WORKSHOP:
Crock & Kraut
Next session: Monday, November 2nd to Sunday, November 15 (2 weeks) Workshop fee: $1,600 covers all materials, not including accommodations.
A Ceramic and Fermenting Arts Workshop in partnership with Cider Creek Collective, where they have been looking for ways to bring the artmaking practice closer to the work of stewarding the land, like making pots that work together with the food we grow. And it so happens this soil and climate love to grow cabbage!
In this tasty workshop, we’ll learn how to make various styles of fermentation crocks using our local clay stoneware and a combination of wheel-throwing and hand-building. We’ll fire them with wood in our catenary arch soda kiln, and while the kiln cools, we’ll teach you a few different kinds of kraut, kimchi, and pickles to make at home in your own crock.
No experience is required with clay or the potters’ wheel, though some would be helpful. Building large(ish) pots in stages with multiple pieces of clay means working slowly, in order to thoroughly understand how the wall of a pot is constructed. It’s actually a great context for learning how to make pottery. We’ll spend a lot of time considering the construction of different rims for sealing the crocks, and how to make an inside surface that is watertight and can be easily cleaned. Just handbuilding instead of using the wheel is an option, and also your crock doesn’t have to be very large!
Accommodations at Salmon Creek Farm and weekday sessions just down the ridge at Cider Creek Collective.
More details from Cider Creek Collective here and work trade scholarships available (email jrthompson at cidercreekcollective dot com).
Visit Staying at Salmon Creek, Life with the Land, and the Workshop pages for the rest of the details before applying.