and many other sea shore creatures.

Our last day on the Olympic Peninsula was ended with a visit to the Hoh Rainforest, home of incredible old-growth forest full of huge and ancient cedars, spruces and Douglas firs. Students were deeply impressed with the magnificence and abundance of this ancient forest.

Our last day came to a close with a blazing sunset over the Olympic mountains, as we headed east back to Seattle.

The trip was absolutely amazing, and blessed with abundant sunshine and great encounters with the natural world. More stories from the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program to come soon!

Wildlife Trailing with Adriaan Louw of South Africa

2010-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Alderleaf hosted Adriaan Louw - professional tracker from South Africa for trailing classes and CyberTracker trailing evaluations last week. (trailing is the tracking skill of following subtle tracks and sign to find an animal). It was an amazing week of trailing elk up in the Cascade Mountains! Here's some footage:

Also - congratulations to those who took the trailing evaluation - trailing certificates were awarded to Phil J (Trailing I), Daniel R (Trailing I), Steve N (Trailing II), Michelle P (Trailing II), and Jason K (Trailing III).

A big thanks to Adriaan for making the time to visit the northwest to share his expertise!

Permaculture Training at the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

2010-10-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here's some video clips of the first week of permaculture training during the 2010-2011 Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program (taken by student & video intern - Jeff). The class learned about permaculture principles and ethics, design concepts, sector & zones, as well as hands-on training in plant propagation (division, transplanting, layering, cuttings and seed collection) and garden bed preparation (sheet mulching, double-digging, and composting strategies). Thanks for the clips Jeff!

Oregon Dunes Adventure

2010-10-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program Students just returned from their first week-long adventure in the Oregon Dunes!

This trip is an exciting and excellent introduction into wildlife tracking and naturalist studies for the year-long students. Stretching over 50 miles long, the Oregon Dunes are an incredible wildlife hot spot that include forest mazes, wetlands and HUGE dune systems that can sometimes seem other worldly. The meeting of a variety of habitat types makes it very diverse, and the presence of sand makes tracking rich and exciting.

Here students Brandon, Jonny and Chris get down to the serious business of track identification and study. The story told by these little hopping tracks was a truly epic journey by a tiny treefrog across one of the biggest dunes in the whole area. It traveled at least a quarter mile across the open sand to reach a new area. What motivated it to move so far?

Here student Matt shows off one of the mystery plants found along a fresh water wetland edge. After some careful study, he figured out the identity of this lovely little yellow flower: brass buttons (Cotula coronopifolia). A fitting name for this petal-less, golden button of a flower. Its other name, "mud-disk" is also descriptive of its habitat preferences.

Though the students were down to some serious naturalist studies, in such an epic natural setting it is impossible to not connect to the passions of a child.

Overall, an incredible week of beautiful weather, great tracking and amazing animal encounters!

First weeks of the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

2010-10-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

The first few weeks of the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program are underway, and the students have jumped right into their studies with gusto.

Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

The students got to make their first friction fire kits, using the bow-and-drill method. It was inspiring to see so many students get their first coals and first friction fires of their lives. Here student Dannielle successful gets her first friction fire ever, even with added challenge of 2 bandaged fingers!

On their first day with instructor Allen "Hawkeye" Sande, the students got to jump right into practicing teaching methods through the use of enthusiasm and some story-telling. Here two students, Chris and Brian tell the story of the first Northern flying squirrel.

On another day, students had the great pleasure of being introduced to wild edible plants by Karen Sherwood. What better way to get to know them than through turning them into delicious wild edible meals?!

A great start to the new school year!

The Superadobe Root Cellar is growing!

2010-10-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Superadobe root cellar is taking shape! With the help of students, residents and staff it grows coil by coil.

For those of you who might not be familiar with Superadobe construction, it is a method of natural building created by Nader Khalili. This approach is a modern form of adobe which utilizes bags of local soil in the form of coils which are stabilized with barbed wire between each layer. This method uses arches, domes, vaults and apses to create structural strength and beauty. Though, this method can be built into the more traditionally modern rectangular structures.

Everyone involved is excited to see this project progress and move towards completion. Upon completion, this wonderful structure will be able to house a variety of edible goods from the Alderleaf farm without the need for refrigeration. It will also be another great example of a natural building utilized on the Alderleaf Campus.

Welcome to the 2010-11 Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

2010-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program has started a new school year and we are excited to welcome all of the new students.

Say hello to the class of 2010-2011!

Another fun and exciting school year with the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program is now underway.

Beautiful Bows Created with Peter Yencken!

2010-07-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Alderleaf was honored to host experienced bowyer, Peter Yencken from Australia, for a special bow making weekend workshop this July. Four lucky students had the opportunity to be coached by Peter in building beautiful hickory bows. Everyone came away with great bows, arrows, and practical techniques for intuitive archery. Thanks Peter!

Aquatic Permaculture Plants Added to Ponds

2010-07-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Implementation of permaculture projects is moving along well this summer. We've introduced a variety native and cultivated edible, medicinal, and utilitarian aquatic plants into the new ponds - including wapato, perennial wild rice, aronia, arrowhead, cattail, bulrush, and much more. We've also added a water collection swale and berm to funnel water to oxygenate the pond. Next spring we hope to have enough plant life and oxygen to be able to introduce fish for a complete aquaculture system!

Pictured above is one of our new wapato plants. Wapato has a tasty edible tuber that was a staple food for indigenous people of the northwest. The Japanese have also cultivated a close relative as a food plant. It also provides important wildlife habitat.

Pictured here is a perennial wild rice plant that we added to the new ponds. This plant is native to the western Great Lakes region and the grains can be harvested as an extra tasty and nutritious variety of rice - considered gourmet by many. Native Americans of the midwest harvested it in large quantities from canoes. Permaculturists in North American have been experimenting with cultivating this unique aquatic plant.

Pictured above is the new swale, berm, and pipe - which will help to oxygenate the water once the rains return in the fall (an important need for having fish). A solar pump will be utilized to oxygenate the pond during our summer dry season.

The purpose of the ponds is to provide additional habitat diversity; store water; attract more wildlife; provide more food, medicine, and materials for people; create additional microclimates; and to raise fish to eat. We're also utilizing a small pond to cultivate duckweed and azolla for chicken feed and natural fertilizer in our compost piles. Vibrant ponds and diverse aquaculture systems are often important components to a holistic permaculture approach to sustainability.

Ancient Stone Point Discovered at Alderleaf

2010-07-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

During a sunny July day, Alderleaf resident Phil Johnston made an exciting discovery on the property. He found an oddly shaped stone, that he soon realized was a stone point. The stone piece is exactly 4 inches long.

This “Cascade Point” was found in McCoy Creek near the eastern edge of the Alderleaf property in July 2010. It is likely from the Olcott Complex, a grouping of stone artifacts found in the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, and Skykomish drainages that date from 4,500 to 9,000 years ago! It is made from basalt, which is a type of igneous rock found here in western Washington. The size of the piece indicates that it was possibly used as an atlatl dart tip.

Take a close look at the straight edge of this stone point. This appears to be the work of a skilled flintknapper. This stone point may have been lost during hunting. It may have even been used several times to provide food for the people who once hunted here, before it was lost!

This incredible find adds a little bit of knowledge and history to the story of Alderleaf and the surrounding lands. Just imagine what it must have been like to be hunting a deer or an elk with a stone-tipped atlatl along the McCoy Creek drainage thousands of years ago!

On a related note, we offer a Stone Tools Workshop at Alderleaf, where we make similar implements including stones knives, arrowheads and more!

New Residents at Alderleaf - Milking Sheep!

2010-07-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

As part of Alderleaf's permaculture plan (our efforts to become more sustainable and self reliant), we've acquired two milking sheep at Alderleaf Farm! Mom is a Friesian dairy breed and the lamb is a cross with a Black Welsh Mountain breed.

They're exciting animals to have at the farm because they not only provide milk, but also wool for clothing (and felting projects), lots of manure (fertilizer for the gardens) and more lambs. They require less space and resources than larger animals like cows. They also help tend the pasture and lawns (reducing the need to mow), while fertilizing the land!

We feel they're a great addition to the farm and hope you get a chance to meet them the next time you visit!

2009-2010 Certification Program Graduation

2010-06-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program completed its school year and celebrated graduation on Saturday June 5. It was an incredible, practically miraculous, day of sunshine and warmth after nearly a solid month of rain. As if the sun had come to warm everyone during the celebration and send them warmly on their way into the world. We could not have asked for better weather.

Graduation was followed by a huge feast, with a rich assortment of meals and desserts tempting everyone. Many goodbyes were said, hugs given and well-wishes spoken.

Thank you class of 2009-2010! All the staff wishes you the best out there in the world! May you find joy in whatever your doing and maintain your connection to the natural world.

Visit to the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead

2010-05-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

As the Alderleaf Certification Program moves towards a close, we have completed our final days of Permaculture. To celebrate our year of learning and practicing permaculture ideas and techniques we traveled to one of the oldest running permaculture farm in the country: the Bullock's permaculture homestead.

Our day started with a beautiful ferry ride into the San Juan Islands. The Bullock's homestead is located on Orca's Island, in Deer Harbor. The homestead is in a micro-climate within a micro-climate, being in a sunny part of WA state and on a sunny Southwest facing hillside. This incredible nearly 20 acre property is a shinning example of permaculture in action. It is impossible to capture in words all of the intricate systems, mind-boggling variety of plants of countless shapes, colors, smells and tastes that cover the land in a riot of diversity!

Doug Bullock was our host and tour guide for the day. His many years of experience around the world applying permaculture principles in places such as New Zealand, Hawai'i, Australia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, California and Washington. His knowledge of plants and ecosystems from these and other areas is awe-inspiring.

Here Doug is pointing out the huge leaves of an edible plant from South America who's stems are chopped up and eaten raw. Plants at the Bullock's homestead grow abundantly, intermixed in to many different guilds. Plant guilds are a grouping of plants grown together for the mutual benefit of all. So that every species in a guild supports the other, making them all more vital, healthy and productive.

Here Doug leads us through one of several greenhouses on the property. Here many of the farms plants are propagated and plant cuttings are rooted to be sold or for planting throughout the property. The amount of food produced on the farm has to be seen to be believed.

Another gem of the Bullock's homestead is this (see photo above) several acre wetland. When the Bullock's purchased the property, the observed that there was an old drainage ditch coming out of a field. They quickly chose to dam the drainage and let the water pool up. In a short time, it turned into a wetland which they helped along with planting a variety of native vegetation. They introduced some fish as well as native amphibians and turtles. The wetland has become a thriving ecosystem, which has been designated a birding hot spot, with over 100 species observed there!

