EartHand Gleaners Society

art ~ ecology ~ people

  • Natural Dyers’ Cooperative Garden 2019

    April-October 2019, see dates below
    Means of Production Garden @ 6th & St.Catherines/ Trillium North Park @ Malkin & Thornton, Vancouver
    $310
    ~Program Full~

    Means of the Production Garden in Mount Pleasant becomes the site for research, work and crop share for a small group of dedicated individuals interested in building community while growing, tending and using natural dye plants.

    Over six months together we will plant, tend and harvest various plants at MOP for shared use and  equal division. Participants agree to attend a minimum of 10 of the 15 offered work dates as well as the site orientation and to work in a collaborative and cooperative way within the small group.Four studio sessions at Trillium North Park allow time for prepping our fibres and cooking up seasonal dye baths. Cost includes an unprocessed  fleece and sample yardage of linen for swatches as decided by the group. Building on what has been learned from 2 successful years of this program it includes:, a later season studio session, material for dying, potluck fibre for dye-pots component and a shared group google document for notes and dye reference. Only 7 spaces max are offered for the 2019 coop.

    Lead and Host: Sharon Kallis

    Garden Dates at M.O.P:

    generally 2nd Wed 6-8pm, 4th Thurs 6-8pm, 2nd Sun 3-5pm

    April 10 (site orientation), 14, 25, May 8,12, 23, June 9,12, 27 Jul 10,14,18 Aug 11,14, 22 Sept 1, Oct 27 ( poke berry harvest and solar dyes for take home)

    Studio Dates at Trillium:

    potluck Sundays 12noon-5pm

    April 28, June 30, July 7, Sept 22

  • Straw Into Gold: Linen Processing Intensive 2019

    Trillium North Park, Malkin & Thornton, Strathcona
    2019 Two Mondays, May 27 & June 3, 6:30-9pm
    All tool use and materials provided; participants will take home seeds and stricks of linen they have processed
    $175
    REGISTER through PayPal

    Interested in growing your own flax, but intimidating by the process of turning it into linen? This two-night intensive will cover the entire process of rippling, retting, breaking, scutching, hackling and finally some spinning time with EartHand’s 2018 crop. Participants will share the  processed stricks for their own future projects. Some time will be spent going over the basics of soil preparation, planting, and crop care. Instructor: Sharon Kallis

  • Knapping in Public

    MacLean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St @ Heatley
    2019 Sunday May 26, 1-4pm
    All tool use and supplies included
    $75
    REGISTER through PayPal

    Begin your journey of making ancient tools from stone in an urban environment and learn the art and meditation of flintknapping. Beginner to expert – all skill levels welcome. Participants will learn how to test readily available urban materials for the budget conscious practitioner, as well as sample traditional stone such as obsidian.

    Instructor: David Gowman

  • Homegrown Mouthpieces

    MacLean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St @ Heatley
    POSTPONED — Please email earthandgleaners at gmail dot com to find out about rescheduling
    All tool use and supplies included
    $110

    Program Postponed, email earthandgleaners(at)gmail.com to find out about rescheduling

    Using local fruit and other hardwoods salvaged from tree pruning, participants will carve a mouthpiece for use in a wind instrument or on their own as kazoos. Knife experience and  carving stamina is necessary, the class will work with bent-knives. 

    Instructor: David Gowman

  • Baba Yaga’s Slippers

    MacLean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St. @ Heatley, Strathcona
    2 Monday nights 2019 Feb 25, Mar 4, 6-9pm
    $130
    Register on PayPal

    This workshop using the diagonal plait technique is challenging but extremely rewarding, and gives participants a pair of slippers unlike anything else in the woven world. Starting off with paper samplers to understand how diagonal plaiting works, participants are encouraged to supply their choice of materials and colour for final product (ie/ felted sweaters, leather, bark or other flexible strips). Heather brown commercial felt and fur trim will be available (feature photo shows shoes made of salvaged cherry bark strips). Participants should expect 4-6 hours of practice weaving time and material prep between classes to complete on second session. Bring your dinner. Course fee includes handouts and some materials. 

    Instructor Rebecca Graham learned this technique thanks to Russian master basket weaver Vladimir Yarish’s book, Plaited Basketry with Birch Bark, highly recommended. Thanks to @ladyursus for suggesting the colourful workshop title.

  • Oil-Tanning & Talk with Lotta Rahme

    Trillium North Park, Malkin @ Thornton, Strathcona
    2019 Sunday 7 April, 1-4pm
    All tool use and materials included
    $165
    SOLD OUT

    We are delighted to welcome the world-renowned tanner Lotta Rahme to Vancouver! Whether you’re a beginner or have been making leather for a while (perhaps intimidated by how tough it is to soften oil-tanned skins?), this is an incredible opportunity to learn how to make gorgeous, light-coloured leather in a single day using grocery store supplies, with the guidance and insight of a highly experienced artisan. Lotta will share her research about fish leather from all over the northern hemisphere, and lead participants through oil-tanning a skin to take home. Lotta’s week-long workshops in Sweden regularly sell out months in advance, and her book Fish Leather Tanning and Sewing is EartHand’s recommended resource book.

