Engage With Your Landscape.
Grow Your Wilderness Skills.
Craft A Handmade Life.
Welcome To ROOTS School
We offer wilderness skills and traditional handcraft classes to meet varied levels of skill and intensity, from youth to adult. We offer limited class sizes, hands on learning, and experienced instructors. At Roots you can build solid skills, enjoy time around a fire, make connections to the natural world, all while growing confidence and strength within. We hope to see you soon!
Bringing you the Stone Age since 2007.
Adult Programs
Roots offers classes year round in wilderness skills as well as traditional crafts and skills such as building bows and arrows, basketry, flint knapping(stone tools), fiber arts, and blacksmithing. We also offer naturalist programs such as Wildlife Tracking and Birding. We offer both short and long term programs. Find out more here!
Youth Programs
Roots has a variety of programs for children and teens year round. We have Summer Day Camps, a school year one day a week homeschool program, and weekend classes such as Children’s Bow Making. We also have family events that are all ages such as the Family Survival Weekend and the Roots Rendezvous. Learn more here!
ROOTS Blog
Winter Tracking II – Gait Studies – Why and How
What are Gait Studies? Gait refers to the movement pattern the animal is using and the corresponding gait pattern is left for trackers to interpret. In human terms, walk, jog, run, sprint, sit, stand, kneel, etc, etc. Think of an action an animal can take and where...
Finished up some atl-atl with the weekly homeschool group this week and got to see them fly. Amazing what an extra lever on your arm can do!
Been a real blast hanging out and teaching such an awesome group of kids.
#atlatl #getthekidsoutside
Still some space available in this one time opportunity to learn to build domed bark shelters at Roots. June 15 to 27. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Barry Keegan is a wealth of knowledge and experience and one of the most giving teachers I`ve ever learned from.
Hope to see you there!
#survivalskills #bushcraft #primitiveskills #barkshelter #earthskills
What a week! 20 new bows born into the world by a dedicated group of students who diligently worked to follow growth rings and grain and create a truly stunning batch of bows and arrows.
Having some folks come back for round two allowed us to push into some heat bent reflex deflex bows, which was a lot of fun and led to some killed advanced designs. They were bows I would gladly shoot.
All in all, my body is tired, but my heart is full. Thanks to all who attended!
#osage #bowandarrow #traditionalarchery #osageorange #survivalskills #bushcraft #selfreliance #traditionalskills #bowmaking #boisdarc
Last minute drop out of the Traditional Hunting Program if you want to hop in this study of how to make your own Hunting gear and put it to use! Hide tanning, butchering, bow and arrow making, tracking, scouting, and more! Starts this Saturday morning! Dm us or check our website!
This is an white tail deer antler microlithic arrowhead with agate flakes glued with spruce pitch glue.
#survivalskills #bushcraft #primitiveskills #primitivearchery #bowandarrow #traditionalarchery #osageorange #primitiveskills #traditionalbowhunting
The Gatherers Program. 2024.
Willow Weaving.
🌿
Under the direction of @sandra.kehoe.5 we began the program weaving willow rib baskets. Folks steadily worked in the cool April air and made beautiful baskets, each a unique creation in shape and color from all the willow varieties. Thank you for coming up to teach and setting this group off in a good way. Here`s to a bountiful harvest to put these baskets to work!
💚
#gathering #handmade #willow #willowweaving
Gatherer`s 2024 has kicked off!
@willowbrookbasketfarm thank you for coming up to teach! setting this group off right with beautiful willow baskets to go and gather with. ❤️
📸 @sandra.kehoe.5
We were lucky enough to take another trip to the Narrows, a hidden gem on the Blanco River in the Texas Hill Country. Prickly pear, yucca, oaks, juniper, and a ton of `buzzards` kept us company as we traversed huge piles of chert cobbles...
In a hilarious bit of tomfoolery, I forgot my shoes. I had packed everything I could think of for this little expedition, as taking your 4 month old and 3 year old into a wild area it`s wise to make sure you have thier needs covered, plus basics like med kit, knife, headlamps and extra batteries, emergency layers, I even brought Ash her little swim goggles.....but somehow got halfway through the drive to the trail head before I realized I was barefoot! 🤪🤪🤪
Luckily many years of barefoot movement across all sorts of environments meant that even with my winter soft Vermonter feet that have been shoed since September, I did okay. The challenges amped up on the hike back as I added 40 lbs of toddler to my shoulders.