Doug described how even here, humans are part of the land. The needs of both wildlife and humans can be met, and both can thrive. One way that the Bullock's utilize the wetland is using a very old method of forming growing islands, called "chinapas" that were used in southern Mexico by the Aztecs. The technique involves digging up material from the bottom of the wetland, and piling it up with brush and other materials to make small island. Food bearing plants that enjoy moisture are grown on these islands. It also creates foraging and nesting habitat for a wide range of wetland species.

The Bullock's farm was truly an incredible location to experience and one of the finest examples of a working permaculture homestead in the world. It was a treat and an honor to visit. We all look forward to another trip there in the next school year!

Fishing Spears, Edible feast and Bird language outing

2010-04-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last week was a week of celebration and learning. Students of the Alderleaf Certification program spent a day learning how to make and using primitive fishing spears with Frank Sherwood. Our last day with Karen Sherwood was a day of feasting and celebration of all the green growing things. Then our week came to a close with a final bird language class in a exciting birding hotspot.

Matt and Kelley are stoked about making and practicing with the primitive fishing spears! Their grins say it all.

Like a bowl full of sunshine, gathered dandelion flowers await being dipped and cooked up as fritters. Karen inspired everyone to add their own touch to the wild food that was gathered and prepared for eating. The meal included a wild greens salad, a cattail stir-fry, stinging nettle pesto and cattail pollen crapes with elderberry syrup.

A feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds!

Our week came to an exciting close with a trip out to a birding hotspot in Seattle called the Union Bay Natural Area. Despite its relatively small size, this spot has tons of birds and other wildlife. Some people have record over 180 species of birds observed in this area.

One of the many high lights of our day was observing a killdeer defending her nest against predators. When Steve Nicolini and I ventured too close to her nest, she tried to lure us away from it by feigning an injury (as you can see in the photo above). To our surprise, however, when the whole class came close to the nest she did something very different: she stood over the nest and scolded all of us. This makes sense, as with so many humans plodding around there was a good chance someone would step on her eggs!

Some of the other students also had a chance to observe a red-tailed hawk getting mobbed by a crow and a red-winged blackbird, as well as observing a bald eagle catching a gadwall duck. It was possibly one of the most exciting bird watching days of the year!

Track & Sign Evaluations for the Alderleaf Crew

2010-04-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness College Certification Program students have been very busy this spring. Two weeks age, they completed taking the Track & Sign evaluations put on by the CyberTracker International organization. These evaluations are meant to assess the ability to recognize and interpret wildlife track and sign. They also provide an incredible opportunity for students to learn more about tracks & sign, and are a great deal of fun to boot!

The test is taking in a variety of locations throughout western Washington state. Here is one such location along the Snoqualmie River. Here students are studying a set of river otter tracks and pondering which foot and which side of the body it is on!

Here is a beautiful set of tracks found by the edge of the water. Who left these little footprints?

We are thankful to have had this opportunity to learn more about tracking! Special thanks to Casey McFarland (our evaluator), to everyone who assisted and to all who participated in the process. It was an amazing experience!

March: Tracking Outing to Potholes Dunes

2010-03-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

This month the tracking apprenticeship took an exciting day out to track and trail in the Potholes Dunes near Moses Lake. This trip was focused on preparing for the tracking evaluations coming up later this spring.

This area is a wonderfully diverse landscape where there is a mosaic of both desert and wetlands habitats blending. Some of the animals found here are not found on the west, rain side of the mountains. Others are found on both sides of the mountains. The tracks in this photo lead between one patch of wetlands to another. If you look closely, you can even see the webbing between some of the toes. These are the tracks of a large, aquatic member of the weasel family.

Here, Matt and Kyle grin at this hilarious find. A coyote apparently dragged its backside down the hill through the sand, then continued on its merry way off to the left! Guess it had an itch. You never know what you might find when you are out tracking.

Here Kyle closely inspects a trail we discovered at end of our day. We had talked about the mysterious grasshopper mouse earlier in the day, and then came upon this... This trail did not seem to match anything we had seen that day. It was a pretty odd gait for such a small mammal, a lot of walking and trotting. This animal went from cover to cover, then started wandering around in the semi-open as if foraging. Perhaps it was hunting?

Had we seen the elusive grasshopper mouse?

We left with that trail as a mysery, having been satiated on plentiful tracks and sunshine.

As we headed home, the fading light glowed behind Mt. Rainer...

We are all looking forward to another outing with Alderleaf Tracking Apprenticeship!

Rock Boiling: Survival Water Purification

2010-03-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

Using a rock boiling technique to purify water at our Weekend Wilderness Survival Course.

This is a way to effectively purify water in a survival situation if you did not have a filter system or chemical treatment. The containers are coal-burned bowls made from logs. It is a completely primitive technique that requires no specialized equipment.

The little scrubby made from an evergreen tree branch is used to wipe off ash off of the hot stones. The first bowl of water (not for drinking) is for dunking to get off the remaining ash. Too much ash in water is not good to drink.

The second bowl of water is being boiled. Once the water reaches boiling temperature it is safe to drink. When the water begins to cool we add pine needles to add good flavor and vitamin C.

February at the Certification Program

2010-03-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Another jam-packed month at Alderleaf has come and gone. Signs of spring are appearing all over campus. The voices of birds grows louder everyday. Frogs singing in the evenings and buds are popping all over the place. Even the first bumble bees of spring have made an appearance!

The month of February has been an exciting one for the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program. We have continued forward on our learning journey and covered a lot of new ground. Students did everything from making cattail mats and soothing cottonwood salves with Karen Sherwood, to practicing making primitive survival traps with Jason Knight.

One day we had guest instructor Dave Scott come in and teach about the amazing world of bird wings and feathers, their functions, and how to identify them using a several teared method.

On another great day students learned about and experienced the practices of habitat restoration and forest stewardship. Native plants were added to the native restoration area at the entrance to the farm. Also, students got to plant between 150 and 200 small Douglas firs and western red cedars as part of the stewardship process in the wooded areas of the property. Thus, encouraging our forests to move towards the complex and diverse structure that mirror the old-growth.

While learning more about primitive living and survival skills, students spent another day learning a variety of methods for water purification. The oldest and one of the simplest forms is through boiling the water to destroy any potential parasites. But first, you have to make a container! There in lies the need to create bowls via burning with coals from the fire. Here Certification Program student Greg Evans demonstrates the technique.

During a 3 day permaculture session with instructor Adam Rawson, students had an opportunity to look at the idea of building from a new perspective: biotecture! Biotectures are living structures that come in many forms. The class worked on creating a living structure out of young alders, which will provide a gathering space for guests and future classes. As the alders grow, they will be encouraged to grow together and form a living roof which might someday even be tight enough to keep out the winter rain!

The shortest month of the year is over, but March has arrived and the adventure and learning continues!

Come visit our blog soon for more updates.

More Highlights from January 2010: The Winter Trip

2010-02-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

The winter trip was an exciting week that ended the first semester of the 2009-2010 Wilderness Certification Program. We stayed in a beautiful location near the Methow Valley of North central Washington.

The week began with students making a variety of snow shelters to sleep in for the week. Greg G. and Tim D. are working on a quinzee snow shelter in the top photo. The second photo shows another quinzee being worked on by Kelley G. and Matt E.

Here is Kelley demonstrating a different kind of shelter. This is an emergency shelter than can be made in 30 minutes or less, called a "down and out" shelter.

On this trip, students also made primitive snowshoes out of willow boughs. Here AWCP student Jason M. teases the frame gently into the proper shape. It takes patience and a steady hand, but thankfully willow is more forgiving than other types of wood.

Overall an amazing week in a beautiful place. Some of us even had an opportunity to hear wolves howling and great horned owls serenading in the evenings. We look forward to another trip to the North Cascade Mountains with next year's class!

Highlights from January 2010 AWCP

2010-02-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

January has been a busy month at Alderleaf with the Wilderness Certification Program. Here are a few of the highlights:

Students spent a day with Karen Sherwood working on making pine needle baskets by hand. Here is Nick Laptew working on his basket above.

On another day we worked with Frank Sherwood on making and using primitive longbows. Look at the arrows fly out of the bows of AWCP students (from left to right) Alex, Keith, Tim, Shea, and Justin!

Here Frank instructs AWCP student David on proper technique for how to draw the bow and focus the attention.

Later, students spent another fun day learning from instructor Allan "Hawkeye" Sande about emergency shelters. In this case, one made from a poncho. The day included many other shelters as well as more opportunities to practice teaching/mentoring skills with the experienced coaching of Allan.

To be continued...

AWCP final week before the holiday break

2009-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Before the Wilderness Certification Program students took a break for the holidays, we finished up with a jam packed week of fun. This included advanced firemaking skills, making fire from scratch. This time, students had to gather wild materials and try to create a friction fire totally from scratch. No saws or hatchets allowed! It was a wet, rainy day and made it especially challenging.

Also, we had another wonderful day with Karen Sherwood, this time learning about decoctions and infusions. We started our day finishing up the process of making our tinctures. They had been saturating for weeks, and were now ready to be finished.

First students filtered out the solids from liquids.

Then, we bottled them up and shared. Just in time too, as many people were starting to feel the onset of colds! Everyone felt grateful for the medicine provided by red ceder, yarrow, and Oregon grape.

We also made teas and infusions with various wild plants, including a dark, rich, coffee-like drink from the long tap root of the burdock. Here are Keith and Jason Millhouse processing the root before we roasted it.

The final day was a very special day for the students, full of naturalist challenges and games. Groups of students got into some friendly competition in trying to see who could build a friction fire first and make it large enough to pop the water balloon hanging above.

Students worked quickly, and persevered despite the abundant moisture that day.

We also played a great blindfolded game with the entire class called Nutty Squirrels, involving teams of 2. One student would be blindfolded, while the other would steer him or her into "battle." No word-based communication was allowed, only gestures or sounds. The ammunition was "acorns" in the form of balled up socks.

Great hilarity quickly ensued...

What a way to end before our winter break!

Video clips from the Tracking Apprenticeship

2009-12-19T11:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple short clips showing a few of the animal tracks & signs we found during our December field day at the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship:

Winter Adventure with the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship

2009-12-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

Another spectacular outing with the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship ends, and with it that last tracking outing of 2009.

This trip took us out to explore a new location over Stevens Pass and onto the East slope of the mountains. We had set our sights on the possibility of wolverine tracks and found ourselves exploring with new eyes. It did not take us long to find an interesting set of tracks crossing a road in the snow.

From Tracking Apprenticeship Winter Outing

These tracks moved around in loping gaits typical of many members of the weasel family. The tracks above are those of a large American marten. Following the tracks of this animal led us to find many other interesting tracks such as those of ruffed grouse, short-tailed weasel, Douglas squirrel, deer mice, bald eagle, river otter, beaver and others.

From Tracking Apprenticeship Winter Outing

The winter landscape itself was absolutely incredible to behold. Frost formed fantastic shapes on the top of the frozen waterways we crossed and re-crossed. It was towards the tail end of our adventures, following tracks near the edge of a large meadow that we discovered something odd.

