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Fairy Basket Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Join us for a whimsical and creative basket-weaving experience! In this hands-on class, we’ll craft a small fairy pack basket—the perfect size for a tiny fairy or for adding a bit of charm to your decor. You’ll also learn about the history of pack baskets and the traditional materials that have been used to make them.
What You'll Learn
- The history and evolution of pack baskets.
- How to weave with reed to create a fairy-sized basket, approximately 5” tall.
- Step-by-step instructions on shaping, weaving, and finishing your basket
By the end of the class, you’ll walk away with your own finished fairy basket and the skills to create future baskets on your own.
What to Expect
- A hands-on, step-by-step workshop designed for beginners and experienced weavers.
- All materials and tools will be provided, with guidance to ensure each participant completes their basket.
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort: Participants will use their hands for weaving and light assembly. If you have mobility or dextrerity concerns, please reach out to discuss more details.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Medicinal Plant Walks
with Debra Bluth
Join herbalist, homeopath, and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth for a guided walk through Viles Arboretum, where you'll meet a variety of medicinal plants and trees along the way. Discover key identifying features, folklore, and traditional uses of these plants from herbal, homeopathic, and flower essence perspectives. Ages 16+
Each walk will feature different plants, so you're welcome to join one or all three for a unique experience every time. Wear sturdy shoes that can handle a bit of dirt!
Potential Plants for Each Walk (subject to change):
Walk #1: Plantain, burdock, dandelion, sumac, yarrow, elder, lungwort, white oak, bloodroot, violet,Solomon seal
Walk #2: Red clover, ginkgo, iris, Japanese knotweed, hawthorn, rose, comfrey, horse chestnut, catalpa,poison ivy, lesser cinquefoil
Walk #3: elecampane, mugwort, lesser periwinkle, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, boneset, gravel root,jewelweed, blue vervain, white cedar, white pine
Register for all 3 walks and use promo code THREE to save 10%
Harvest Wine, Meads, and Hard Cider Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
All students must be 21+ ID will be required to attend.
Are you interested in learning how to brew your own mead, wine, or hard cider? This class is the perfect introduction to brewing and fermentation! We will guide you through the entire process, from selecting ingredients to bottling your own one-gallon batch of mead.
What You'll Learn
- The ingredients and equipment used in brewing mead, wine, and hard cider.
- The step-by-step process of making mead, including how to measure sugar levels to determine alcohol content.
- How to properly sterilize and bottle your creations.
- The fermentation process and how it affects the final product.
By the end of the class, you’ll have hands-on experience and your own batch of mead to continue the fermentation process at home.
What to Expect
- A fun and informative class designed for beginners in brewing and fermentation.
- All materials and equipment will be provided.
- Step-by-step guidance from an instructor, ensuring everyone leaves with a completed one-gallon batch of mead.
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort:Participants will be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Writing Landscape, Writing Self: A 6-Week Workshop on Writing Poetry in Response to the Natural World
with Meghan Sterling
Register early and save! Only $250 if you sign up by April 15th—price increases to $275 on April 16th.
Members recieve a 10% discount on this program!
Click here to become a member!
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Sit in the grass. Trace raindrops down a windowpane. Examine a tree. Take a walk.Watch the light reflect off stone sculptures. Observe. Immerse. Beauty is everywhere.
In this 6-week workshop, held at Viles Arboretum either outdoors or indoors dependingon the weather, we will write poetry in response to the landscape by using observational journaling and fresh poetic techniques.
If you love learning about nature and learning new tools to expand your poetry practice, this workshop is for you. Go out into a field, agrove, a barn, and write poems about what is all around you, and how you are part of itall. From romantic poetry to ecopoetry, this workshop will inspire poetry that, as Joseph Campbell says, “to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match yournature with Nature."
Workshop Schedule
5/21 - Week 1—Seeing. Craft technique: Imagery.Welcome, Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
5/28 - Week 2—Listening. Craft technique: Anaphora.Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/4 - Week 3—Feeling. Craft technique: Syntax. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/11 - Week 4—Remembering. Craft technique: Still Life poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/18 - Week 5—Desiring. Craft technique: Portrait poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/25 - Week 6—Imagining. Craft technique: Modern sonnets. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. Share favorite poem written.
