Appalachian Folkways:
A Corn Planting Celebration
Guided by Taylor Malone and Jen Friedman
Friday May 2nd, 9:00am-2:00pm
For children ages 7-14
Cost is $50
In this day program, we will relate with the extraordinary grass seed native to the Americas that has been a staple food for the peoples of this region for thousands of years: corn! Activities will include planting some very special corn seeds, processing and grinding corn, and making corn bread over an open fire. We will also tell stories, play corn-related games, and have a bit of free flow to connect with each other and the land.
About the Guides
Taylor Malone
Taylor co-founded and co-directs The Earth School at Fauna Forest Farm. He is a farmer, educator, researcher, builder, and philosopher. He loves to grow veggies and herbs, plant and manage fruit and nut trees, tend cattle in a regenerative way, craft with wood and other natural materials, and share in these passions with children and adults along the way. Prior to the Earth School, he worked as a agricultural educator with inner city youth as part of an after-school program, students at the Science Hill Alternative Center, folks on probation and parole, as well as a large number of adults locally and nationally through various workshops and conferences he has hosted and taught at. He brings a diversity of skills to the farm with his background as a former wilderness therapy field guide, timber framer, veggie CSA farmer, agricultural consultant, and program coordinator at a farm-focused non-profit. Most recently he has been working intimately with a group of members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, as well as participating in the coordination and facilitation of various “Earthskills gatherings” for adults across the southeast.
Jen is dedicated to exploring connection within human communities and in relation to the broader, non-human world. She enjoys living communally, hikes that are detoured by interesting finds, making improvisational music, telling stories about goblins and toads, and gardening. She loves to learn and share skills on crafting with natural materials, plant ways, communication, emotional inquiry, and sensory awareness. Jen has served as an educator and mentor in various contexts for nearly ten years. For the past few years, Jen has been involved with ReTribe in Vermont as a mentor at their youth forest school as well as their teen rite-of-passage programs. Jen strives to be in service to young people through teamwork and mentorship in building connection to nature, fostering healthy development, and engaging in meaningful community. Jen strives to support young people by engaging collaboratively in building connections to nature, self, and community.