From Tracking Apprenticeship Winter Outing

We picked up a strange trail made of very worn, over-sized tracks. We debated exactly what sort of gait we were looking at and what animal made it. We considered that perhaps this was the wolverine tracks we had set out to see.

From Tracking Apprenticeship Winter Outing

We followed the trail as far as we could and found a few tracks that showed subtle toes. Four toes, and a blocky looking heel pad. After much pondering, we came to the agreement that it was most likely tracks of another rare species in these parts... a Canada lynx.

What a day! Looking forward to more tracking in the new year.

Alderleaf interviewed by "From Soil to Soul"

2009-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

New video interview with Alderleaf - put together by Charlie B of "From Soil to Soul", a youtube channel dedicated to all things local and sustainable in the Pacific Northwest!

Camping Trip to the Eastern Washington Desert

2009-11-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

On the first day of our camping trip we stopped at Umtanum Canyon to harvest materials for hand drill fire kits. In addition to learning about the best materials to use, we were able to observe a much different environment than on the Western side of the Cascade mountains. Students found signs of deer, Big-Horned sheep, beaver, Golden Eagles, porcupine, and many other species of animals.

Here Jason is explaining what to look for in Cottonwood roots and branches to make good fireboards for our Hand Drill kits.

We learned more about traditional uses of the land at the Yakima Indian Reservation Cultural Center Museum on the way to our campsite.

Here students are putting their knowledge of fire building into practice to build the fire up in camp. The fire not only serves as a source of heat, but a central place for all to gather around in community to reflect upon the day.

After a cold night, we woke up to frost. Many of us learned a valuable lesson about cold weather camping. After some modifications, such as using leaves as insulation under tents, most had a much warmer second night of camping. We then proceeded to Moses Lake sand dunes to study the desert ecology of the Northern Great Basin Desert.

On our final day we explored the Ginko Petrified Wood State Park as well as harvesting the long needles from the Ponderosa Pine for a class on basket making later in the semester. The trip was capped off by a snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains on the way home. We were able to put the knowledge of traditional ecological living that we have learned so far into practice on this trip. It was a good week.

Flintknapping, Baskets, Tinctures and Bird Communication

2009-11-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

We jumped into the 1st week of November with a day working on the art of flint-knapping, with the guidance of the very experienced and skilled Frank Sherwood.

From Flintknapping, Cedar Baskets, Tinctures and Shapes of Alarm

Students learned the various techniques of knapping such as shearing, pressure flaking and alternate flaking. Here the students work in a very focused manner on alternate flaking.

From Flintknapping, Cedar Baskets, Tinctures and Shapes of Alarm

The other half of the class also had the great pleasure of working with Karen Sherwood on cedar baskets.

From Flintknapping, Cedar Baskets, Tinctures and Shapes of Alarm

Here are some of the students showing of their progress.

From Flintknapping, Cedar Baskets, Tinctures and Shapes of Alarm

We worked the next day with Karen on learning all about the power of healing herbs. We created a tincture of oregon grape, cedar and yarrow. It was wonderful connecting more deeply with the healing herbs all around us.

Finally, we finished of our week delving into deeper into the mysteries of bird communication. We looked at how birds can tell us about what sorts of animals are moving around us that we might not notice otherwise. We also looked more closely at how predators affect bird behavior and what we can learn from birds about those predators.

From UBNA Adventure Nov. 16

Another awesome week with the AWCP!

Alderleaf jaunt to NW TREK

2009-11-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Oct. 30 the Alderleaf crew headed down to NW Trek for a visit. We broke up into several groups and cruised around looking at the diversity of wildlife found in the park. All of the animals found there are native to the greater Northwest bio-region. This was an opportunity for students and staff alike to observe animals closely and learn how they move through the landscape, how they interact with each other, what types of sounds they make, how they smell and much more.

From Northwest Trek with Alderleaf

It was wonderful to get to watch such elusive animals as wolverines up close and personal. This beautiful animal was a great surprise to see, as it was a new cub born to the mating pair of wolverines found at the park. This species is known to cover vast tracts of wilderness in its search for food.

In this same section of the park, there is also a pair of fishers. Fishers were recently reintroduced to Olympic National Park. These animals are, like the wolverine, members of the weasel family (Mustelidae) and are very capable predators.

From Northwest Trek with Alderleaf

Similar in size to river otters, fishers - despite their name - are not generally fishing for food. Instead, these creatures hunt in forests on the ground and are also incredibly skilled and fast in the trees. Fishers have ankles that can rotate backwards, allowing them to climb down trees head first. They are also one of the only animals known to regularly prey on porcupines.

The park also has a several hundred acre enclosure that includes many ungulate species such bison, elk, moose and bighorn sheep. Also, they house a variety of native birds of prey including several types of owls, as well as bald eagle and golden eagles.

From Northwest Trek with Alderleaf

We were informed by one of the keepers that the pair of golden eagles are some of the oldest animals housed at the park. They were acquired some 30+ years ago and already at that time the birds were mature. This would put them some were between 35 and 40 years old!

The park staff also did some animal displays outside of enclosures and allowed us to view several species including a western screech owl, great horned owl, spotted owl and beaver at very close range.

The day left us inspired and wanting to know more. We look forward to another visit to NW Trek in the future!

Mushroom Madness: Wild Mushroom Identification Class

2009-10-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

The September 26 wild mushroom identification class went beautifully! Over 20 people from the public came to join us to learn, seek out and celebrate wild mushrooms. The weather was most helpful, with plentiful rain coming down in the earlier part of the week. Just to the liking of many mushrooms. On the day of class we were blessed with sunshine.

From Mushroom Class at ALDERLEAF

During our field portion we found a rich and diverse abundance of species. This included some tasty wild edible species such as chanterelles, crack cap boletus and oyster mushrooms. Everyone jumped in on looking for the mushrooms and we even discovered several previously unknown patches of chanterelles. We harvested them, and cooked them up using the dry-sautee method. For more information on this, check out our Alderleaf Commons site here: http://wildernesscollege.ning.com/group/mushrooms/forum/topics/cooking-mushrooms-the-dry

From Mushroom Class at ALDERLEAF

As you can see from the expressions in this photo, the students at the class were very intent on the cooking process. We ended the day with a wild mushroom feast that gave everyone an opportunity to taste their catch of the day.

The day was amazing, and everyone who attended left for home with a new appreciation and inspiration for wild mushrooms. Even the instructor...

From Mushroom Class at ALDERLEAF

October 2009 Update

2009-10-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

October has been a busy month at Alderleaf. Here's some photos to illustrate a few of the things we've been up to:

The Wilderness Certification Program students learned about stone tool making. This photo shows a few of the hand-crafted stone knives they created.

Two ponds have been created as part of Alderleaf Farm's Permaculture Plan. The ponds will create a greater diversity of habitats on the farm, attract more wildlife, solve winter flooding problems, store water for garden use, and provide the opportunity to raise fish! The pond is just starting to fill with water now that the rains have returned.

Alderleaf instructor Filip Tkaczyk, taught several wild mushroom foraging classes in September and October. They were a ton of fun - many tasty treats were discovered in the forest.

The Wilderness Certification Program just returned from their annual field trip to the Oregon Dunes. We had some inclement weather this year, though the coyote, fox, and raccoon trailing was amazing on our final full day in the field. Other highlights - harvesting 40 cups of evergreen huckleberries, and of course, jumping off the huge dunes!

Outdoor Classroom Completed!

2009-09-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

After much effort on the part of Alderleaf residents, students, staff, and community; the outdoor classroom is now completed! It provides a much needed outdoor learning space that is dry and out of the rain. The hand-crafted cedar posts and cedar shakes turned out beautifully. Its quite a sight! Much thanks to all that contributed. We hope it serves the community for many years to come!

2009-2010 Wilderness Certification Program Begins!

2009-09-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

The 2009-2010 Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program kicked off on Wednesday with orientation day! Thursday was an introduction to nature studies / naturalist skills. Friday began wilderness survival training with debris hut shelter construction and bow drill fire making. Lots of first time bow drill fires!

Intern, Kyle, offering bow drill fire making tips to Greg

Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship Adventures!

2009-09-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

This Saturday was the start of another year of the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship at Alderleaf. It was an amazing day of tracking along the Snohomish and the Skykomish Rivers. We observed a long list of species and their tracks including mink, muskrat, Norway rat, great blue heron, turkey vulture, bullfrog, raccoon and many others. As we traveled from one amazing set of tracks to another, we picked up the relatively fresh trail of a pair of elk. We trailed them over sand, silt, mud, gravel and even through water!

From Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship Day 1

As we covered ground, we came upon more and more amazing sights. It was at the end of the day that we had the greatest treat of all... Two ospreys on the ground and in the water! Osprey are on the ground only extremely rarely, and when we saw them take off we ran over to take a look. What we found was so amazing it was almost like finding the tracks of a mythical creature! The tracks were so strange... the contortions made by the toes and talons in order to allow this bird to walk are amazing and extreme. It is a great demonstration of how strongly adapted this bird is to catching fish.

From Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship Day 1

We found the trails of both birds. Both landed on the silty bar sticking out in a slow stretch of river, and walked rather awkwardly into the water to bath.

From Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship Day 1

You can see in this photo how the tracks lead into the river, and how they one nearest the water is the drag marks left behind by the one of the birds tails.

Overall all, it was a fantastic day of adventure with the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship!

A Feast of Wild Edible Plants!

2009-08-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great Wild Edible Plants Course this last weekend! Slideshow on wild edible plants, plant identification hike around the 15 acres, and then harvesting and cooking in the afternoon. By the end of the day an entire meal was created with wild edibles from the Alderleaf land:
Stir fry from dandelion roots and stinging nettle leaves; a salad made of red clover flowers, dandelion greens, and sheep sorrel; and a dock seed/wild berry oatmeal made with red huckleberries, blue huckleberries, and blackberries - topped off with rose hip honey.
Our wild and highly nutritious allies provide sustenance in both our kitchens and in survival situations.

There's still a few spaces open in the upcoming Wild Mushroom Identification Class.
Learn how to forage for wild edible mushrooms!

Transforming the Outdoor Teaching Area!

2009-07-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Staff, interns, and volunteers have been improving the outdoor teaching area by building an eight-sided roof over the fire pit! The posts were split from the cedar trees that came down on our land this past winter. Here's some photos showing our progress thus far:

Finished putting in the rafters and benches on Thursday!

This is what the area looked like before construction began.

First the cedar posts were put in the ground.

Then we used scaffolding to put up the smoke hole and first rafters

Smoke hole from below

Another view of the smoke hole

Next we'll be putting up more supports and then the cedar shakes that we hand split from our own trees!

Its been a blast working together! Big kudos out to Zach, Shea, Steve N., Tracy, Steve B., Filip, Kerry, and Kyle! Looking forward to the next phase of construction!

