Badger Events

Workshop fee: $35 - Register and pay now. - or - Apply for a scholarship for this workshop.

Description: Release your inner flower child! Join Sarah of Vera Flora Farm for a fun, relaxed and creative morning learning the art of flower crown making! All materials for constructing your own unique and whimsical flower crown will be provided. You’ll also receive tips for finding and using locally sourced ingredients as well as constructing lush, organic-styled vase and hand tied bouquets. There’ll be plenty of time for Q&A on topics ranging from creating your own organic cut flower garden to arranging flowers. So whether you’re planning a special event or just want to feel like a queen or king for a day, this workshop is sure to delight!

Bio: Sarah Barkhouse is the owner and farmer-florist behind Vera Flora Farm (veraflorafarm.com), an eco-friendly flower farm that has been providing beautiful and organically-styled arrangements for wedding and events since 2012. Sarah’s unique bouquets can be found locally at the Monadnock Food Co-op during the summer and fall, and are available through Vera Flora Farm’s CSA bouquet subscription program. Sarah has a degree in Horticulture from the UMass Amherst Stockbridge School of Agriculture and draws her passion for gardening and flower arranging from her childhood love of nature and New England’s changing seasons.

Workshop fee: $25 - Register and pay now. - or - Apply for a scholarship for this workshop.

Summer Delights: Easy Pickling & Sauerkraut Making

Come join Bill Whyte for a delightful, hands-on afternoon learning to pickle and preserve the summer harvest. Bill will share his time-tested yet simple method for making dilly beans, pickles, and sauerkraut using salt brines and lacto-fermentation. Lacto-fermented foods are delicious and super nutritious, adding healthy amounts of beneficial bacteria to your diet. Starting with a bounty of fresh, locally grown late summer veggies, you’ll work as a group learning the basics of small-batch pickling and fermenting using mason jars. There’ll be plenty of time for Q&A and everyone will go home with lots of yummy eats!

Bio: Bill Whyte is the founder and CEO of W.S. Badger, a family owned and operated maker of certified organic and all natural personal care products. In addition to running a successful business, Bill’s many interests and expertise include beekeeping, Aikido, herbalism, photography, carpentry, and homesteading. Bill and his wife Katie, along with family members, neighbors and a few Badger employees, maintain a large garden each summer, growing herbs and vegetables using organic and biodynamic methods. Given Bill’s busy life and time constraints, it’s no wonder that he has perfected a quick and easy method of pickling that really works!

Workshop fee: $65 (includes lunch) - Register and pay now. - or - Apply for a scholarship for this workshop.

Description: In my opinion, “visualizing the ideal” is one of the most important steps in building and cultivating a successful business. It’s so easy to get caught up in dollars and numbers and how busy we are that this important and extremely practical step is often neglected. Visualizing the mental, physical and spiritual ideal is a business plan that takes into consideration spirit, people, planet, family, health, fun, kindness, generosity, financial success and numerous invisible forces! The focus of this workshop will be helping you to visualize what your own personal plan might look like in the quest for a mindful and successful business. We'll learn from the Badger's journey from kitchen craft to the "force for good" that we've become. Ideally, you’ll leave with an improved vision that will help you make the next exciting steps in your own personal and business journey.

“Bills business workshop changed my life. I was so inspired by Badgers kind business practices; to their employees, community, each other, and to the world. I want my business to be that kind! I learned that this business journey is full of refinement, and that’s ok! Bill asked us to close our eyes and in vision our dream business in 5 years- I’ve been refining, building, and on the cusp of a major positive business shift ever since! Thank you Bill for inspiring me!” - Jazmine Breslend, Salon Owner & Hair Artist

Bio: Bill is a self-taught entrepreneur. He started making and selling loop potholders door-to-door back when he was about seven years old. The Badger business started with one product and a dream in the back room of Katie and Bill’s home 21 years ago. Today Badger employs over 90 people and offers over 100 personal care products, from soothing balms and mineral sunscreens to oils, soaps, lip balms, natural bug spray and a men’s grooming line.