Covid-Creative, Covid-Closeness, Covid-Connections !
Notes from a wonderful phone call with MI Folk School founding director Jason Gold on March 4, 2021. ~ Deanne
Classes at the MI Folk School are going well! In-person classes were held Summer through Fall 2020 with about 30% of regular attendance due to Covid. The upcoming New Building at the Folk School land, will give space for new activities, such as Fiber classes, and hopefully a connection with Shane Norris, as a spinning teacher. (Shane is a September 2020 Intern at Strawbale Studio)
Jason recently had an interview for an article in the Folk Education Association of America NEWSLETTER. The Basic Question was: “What is the philosophy of education within the craft movement?” This question shifted to a deep 4 hour inquiry into “What does it mean for a person to learn through the senses?”
“At the MI Folk School there are remnants in the air from one class to another.
Smells, energies…emotional triggers in all different ways.
When working with crafts,
connections between peoples’ past (memories, culture, experiences)
can be brought into the present – to have a perfect sense of flow.”
Jason shares that he is both inspired and hopeful, imagining that there will be a “New Roaring 20’s” coming forth after Covid !
A Time of Renaissance and re-birth!
Deanne: Like the gestation of Winter bursting forth into Springtime with all its vitality!
We shared ideas about Wilderness Survival Skill Teachers. Who is teaching those skills in the region?
Peter McCreedy is an educator and a resource. He oversaw the design and building of “The Willows” Strawbale Outdoor Education Center at Chatsfield School in Lapeer, MI. The building was designed by Ann Arbor Wayne Appleyard, and the walls constructed by the crew of Fox Natural Builders out of Ohio. Their outdoor education program includes Bark Tipis, Earth Ovens, gardens and more.
Jason is very appreciative of this unique time of Covid-closeness with his family,. His teen-age daughter is attending HS. College courses and Eastern Michigan University, which also has a Science BA degree available in Fermentation! Video. (Jason was previously a Steiner history teacher ! )
**(Deanne: Studies show* that the more senses and modalities are engaged, the more a persons brain synapses connect. We are in that way “more intelligent” when we are more wholly connected and activated through our many senses. * info from Alan Haras “Cardoner Institute” studies. *To be footnoted.)
——-
HOW TO PRESERVE GARLIC by Dehydration & optional Cold Smoking / Jason Gold’s experience:
Process & Dry: Remove shell with shaking in a jar or between two bowls held rim to rim.
If there is green growth in the garlic, cut it out to prevent bitterness. Smash the garlic.Grind with Mortar & Pestle or Cuisinart or Vita-mix, or grinder into little pieces. Screen. Put in pie pans in dehydrator for 12 hours at 115 degrees F. (stir occasionally)
Smoke: optional To add smoke flavor, do a “cold smoke ‘ process. Stir occasionally. Useful tool, a cold smoker metal feed combustion unit. $12. Apple wood or Maple wood. Gives different flavors. Can be contained in a Griller with a dome top. Release the humidity occasionally.
Garlic processed at these low temperatures are considered a “raw food” !
