Upcoming Events and Classes
Mushroom Identification Series (Forager's Special)
A two-part series teaching you how to confidently identify wild mushrooms using field guides and dichotomous keys.
This course by Northwest Natura is indoor/outdoor. The first day will primarily be indoor to get you oriented with mycology basics and how to use a technical key to identify mushrooms confidently (like the professionals!) - the second day will be putting your skills to use in the field. We’ll begin with a sit-down session before going out looking for mushrooms in the woods, identifying them together using keys and field guides.
---FUN introductory lessons in Mycology--
Foraging
Mushroom ecology
Identification techniques
Vocabulary definitions
Fungi Evolution & Taxonomy (mushroom family ID and more)
Spore printing practice
Indoor and outdoor mushroom ID lessons
How to use a dichotomous key
Practice ID with keys & field guides
Field observation and collection
Collect mushrooms on your own and identify them in class with help from your instructor
Meet 2 days this fall with the same group - make friends with other mushroom lovers!
for more information and to register, please visit: https://www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/mushroom-keying-course-nov
Calm Through the Holidays: Emotional Intelligence & Meditation
The holidays bring a lot of good things, along with packed calendars, family dynamics, and the pressure to keep everyone else happy. If you already feel your shoulders creeping up, this two-hour class is for you.
Together we'll practice a guided meditation to settle your nervous system. Then we'll learn Catch It, Check It, Change It, a simple, practical tool for noticing a stress reaction before it runs the show, pausing to see what's really going on, and choosing how you want to respond. You'll leave with a skill you can use at the dinner table, in a crowded store, or at 11pm when your mind won't switch off.
No meditation experience needed. Come as skeptical as you like.
Teens welcome: bring your teen along, or send them with a friend. It's a great way to give them tools for managing their own stress, and to share a common language for the busy weeks ahead.
Led by Aimee Sones of Say Hello Meditation, a mindfulness teacher with 20+ years in education and social-emotional learning.
Reserve your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/calm-through-the-holidays-emotional-intelligence-meditation-tickets-2003691656683
Weed and Feed
The monthly Weed and Feeds at the Chuckanut Center garden are a chance to get your knees dirty! Come meet other gardeners, learn garden maintenance strategies, and contribute to an incredible garden that donates fresh produce every year.
Harvest & Flow: Fall Qigong & Mindful Cooking
This series on Monday evenings is designed for women and explores seasonal nourishment, mindful cooking, and Qigong. Each class will begin with preparing a wholesome, fall-inspired meal together. While the meal cooks, we’ll practice gentle Qigong movement and breathwork, creating space to slow down, ground, and reconnect with ourselves and one another.
Topics including hormone health, bone health, and life transitions will be woven into the series, offering opportunities to explore holistic approaches to women’s well-being through movement, nourishment, and connection. We’ll then gather to share the meal and enjoy the nourishment of food, practice, and community.
Class dates are 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, and 11/16 from 5–7 PM at the Chuckanut Center in Fairhaven.
More information and Registration: https://bodymindrestoration.com/womens-qigong-fall-nourishment
Wild Ivy Basketry - A Wildcrafter's Workshop
Please join me for an afternoon in the woods in late autumn to remove ecologically harmful English Ivy from the woodland and turn those vines into beautiful baskets! Dabblers, beginners, intermediate, and advanced weavers will enjoy this creative, social gathering. In this course you will learn:
- English Ivy characteristics, growth habit, ecological impact, and dispersal
- Ethical harvesting of English Ivy, safety precautions, and land steward tactics
- How to process English Ivy for basket weaving material
- How to rehydrate dried vines for basket weaving
- The twining technique
- Information on other forms of basketry.
For more information and to register please visit https://www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/wild-ivy-basketry
Pine Needle Basketry
In this wildcrafting workshop you will learn how to weave a basket using the coil technique and Ponderosa Pine needles.
Weaving with pine needles and other coiled plant material is a practice ancient peoples from all continents implemented in day-to-day survival, conventional living, and art.
The technique requires patience and attention to detail before it becomes a relaxing, repetitive stitching pattern. It is a skill that is more easily learned with a little guidance.
Dabblers, beginners, intermediate, and advanced weavers will enjoy this creative, social gathering with Northwest Natura.
For more information and to register, please visit https://www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/pine-needle-basketry-november
Wild Ivy Basketry - A Wildcrafter's Workshop
Please join me for an afternoon in the woods in late autumn to remove ecologically harmful English Ivy from the woodland and turn those vines into beautiful baskets! Dabblers, beginners, intermediate, and advanced weavers will enjoy this creative, social gathering. In this course you will learn:
- English Ivy characteristics, growth habit, ecological impact, and dispersal
- Ethical harvesting of English Ivy, safety precautions, and land steward tactics
- How to process English Ivy for basket weaving material
- How to rehydrate dried vines for basket weaving
- The twining technique
- Information on other forms of basketry.
