I made it out to beautiful Twisp, Washington for one of my favorite Primitive Skills Gatherings of the year.

I will be teaching traditional wicker basketry Weds - Fri this week. And, a series of Energetics and Earth Medicine classes in the afternoons on Fri, Sat, and Sun.

What I am looking forward to the most is connecting with a group of amazing teachers from all over the country. And, being in this great valley.

I will be posting more after the week.

Eat it. And, use it for bark tanning, leather conditioning, salve making, soaps and lotions, achy joints and teaching folks about rendering.

"You can't eat that. It's like eating a racoon!" Said one of the hunters that stood by watching the local butcher skin his over 400 lb black bear. I am pretty sure that he took the life of that bear for sport and maybe just the skin and probably threw all that meat away. Which is a part of this that I struggle with emotionally and spiritually sometimes.

"Have you found any Wild Rice, yet?"

That's the common question around here these days.

I have been out scouting in every corner of Minnesota and the reports seem to be true: this isn't a good year for the wild rice in Minnesota.

Check out this article:

I am not sure how the Wisconsians are fairing. But, I haven't talked to much of anyone in Minnesota that has found a decent rice bed.