Run-in with a Bear Family

2009-07-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a month since we finished the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program and the skills I have learned helped me come across a family of black bears last week. I was on a hike to the lakes that I have been to numerous times now. My friend and I were fox walking on the logging road in our attempt to catch glimpses of the summer birds. He hadn't seen a Swainson's thrush ever and was very intent on seeing one. We heard a stick break about fifty feet ahead and stopped dead in our tracks to see a bear cub, probably around 6 months old, pop out onto the road and playfully lope down the road away from us. After a fist pound and a "heck yeah" we witnessed another bear cub jump out of the salmonberry thicket along the road. He was more wily than his sibling because he stopped, looked at us, sniffed the air, and jumped back into the thicket. He then gave a bellow which mom responded to with a growl and 2 huffs.

At this point my friend turned to run, which I quickly stopped. Mom began walking toward us without revealing her full body. We only caught a glimpse of her back as she tromped through the thicket in our direction. We slowly walked backward and after about 100 feet on our trail she returned to her one cub who stuck with her.

We ended up going a different way to the lakes but got on the same logging road in the other direction on our way home. We saw a bear cub once again walking toward us in a playful manner. Our theory is that the first bear got separated from the family during our encounter 4 hours prior. We walked the rest of the way home with senses heightened, excited to tell our story to all of the Alderleaf residents.

The strangest part of this whole story is that the night before this hike I had a dream. In the dream I saw a baby black bear climb down a tree. Upon my inspection mama came out and growled at me. I slowly backed away and began walking back toward the main trail and she followed peacefully. People walked by me on this trail and said hello, none observed the bear at my side. We walked into a dimly lit tunnel and I turned around to see if the bear had come in. She had shape-shifted into an old man that mildly resembled the musical artist Sting. I said "Bear?" And the old man replied "it is me, I am with you." At that point I awoke. My dream had come true!

The lesson here, for me, is that dreams are more than just sub-conscious experiences. If we pay attention to our dreams they may guide is in one or more ways through our next day. They may teach us how to overcome an obstacle in our lives whether it be a life-long fear or simply deciding which direction to go at a fork in the trail. Happy hiking and happy dreaming everyone.

Wilderness Certification Program Video!

2009-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Check out our video slideshow from graduation - lots of great photos from the Wilderness Certification Program:

Wilderness Certification Program Graduation Slideshow

Wilderness Certification Program Graduation!

2009-06-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

The 2008-2009 Wilderness Certification Program students graduated on Saturday, June 6th!

Congratulations to the recent graduates!

presenting certificates

students and staff speaking at graduation

student projects on display at graduation

We need more Baby Birds! (AWCP Survival Trip)

2009-06-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Our last field trip together was the AWCP's final exam: 5 day wilderness survival. We forged across a rushing stream to an island somewhere on the snaking Skykomish River. Day one was spent finding a campsite, building the best debris tipi we have ever seen, and making the fire. We found ourselves on the north side of the island, at the edge of the mixed forest. Dixie went to work building the bow and drill fire kit from the aged cedar that Jase had found on our hike. The three of us guys built the shelter. We lashed the ridge poles together with a zipper I had found hanging on a salmonberry bush. Our main source of debris for the insulative wall was an exotic invasive bush called Japanese Knotweed. We put about 800 pounds of this stuff on our shelter to create a 2 foot thick wall all the way around it. The gaps we filled in with sword ferns. Dixie was tirelessly working on a coal when she decided it was time to rest and asked me to bust one out. I got one and we placed it in a giant "bindle tunder" of shredded cottonwood bark; then the gal blew it into flame. We had fire by 4 pm.

Jason Cameron brought back something that made our lives extremely easy for the rest of the trip. He harvested a cooking pan about 3 inches deep by 14 inches wide. We went and gathered some stinging nettle and salmonberry chutes for our first dinner. Little did we know that we would be eating nettles and chutes for every single meal the next 4 days. On day 2 we got out of the shelter which needed more patchwork and made some fir needle tea (I call it Emergen-fir). The vitamin C rich beverage was not only soothing but medicinal to our food deprived stomachs. Jase raided a Towhee nest and got one egg for each of us to put in our nettle stew, but the eggs were already fertilized. We began the day by eating featherless baby birds. To much surprise, it was a very tasty morsel.

The rest of the week was spent gathering water and firewood, foraging for our next meals, hunting (unsuccessfully), and resting. The closest I got to a good hunt was hitting a flying merganser in the wing, knocking her off course a bit but not dropping her in the water. I threw so many stones and sticks at birds that week my shoulder is still aching. Our diet was mostly vegetarian, and every meal was a stew. We ate nettles, salmonberry chutes and flowers, thimbleberry flowers, trailing blackberry flowers, fireweed, oxeye daisy, coltsfoot, plantain, dandelion, sheep sorrel, oyster mushrooms, oregon grape chutes and more. The meat we dined upon consisted of garter snake, alligator lizard, gnat, worm, and snail... so many snails! They began to taste good after about 4 of them. The common mantra, however, thanks to Dixie (the predator) became "we need more baby birds," accompanied by a fizzing drool from each of our mouths.

There were many things we learned about wild animals, hunter- gatherer cultures, and most importantly, ourselves on this survival trip. I feel like more of a man for doing it and still have my stone knife that helped so tremendously throughout the week. Dixie brought back our fire kit and each one of us brought back a great story and many lessons. We were forced to apply the things we had learned over the last three seasons and we did it well, without getting sick or starving. What a way to end the school year!

Elk Trailing Seaweed Teachings

2009-06-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

The week before our final trip was one of my favorites this year at the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program. On Wednesday we went to Three Forks natural area in North Bend to practice our trailing skills. We started the day finding a wild cucumber plant which we later learned is poisonous... darn. We traversed through one meadow and at its edge picked up a fresh elk trail. The heavy rains the day before were a tremendous help in differentiating fresh from old sign. We jumped on the trail at around 10 am, followed it across a small wooded stream into another meadow, where we found lays in the ever-growing reed canary grass. We lost the trail after the beds so we skirted the edge of the meadow until we picked up the tracks again entering the muddy maple/cottonwood forest. Each of us took turns taking the lead and stayed on it for 3 more hours, skipping lunch. We began to see large amounts of hair stuck to snowberry branches and as Dixie led us around a corner the butt ends of the spooked Rocky Mountain Elk left our field of view as they trodded off loudly through the woods. We did it! Found em' baby. I'm ready for a cougar now... well, maybe.

Thursday Karen Sherwood of Earthwalk Northwest came out and taught us about the botanical gifts the sea has to offer us. We learned that Nori, an edible seaweed, actually grows all along the west coast. We were all under the impression that it only grew in the Asain pacific parts of the world. We also learned that nearly every seaweed found in the tidal waters is edible, except for one kelp species named acid kelp. This is distinguished from others by its flattened laminae (leaf like blades) which are segmented and bleach out acidic liquids onto things they touch. Other edibles we learned about were Rockweeds, Sea Lettuces, and Kelps. She also taught us about which tidal zones each one inhabits.

On Friday we were put on the teaching stage at OWLE, a seasonal children's class offered by Hawkeye at his school, Quiet Heart. We used all of the tools he had given us throughout the year to teach lessons of animal movements, awareness, and camoflauge. By the end of the day the 13 kids we taught were covered in clay, mud, charcoal, Pine needles and grasses. It was a very fun experience and we learned that keeping control over a group of young people can require much more energy than expected. All in all it was a good learning and teaching experience.

Rainy nights, Scouts all right

2009-06-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have been able to write about the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program. But at the beginning of May we went to the Okanogan to learn the ways of the scout. Scouts were very important members of native communities and were relied upon to gather information, find camp sites and hunting/fishing grounds, or to find enemy tribes in the area. We were taught numerous ways that scouts move through the landscape to remain invisible. We also learned about natural camoflauge, booby traps, and reconasaince. We learned that the rain makes it much easier to move silently, not only pitter pattering the trees, but moistening and softening the ground so leaves don't crunch under your feet... or knees... or stomach for that matter.

I will not go into detail because the scout community is a tight one, and under scouts honor we agreed to keep the deeper lessons within our tribe. I will say, however, that at Scout Camp you recognize the difference between comfort and need; and, for you brave souls who choose to participate, your boundaries and limits will be tested...

Photos from May!

2009-06-01T07:49:00.001-07:00

Students learning natural camouflage at the Scout Skills Intensive

Rubber boa found at the Scout Skills Intensive!

Wilderness Certification Program students visited the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead on Orcas Island, as part of completing their Permaculture Design Certificate coursework

Grouse that visited Alderleaf

Wilderness Certification Program students successfully followed elk tracks all the way to the animals!

Certification Program students teaching kids about natural camouflage

OWLE students in camouflage

Cougar tracks found during the Wilderness Certification Program survival trip

Wilderness Certification Program students returning from their end of the year Survival Experience!

Primitive Fishing at the Certification Program

2009-05-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

Certification Program students learned about primitive fishing, built fish spears, and are practicing stalking up on their prey

patience

Primitive cooked wild edibles for the Bear Lady

2009-04-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program we ate very well. Day one was spent at the Skykomish river down on a bar, but not a sand bar, a clay bar. This amazing type of soil is created by rivers crushing rocks into very small particles, smaller than that of sand or silt. It adheres and coheres extremely well and acted as a mortar for our stone oven we built and cooked biscuits in. We also dug a steam pit in the clay which we lined with layers (from the bottom up) of hot rocks, ferns, food, ferns, and hot rocks. We would have wrapped the food in Skunk Cabbage leaves, but all we found on public land was aluminum foil. It took a couple hours to cook the food through, but when it finished we ate a large meal of chicken, salmon, potatoes, asparagus and apples.

firing up the stone-clay oven

preparing the steam pit

Karen Sherwood came out on Thursday and we learned about some common spring edibles of the northwest. We also ate these common edibles... a lot of them. We started by processing acorns from Red Oaks, which are harvested in fall, but keep for a long time in the freezer. We made acorn flour and muffins which were scrumptious. Then we made dandelion pesto from the leaves and ate that over pasta. The last part of the day we harvested some stinging nettle shoots along the river road right near campus. While harvesting we munched on Salmonberry shoots and Miner's lettuce. We also found some early morels, which give a hint as to where the tasty morels will shoot up later in spring. Not gonna tell you where... We steamed the nettles and cooked some rice to go with them. They are super good for a spring food when the body needs extra nutrients coming out of a cold winter. High in vitamin A, C, and iron, we felt supercharged as we left class.

bear claw marks on an alder tree

On Friday I felt like a baby. One of the best trackers I have ever met taught our class. Sue Morse, from Keeping Track in Vermont, took us on a hike. One I have been on at least 15 times now. On the way to the bobcat hotspot near bobcat lake she picked out a bunch of trees where black bears and other animals have been leaving marks. She found numerous trees with bear hairs stuck to them and a bunch of teeth and claw marks from climbing males and females. The carnivore research she has done in the field shows in her tracking skill. For example, there is a hemlock sapling with the trunk broken but still connected toward the top. We walk by it all the time, either not seeing it, or assuming the wind or a falling branch broke it. Sue, in the back of the hiking line, made us turn around and walk back to it. We learned that bears will pull on or straddle the tops of these little trailside trees to leave scents of themselves in order to communicate with other bears. This is just one example of the humbling, eye- opening day with Sue, who also taught a Carnivore Tracking Workshop at Alderleaf the weekend after class.