Real glad I didn`t kick a prickly pear!
`Fox walking` works!
We also had so amazing company. Thanks for taking us back @erin__corrigan @mathesonmuir
@h_and_2ns
#tx #foxwalk #hillcountry #thenarrows #
The December flood deposits made us a new tracking location along the river. I`m going to do some studying here this summer with trail cam and track pictures.
Ash will need her own chaos zone.
Rivers change so much! Good thing for me to live near one as it reminds me to not be such a control freak, to let it go, to flow. Not my default, something I work for.
The balance of accepting the situation and the will and ability to change anything we can for the better is at the heart of these skills, and maybe a lot more.
The youth!
We`ve been at this for a long time. There are kids we taught who have gone out and collected their own experiences and skill sets to teach kids. Who knows where this young group of kids will go, but we believe that in forming connections with the natural world at a young age, that connection becomes important part of their lives.
pretty sweet.
One space re-opened in our Traditional Hunting Program. Get it while it lasts!
Come on out with us April through October on the Vermont landscape to build your own bows and arrows, tan hides, learn tracking, scouting and tactics, field dressing and butchering, and more.
Steely October days like this were made for Hunting!
Link in bio!
#traditionalbowhunting
#gtfo #traditionalarchery
#traditionalhunting #bowhunting #bushcraft
#primitiveskills #primitivearchery
#bowandarrow
We`ve been working on self-defense with a group of youngsters on Tuesday nights, and it`s been such a blast.
Watching people learn to roll, to hold structure, and the power of leverage, is one of my favorite skill sets to see grow.
Showing people that thier physical ability is much greater than they knew is fun as hell.
We are hosting a Bark Shelter Building class taught by Barry Keegan this June! A one of a kind class for us and one I will be stoked to attend myself!
This class will cover tons of skills pertaining to all kinds of shelter and camp site set ups including: site selection, bark harvesting, pole construction, smoke management, internal building, maintenance, material selection and preparation and more.
This will be a very hands-on experience!
Check out the class on our Adult Courses listing, link in bio!
#shelter #survivalskills #bushcraft #selfreliance #traditionalskills #bark
This little corner of the world is our home in Vermont. Right now, winter and spring are playing musical chairs, and I`m starting to think of greener days. 🌳🌳🌳
Looking forward to a full spring and summer of classes and skills while trying to enjoy the end of snow fun and some sugaring!
Whose got taps in?
These wood chiseling feathered lizards always blow my mind a little with the size and depth of their excavations.
The pileated woodpecker is the biggest pecker in VT and the only one to make holes like this as they create access to the carpenter ants galleries inside. 🐜🐜🐜
It is always easy to notice their fresh work by the fresh wood chips on the ground or snow.
Sometimes it`s good to sit and rebuild the tree out of the chips like a giant puzzle to really understand how the bird was feeling. 🤪
PLEASE don`t do that.
What do you think, do they sound like woody the woodpecker to you?
NEW DESIGN! We redesigned the Wilderness Survival Immersion Program to start in April and end with a 4 day survival trip in September. This program strings together one weekend of survival training a month to build proficiency and then tests your skills in a real environment.
Making a bow drill fire once in be a peak experience and something you never forget, but it`s a far cry from being able to consistently create fire from the landscape when it really counts. This program is aimed to do just that, with all the survival fundamentals of shelter building, fire making, foraging, trackin, survival hunting and trapping, and much more.
Over the years we have run this program from September to June and are excited to narrow the scope a bit by running it just through the warmer seasons and see how far students can go.
This is a learn by doing expirence!
#survivalskills #survival #wildernessselfreliance #wildernesseducation #wildernesssurvival #bowdrill #debrisshelter #bushcraft #selfreliance
Don`t give up! Often times the first tracks I encounter don`t have enough info for a full ID. I`ve found though that most trails offer a lot more data if you follow them for a bit and add it all up.
With this trail, the transverse lope seemed very skunky, but there were no clear prints for confirmation. A short walk away though, out of the field and into the shallower and less weather snow of the woodbine, the details revealed themselves, and the needed diagnostics for a positive ID became clear. Love me some Mephitis mephitis(one of the best binomials) or striped skunk.
