For thousands of years people have harvested and used fiber from basswood and linden species for lashings, rope, nets, mats and woven bags, both in the Old World and here in the Americas. This amazing material is still available from trees growing throughout our region but is little known now and very little used. We will get to know the American Basswood, learn of these tree's ecological significance, harvest a small tree and peel the bark, begin retting some of the bark, and process out some finished fiber. We will learn a couple methods of rope making and spend some time doing so. Participants will leave with some bark to ret and process, and some cord of their own making.

Date: Saturday, June 20, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Lunch will be provided.
Ages: 8+
Materials Fees: $15
Location: La Farge, WI

Instructions: Please dress for the outdoors and wear clothes that can get messy. Please also bring a water bottle and any snacks you may want outside of the provided lunch.

Sliding Scale Course Fee Guidelines (not including Materials Fees)

Supporter Level Ticket: $125
If you move through the world with financial ease and the means to fulfill many of your wants as well as your needs – you are able to eat out when you want, abundantly meet your needs through employment or can comfortably not work, have access to family wealth, own property, etc. – consider paying at this level, which will help us ensure the long term sustainability of our programs while keeping our offerings accessible to those with access to fewer resources.

Sustainer Level Ticket: $100
If you are able to meet your needs with relative ease while budgeting your educational and entertainment spending – for instance, you are able to take classes and eat out occasionally as long as you are mindful – consider paying at this level, which will help sustain the work of the Folk School at a modest level.

Supported Level Ticket: $75
If you struggle to fund your basic needs and have limited access to resources in your family and community, or if you would not be able to access this offering without a discounted payment option, consider paying at this level. We value your presence and contributions to our community and do not want any economic circumstances to be a barrier to attendance!

Instructor Bio — Nicholas WazeeGale

Nicholas WazeeGale is a lifelong student of the natural world, traditional cultures, and sustainability. His life is intricately tied to the Driftless landscape through foraging plant and fungi foods, hunting and fishing, tanning skins, making traditional handcraft, and obsessively observing and tracking the myriad unfoldings of the living landscape. He is a long time instructor with the Driftless Folks School and other outdoor education institutions, contracts as a professional wildlife tracker with the Wisconsin DNR, and teaches at the Kickapoo Valley Forest School. He is a certified Wilderness Guide through a year long wilderness living immersion course and holds both a Professional and Specialist Certification in track and sign via Tracker Certification North America.

Find him online at…@naturalnuances and/or @wildrootshandcrafts