Adult Workshops

This program is not your run of the mill "Hunter's Education class" which primarily focuses on firearm safety. This program is designed for those who want to become proficient in the art of hunting with a bow, one of our oldest and most effective hunting tools. No prior hunting or archery experience is necessary. We will incorporate both modern and traditional tactics to provide a well rounded foundation for your hunts. Your time during this program will be spent working on these skills, along with field study and research. By the end of the program you will have the skills and knowledge to take what you have learned and adapt it to any environment and many other species.

This is the basic version of our most intense apprenticeship, taking you on a journey through the most essential parts of the hunt.

Ages:  13 & Older (under 18 must be accompanied by a parent)
When:  January - October, 2026
Where: Ancestral Knowledge Museum & Research Center
Registration Fee: $300-$700 Sliding Scale (pay what you're comfortable)

Here is a list of what you can expect to learn during this program:

The Wild Edible Plants & Mushrooms Foragers Series will take you through 9 Months of the year to better connect you with our local plant community. It will enroll you in each of our wild plant walks for every month from March through November, plus our salves and tinctures class and will give you a discount code for the fall Wild Foods Weekend or any other plant focused workshops we run for the year.

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

A bow is only as good as the arrows shot from it. Even the straightest stick you can find will still have wobbles and twists that need to be straightened before it is ready to be made into an arrow.

This two day workshop teaches the complete process of primitive arrow making. From harvesting the arrow shaft to taking the shot, you will learn all the steps it takes to make the most important piece of the bow hunting equation.  You will learn different sources of arrow shafts, two methods of arrow straightening, spine testing, and how to fletch and haft your own arrow. You will walk away from this class with a deeper respect and understanding of the primitive arrow and hunting.  If time permits there will be a flint knapping demonstration on how stone points are made.

Ages:  18 & Older
Where: Ancestral Knowledge Museum & Research Center - Riverdale, MD
When: June 20-21, 9am-5pm
Registration Fee: $125-$225 Sliding Scale (pay what you are comfortable)

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 9am-12pm June 13th
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $25-$65 (pay what you are comfortable)

In the Flint Knapping & Primitive Tool Workshop you will learn basic tool production. This workshop will guide you through all the stages of reducing a raw piece of stone in the way that has been proven to be the most  effective way to produce the sharpest edge possible on stones. You will also learn how to properly use antler, stone, and bone tools to reduce raw stone into usable tools. The stone will be your teacher and we will be your translator. You may find the lessons learned are beyond mere flake removal.

When:  July 18 & 19, 2026 - 9am- 5pm
Where: Ancestral Knowledge Museum & Research Center, Lanham MD
Ages: 18 and older
Registration Fee: $125-$225 Sliding Scale (pay what you're comfortable) (includes $25 tool use and materials fee)

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 9am-12pm July 18th
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $25-$65 (pay what you are comfortable)

Rain barrels are expensive and often times made of plastic. UV light degrades plastic and causes them to break down. Ferro-cement is a simple construction method that is durable and strong. People have made all sort of things out of it, even sailboats! It is a great material to build rain water catchment systems. Come join us while we build a rain catchment system for our garden. We’ll go over design, building a foundation, building the tank, sealing it and connecting it to your gutters.

Where: Lanham MD
When: August 15th (11-4) and 16th (10-3)
Cost: $55-$125 (sliding scale, pay what you can afford!)
Ages: 8 and up! (Children under 15 must be accompanied by a parent.)

*We will be running a micro class on getting your garden ready for winter immediately before this on Saturday. Please sign up for that class if you are interested!

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 9am-12pm August 22nd
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $25-$65 (pay what you are comfortable)

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 10am-1pmSeptember 19th
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $25-$65 (pay what you are comfortable)

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 10m-1pm October 17th
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $15-$55 (pay what you are comfortable)

Composting in the summer time is easy, grass clippings, foodscraps, there is plenty to keep the compost pile hot, killing weed seeds and quickly breaking down waste into high quality compost. Once the leaves fall and the temperature drops, it is a different story. A compost pile that was chugging along all winter slows down to a crawl and can stop completely.

Come join us and learn how to build and feed a compost pile that will get hot and stay hot all the way through the winter.

Where: Lanham MD
When: November 7th, 10am-1pm
Cost: $10-$20 (sliding scale pay what you are comfortable)
Ages: 8+ (Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult)

Learning to identify and build relationships with plants is one of the most enriching ways we can deepen our personal nature connection journey. Come along to enjoy a walk in nature and meet a variety of edible, medicinal, and useful plants in all seasons. This class will weave through topics such as:
- Botany basics
- Foraging for food and fun
- Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge
- Intro to herbalism
- Species and landscape ecology
- Safe and honorable harvest principles
- Plant processing and preservation methods
- Honing awareness and connection to the natural world

Age: 10 & Older (under 16 must be accompanied by a parent)
When: 10m-1pm October 17th
Location: Lanham MD
Registration Fee: $25-$65 (pay what you are comfortable)