2027 Black Cat Makerie : Appalachian Broom Making with Cynthia Main

APPALACHIAN BROOM MAKING WITH CYNTHIA MAIN The heart of this retreat slowing down long enough to make something useful with your own hands while connecting to the traditions, materials, and land that make tools for the home truly special. Join Kentucky based broom maker Cynthia Main, owner of Sunhouse Craft, and author of A Handmade Broom for a three-day immersion into the tradition of Appalachian broom making. Working with broomcorn, natural fibers, and handles from the woods, students will learn the foundations of a craft that has served homes for generations. Beginning with a full sized Appalachian sweep, and covering the traditional Appalachian hand broom shapes, students will leave with a strong foundation in the craft, and an excellent set of brooms for the home. We will be working with organic broomcorn grown in Kentucky, and the entire process from farm to home will be covered. Come for thoughtful instruction, practice in traditional craft and a chance to connect to the land and each other through craft. THE VENUE: BLACK CAT FARM Black Cat Farm ~ a place where all are welcome and the seeds of hope surround you. Nestled among the rolling fields just outside Boulder, Colorado, this rustic working farm is home to our Black Cat Makerie retreats. Tucked away from the rush of the world, time stands still. The beauty here isn’t curated, but rather defined by the ever-changing seasons and the pulse of growth and possibility at every turn. No matter where you are coming from or which season of life you find yourself in, you’ll feel the embrace of something so grounding and deeply authentic you might not ever forget it. Using Black Cat’s Certified Organic farm as a source of creativity, Chef Eric Skokan creates an award-winning cuisine vibrant with seasonality. The kitchen draws heavily from the farm’s more than 250 varieties of organic vegetables, legumes, grains, herbs and flowers, as well as its large flock of heritage sheep and its robust population of heritage pigs, paving the way for a limitless palette of flavors, colors, and textures from which to build each food experience. The farm team devotes hours every day to harvesting ingredients, and then crafting them into outstanding dishes that mirror what is thriving in the fields. We can’t wait for you to experience it all for yourself!