Mountain Lion at Alderleaf!

2009-04-28T13:55:00.001-07:00

A mountain lion passed by our motion-sensing camera this week! After a great Carnivore Tracking Workshop with Susan Morse, we checked our camera on Monday morning. It was an incredible treat to see an image of the mountain lion, especially after spending the weekend observing carnivore tracks and sign, including mountain lion scat, scrapes, and claw raking! We feel most fortunate to share the land with these awe-inspiring carnivores! The photo was captured only a stone's throw from our classroom!

Interested in learning more about wildlife tracking? Check out our upcoming courses:

Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship

Trailing Workshop with Adriaan Louw

Wildlife Tracking Weekend Course

Teaching and Tracking

2009-04-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program was mostly spent at the Track and Sign Evaluation (See Jason's article below) but we began with a lesson in lesson planning with Hawkeye. We got our bow drill fire built thanks to Jason Cameron for busting out a coal. Then Hawkeye taught us about planning lessons for a group of young students. The two points he emphasized most were "know your students" and "know your subject." Pretty straightforward. Sometimes, we learned, the plan just gets abandoned because nature takes over and has far more to teach than any human. We made some primitive pliers and planned a lesson which we shared with the group and got feedback.

Congratulations to the Recently Certified Trackers!

2009-04-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Alderleaf hosted Casey McFarland of CyberTracker Conservation to administer the international Track & Sign Evaluation in April 2009. A big congratulations goes out to all who participated. Everyone performed very well and received track & sign certificates, including each of our Wilderness Certification Program students!

A special congratulations goes out to Alderleaf instructor, Filip Tkaczyk, who scored highest in the group, with a 96%, receiving a Track & Sign III Certificate. The rigorous, two-day field test included 80 questions on tracks and sign, ranging from stone flies, to salamanders, northern flickers, river otters, bobcat, mink, and much more.

Stay tuned, Alderleaf will be hosting Adriaan Louw to offer a Trailing Evaluation and a Trailing Workshop in October 2009. You can subscribe to the Alderleaf eNewsletter to be the first to know about dates and availability.

Transformations in our little pond

2009-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

During a quick lunch break today, I sat by the little pond we have here at Alderleaf. Its only about 18-20 feet long by maybe 6 feet wide. But, there is a wealth of life in it.

As I sat there looking into the water, I saw that the tadpoles have hatched and are growing very rapidly. Many of them were hanging out in the warm water of the shallows.

An adult Pacific Treefrog floated in the open water in the middle of the pond, its legs dangling down into the deeper water. It seemed to ponder the strange animal that was sitting there watching it, then decided to dive down and hide.

Suddenly, I noticed a mayfly larva floating up to the surface of the pond. It floated there for a second or two, then started arching and flexing its back rapidly against the water's surface. Within 5 seconds, the larva transformed into a totally different creature. Its body split down the middle and a fully formed, winged adult mayfly was standing over the old shell that once housed the mayflies body. It stood on the surface of the water on spindly legs, wings shimmering in the sun, and double tail arched upward. Not more than 15 seconds after that, it was flying away from the pond on the breeze!

I have never witnessed such a rapid transformation before! It made my jaw drop...

Tracking Migrant Atl- Atls

2009-04-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

We are participating in a Track and Sign Evaluation next week, so the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program began this week with a review of the mammal, bird, and reptilian tracks of the Pacific Northwest. We trekked down to the Skykomish river banks at a new sandbar filled with awesome track and sign. Jason threw a few practice questions at us down there and everyone learned something new. Species ranged from Stellar's Jay to Opossum. One tricky set really humbled me. These looked like picture perfect otter tracks, right on the bank heading toward a small slough. The only reason I hesitated was that the tracks leading to and coming from the question prints were raccoon tracks in the water. I went with my instinct and it turned out that this particular question required a little further investigation. We consulted a field guide and saw how raccoon prints register when they move at high speeds... like nearly perfect otter tracks.

Thursday we were introduced to some birds that will be migrating to our region this Spring. Some species we have seen and heard on campus already. On our afternoon bird walk we spied a Rufous Hummingbird and an Anna's hummingbird not to mention a Band Tailed pigeon and a Red Tailed Hawk amongst White Crowned Sparrows, which we learned from Filip have only one song they repeat over and over again. He taught us that as territories change amongst this species, their songs vary. We finished the day exercising, first our sense of hearing and feel by leading each other through the woods blindfolded, then by playing one of my favorite games, Eagle Eye. This is a form of hide-n-seek where the seeker has to stay in the "Eagle's nest" and try to spot the prey, which must keep at least one eye on the eagle at all times. My shoes were visible each round, telling me I need to keep my whole body on a lower plane while scouting, not to mention practicing with more natural camoflouge... I wondered why Dark Eyed Junco's have been following me around... to teach me lessons in becoming invisible in the landscape!

Friday was a Fun filled Frank Sherwood day. We learned about numerous primitive hunting methods, as well as ethics and what it takes to become a good hunter. One of these lessons in bow hunting is selective shooting, which is only taking a shot that has a high percentage chance of striking the kill zone, ending the animal's wild and free and good life quickly, with little pain. We got to practice throwing rabbit sticks, bolas and rocks from a sling. I especially like the rabbit stick because of its simplicity. The best part of the day was when we made our own Atl-Atls, a primitive weapon bridging the gap between throwing stick and bow & arrow. A survivalist uses one piece of wood to fire another, but without a string. We all used Alder because it is easy to work and readily available on Alderleaf's land. The handles we made about a foot and a half long, with a near 30 degree branch shooting up nearly two inches with a pivot point on them. The other part of the tool is a 7 foot long spear as straight as can be. Each of us, by the end of the day were at least able to fire them spear point forward in a general direction, but with practice we could be getting us some bunnies next Easter!

March Wilderness Survival Course

2009-04-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend Wilderness Survival Course in March! Here are a few photos from the class:

Creating a debris hut shelter

Putting the finishing touches on the shelter

Making fire from a bow drill friction fire kit!

Demonstrating a figure four deadfall trap

Primitive water purification - rock boiling

Outdoor Leadership and Survival Traps & Snares

2009-03-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

Our last week before Spring break at the Wilderness Certification Program was kicked off with a visit from Hawkeye. He taught us how to regain control over a group of young people who do not want to cooperate. He emphasized that discipline is a last resort that should only be carried out if a trend of disrespectful behavior is observed. Some of the ways a good outdoor youth instructor stays in charge of a group are setting limits from day one, expecting the best from the students (and telling them that repeatedly), letting them learn through natural consequences, and, one that works on almost every kid... incentive. Once control is lost however, and it happens, there are a couple methods of regaining your leadership. Sometimes a time out at the peace tree is necessary, other times the silent treatment works, and a good lecture might not teach kids anything, but it will embarass and humble them a bit. Raising your voice was only recommended in a safety situation. We tell the kids at the OWLE program that we might yell their name really loud, but it is not personal, just a way to make sure the danger is eliminated.

Thursday we learned about primitive traps and hunting techniques. We learned about running snares, figure four deadfalls, and rabbit sticks. We each made our own deadfall and tested them on Dino, Jason's stuffed purple dinosaur. He was squashed many times by our deadly cedar logs. We went up to the Aplodontia metropolis on the east end of campus and set our traps, non-lethally. We put sand down underneath them to see any sign of Aplodontia running under them. Jase and I checked our snare and traps... and the figure fours were tripped! The snare, we believe came undone. The last part of the day was spent practicing throwing sticks at aluminum cans and stuffed octopi. A rabbit stick is the simplest primitive hunting weapon other than a rock, and it is a close range instrument. At 30 feet, it was tough to hit a non-moving stuffed animal, but with practice, I bet one could nail a rabbit or squirrel from 45 feet.

On Friday we had the podium at OWLE in Woodinville. We taught the group of 13 kids about natural cordage of the northwest native peoples. We showed them Dogbane, Stinging nettle, cattail, and cedar root cords. Then we taught them how to strip plants of their fibers and reverse wrap, double reverse wrap, and braiding methods of twisting cord. By the end of the day, each kid had tied up a feeder cone and wrapped a cedar smudge bundle with cattail leaf cord. We even made our own little paiute deadfall, which we tripped with a ziploc bag full of water and splashed a couple kids. The last part of the day was spent playing awareness games like "You're only safe if..." and a cougar stalking deer game. It was a great way to become a child again right before break.

Olympic Peninsula Adventure

2009-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Wilderness Certification Program: A few weeks back, our caravan made the long journey over land and water to the Olympic Peninsula. Our first day was spent at the Makah museum, studying the uncovered artifacts of Ozette, a large village where the Makah people lived hundreds of years ago. We learned about the life and times of these people of the sea. The men would make canoes over twenty feet long and go out in 8 man whaling fleets. The cord used for the harpoon was about 1 inch thick wrapped cedar bark, strong enough to hold a 50 foot humpback. Tied to this monster rope were seal skins full of air, to prevent the whale from diving too deep. Once the tired gigantor was brought canoe side, a sacred lance was used to impale the beast's brain. Then one man jumped into the ocean and sewed the whale's mouth shut to stop it from gathering water and sinking (wouldn't want that job on a rainy day). On the way back to the village with their catch, sharks would often wander behind the canoe. If so, a giant stone was dropped over the edge and the shark disappeared into the dark water below.

These people had a fruitful forest on one side of their settlement and a fruitful ocean on the other. It is amazing to see how intelligent and brave these people were. They built houses from cedar planks and ate salmon, deer, bear, seal, and whales, as well as greens and fruits of the forest.

On Thursday, we trekked 3 miles to the beach through an old growth spruce forest. The creeks and streams had a reddish tinge to their water, and the spruce trees were 7 feet wide and over 100 feet tall. Right before we left the forest, a huge bald eagle flew through the trees less than 50 feet from our heads. We noticed that at the coast, spring was a few weeks ahead of our campus. Nettles were shooting up to shin height, and pussies were plumping on coastal willows. We even funneled a healthy doe between Jason K. and me and watched it make perfect trotting tracks on the sand. A half dozen bald eagles feeding on something brought us to an island which had a dead whale on it. We picked up rib bones 4 feet long and 6 inches wide! After harvesting some nettles, seeing ancient petroglyphs, and finding handhold rocks for bow drills, we hiked back to the campground, started a friction fire, and played bird monopoly.

