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Immersion Program | Hunter-Gatherer | Homesteader | Caretaker | Ecopreneur
Filleting a carp with a pocket knife.

      "There were literally thousands of carp milling about in the shallow waters, willows, and reeds along the lakeshore. With the early spring runoff this year, the reservoir was several feet higher than it would normally be by the beginning of June, flooding the mudflats with just enough water to turn it into Carp Mecca. It was every hunter-gatherers greatest dream. We were practically tripping over them as we waded around in the shallow waters! Hunter-gatherer bands often congregated to similar events, coming together at a central point and time to take advantage of an inexhaustible food supply. It would have been a time for celebration, feasting, and an opportunity to mingle and marry between bands."

--Thomas J. Elpel
Carp Hunting the Upper Missouri

Green University® LLC
Hunter-Gatherer Event Schedule
Workshops, Intensives, Events, and Canoe Trips

Students tan sheep hides at Green University LLC.

      Would you like to take a class from Green University® LLC, yet don't have the time to commit to an extended immersion experience? We host a limited number of dedicated workshops and intensive programs each year. The workshops and intensives are a great way to dive into a specific, focused skill area, such as animal processing, hide tanning, plant identification and foraging, or working with kids. Read about and register for these classes following the links below, or consider joining our immersion program. Immersion tuition covers admission to all classes concurrent with your stay. Scroll down the page for information on individual classes and adventures.

Upcoming Workshops, Classes, Intensives, and Adventures
(plus other relevant local and regional events)

DatesDescription
OngoingPlant Mentoring
March 21, 2023SPRING SEMESTER 2023
March 21 - 26, 2023Orientation
March 27 - April 1, 2023Permaculture Projects
April 4 - 7, 2023Beginning Bow-Making & Atlatls
April 15 - 30 2023Bison Tanning Class
May 1 - 31, 2023Outdoor Education and Basic Skills Intensive
May 6, 2023Soap Making
May 2023Upcycled Tools
May 22 - 25, 2023Foundations of Herbalism
May 29 - June 3, 2023Between the Rivers Gathering
June 2 - 4, 2023Practical Permaculture
June 5 - 7, 2023Applied Permaculture
June 8 - 10, 2023Carp Hunting
June 18 - 24, 2023Bow Building / Master Archer Class
July 2 - 15, 2023Botany and Foraging Intensive - Oregon
July 16 - 20, 2023Wild Fruits Rendezvous
July 29 - 30, 2023Jefferson River Canoe Trail Annual Trip
August 1 - September 20, 2023Summer Break
September 10 -16, 2023Rabbitstick Rendezvous
September 21, 2023FALL SEMESTER 2023
(All classes and dates below are approximate.)
September 23 - October 2, 2023Paddle Back in Time on the Jefferson River
October 1 - 31 2023Orientation and Work Projects
October 7, 2023Apple Cider Party
Oct. 8 - 23, 2023Deer Processing Intensive
October 14 - 16, 2023Sheep Processing
October 29 - 30, 2023Wet-Felting Wool
November 4 - 6, 2023Sheepskin Mineral Tanning
Nov. 15 - December 15, 2023Fall Harvest and Celebration of the Deer
Dec. 16, 2023 - Jan 8, 2024Winter Break
January 9 - 29, 2024Braintan Marathon
February 1 - 18, 2024 Buckskin Clothing Intensive
February 18 - 24, 2024Winter Count Gathering
March 1 - 20, 2024Spring Break
OngoingGreen University Immersion Program

Not included with Green University® LLC. Please inquire separately to participate.


Dear Thomas,

Botany in a Day.       My wife gave me Botany in a Day and Participating in Nature for my birthday in September.

      Botany in a Day is a revolutionary approach in the way that way that you introduce the family concept for "non-botanists". I teach botany courses (identification, ecology, conservation, edible and medicinal uses, etc.) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory near Crested Butte, Colorado. I've taught college students, biologists, land managers, and vacationers. I always try to take the family approach. I think it is a great way to organize the taxonomy of things in one's head instead of just learning about a bunch of plants. This is obviously an old system in the technical resources, but your use of it in a field guide is great.

Participating in Nature.       In Participating in Nature, I particularly like the way you combine your philosophy in a journal style with discussion of specific skills. I also like very much how you emphasize those skills or variations on skills that you have adapted on your own. It is clear that you have spent much creative time in the woods. I have been very much an observer and student of the land in the past 10 years, but it has really only been in the past few years that I am becoming a participant. For example, I have a masters in botany with an emphasis in plant taxonomy. So it is now that I am going back and saying, "Oh, I didn't know that was edible!" or "Dang, I can make rope out of this?". I thought I knew the plants of the Colorado Rockies pretty well, and then I started eating them and realizing that my learning had just begun. I am getting pretty decent with a bow-drill and I've tanned a few dozen hides. But I realize I have the knowledge of about an 8 year-old Cheyenne boy. I am getting better at accepting that tomorrow is another day.

--Kevin T.
Broomfield, Colorado

      Looking for life-changing resources? Check out these books by Thomas J. Elpel:

Green Prosperity: Quit Your Job, Live Your Dreams.
Green
Prosperity
Roadmap to Reality: Consciousness, Worldviews, and the Blossoming of Human Spirit
Roadmap
to Reality
Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction
Living
Homes
Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills.
Participating
in Nature
Foraging the Mountain West: Gourmet Edible Plants, Mushrooms, and Meat.
Foraging the
Mountain West
Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
Botany
in a Day
Shanleya's Quest: A Botany Adventure for Kids
Shanleya's
Quest

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