About the Instructor
Meghan Sterling lives in Gardiner, Maine with her family. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Rhino Poetry, The Los Angeles Review, Rattle, Colorado Review, Pinch Journal, Radar Poetry, Rust & Moth, SWIMM, The West Review, Pirene’s Fountain, the Inflectionist Review, Rise Up Review, the Mom Egg Review and many others. Her chapbook, How We Drift, was published by Blue Lyra Press. She was Featured Poet in Frost Meadow Review’s Spring 2020 issue, a Dibner Fellow at the 2020 Black Fly Writer’s Retreat, and a Hewnoaks Artists’ Colony Resident in 2019 and 2021. She was co-editor of the anthology, A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis, published by Littoral Books. Her debut full-length poetry collection, These Few Seeds (Terrapin Books) came out in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Eric Offer Grand Prize Award. Her second full-length collection, View from a Borrowed Field, won Lily Poetry Review’s Paul Nemser Book Prize and came out in March 2023. Her chapbook, Self-Portrait with Ghosts of the Diaspora (Harbor Editions) came out in April 2023. Her third full-length collection, Comfort the Mourners (Everybody Press) came out summer 2023. You Are Here to Break Apart (Lily Poetry Review Press), is forthcoming in 2025 and Sick Poems from the Lovebed (Harbor Editions) is forthcoming in 2026. When she isn’t writing poetry, being a mom or swimming, she teaches workshops and works as a professional writer.
Dandelion: Food and Tea Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Dandelions aren’t just weeds—they’re a powerhouse of flavor and nutrition! In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore the many ways you can use dandelions to create delicious dishes and refreshing teas. Join us to learn how to collect, process, and cook with this amazing plant, from roots to greens to flowers.
What You’ll Learn
- How to collect and process dandelion greens for delicious recipes.
- Using dandelion flowers to make jams, teas, and wines.
- The beneficial properties of dandelion roots and how to incorporate them into your meals.
- A variety of recipes, from savory dishes to sweet treats.
In this interactive class, we’ll taste, create, and make some truly delicious dishes featuring dandelions!
What to Expect
- A fun and educational class designed for beginners and food enthusiasts.
- All materials and ingredients will be provided, along with recipe cards to take home.
- Step-by-step guidance from an instructor to help you create tasty dandelion-based dishes and drinks.
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort:Participants will be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Lilac Festival
with Viles Arboretum
Be inspired by the vibrant blend of nature, creativity, and community with engaging activities, educational opportunities, and our plant sale and makers market. Discover how art, nature, and growth come together to spark inspiration!
This event is free to attend - though some acivities may charge a fee or require pre-registration.
Schedule of Events
10am-3pm Makers Market
Flowers as Healers: Introduction to Flower Essences
with Debra Bluth
Join herbalist, homeopath, and flower essences practitioner Debra Bluth for an introduction to flower essence workshop.
Flower essences are energetic remedies made from the blossoms of living plants, potentized by the sun or moon, and created with intention and ceremony. Taken orally, these essences work on a vibrational level to support emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Each essence carries a unique energetic imprint, guiding the body and mind toward greater balance and healing.
In this immersive workshop, you'll explore the foundations of flower essences, including their history, uses, and the subtle yet profound shifts they can facilitate. A significant portion of the day will be spent outdoors, where each participant will have the opportunity to create their own flower essence.
Ages: 18+
Homemade Root Beer, Soda, and Kombucha Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Whether you call it soda, pop, or soda pop, this fun and hands-on class will teach you how to create your own homemade root beer and vanilla cream soda. Learn the basics of brewing with natural ingredients, including how to collect plant roots or where to purchase the supplies.
We’ll also dive into the world of kombucha, exploring how to make your own kombucha and experiment with fun flavoring techniques.
What You’ll Learn
- How to make homemade root beer and vanilla cream soda from scratch.
- How to collect plant roots or find the necessary ingredients for brewing soda.
- The basics of making kombucha and creative ways to flavor it.
- How to bottle your soda and kombucha safely.
Each participant will leave the class with a 1-gallon jar of kombucha mama -OR- a half dozen bottles of homemade root beer and vanilla cream soda. And custom-built wooden bottle holder that includes a bottle opener to store your delicious beverages!
What to Expect
- A fun and interactive class with hands-on opportunities to brew and flavor your drinks.
- All ingredients, materials, and tools will be provided.
- Step-by-step guidance on making your own soda and kombucha, as well as how to bottle and store them safely.
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
- Physical Effort:Participants will be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.