Friday was a fun day, for me especially, because we headed to the Ellwah River to look for fisher tracks. We knew it was like finding a needle in a haystack... there were only 40 fishers released over thousands of acres in the Olympic National Forest. Also, Fishers are notorious for hunting the treetops, outrunning even squirrels through the tall evergreen canopy. Luckily at the last spot we looked we found a left front track of a fisher in some dry dirt under a bridge. Whenever I see a new track it feels better than Christmas. A gift from the animals for me to learn from.

Alderleaf's very own pygmy owl !

2009-03-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today, at the Alderleaf Property I found a wonderful surprise...

A series of bird alarms drew my attention towards the barn. When I investigated the disturbance, I found a tiny little bird of prey sitting in the bare branches of the large cherry tree. I excitedly grabbed my camera and binoculars, and alerted the two people I could locate on campus - Steve and Zack, both residents of the property - to come check it out.

Not only did we get to see this bird in the cherry tree, but we followed it as it traveled all the way across the farms open space and flew to the edge of the forest. To our surprise, the little owl flew right at us at one point and actually landed fairly low in a young red alder tree allowing us to approach within 15-20 feet of the tree.

It was a northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium californicum)!

These amazing bird-eating predators are our smallest owl species in the PNW, and cause quite a stir among the local bird species when they are spotted. Believe it or not, these owls hunt during the day time. At these fluffy little birds are only about 6.5" long. Small enough to sit on your index finger!

This is just one of the many amazing animals that makes its home at Alderleaf and the surrounding forests.

Olympic Peninsula Field Trip Photos

2009-03-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a few photos from the Wilderness Certification Program's field trip to the Olympic Peninsula:

jumping tidepools

black-tailed deer on the beach

bald eagle track

tree island on the coast

purple rock crab

ancient petroglyphs

students near Ozette, Washington's Olympic Coast

Empowering Youth, Natural Building, Pruning & Composting

2009-03-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Last week the AWCP hosted Hawkeye yet again. We began the day by starting a flint and steel fire at the outdoor classroom in the lite morning rain. Because our roof was taken down by intense snowstorms in December, we were exposed to the elements. The theme of the day was "empowering youth with knowledge." We talked about how young kids, when taught survival and woodsman skills, obtain not only power but courage and self-esteem as well. We "took on child form" while Hawkeye taught us how to make char-cloth. If I were a ten year old kid learning this I would feel a lot more confident and powerful, two good traits to have. The downside of teaching the youth wilderness skills is that, as they grow up, and learn more about our recent history, they may want to leave it all behind and head out into the bush... pull an Alexander Supertramp. That is where the responsibility lesson comes in. We need to teach our youth that it is their responsibility to be safe and sound with their potentially harmful tools: fire, knives, and knowledge.

We had a double dose of permaculture on Thursday and Friday. Adam Rawson came up from northern California, where he lives on a remote piece of land off the grid. We covered quite a bit in the classroom, but also got our hands in the dirt. Shelter was a large topic of day one. We talked about alternative, sustainable, organic methods of building. Some of the most common alternative buildings around today are straw bale houses (which work great in semi-dry climates... and if there is no big bad wolf after you!), cob structures, log cabins, and underground homes. The biggest challenge to alternative building, we learned, is roofing. One of our current projects is building an outdoor classroom with cedar shake roofing. This has been done by the old homesteaders back in the good ole days, and some shake roofs have outlasted their builders!

We also talked about composting and pruning. Composting is a way to recycle food waste back into the soil. We learned about components of compost (mainly nitrogen and carbon) and which materials contain these essential elements. Some different methods of composting include the layered pile, the hangar method, compost tea, and one of my favorites, hugelkultur (using rotting wood to build up a berm of soil and compost). At Earthwise homestead, Albert Postema has created a large hugelkultur berm which was steaming... in December...in Washington. Talk about a microclimate! We also pruned our fruit trees in the northwest corner of the property as well as transplanted a raspberry bush and a gooseberry bush. All in all, a wonderful week of class.

Follow-Up to Tracking in Wildlife Science!

2009-02-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

A big congratulations to the students in the Wilderness Certification Program! They successfully captured a photo of a bobcat at Alderleaf using a motion-sensing camera! Two weeks ago, as part of our lesson on utilizing tracking skills for wildlife science, we challenged the class to obtain a photograph of a bobcat by using their training in tracks and sign to determine the best location for the camera. They succeeded in less than two weeks! Here's the photo:

Great job everyone!

-Jason Knight
Program Director

Pictures from Alderleaf

2009-02-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from around campus this beautiful February weekend.

Cedar cones on snow

What tree did this bark come from?

Underside of oyster mushroom

Douglas squirrel feeding sign on hemlock cones

Deer fern lining the walls of a deep hole

Habitat Restoration, Human Tracking, & Cattail Mats

2009-02-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

I feel like we did something good for the planet on Wednesday at the Wilderness Certification Program. We began the day with a short lecture on habitat restoration and enhancement. Since most funding for these projects comes from Federal, State, and local agencies, there are jobs for ecologists, landscapers, and engineers. The process is pretty straight forward. We got to practice restoring habitat in the front of the farm, where a lawn has been for many years. By digging holes in the grass and transplanting 31 native plants and trees, we recreated a biodiverse section of Alderleaf. Some species we put out there: Paper Birch, Evergreen Huckleberry, Salal, Red Alder, Sword fern (to name a few). The placement of each plant was decided based on the plant's height as well as its sun and moisture requirements. The second half of the day we learned about sustainable forestry. It was stressed that the number one goal of forest stewardship is to conserve and maintain biological capacity and diversity. We learned that it is very possible for humans to have an active role in the happenings of the forest and not decimate its health. The final part of our day was spent transplanting baby western red cedars in conifer- lacking areas of Alderleaf's forest.

Thursday was an absolute blast. We studied search and rescue techniques in tracking, as well as tactical criminal tracking. We met up at the Startup Sandbar and built a flint and steel fire in a small cedar grove. Leaving Jason to tend the fire, we went and followed the trail he blazed earlier that morning. We had to interpret his behaviors on top of following his trail to the end marker (a beaver chewed stick). The character Jason played was a portly, drunk fisherman who casted in numerous places along the banks, drank a beer, and excreted in the bushes! None of us smelled the excretion to make sure it was him. After lunch we trailed each other...tactically... armed with super soakers! I was the first tracker to trail Dixie the outlaw. We set up in the basic diamond formation, me leading, Jase and Jason C. the flanks, and Jason K. the controller. The idea is the lead follows the trail while the flanks (only ones with super soakers) keep their eyes up to see the bad guy. In this particular case, the outlaw was too well camoflauged and witty for the trackers. Dixie sprayed me right in the back from a sand bunker twenty feet to the left. My flanker didn't even see her!

On Friday we welcomed back Karen Sherwood, expert ethnobotanist. She taught us how to weave cattail mats, which can be utilized as seats, mattresses, and shelter walls. Cattail leaves are somewhat thick, soft, and pliable. We began by using a basic 3 braid method to weave the edges. After we had two equal length braids, we lined up leaves alternating earth end, sky end, earth end, sky end... We then took our Oceanspray wood weaving needles, tied some sinew to them, and shoved it through the edge of each leaf and the far braid. We did this with a single piece of sinew snaking back and forth down the mat. A very good day with lessons in not only weaving, but patience and the importance of workable, durable materials.

(Cattail mat holding some of my trinkets)

Orienteering, weaving, not quite fire breathing

2009-02-23T20:59:00.000-08:00

Last week at the Wilderness Certification Program we were presented with a challenge. In groups of two, we set out to find the "treasure" hidden in numerous locations at Lord's Hill Park in South Monroe. We were given maps with X marking the spots. Jase and I trotted like coyotes past Dixie and Jason to search for the first prize. Confused as to where it was, we decided to move along and find it on our way back. We quickly gathered up the next prizes, which were bags full of chocolate and things of the like. We took note of sign we saw along the way(bobcat, deer, river otter scats), but this was an orienteering course with some of the best incentive (candy!) and gave us tunnel vision. We all met up at the last spot and enjoyed some peppermint patties and water. The sun acted as our best directional aid for the day, and we were thankful that the sky was blue. It was a fun day, yet a day with many lessons in map reading, planning, and navigation.

On Thursday we explored alternate primitive fire making techniques. We built two pump drills, a fire plow, and a fire saw. These instruments gave me a new, high respect for the bow drill. I went for a quick plow while the others built the first pump drill. I used a cedar branch I had been drying. The pump drill is like a sprint. It requires a quick, very strong push-pull with one arm while applying downward pressure with the other arm. Ideally dust collects at the front end of the burn groove, but this did not happen in our case. Frustrated and rather parched, I watched Jason bust out a pump drill coal toward the end of the day while enjoying a refreshing canteen of water. The pump drill is a long term tool that would be applied in a wilderness living experience instead of a short term survival situation.

With sore legs from Wednesday's many mile treasure hunt and sore arms from flustered fire starting attempts, our Friday was spent weaving willow withe baskets. We started by weaving god's eyes, then shifting to a traditional twining technique. With a bit of stick-to-it-ness we all had made funtional holding containers. Some are arrow quivers and others are fire kit holders!

Orienteering, Fire Gadgets and Willow Baskets

2009-02-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

This Week In Pictures

The "Dark Cedar" treasure from Wednesday's orienteering course

What plant's seed is this?

Jason using our home made pump drill fire kit

Finally, some smoke from the cedar plug

The God's eye of a willow quiver

Photos from our recent work party!

2009-02-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

We had a great work party at Alderleaf Farm on February 7th! We made shakes, beams, and fenceposts out of the western red cedars that had to come down - which will be used for our gardens, outdoor classroom, and permaculture projects:

Photos from the Week

2009-02-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Alderleaf

A completed pine needle coil basket

Sweet bee's wax for salve making

Comfrey oil and salves and creams

Calendula petals infusing in oil

Who left this distinctive trail?

Medicinal Salves, Geology, and Tracking in Wildlife Science

2009-02-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

Last week kicked off our second semester of the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program. Karen Sherwood came out on Tuesday and taught us how to make medicinal salves, which are similar to lotions. The first salve we made was a cottonwood salve (commonly called Balm of Gilead), which is made by simply heating beeswax and cottonwood bud-infused olive oil to about 130 degrees farenheit. You pour the hot mixture into holding containers and let cool for about 20 minutes. That's all there is to it! The cottonwood salve could also be made by using animal fat in a survival situation. It serves as an anti-microbial and also speeds up healing of blisters, cuts, burns, and bruises. We made other salves as well as some creams with Karen, who always brings great lessons and fun activities to Alderleaf.