This is a bit of a life lesson for me. More data before a judgment usually yield a better conclusion than the quick answer you want.
Thanks to @__grayfox for inspiring me to find an example of various skunk tracks.
Also, tracking is cool AF.
#tracking
Welcome To ROOTS
Engage With Your Landscape.
Grow Your Wilderness Skills.
Craft A Handmade Life.
We offer classes to meet varied levels of skill and intensity, from beginner to expert, youth to adult. We offer limited class sizes, hands on learning, and highly experienced instructors. Roots is where you can build solid skills, connections to the world around you, and confidence and strength within. We hope to see you soon!
Bringing you the Stone Age since 2007.
ROOTS Blog
Winter Tracking II – Gait Studies – Why and How
What are Gait Studies? Gait refers to the movement pattern the animal is using and the corresponding gait pattern is left for trackers to interpret. In human terms, walk, jog, run, sprint, sit, stand, kneel, etc, etc. Think of an action an animal can take and where...
Finished up some atl-atl with the weekly homeschool group this week and got to see them fly. Amazing what an extra lever on your arm can do!
Been a real blast hanging out and teaching such an awesome group of kids.
#atlatl #getthekidsoutside
Still some space available in this one time opportunity to learn to build domed bark shelters at Roots. June 15 to 27. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Barry Keegan is a wealth of knowledge and experience and one of the most giving teachers I`ve ever learned from.
Hope to see you there!
#survivalskills #bushcraft #primitiveskills #barkshelter #earthskills
What a week! 20 new bows born into the world by a dedicated group of students who diligently worked to follow growth rings and grain and create a truly stunning batch of bows and arrows.
Having some folks come back for round two allowed us to push into some heat bent reflex deflex bows, which was a lot of fun and led to some killed advanced designs. They were bows I would gladly shoot.
All in all, my body is tired, but my heart is full. Thanks to all who attended!
#osage #bowandarrow #traditionalarchery #osageorange #survivalskills #bushcraft #selfreliance #traditionalskills #bowmaking #boisdarc
Last minute drop out of the Traditional Hunting Program if you want to hop in this study of how to make your own Hunting gear and put it to use! Hide tanning, butchering, bow and arrow making, tracking, scouting, and more! Starts this Saturday morning! Dm us or check our website!
This is an white tail deer antler microlithic arrowhead with agate flakes glued with spruce pitch glue.
#survivalskills #bushcraft #primitiveskills #primitivearchery #bowandarrow #traditionalarchery #osageorange #primitiveskills #traditionalbowhunting
The Gatherers Program. 2024.
Willow Weaving.
🌿
Under the direction of @sandra.kehoe.5 we began the program weaving willow rib baskets. Folks steadily worked in the cool April air and made beautiful baskets, each a unique creation in shape and color from all the willow varieties. Thank you for coming up to teach and setting this group off in a good way. Here`s to a bountiful harvest to put these baskets to work!
💚
#gathering #handmade #willow #willowweaving
Gatherer`s 2024 has kicked off!
@willowbrookbasketfarm thank you for coming up to teach! setting this group off right with beautiful willow baskets to go and gather with. ❤️
📸 @sandra.kehoe.5
We were lucky enough to take another trip to the Narrows, a hidden gem on the Blanco River in the Texas Hill Country. Prickly pear, yucca, oaks, juniper, and a ton of `buzzards` kept us company as we traversed huge piles of chert cobbles...
In a hilarious bit of tomfoolery, I forgot my shoes. I had packed everything I could think of for this little expedition, as taking your 4 month old and 3 year old into a wild area it`s wise to make sure you have thier needs covered, plus basics like med kit, knife, headlamps and extra batteries, emergency layers, I even brought Ash her little swim goggles.....but somehow got halfway through the drive to the trail head before I realized I was barefoot! 🤪🤪🤪
Luckily many years of barefoot movement across all sorts of environments meant that even with my winter soft Vermonter feet that have been shoed since September, I did okay. The challenges amped up on the hike back as I added 40 lbs of toddler to my shoulders.
Real glad I didn`t kick a prickly pear!
`Fox walking` works!
