In what has become a foundational workshop for this school, here we will indulge in the design, forging, and heat treating of all manner of hand tools for use in the garden or small farm. Here we can make tools of the highest quality, exactly as we want them, and disregard the pile of poorly designed and made tools served up by twenty first century industrial production.  We will study good tools of the past, along with some creative modern offerings.  Participants can expect to make trowels, hoes of various types, gardening “adzes”, possibly forks for the ambitious, as well as special tools of their design.  Basic metallurgy for this type of tools will be covered, along with heat treating and finishing.  Expect to take home, in addition to the new skills you learn, a nice selection of beautiful and functional tools for use in growing food.

Beginning students admitted with permission of instructor