All are welcome to attend homesteading, homemaking and natural wellness classes on Saturdays with Stephanie Bandosik at Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community, 4934 State Highway 5, Fonda, NY. Topics include meditation, reiki, upcycling, sewing, foraging, gardening, baking, refreshing summer drinks like fruit shrubs and switchel or “Haymaker’s Punch” and more.
Our “Christmas in July” class on July 29 at 9:30 a.m. features upcycling an old sweater into new mittens. No sewing experience is necessary but registration is required.
Do you have a favorite worn-out old sweater hidden in the back of your closet or bottom drawer that you can’t wear or bear to part with because of its exceptional warmth, beauty or sentimental value? Learn to upcycle an old sweater into warm mittens in plenty of time to make personalized holiday gifts for your family and friends with this Christmas in July class.
Some sewing experience is helpful but not required. It’s a good beginner project for those new to sewing. Participants should bring an old sweater with sleeves and cuffs (wool is great but not necessary), and if possible, polar fleece or an old T-shirt for mitten lining, scissors, needle, thread and sewing pins. We will have extra supplies to share! The cost is $25.
Celebrating our 30th anniversary, Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community was re-established in 1993 in traditional Mohawk homelands dating back as early as the 12th century. Kanatsiohareke’s mission is to promote the development of a community based on the traditions, philosophy and governance of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), and to contribute to the preservation of the culture of people as a framework for a blend of traditional native concerns with the best of the emerging new earth-friendly, environmental ideologies that run parallel to these traditions.
Since 2020’s food and supply shortages, there has been a renewed interest in sustainability, homesteading, natural wellness and learning skills like gardening, food preservation, home cooking, baking from scratch, seed saving, shopping small and local and community involvement. We look forward to helping the Mohawk Valley community to grow our skills and network.
Other upcoming classes include:
• Guided Meditation & Reiki on Aug. 5, 12, 19 and 26: Relax and refresh your mind, body and spirit with gentle stretching, deep breathing and guided visualization for personal and world peace enhanced with Reiki. Reiki is a Japanese energy healing technique using non-invasive, gentle touch. Classes are $75 each.
• Eat Your Weeds: Beginner Foraging on Aug. 5 at noon: Learn about edible flowers and some common useful plants often hiding in plain sight. You may be surprised by just how many you already have growing wild in your own backyard. Class is $20.
• Shrubs & Switchel “Haymaker’s Punch” on Aug. 12 at noon: Learn to make refreshing vinegar-based drinks great for staying cool in the summer heat and preserving fresh seasonal berries too. Class is $25.
• Fall Garden Planning on Aug. 19 at noon: It’s not too late to plant an autumn garden and still harvest food this year! Learn how to read a seed packet to decide what is good to plant now. In honor of the New Moon, we will learn about planting based on the phases of the moon also called Planting by the Signs. Class is $20.
All are welcome to attend but registration is required by emailing UnityGardenHomestead@gmail.com or calling 518.596.8162 to reserve your space.