For more information and to register please visit https://www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/wild-ivy-basketry
Natural Dyes & Herbal Sachets Wildcrafting Workshop
We’ll spend some time outside during the first portion of this course looking for plants, mushrooms, and lichen that can be used to make natural dyes. We will forage for multiple dye plant species while we’re out and take the materials back to the venue to process and begin the second portion of the workshop.
Back at the Chuckanut Center around 3pm, we’ll use the kitchen to craft several natural dyes together. Each person will be provided with 2 sheets of white, pretreated wool fabric that they can cut into more pieces if they want to try all colors.
Each participant has the opportunity to experiment however they want with the various dye pots we craft. In previous classes, students walked away with 6-8 dyed cuts ranging in color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black and pink were previously attained).
In the final portion of this class, you can make a sachet of aromatic herbs using pieces of your dyed fabric.
Herbs will be provided and you are welcome to bring your own.
Herbs provided: lavender, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, mugwort, orange peel, fenugreek, and a few others.
More details and registration here: https://www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/natural-dyes-jan
Harvest & Flow: Fall Qigong & Mindful Cooking
This series on Monday evenings is designed for women and explores seasonal nourishment, mindful cooking, and Qigong. Each class will begin with preparing a wholesome, fall-inspired meal together. While the meal cooks, we’ll practice gentle Qigong movement and breathwork, creating space to slow down, ground, and reconnect with ourselves and one another.
Topics including hormone health, bone health, and life transitions will be woven into the series, offering opportunities to explore holistic approaches to women’s well-being through movement, nourishment, and connection. We’ll then gather to share the meal and enjoy the nourishment of food, practice, and community.
Class dates are 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, and 11/16 from 5–7 PM at the Chuckanut Center in Fairhaven.
More information and Registration: https://bodymindrestoration.com/womens-qigong-fall-nourishment
Meeting Elecampane: A Hands-On Harvest & Herbal Medicine Workshop
We invite you to join us for the Elecampane harvest here at the Chuckanut Center. This year we have an abundant crop of this beloved medicinal root, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to share a hands-on day of harvesting, learning, and making medicine together.
Elecampane has long been valued in traditional herbal practices and is a wonderful plant to get to know through the process of growing, harvesting, and preparing it. There is something special about working with roots — slowing down, digging beneath the soil, and connecting with the deeper parts of the plant.
During this workshop, we will spend time getting to know Elecampane as a plant ally, learning about its history and traditional uses, and exploring ways to bring it into the home apothecary.
Together we will:
• Harvest fresh Elecampane root and learn how to clean, prepare, and preserve it.
• Learn about Elecampane, its traditional uses, and its role in herbal practice.
• Explore practical ways to work with Elecampane in your home apothecary.
• Create an herbal remedy together from the fresh harvest.
You’ll leave with:
• Freshly harvested Elecampane root.
• A jar of the remedy we prepare together.
• A bottle of Elecampane honey tincture.
• Practical skills for harvesting, preparing, and working with Elecampane root.
Root harvesting is one of the most rewarding ways to deepen your relationship with medicinal plants. Join us for a day of digging, learning, and sharing in the abundance of the season.
Cost: $65
Harvest & Flow: Fall Qigong & Mindful Cooking
This series on Monday evenings is designed for women and explores seasonal nourishment, mindful cooking, and Qigong. Each class will begin with preparing a wholesome, fall-inspired meal together. While the meal cooks, we’ll practice gentle Qigong movement and breathwork, creating space to slow down, ground, and reconnect with ourselves and one another.
Topics including hormone health, bone health, and life transitions will be woven into the series, offering opportunities to explore holistic approaches to women’s well-being through movement, nourishment, and connection. We’ll then gather to share the meal and enjoy the nourishment of food, practice, and community.
Class dates are 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, and 11/16 from 5–7 PM at the Chuckanut Center in Fairhaven.
More information and Registration: https://bodymindrestoration.com/womens-qigong-fall-nourishment
Roots, Barks & Berries of the Pacific Northwest
A 5-Week Herbal Medicine Series
Autumn is one of the most rewarding seasons for herbal medicine. As plants draw their energy inward, their roots, bark, and berries become rich with medicine and nourishment.
Join me for a five-week immersive journey exploring four of my favorite medicinal plants of the Pacific Northwest. Together we'll study these remarkable plant allies through the lenses of Western & Traditional Herbalism, Ayurveda, medicine making, along with direct personal experience.
This course is designed to deepen your relationship with our local medicinal plants—not only through study, but through observation, practice, and firsthand connection.
