Salmon
Creek Arts 🐌
WORKSHOPS
Take a week, or two, or even four, this winter to Stay at Salmon Creek as part of an improvised arts community, getting cozy by wood fire in a cabin nestled in the coastal redwoods, while digging into a particular activity of life on the land: seasonal cooking, ceramics wood firing, garden harvest fermenting, natural dye experimentating, land stewarding, or reading & writing.
Some workshops are lead by an experienced teacher from the Salmon Creek community, but often they are non-hierarchical collaboratively run skill-shares, without workshop fees and in the spirit of the original commune. The group comes together around a shared interest and after introductions on the first day decides on a structure for their time together. This can offer a rich tapestry of diverse perspectives, experiences, and skillsets to feed the group. Everyone is a teacher and a student in a program we create together.
More Info: Coast redwoods | Indigenous Pomo | Mendocino Coast | Commune history | Cabin accommodations | Life with the Land | Further reference, articles, and videos.
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Some workshops are lead by an experienced teacher from the Salmon Creek community, but often they are non-hierarchical collaboratively run skill-shares, without workshop fees and in the spirit of the original commune. The group comes together around a shared interest and after introductions on the first day decides on a structure for their time together. This can offer a rich tapestry of diverse perspectives, experiences, and skillsets to feed the group. Everyone is a teacher and a student in a program we create together.
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Be available to stay for the entirety of the program.
- Couples and small groups welcome to apply.
- Open to all levels of experience, ages 21 and up.
- Some programs have workshop fees, as noted.
More Info: Coast redwoods | Indigenous Pomo | Mendocino Coast | Commune history | Cabin accommodations | Life with the Land | Further reference, articles, and videos.
Fall 2026 - Winter 2027
Nov 9 to Nov 15 | Natural Dyeing & Textiles Skillshare dyeing with foraged flora (1 week) no workshop fee.
Nov 16 to Nov 22 | Natural Dyeing & Textiles Skillshare dyeing with foraged flora (1 week) no workshop fee. [WAITLIST]
Nov 23 to Nov 29 | Seasonal Cooking Arts Workshop with Gerardo Gonzalez (1 week) + $750 workshop fee & $275 for meals. [WAITLIST]
Nov 30 to Dec 6 | Land Project Convening (1 week) no workshop fee. [1 cabin left]
Dec 7 to Dec 13 | Reading & Writing Retreat (1 week) no workshop fee. [WAITLIST]
Dec 14 to Dec 20 | Reading & Writing Retreat (1 week) no workshop fee. [WAITLIST]
Jan 4 to Jan 31 | Land Project Convening (4 weeks) no workshop fee.
Feb 1 to Feb 28 | Reading & Writing Retreat (4 weeks) no workshop fee.
Mar 1 to Mar 26 | Wood Fire Ceramics Workshop with Cider Creek Collective (4 weeks) + $2000 workshop fee. [invites start going out Aug 1]
*Visit Staying at Salmon Creek for rates and more details.*
Programs are offered as affordably as possible. We offer up to 50% discounts for applicants of historically marginalized communities upon request and when available, supported by contributions from those who can afford more.
SKILLSHARE:
Natural Dyeing
& Textiles
Next sessions:
Monday, November 9th to Sunday, November 15th (1 week)[WAITLIST]
Monday, November 16th to Sunday, November 22nd, 2026 (1 week). [WAITLIST]
No workshop fee
A group-lead skill-share for folks working with natural dyes to spend a week living and learning in community. A time for hands-on engaging with the land — exploring, gathering, processing, experimenting, and dyeing materials...following your curiosities foraging into the Salmon Creek gardens, woods, riparian valley, and out to the coast.
Where do our art materials come from? What does it mean to work with the seasons? What color does that plant give? What is shared when we experiment and explore together? With no designated workshop leader, everyone comes ready to teach and learn. We spend the first day meeting each other and orienting to the land. We collectively shape the week's plan around foraging walks and dye sessions, with moments to share knowledge in conversation over communal dinners.
The week before arrivals we’ll share the publications, resources, and references proposed by the group. The outdoor kitchen will be the primary location for processing materials and tending dye baths. The group will collectively decide on a plan and program, we propose group activities scheduled for around four hours per day, leaving the rest of the day open for exploring, resting, reading, writing, and dreaming...
Visit Staying at Salmon Creek, Life with the Land, and the Workshop pages for the rest of the details before applying.
Monday, November 9th to Sunday, November 15th (1 week)[WAITLIST]
Monday, November 16th to Sunday, November 22nd, 2026 (1 week). [WAITLIST]
No workshop fee
A group-lead skill-share for folks working with natural dyes to spend a week living and learning in community. A time for hands-on engaging with the land — exploring, gathering, processing, experimenting, and dyeing materials...following your curiosities foraging into the Salmon Creek gardens, woods, riparian valley, and out to the coast.