Day two was spent learning about geology, the study of the earth. Geology covers everything from the earth's core to weathering and atmospheric conditions. We focused on the earth's crust. This is what we live on and what provides our waters and soils nutrients to grow the wonderful plants that constantly provide us with edible and medicinal goodies. The Earth's crust (in nerd words lithosphere), we learned, is about 40 miles thick, and is made of mostly bedrock. This bedrock breaks down over time due to factors like wind, water, salts, microscopic organisms, freezing, oxidation, and heat. As they break down they combine with organic material to form soil, which houses our beloved plants. Geology has numerous areas of study, and one could easily spend their whole life studying soil and its fertility!

On Friday we learned about how tracking is applied to wildlife science. In the second half of the day we were presented with a challenge. We had to set up a motion sensing camera in a place where we thought a bobcat might pass through. There were three spots in mind. The first spot we checked had a lot of upsides. There were old bobcat scats, a lot of trees to set the camera on, and douglas squirrel caches. Douglas squrrels are an important source of food in the bobcat winter diet. The next place we looked at was named Aplodontia Metropolis. A huge debris pile from logging done back in the 80's is housing numerous aplodontias just off Alderleaf's property. We saw chomped up piles of swordfern just outside their burrow entrances. Aplodontias are often hunted by bobcat as well, but this place had less trees on which to place a camera. It was also farther away and had possibilities of being seen and stolen. We placed the camera in spot 1 before looking at spot 3, the south trail. Walking the trail back to the classroom, we noticed at least three bobcat footprints that were made a few days before... The collective decision was to leave the camera for two weeks, and if there are no bobcat photos, we will move it to spot 3. I hope we catch one on camera!

Okanogan Expedition

2009-02-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

For our last week of the first semester at the Wilderness Certification Program, we headed northeast to Okanogan country. We camped in the Alkali lakes wilderness on land owned by Chris Kenworthy, wilderness first aid and scout trainer. We pitched our tents and slept in the below freezing temperatures. That first morning I woke up with frost on my sleeping bag!

We went snowshoeing and tracking on day two. Some common species' footprints we saw were mule deer (much larger than the black tailed deer on the west side), snowshoe hare, squirrel (debatable whether red or douglas), grouse and coyote. A new set of tracks showed themselves to us as well. They looked like a pair of two tracks making two to three footlong hops, heading into rodent burrows in the snow. What do you think they were?

We got to work building shelters our third day. We built a snow hut and a snow pit shelter, both of which were quite sturdy and aesthetically pleasing. We harvested cattails for the mattresses and many sticks for the ribbing. I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and heard a great horned owl and a pack of yipping coyotes. A temperature test proved that the snow shelters were much warmer than the tents. It was 13 degrees farenheit outside when I woke up in the snow pit... inside was a toasty 28!

We made a primitive fire and built snowshoes on day four. Our tinder bundle consisted of grasses found underneath sage brush (out of the snow), sage brush bark, river birch bark, an old wasps nest, powdered pine pitch, and suspended dead pine needles. A mixture of materials is always preferred. In the snow, a platform made of green wood and a wind barrier is necessary to start a successful fire. Our platform burned down after 2 to 3 hours, which taught us a good lesson in how high to build fire platforms in snow.

The snowshoes turned out great, especially the "bear claw" style (pictured below in previous blog entry). We made them out of willow suckers because they are bendy and flexible. Snowshoes made from natural materials need maintenance, especially if one plans on using them each year.

We finished up learning outdoor first aid and the importance of carrying first aid kits. We each recieved first aid kits full of good stuff like athletic tape, gauze, scissors, etc.

Winter Survival / Snow Tracking Trip Photos!

2009-02-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program spent a week learning winter survival and snow tracking skills in the North Cascades!

Snowshoes constructed from willow branches

Custom-made snow shelter

Fire platform

Making a bow drill fire in the snow

Farewell

2009-01-31T15:26:00.000-08:00

In this special post I'd just like to say goodbye, for now, to Master Fritz Drayton who heard the call of nature and embarked on a quest to master the art of fire breathing, hone his musical ability, and learn to fly his digeriedo; he won't be present on the farm but will complete the course telepathically while on his adventure. Fritz plans on practicing guerilla gardening on his estate somewhere off the coast of Rogue Island. He will be missed and we wish him the best of luck. Until we meet again, Jase Grimm on behalf of Alderleaf Farm

Winter in Okanogan

2009-01-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from Wilderness Certification Program's winter trip to the Coyote's Path property in Okanogan, WA.
Oregon grape leaves in the winter

Edible rosehips

Inside the debris framed snow shelter

A pile of magnesium shavings going up in flame

A nubbin of ponderosa pine pitch melting

Pictures from the Week

2009-01-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

An alder hanger bound with cedar rootlet

Rosehip tea brewing in a French pressDandelion roots roasting in a skillet

A tiny example of pine needle basket making

A new pine needle basket in the making

Lessons from infusing pine needle baskets

2009-01-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

This week at the Wilderness Certification Program Hawkeye came out to teach us about giving lessons. There are different ways which people learn, and different ways to give lessons. Lessons can be learned through direct experience (sometimes hard lessons!), through repetition, and (my favorite) through coyote teaching. We practiced all of these methods thoroughly and had a blast the whole time. We learned how to make primitive hangers too. Sometimes you need to dry things like herbs or clothes, and with the direct experience of making primitive hangers we learned that lesson. They also can serve to smoke meat if hung above a fire. Coyote teaching is a method of getting a student to answer his or her own question. Each time a question is asked, the answer is another question. It can be frustrating, especially when you know that the teacher knows the answer. But how much of what your teachers said in class do you remember?

On Thursday we learned about wild herbal teas and how to draw out different nutrients and medicines from different plants. We made some dandelion root tea, which was full of vitamin A and iron. Later on we ate the leaves in quinoa veggie peanut sauce dish. We learned the difference between infusions and decoctions. Infusions are made by steeping the herb in hot water and letting it sit for a period of time. Decoctions, on the other hand, are made by boiling the root, flower, stalk, and/or leaves in the water for at least a few minutes. Karen Sherwood, our ethnobotany medicinal herbalist superwoman gave us a gift of her cold/flu formula, which is a mixture of... maybe I won't let out the secret!

Friday Karen was back to teach us basketry. We used ponderosa pine needles from the East Cascades which we gathered in November. We learned different stitches and used a coiling technique, which is different than the plaiting of our cedar bark baskets. This coiling technique is used to make water tight baskets that can hold more weight. Starting the basket was a bit frustrating but once you got into the flow of things it became much more fun. These baskets will hold not only berries or other foods but our personalities for years to come.

Ecological Tracking, Bowmaking and Water Purification

2009-01-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

Yay! The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program is back from break, but the weather hasn't given us any time to relax. Over Christmas and New Years the campus got 2 feet of snow! The day I came back to campus after visiting family in Iowa (where we had 3 feet of snow) there was still some on the ground, but it melted overnight and the snow melt, as well as some more rain, flooded us out so we didn't have class Wednesday and Thursday but were back on track on Friday. We practiced ecological tracking, which is a bit like the "big picture" of track and sign; we looked at an aerial photograph of a nearby wetland (lovingly dubbed the Dam Marsh) made by a beaver damn and hypothesized about what kind of animals would be active in the area and what kind of sign we would find. So we trekked out there and found sign of over 15 animals, some that we expected, and some that we didn't.

After a relaxing weekend of lumber milling we came back together to build survival sapling bows with Frank Sherwood. What a blast! It took us two full days of harvesting materials, tillering, sharpening points and making cordage but we did it. We even went "roving;" stalking imaginary game and challenging eachother to shoot faster, farther and with greater accuracy.

The week came to a close with a days lesson on water purification through boiling and other means. In order to boil water to kill any pathogens we first had to make our own bowls by burning into logs with coals to make a deep depression; then we filled the bowls with creek water and boiled it by adding rocks heated in the fire. We even added a few Douglas Fir needles for flavor and vitamin C. Yum! A multi-use trail through the grass across the path to the Dam Marsh.

Fritz burnishing the point on his Dogwood/Black Locust arrow.

Looks like fur; it's really just some beautifully formed frost on a twig.

Blowing through a Teasle straw onto coals to help them burn faster.

Placing the last hot rock in the dugout bowl to bring the water to a boil with Vine Maple tongs.

Hide and Seek

2009-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

After the first snow hit in mid-December, Jason and I went out looking for tracks. We had high hopes to see some in the woods, but we came across a carnivore trail just as we crossed the driveway. This hunter had come the night before (we think, no snow in the tracks) and laid down right next to our little pond. Then he/she got up and walked down the south trail. What do you think it was?

We followed this fellow mammal on the south trail and down to the creek. We lost the trail at the creek's edge, thinking it may have crossed. After examining the site a bit, we realized that there were no visible tracks on the other side of the creek. Also, the creek was deep and the wide at this spot. It didn't seem like a smart place to cross.

We considered the possibility of the animal walking along the creeks edge, possibly searching for shrews or thirsty mice. When we got to the log bridge, we discovered that we were correct. Back on the trail. We moved slow along the shore because of the dense vegetation that our friend was moving through. A half a mile and a shirt full of snow later, we abandoned the chase.

We headed up to the logging road thinking there might be some snow tracks there. Since the snow hit so recently, most of the animals were still "holed up." All except for the resting barred
owl we spotted.

After lunch we booked it to Tomtit lake and on the way spotted a red-tailed hawk, raccoon tracks, and possibly some rabbit tracks. There was a feline trail crossing the rickidy bridge at the wintry lake.

On our way back from Tomtit we came across what is called a "gap jumper" trail made by otters and/or raccoons. This is a trail used over and over again to move from one body of water (swamp in our case) to another (McCoy creek).

Once we got back on the main logging road, we noticed a footprint on top of Jason's from earlier. It was the footprint of the same species we were following all morning. Right then our eyes and ears perked up. We fell silent and moved slowly toward home. On the way we saw two black tailed deer (doe and fawn) pop out onto the road ahead of us and pronk off into the forest. Ten seconds later, a coyote came out where the deer had. The animals were becoming active again.

We saw another footprint, on top of one of mine this time, when we were about half a mile away from home. When I arrived at the house I heard the news of a bobcat sitting in our pasture less than 20 minutes before! Who is the superior creature here?

The bobcat had successfully hunted our pasture, digging up some rodent and leaving only a stomach and a few drops of blood behind. What a day at Alderleaf!

Naturalist Challenges, Advanced Fire-Making, and Northwest Trek

2008-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

The last week of classes before the holidays at the Wilderness Certification Program was exciting and challenging. On Wednesday we put the skills and knowledge we've acquired to the test in three different naturalist challenges. In the first challenge, two teams competed to light a friction fire on a rainy day to pop a balloon in under an hour and a half. Team Chupacabra passed with flying colors but unfortunately the weather got the better of Team Owl, who did however manage to keep their tinder bundle smoldering for over an hour. On Thursday, the real challenge started when we built our own bow drill kits out of entirely natural material harvested that day. Luckily it wasn't raining that day, but finding dry wood was difficult to say the least. Never the less, two different groups still blew a coal into flames; it was a good day. On Friday we went to Northwest Trek to learn more about wildlife native to the Northwest.

