The fifth annual Bush Skills Caribbean Rendezvous will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily on March 3-6. Participants may come just for a day or enjoy the whole long weekend at Ridge to Reef Farm/Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute. There will be adult and youth sessions available, so families are welcomed.
Bush Skills 2011
Thursday, March 3 – Primitive Survival Skills: The basics of tropical living-fire, shelter, water and fibers
Friday, March 4 – Herbs and Trees: Medicines, herbal walk, calabash crafts and food
Saturday, March 5 – Hunting and Gathering: Stone and bamboo tools, tracking, pond fishing, gathering from wild plants and cultivated plants
Sunday, March 6 – Food Day: How to grow and prepare an all-natural island feast in an all-morning bush cook out. Everyone joins a bush chef and combines all the skills from the weekend such as fire, fibers, calabash craft and wild edibles into a day that ends in an afternoon feast.
The four-day event will feature teachers Veronica Gordon, Tony the Palm Weaver, Tahirah Abubakr, Snow Bear, Shelli Brin, Chris Maness, Nate Olive, Matt and Carmen Corradino, and others. Choose from a list of morning and afternoon workshops each day, lunch included. The cost is $45 for adults, $20 for 16 and under with supervision. Participants are asked to bring their own water bottles and folding chairs, and to dress comfortably for the outdoors. Several day pass scholarships for the less financially inclined are available thanks to a generous donor, Lona Kind. Details and registration