Youth Programming Series
From time to time, the Farm & Forest Institute will be offering workshops and courses that are designed for young folks. We are pleased to share them here.
Forest Woodcraft Youth Workshop
“Imagine turning a fresh branch from a tree into something amazing, with just your hands and a few simple tools. That’s green woodworking!”
-Rick Thomas, FFI Woodland Skills Instructor
Forest Woodcraft Youth Workshop is an immersive 3-day class for youths ages 12-15. It is an introduction to the longstanding tradition of green woodworking: working wood fresh from the tree using simple hand tools. No electricity or big machines required– just some patience, focus, and creativity!
Over the course of the workshop, participants will learn how to select trees responsibly, fell them safely, process them into manageable pieces, read the grain, and shape green wood into functional objects. Instruction focuses on the tools, tool sharpening, and many of the techniques used in green woodwork with an emphasis on safety, efficiency, and respect for the material.
We will use The Berry Center’s 200-acre working cattle farm and forest as our classroom, including a 50-acre woodland, a logging shop, a tobacco barn shelter, and a farmhouse home base with a fully stocked kitchen and two restrooms.
The Forest Woodcraft Youth Workshop offers a supportive, communal learning environment where craft, ecology, and tradition come together, fostering a deeper relationship with wood, tools, and the living landscape from which they come. This 3-day workshop experience invites participants to slow down, unplug, connect with the forest, and learn skills rooted in self-reliance.
If your youth likes building things, spending the day outdoors, and learning old-school skills that still feel cool today, green woodworking might be their next favorite adventure!
Participant Max: 6
Cost: $200 for 1 youth, $150 ea for 2 youths per household, $125 ea for 3 or more youths per household
Format
Day 1: Risk management and woodland first aid, workshop and woodland tools safety briefing, axe and crosscut saw use, tree felling and sourcing project material. Knife practical workshop, prepping material and starting work on projects.
Day 2: Morning: Axe practical workshop and sourcing project material; Afternoon: project work
Day 3: Morning: Axe practical workshop and sourcing project material; Afternoon finish projects.
Gear we provide: The Farm and Forest Institute will provide all tools and necessary personal protective equipment. Instructors will have cell phone service throughout the entirety of the program.
Essential gear you bring:
Small backpack to transport snacks, water, and tools into and out of the woods.
We will be busy the entirety of each day. Participants should bring plenty of water in a non-glass water bottle, a good lunch, and plenty of snacks to sustain themselves. We have access to the farmhouse for refrigeration.
Sunscreen and hat, though we will mostly be either in the woods or in the woodshop.
Tick/chigger protection of your choice. Woodland Skills Instructor Rick uses a Permethrin spray on field clothes, such as Sawyer brand or Ranger Ready, and Picaridin on any exposed skin. (Note: Ranger Ready sells a twin pack with both Permethrin and Picaridin. You’ll need a sign-in on Ranger Ready’s site; this link provides a discount code for purchase of the twin pack.)
Summer weight long legged work pants.
Snug fitting leather light duty work gloves.
Eye protection
Solid, closed toe footwear for being out in the woods. Work boots or hiking boots would be the best. Good sturdy tennis shoes would certainly suffice.
The following forms will be supplied for completion by all participant guardians to finalize registration:
Recommended reading, available through The Bookstore at The Berry Center:
Traditional Bushcraft, 2024, by Craig Caudill.
Woodcraft: Master the Art of Green Woodworking, 2019, by Barn the Spoon (Barnaby Carder)
Instructor background: Rick has worked as an outdoor educator since the early 1980’s, when he began his career as a cross country ski instructor and backcountry mountain guide. Rick spent numerous seasons coaching youth sports, ranging from the Bill Koch Youth Ski League, middle school and high school baseball and basketball, and collegiate Timber Sports. He taught middle school math and social studies and was the athletic director for Craftsbury Academy in Craftsbury, Vermont, before he transitioned to a full time job teaching at the college level. Within his duties as a college instructor, Rick developed an experiential learning program for middle school aged students to learn farming and forestry skills. Rick now works full time for The Berry Center’s Farm and Forest Institute as the Woodland Skills Instructor.