Harvest & Flow: Fall Qigong & Mindful Cooking
This series on Monday evenings is designed for women and explores seasonal nourishment, mindful cooking, and Qigong. Each class will begin with preparing a wholesome, fall-inspired meal together. While the meal cooks, we’ll practice gentle Qigong movement and breathwork, creating space to slow down, ground, and reconnect with ourselves and one another.
Topics including hormone health, bone health, and life transitions will be woven into the series, offering opportunities to explore holistic approaches to women’s well-being through movement, nourishment, and connection. We’ll then gather to share the meal and enjoy the nourishment of food, practice, and community.
Class dates are 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, and 11/16 from 5–7 PM at the Chuckanut Center in Fairhaven.
More information and Registration: https://bodymindrestoration.com/womens-qigong-fall-nourishment
Apple Fest
Join us at the Chuckanut Center on Saturday Oct. 3rd 10 am - 3 pm for Apple Fest! Want to press apples, volunteer, or show off your apple dessert skills? This community event is fun, family-friendly, and full of fall festivities!
Release & Return: Autumn Equinox Writing Workshop
As nature turns inward in the fall, the changing season offers us a moment to pause, gather our energy, and reconnect with ourselves. Just as the trees drop their leaves to protect their core strength through the winter, we can also practice the intentional art of shedding what no longer serves us.
This guided, reflective writing workshop will help you ground into your center and anchor your intentions for the months to come.
Weed and Feed
The monthly Weed and Feeds at the Chuckanut Center garden are a chance to get your knees dirty! Come meet other gardeners, learn garden maintenance strategies, and contribute to an incredible garden that donates fresh produce every year.
Pine Needle Basketry - A Wildcrafter's Workshop
In this wildcrafting workshop you will learn how to weave a basket using the coil technique and Ponderosa Pine needles.
Weaving with pine needles and other coiled plant material is a practice ancient peoples from all continents implemented in day-to-day survival, conventional living, and art.
The technique requires patience and attention to detail before it becomes a relaxing, repetitive stitching pattern. It is a skill that is more easily learned with a little guidance.
Dabblers, beginners, intermediate, and advanced weavers will enjoy this creative, social gathering with Northwest Natura.
In this course you will learn:
ID and Ecology features of Pinus spp. (various pine tree species).
Foraging techniques and where to harvest pine needles.
How to weave a coiled basket using pine needles.
All materials will be provided but you are welcome to bring your own too if you wish (e.g., thread, beads, decor, sewing kit).
What to bring:
Snacks/lunch
Pliers
Scissors
A plastic bag for storing your work
A larger bag for taking home handfuls of soaked pine needles
A hand towel
Journal and pen (optional)
Your own sewing kit and/or embroidery thread or waxed linen (optional. Materials provided).
For more information and to register, please visit www.northwestnatura.com/fieldtrips/p/pine-needles-september
Summer Fruit Tree Pruning
In this class, you will learn why summer pruning is an important aspect of fruit tree care, and why pruning is not only a winter job. In this hands-on course, you will learn how to produce better fruit, manage tree vigor and height, fungal disease, and unwieldy growth with professional fruit tree pruner Greg Meyer of The Planted Pantry
Weed and Feed
The monthly Weed and Feeds at the Chuckanut Center garden are a chance to get your knees dirty! Come meet other gardeners, learn garden maintenance strategies, and contribute to an incredible garden that donates fresh produce every year.
July Carver's Guild
Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced carver there is a place for you here! This group is primarily focused on greenwood spoon carving, but all carvers are welcome. If you are completely new and would like to give carving a try, we can provide tools, materials, and instruction for a limited number of people. Send us an email if you would like more information. Please email us in advance if this is your first session.
email: bham.carvers@gmail.com
A $5 donation to the Chuckanut Center is suggested, if you are able, for the generous use of their facilities.
Location:
Chuckanut Center
103 Chuckanut Dr N
Bellingham, WA 98225
Weed and Feed
The monthly Weed and Feeds at the Chuckanut Center garden are a chance to get your knees dirty! Come meet other gardeners, learn garden maintenance strategies, and contribute to an incredible garden that donates fresh produce every year.
Enchanted Woodworking: Wand Carving Workshop
A half-day of whimsical woodworking for adults
Taiwanese Tea Tasting
Part 3 of a 3-part series: Gong Fu tea sessions with James Keskimaki
Weed and Feed
The monthly Weed and Feeds at the Chuckanut Center garden are a chance to get your knees dirty! Come meet other gardeners, learn garden maintenance strategies, and contribute to an incredible garden that donates fresh produce every year.
Optimize Your Breast Health & Balance Your Hormones with Qigong
A 4-part Monday evening series: April 13, April 27, May 11, June 1