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The days are shortening and we're preparing for the season ahead.
Are you?
There's still time left! Join us to hone your skills through some of our fall programming: Bow Building ~ Sept. 26-30
Hide Tanning ~ Oct. 31-Nov 4
Using the Whole Animal ~ Nov. 10-11
Way of the Hunt ~ Nov 18-24
Cordage, Fibers, & Containers ~ Dec.6-9
See our website for more details
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A Place to Call Home
Oh, how thankful we are that the heavens have finally opened up and graced us with much needed water! With the rains, the heat of summer seems to have been swept aside and replaced with cooler nights and shorter days. Leaves are already changing colour--albeit presumably more from this summer's drought than autumn's onset--and garden harvests are at their peak. Change is in the air!
Sticks & Stones has also undergone a transformation over the past 10 months as we continue to build our new nest. As many of you already know, we are now located in the beautiful Beaver Valley, sharing the land with Kimbercote Farm. We are proud and grateful of our new indoor spaces: a newly renovated century-old barn to house our workshop and nature museum; a recently constructed outdoor kitchen, two outdoor solar showers and a handful of thunderboxes. We are also thankful for the 100 acres of greenspace that surrounds us and its connection to a well-forested valley and the Bruce Trail. The views from our perch are spectacular, stretching over the escarpment and beyond to Georgian Bay. To put it quite simply: we love it here and are pretty confident that you will too...
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Apprentice Appreciation 
The enthusiasm of this year's apprentices, Garrin and Jeff, has been infectious: their dedication is felt every day here at Sticks & Stones, in workshops, in the field, and on the ground. We've all been invigorated simply by their good natures and their keen interest in developing a deeper relationship with the land. But hey, but that's just what we think. Here's what they have to say:
"I knew when I started the apprenticeship that I wouldn't likely be the same person at the end as I was at the beginning but I could never guess at all the places I would go in between. The courses and lessons have built upon each other, making you ask thoughtful questions and deepening nature connections. Profound life changing experiences become a regular occurrence but still never lose any of their impact. I've been challenged every day and have grown with every challenge. It is definitely one of those experiences where you get out of it what you put in and while little of it has been easy, all of it has been worth it." -Garrin Carter
"Hi, my name is Jeff Emberley and for the past 4 months I have been an apprentice here at Sticks and Stones. Coming into this position with a fairly blank slate, the experience for me has been nothing more than life altering. I have learned to make fire with no matches, waterproof my home with only forest debris, fashion tools from stone and tune into the bird song to learn more from the forest around me. I have learned to do all these things while still maintaining a positive impact on the land where I have been living. I'm happy to say that this apprenticeship has taught me how to live. How to live in the broader sense, to take in and appreciate what is around me and the beauty in the world, but also how to live in the wild, not merely "survive". These skills could very well save mine, or someone else's life one day, but more importantly is that they are life skills; the challenges I've faced and the lessons I've learned will carry with me forever and will be something I will never forget. I still have a little over 3 months left in my apprenticeship, and I'm looking forward to every single day of it." - Jeff Emberley |
Headwaters Community Update 
The Beaver-Valley & Blue Mountains Tracking Club (formerly known as the Headwaters Tracking Club) is gearing up for fall. We meet once a month on Sundays to go tracking in the morning and work skills in the afternoon at the Sticks and Stones Workshop at Kimbercote Farm.
Next meetings: Sun. October 14th and Sun. November 25th from 10am until 2pm. We will be updating our Tracking Club page with dates for 2013 on our website soon, please check back for upcoming meetings in the near future.
Headwaters Gathering 2013 - May 9-10-11-12
We would love your feedback on what you would like to see happen at next year's Headwaters Gathering. Please follow the link to our quick survey to provide your valuable input in order to help us make this year's Gathering a great one. |
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Forager's Corner
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It's that time of year again, when wasps show up uninvited to all of your outdoor feasts. Not only are a new crop of larvae hatching into an unsuspecting world but the worker wasps no longer have the sweet larvae secretions to feed on. This results in something like a teenage sugar frenzy. If you happen to be stung as a result of the craze, don't despair! Quick, go out an find yourself some soothing jewelweed... What it looks like:
Jewelweed -also known as spotted touch-me-not- has succulent, watery, transparent stems and horn- shaped spotted flowers that "jump" off the plant when touched. How to use it:
Jewelweed can be used to relieve insect stings, poison ivy and stinging nettle rash -and pretty much anything that itches- by crushing the stems and leaves of the plant and wiping them on the affected area. Where to find it:
You can find jewelweed in wet shady areas, along streams and near the forest edge.
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