We also had so amazing company. Thanks for taking us back @erin__corrigan @mathesonmuir
@h_and_2ns
#tx #foxwalk #hillcountry #thenarrows #
The December flood deposits made us a new tracking location along the river. I`m going to do some studying here this summer with trail cam and track pictures.
Ash will need her own chaos zone.
Rivers change so much! Good thing for me to live near one as it reminds me to not be such a control freak, to let it go, to flow. Not my default, something I work for.
The balance of accepting the situation and the will and ability to change anything we can for the better is at the heart of these skills, and maybe a lot more.
The youth!
We`ve been at this for a long time. There are kids we taught who have gone out and collected their own experiences and skill sets to teach kids. Who knows where this young group of kids will go, but we believe that in forming connections with the natural world at a young age, that connection becomes important part of their lives.
pretty sweet.
One space re-opened in our Traditional Hunting Program. Get it while it lasts!
Come on out with us April through October on the Vermont landscape to build your own bows and arrows, tan hides, learn tracking, scouting and tactics, field dressing and butchering, and more.
Steely October days like this were made for Hunting!
Link in bio!
#traditionalbowhunting
#gtfo #traditionalarchery
#traditionalhunting #bowhunting #bushcraft
#primitiveskills #primitivearchery
#bowandarrow
We`ve been working on self-defense with a group of youngsters on Tuesday nights, and it`s been such a blast.
Watching people learn to roll, to hold structure, and the power of leverage, is one of my favorite skill sets to see grow.
Showing people that thier physical ability is much greater than they knew is fun as hell.
We are hosting a Bark Shelter Building class taught by Barry Keegan this June! A one of a kind class for us and one I will be stoked to attend myself!
This class will cover tons of skills pertaining to all kinds of shelter and camp site set ups including: site selection, bark harvesting, pole construction, smoke management, internal building, maintenance, material selection and preparation and more.
This will be a very hands-on experience!
Check out the class on our Adult Courses listing, link in bio!
#shelter #survivalskills #bushcraft #selfreliance #traditionalskills #bark
This little corner of the world is our home in Vermont. Right now, winter and spring are playing musical chairs, and I`m starting to think of greener days. 🌳🌳🌳
Looking forward to a full spring and summer of classes and skills while trying to enjoy the end of snow fun and some sugaring!
Whose got taps in?
These wood chiseling feathered lizards always blow my mind a little with the size and depth of their excavations.
The pileated woodpecker is the biggest pecker in VT and the only one to make holes like this as they create access to the carpenter ants galleries inside. 🐜🐜🐜
It is always easy to notice their fresh work by the fresh wood chips on the ground or snow.
Sometimes it`s good to sit and rebuild the tree out of the chips like a giant puzzle to really understand how the bird was feeling. 🤪
PLEASE don`t do that.
What do you think, do they sound like woody the woodpecker to you?
NEW DESIGN! We redesigned the Wilderness Survival Immersion Program to start in April and end with a 4 day survival trip in September. This program strings together one weekend of survival training a month to build proficiency and then tests your skills in a real environment.
Making a bow drill fire once in be a peak experience and something you never forget, but it`s a far cry from being able to consistently create fire from the landscape when it really counts. This program is aimed to do just that, with all the survival fundamentals of shelter building, fire making, foraging, trackin, survival hunting and trapping, and much more.
Over the years we have run this program from September to June and are excited to narrow the scope a bit by running it just through the warmer seasons and see how far students can go.
This is a learn by doing expirence!
#survivalskills #survival #wildernessselfreliance #wildernesseducation #wildernesssurvival #bowdrill #debrisshelter #bushcraft #selfreliance
Don`t give up! Often times the first tracks I encounter don`t have enough info for a full ID. I`ve found though that most trails offer a lot more data if you follow them for a bit and add it all up.
With this trail, the transverse lope seemed very skunky, but there were no clear prints for confirmation. A short walk away though, out of the field and into the shallower and less weather snow of the woodbine, the details revealed themselves, and the needed diagnostics for a positive ID became clear. Love me some Mephitis mephitis(one of the best binomials) or striped skunk.
This is a bit of a life lesson for me. More data before a judgment usually yield a better conclusion than the quick answer you want.
Thanks to @__grayfox for inspiring me to find an example of various skunk tracks.
Also, tracking is cool AF.
#tracking