  • The EartHand Weaver: basic basketry with invasive species and garden clippings 2019

    MacLean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St. @ Heatley, Strathcona
    NEW CLASS ADDED:     2019 Monday March 11, 6-9pm
    All tool use and materials included
    $40
    Sold out AGAIN!  please email runnawick at gmail dot com to get on the wait list for the next session

    EartHand is famous for our use of invasive species and garden clippings in basketry, thanks in large part to Sharon Kallis & Todd DeVries’ work leading The Urban Weaver Project.
    This is an introductory workshop for those new to the practice and a brush-up for those who haven’t woven in a while and would like to get back into it — especially for those of you interested in the Commuters’ Pack Weaving workshop later in the spring!

    We’ll cover harvesting, storing and preparing different commonly-available materials, how to start a basket, how to do twining technique, and make small ivy baskets to take home.
    You’ll leave with a whole new appreciation for both the basketry skills of our ancestors, and the generosity of our local weeds.

    Participants are welcome to bring their own tools, such as secateurs, utility knife like a small boxcutter, and/or garden scissors, if desired.

    Instructor: Rebecca Graham

  • Open Studio Sessions 2019

    Come and connect, get into the flow of conversation with your hands, and maybe get a good tip or suggestion from a neighbour.

    Open Studio at Means of Production Garden, E 6th Ave & St Catherines St, Mount Pleasant:
    Saturday March 30th, 10am-2pm — help prep plant materials and pack solar dye jars with barks from spring tree pruning. The fibres from dye jars will be revealed at the July 6th Celebration when the new stairs are complete

    Open Studio at Trillium North Park,  Malkin & Thornton, Strathcona:
    Monday evenings 6-9pm, July 8, 15, August 19, 26
    Summer Evenings to come hang out and work on personal projects,  be creatively inspired and get technical advice from your peers. Picnic dinners encouraged.

  • Community Food Forest Stewardship Guild 2019

    Means of Production Garden, E 6th Ave @ St.Catherines, Mount Pleasant
    2019, 9 Saturdays over three seasons, 10am-1pm
    All tool use and materials included
    $310 for all nine sessions
    REGISTER on Paypal for all nine sessions
    Or see links below description to register for seasons individually

    Want to get your hands dirty with some permaculture practice right in the city? At Means of Production Garden, leader Ryan Vasseur will guide Guild members in key skills for maintaining a community food forest in good health and maximum productivity.  Pruning fruit trees, building soil and other fundamentals of permaculture are included in these hands-on seasonal programs that support our community’s food bounty in Mount Pleasant. Learn the garden’s different elements with respect to food production, medicine, and so much more! Understanding the hillside design of MOP and how closed loop systems function is built into the nine learning/work sessions. Guild Members take home mini-harvests of seasonal bounty, from flower bouquets to fresh herbs or fruits as available. Snacks and tea provided each day.

    Spring:  Mar 23, Apr 27, May 25 — tree tending, soil building, and sowing seeds
    $113
    REGISTER for Spring on PayPal

    Summer: June 22, July 27, Aug 24 — Soil tending, bee habitat awareness
    $113
    REGISTER for Summer on PayPal

    Autumn: Sept 28, Oct 26, Nov 16 — Tree tending, mushroom inoculation, soil building
    $113
    REGISTER for Autumn on PayPal

    About our Instructor

    Ryan Vasseur is a permaculture, rainforest, and healthy soil enthusiast and completed his Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) in 2018. He is passionate about food forests and gardening and looks for opportunities to combine them whenever possible. Ryan enjoys teaching about forest systems, soil health, and empowerment through growing and foraging food. Food forests are bio-diverse, multi-functional spaces that can produce food, medicine, habitat for animals and soil life, and are a model for truly sustainable and regenerative Earth care. During a food forest stewardship session you can expect to learn about building healthy soil, pruning and caring for food producing trees, foraging, mycology, and many more exciting topics. Ryan believes that human beings can be responsible stewards of this planet and create a regenerative future that allows life to flourish.

  • EartHand Gleaners Society AGM – 2018 in Review

    Strathcona Community Garden Eco Pavilion, 759 Malkin Ave, Vancouver
    Entrance in amongst the espalliered fruit trees
    3-4pm Saturday 2 February 2019

    Join us around the woodstove in the Strathcona Community Garden EcoPavilion for the ‘short and sweet’ Annual General Meeting of the EartHand Gleaners Society, reviewing our massive 2018 year; followed by a screening of some of Martin Borden’s documentaries of the Land & Sea Project. Bring a bowl and spoon — Soup, popcorn, tea, and anything else we can think of to cook on the top of the stove may be served.

    If you signed up through Eventbrite or PayPal to participate in any of EartHand’s programs in 2018, you automatically became a member of the EartHand Gleaners Society.