Dyeing Wool with Invasive Plants Workshop

Join us to learn about harvesting plants for color using fire mimicry and wild-tending techniques. This workshop will include both hands-on and lecture portions as we go over techniques of caring for and rehabilitating oak savanna and coastal prairie ecosystems. We will discuss products and crafts that can be made from materials removed to enhance ecosystem health, and use naturalized "invasive" plant species to dye wool that can be used for felting, knitting, weaving and more. Each participant will leave with wool to use for their own projects, and a deeper understanding of plant identification, dyeing processes, and restoration methods. Bring a bag lunch.

Location: UCSC Arboretum
Ages 16 and up
$50 (members), $65 (non-members) + $15
materials. Class limited to 18

Information and registration for nature craft workshops: https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/news-events/events/nature-crafts.html#burl

10% of the proceeds of this workshop will go to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. More info about efforts to protect their ancestral lands from proposed open pit gravel mining in the southern Santa Cruz foothills (near Gilroy) can be found at ProtectJuristac.org

The materials fee for this workshop will be donated to the Black Mesa Resistance Camp that is working to defend Dine’ (Navajo) homesites and sheep range land from coal and natural gas extraction in Arizona. More info about these on-going efforts can be found at https://SupportBlackMesa.org

Burl Wood is an herbalist, weaver, artist, and musician living in Santa Cruz. Her philosophy is based on building relationship with landscapes, and understanding history, context and the layers of complexity that make up place. She maintains an herbal apothecary and small clinical practice. More info can be found at ApocalypticHerbs.com

Elena Staley is an interdisciplinary artist, naturalist, and community organizer. She studies land tending, stewardship, and forestry techniques in the interest of creating and maintaining ecologies of resilience, both social and environmental. Elena currently works doing oak tree restoration and teaching in Santa Cruz and the greater bay area.

Reserve your space now at
https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/news-events/index.html