A striped skunk wakes from his nap to eye the camera.

A giant pacific salamander close up.

Finally! A huge coal from an all natural bow drill kit.

Some sort of slime fungus, looks like grape jelly.

Some inner cedar bark shavings drying in the sun for tinder.

Happy holidays to all, will post again after the new year!

Mentoring, Bird Language, and Permaculture Terraces

2008-12-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

This week, Allan "Hawkeye" Sande, founder of Quiet Heart Wilderness School, came out to the Wilderness Certification Program again, this time to teach us about "creating the need" (to learn) when mentoring young students. We talked about how to inspire young minds and bring out their desire to learn. For example, if a kid had something to cook over the fire, but nothing to grab it with when it was nice and hot, a need was created for tongs. We got to be the kids and made tongs out of sticks and rawhide.

Then, Hawkeye told us that he was feeling a bit sick and needed some dandelion roots to make a detoxification tea. He created a need for us to make digging sticks.

He gave us a challenge as well. He wanted the biggest, most beautiful roots. This made me much more intrigued and excited about digging up a dandelion. Common needs of most people, and especially young people, we learned, are acceptance, challenge, self esteem, passion, curiosity, and physical and emotional needs. By setting up challenges, sparking that curiosity or passion, and teaching in a visually exciting atmosphere (in the forest, near a creek, around a fire, etc.), we can successfully create needs for children to learn.

Thursday was another bird language day. We played a game of "name that bird," which the Owls won (take that Chupacabras!). At our sit spots we listened hard for a good forty minutes. Every one of us recognized that as the sun poked into the canopy, the chatter of the birds picked up quickly. The Golden-crowned Kinglets were the most active near my sit spot, and I also watched a Winter Wren feed. Every time he flew from bush to bush, he let out a "kip kip," which was responded to by another Winter Wren about 50 feet northeast. We tried to stay invisible to the birds in order to not interrupt their singing, which some indigenous groups characterize as a bird's "thanksgiving ritual."

Friday was another Permaculture day with Adam Rawson of Eden Cultivation. We learned about earthworks in general (by tractor or hand) and the benefits of terracing, swales, and path making. We also learned a lot about water and water storage. The route that water takes from its source to its point of use should be carefully designed to ensure enough water, clean water, efficiency, and most importantly, sustainability. Water comes from a known, renewable source. It then needs to be collected, conveyed, and stored in tanks, barrels, ponds, earth, vegetation, etc. We learned about irrigation systems, and looked into pipes' capacities for pressure and flow.

Storytelling, Cordage, and OWLE

2008-11-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

Last week was a real treat at the Wilderness Certification Program. Hawkeye came on Wednesday with bobcat skulls, deer antlers, and some great stories. Storytelling, we learned, was an important part of native cultures. Stories were told to pass the time between sunset and going to sleep. Different stories of personal adventures and folklore entertained both young and old, and brought a lot of laughter and excitement into the lives of the indigenous people. Good storytellers use a lot of body language, different tones and voices, and look into the eyes of their audience. I know I heard some great stories, including Ned and Fred (awesome, Dixie!) and the Chimpanzee let loose at Woodstock (thanks Fritz).

On Thursday, Karen Sherwood from Earthwalk Northwest came out and taught us how to twist up cord out of different natural materials. Types of materials included rootlets, bark, bast fibers, and even leaf fibers.

This is some cord made from stinging nettle fibers. The technique I used here is the reverse wrap. Other techniques include the thigh spin, three strand wrap, and double reverse wrap.

This is about twenty feet of nettle cord, reverse wrapped. It took me about three hours to make twenty feet. With the thigh spin method this would take about three minutes. The sacrifice of using the thigh spin, however, is the strength and tightness of the cord. It's a game of give and take.

(Medicine pouch with Dogbane cord)

Friday was a blast. We paid a visit to Hawkeye's school, Quiet Heart. We met students in the Outdoor Wilderness Living Education (OWLE) program. They ranged from age 8 to 11 and blew all of us away. They were chopping wood, starting campfires, and making knives out of stones, sticks, and bark fibers. A few of the older kids even gutted some mackerel with their stone knives! We went on a nature walk and Nate (9 years old) pointed out Black Capped Chickadees and an American Dipper. He also told me all about the Cedar tree and its importance to the native people in this region. At the end of the day, we played a game called Foxtail, which doesn't end. Hawkeye called it a burnout game, and I was thinking to myself, "the kids will get eventually get tired and we will end the game." This was not the case, as each of us "older kids" dropped out, one by one, huffing and puffing with our arms over our heads. These kids absolutely amazed me with their knowledge, respect, and focus on the tasks at hand.

Field Trip to Central Washington!

2008-11-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program just got back from the central Washington trip and I've never been more thankful for hot showers before in my life. It's not that I was particularly dirty, or particularly cold (even when it dropped below freezing) but the combination of the two and wearing the exact same set of clothes, thermals and all, for three full days that did it. We spent the first night at Umtanum Creek and collected materials for hand drill making including mullein, elderberry, willow and cottonwood. The next morning we worked on tracking at Potholes State Park and collected dogbane for fabric making. Luckily our apprentice T'Jen had a spare camera battery so I could document the trip:

A view of the Columbia River from Potholes Campground at night.

Everyone huddled around the fire carving materials for hand drills.

Steve making a coal with his new kit; note his excellent form.

Fritz and Jason taking a break from hand drilling to admire the moon.

The skull of a young buck we found at the site of a cougar kill.

All in all it was an incredible trip, with lots of awareness games around the fire, many gifts from mother nature, and more bonding and friendship amongst the Alderleaf students.

Basket Medicine

2008-11-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

Last Week at the Wilderness Certification Program we had Karen Sherwood from Earthwalk Northwest come out and teach more ethnobotany. On day one we made Cedar bark baskets. The strips were collected by Karen herself 6 months prior to class! 6 months, we learned, is the minimum drying time before cedar bark is ready to be worked. The weaving process is very much like meditation. Your basket becomes your whole universe while you weave over two, under two, over one, under one...

The twining was done with sweetgrass (rush) and functions to keep the bark taught. The dark strip seen is of cherry bark interwoven, and it not only adds to the aesthetics of the basket but makes it easy to find if you set it down out in the woods.

On Thursday Karen taught us how to make our own medicine in the form of tinctures. This is relatively easy and anyone who is looking to be their own doctor (for minor ailments only!) can benefit from making tinctures. We gathered cedar leaves and devils club roots, wiped them down, put them in a jar, and filled it with strong vodka (100 proof). Alcohol draws out the medicinal properties of plants over time. The only steps to follow after that are: shake the jar at least once a day, and bottle the tincture any time after one full moon cycle (28 days).

The photo above showa tinctures made of Oregon Grape root (thanks Jason and last year's class) and Angelica seed. Oregon grape stimulates liver functions and skin metabolism. It is also an anti-microbial for the skin and digestive tract. Angelica seed tincture is soothing to the cramped or upset stomach, and can help suppress excessive vomiting.

On Friday, Adam Rawson came out again to discuss mapping, triangulation, and windbreak on properties. We learned, upon observing pooling water in the middle of our barn, that drainage is the issue of importance in the Pacific Northwest. This is different than most of the world, which needs to concentrate highly on water storage because importing exotic water creates air pollution and may contribute to global warming. After Friday, and seeing all the pooling water on the property, I have had numerous thoughts on how to store all of this rainwater and make it usable to us throughout the dry months. Using the natural slope of the property, we can channel all of the rainwater into basins, ponds, or tanks that will store our water. If we want to make this water potable for our consumption, lining the tanks with limestone or marble will clean the water (these wonderful stones remove acids, metals, and salts from our water, making it alkaline and ready for drinking and washing).

References:
-Moore, Michael. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Red Crane Books, 1993
-Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Tagari Publications, 1988

Give Me Shelter - Week 7 of AWCP

2008-11-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

We built a group shelter last week at the Wilderness Certification Program. The type of shelter we built is called a debris-tipi. This is a tipi made of debris. Five of us began work on this shelter on Thursday at around 10 am. We worked consistently until sundown.

The skeleton for a debris tipi consists of two circles of standing sticks about three feet high and about 10 ridge poles all coming to a point above the center of the stick circles. The skeleton didn't take too long to build, but we checked its strength over and over again because the last thing anybody wants is their home collapsing on top of them. We placed some lattice work of smaller sticks and fallen boughs from conifers in the area perpendicular to the ridge poles. The lattice work was to catch most of the debris we were to put on after lunch. Five hours straight of gathering dead leaves and small sticks from the ground and throwing them on top of the skeleton gave us the bare minimum insulation to get us through the night.

We left a spot for the door that was about 18 inches high by 14 inches wide, just enough to crawl through. Our bedding consisted, from the ground up, of hemlock boughs, sword ferns, and numerous layers of the driest moss we could find. The bedding surrounded the fire, which we started by friction. I made the coal outside and passed it into Jason, who blew it into flame and added kindling. All the while T'Jen was serenading the fire into existence. As we crawled into the shelter we noticed a gap above the door. We closed it off and saw that we had just made a firewood rack. We didn't have to crawl out for wood all night. The fire was to be tended, in two hour shifts, by each one of us. At one point the fire got so big that part of Jase's goatee was cinged from his face.

On Friday morning we saw that the wind had done some small damage to our tipi. If one were to stay in a shelter like this for more than one night, daily patchwork would need to be done. We evaluated some of the habitats near the river and finished the day early.

On Wednesday we saw some great tracks of deer, beaver, heron, sandpiper, killdeer, cottontail, muskrat, snipe, and raccoon. We analyzed the gaits (how animals move) of a few critters. One of the trails we saw was that of a deer. It was walking all wacky with two feet facing forward and the other two facing almost perpendicular. One of the sideways footprints didn't register as heavily as the others, leading us to the conclusion that this deer was hurt. We weren't far from the road, so it may have been hit by a car, but I like to imagine it getting attacked by a coyote, scuffling a bit, and limping away after showing the coyote just how tough it was.

Week 7 - Gaits, Shelter Building, Habitat Evaluation

2008-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

The tracks of a pacific jumping mouse.

Jason working on the outer walls of our debris tipi.

Steve putting our ridge poles in place.

Drying out and warming up the inside with a toasty fire.

Week 6 - Children, Flintknapping and Permaculture

2008-11-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Our new greenhouse structure; Alderdleaf is beginning to look like a farm!

Some sideways lettuce sprouts, 3 weeks after planting.

An example of some crude obsidian knife making.

Our new flint-knapping pit.

A hand print in the mud after our epic mud fight.