Where do our art materials come from? What does it mean to work with the seasons? What color does that plant give? What is shared when we experiment and explore together? With no designated workshop leader, everyone comes ready to teach and learn. We spend the first day meeting each other and orienting to the land. We collectively shape the week's plan around foraging walks and dye sessions, with moments to share knowledge in conversation over communal dinners.
The week before arrivals we’ll share the publications, resources, and references proposed by the group. The outdoor kitchen will be the primary location for processing materials and tending dye baths. The group will collectively decide on a plan and program, we propose group activities scheduled for around four hours per day, leaving the rest of the day open for exploring, resting, reading, writing, and dreaming...
Visit Staying at Salmon Creek, Life with the Land, and the Workshop pages for the rest of the details before applying.
WORKSHOP:
Seasonal
Cooking
Arts
Next Session: Monday, November 23rd to Sunday, November, 29th, 2026 (1 week) with Gerardo Gonzalez. $750 workshop fee and $275 for meals. [WAITLIST]
One week of sensory immersion prioritizing conscious relationships with land, gardens, and food. Through cooking and life with the land, we cultivate presence, intention, creativity, and pleasure in daily acts of living in deep resonance with place.
Food, Seasons, Land
Through the SCF food program SLUGS (Succulent Luscious Unctuous Gastronomies in Season), Gerardo Gonzalez has developed a seasonal, plant-forward kitchen that emphasizes zero waste, preservation, and foraging—nourishing both residents and guests with meals that are intimate, ephemeral, and deeply connected to place. Much like movement, cooking becomes a ritual of attention: to the body, the environment, and the shared moment.
In this workshop, Gerardo will guide participants in a collaborative cooking process grounded in seasonal ingredients and site-specificity. Together, we will explore food as a daily practice of care, presence, and creativity—challenging the boundaries between chef and guest, nourishment and expression, kitchen and landscape.
Teachers
Gerardo Gonzalez is a chef, creative director, and founder of the SLUGS food program at Salmon Creek Farm, a regeneratively stewarded artist commune nestled in the redwood forests of the Northern California coast. Inspired by communal traditions, the ecology of the forest, and the rhythms of the land, Gerardo’s cooking practice explores food as a sensory, creative, and relational act.
Gerardo Gonzalez is a chef, creative director, and founder of the SLUGS food program at Salmon Creek Farm, a regeneratively stewarded artist commune nestled in the redwood forests of the Northern California coast. Inspired by communal traditions, the ecology of the forest, and the rhythms of the land, Gerardo’s cooking practice explores food as a sensory, creative, and relational act.
Fall Session
- Apple harvest, cooking, and pressing.
- Apple cider vinegar making.
- Mushroom foraging with the first rains.
- Techniques in fermenting and kraut-making.
- Celebrating the season's turn, hearty cooking, and the bounty of fall abundance.
- Preserving the last of the garden harvest.
Daily Schedule
Each day is designed to weave together foundational techniques, collaborative cooking, and spaciousness for creativity, rest, and fun. Activities will rotate between garden harvests, kitchen projects, field trips with local orgs, and community events.
- Morning Session (9am–12pm): Harvesting, field trips, cooking skills, fermentation/preservation workshops
- Midday Session (1–3pm): Menu planning, group activities, volunteer systems, class time
- Afternoon Session (4:30–7pm): Dinner prep, morning meal setup, table setting, ambiance
- Dinner & Clean-up (7–9pm): Shared meal, communal clean-up
Each day is designed to weave together foundational techniques, collaborative cooking, and spaciousness for creativity, rest, and fun. Activities will rotate between garden harvests, kitchen projects, field trips with local orgs, and community events.
Culminating Project: A Shared Table
We will also plan and execute a large-format communal meal, held off-site and open to the broader community. This culminating event will be the container for everything we’ve explored: seasonal cooking, intentional sourcing, team systems, and hospitality grounded in care.
Over the week, participants will learn how to scale recipes, organize kitchen operations, and simplify while still creating impact—developing the skills to cook for and with others on a larger scale. We’ll explore what it means to create access to nourishing food through an economy of reciprocity, and how to host meals that are both sustainable and joyful.
We will also plan and execute a large-format communal meal, held off-site and open to the broader community. This culminating event will be the container for everything we’ve explored: seasonal cooking, intentional sourcing, team systems, and hospitality grounded in care.
Over the week, participants will learn how to scale recipes, organize kitchen operations, and simplify while still creating impact—developing the skills to cook for and with others on a larger scale. We’ll explore what it means to create access to nourishing food through an economy of reciprocity, and how to host meals that are both sustainable and joyful.
Visit Staying at Salmon Creek, Life with the Land, and the Workshop pages for the rest of the details before applying.