Honeybee Homestead
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Wellness rooted in nature. Seasonal Living. Practical and creative homesteader workshops and retreats. Private events
09/25/2026
A year after her workshop, a past participant emailed me.
She opened with: "Melissa, I'm super stoked to finally tell you... WE MADE SOAP!!!!"
From buying seeds to growing, harvesting and drying calendula. Foraging wild plants to infuse into oil. Rendering beef tallow, and deer tallow from a harvested buck. Three different batches, different scents, exfoliants, colours.
She closed her email like this: "We were delighted to hand out some bars as gifts this Christmas... just under 1 year from when I started this soap adventure by attending your workshop!"
This is why I teach soap making.
Soap making itself takes a couple of hours. But the journey to gathering everything that goes into it? That can take a full year.
It takes time. It takes planning. It takes aligning with the rhythms and cycles of the seasons.
That's the heart of soap making.
Secure your spot and choose from October 4 + 18, Union Hall, Mississippi Mills.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dIK0PkYuWmyxoKyWrwyimhuYC9E2KKx68s0IGZdUbuY/edit?usp=sharing
Willow basketry with Johnny Johnny Suderman
Two beautiful baskets. Two techniques. Two days. Two groups.
Our weekend has us learning how to make a round willow basket with bark, and a tatza bread basket. He introduced us to a few varieties of willow and reminded us that with willow, slow is smooth and smooth is fast, so it doesn’t kink on you.
The room was filled with laughter and moments of deep concentration, strong hands learning to listen to the willow to sculpt it into shape. By the end of the day, new friendships were made, vessels were made, and so were the stories of the day, woven into our baskets.
We’re so grateful for everyone who joined us, and for Johnny joining us to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Lanark Highlands Basketry Museum. We can’t wait to welcome him back.
For more basketry workshops, DM me, check out the website (www.lanarkhighlandsbasketrymuseum.ca) or visit our bio.
A full season of basketry is continuing this fall!
We kick things off at Almonte Fibrefest with My First Basket, an introduction for kids 8 and up, taught by me.
Bozena is joining us so you can learn to make CORN DOLLIES, traditionally crafted as gifts or favours for one’s sweetheart at harvest time, said to serve as a talisman for the home. Weave with one of Ontario’s most abundant materials, CATTAILS, into a basket.
And in October, the ideal time of year for harvesting wild GRAPEVINE, I’ll be leading a day of weaving a basket and a wreath frame ready for the holidays (a trellis demo too, if the afternoon allows).
All beginner workshops. All workshops are intimate and have been filling fast. If one’s caught your eye, save your spot.
Have a group of friends or staff who want to learn basketry? We also run private workshops for kids 8 and up and adults. Find details https://www.lanarkhighlandsbasketrymuseum.ca/learn or DM us.
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08/23/2026
Kids love to create. And even more, they love to use what they made.
We’re thrilled to be part of Almonte Fibrefest workshop series this year. This hands-on workshop welcomes kids 8 and up to make their first basket at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.
My First Basket is a beginners class. We start with a solid 4” plywood base, teach simple technique, and by the end every child has built a basket from scratch with their own two hands. Leaving with their first basket, one they’re proud of and can put to use for markers, pencils and collectables.
Welcoming young curious makers. Adults welcome to cheerlead and assist.
My First Basket: Beginners Basket for Kids
Ages 8 and up
Sunday September 13 | 9am
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Almonte
https://mvtm.ticketsplease.ca/events/my-first-basket-beginners-basket-for-kids/
My love for goldenrod has grown over the years. Not for her uses, for her late summer fragrance, how she brightens the fields and roadsides, the beauty of her being a pollinator buffet.
I see her first as a being and friend.
Part of an ecosystem.
More than a plant to be extracted.
This is what it means to be in relationship with plants. To know them the way you know a good friend. To lean on whoever is around. The ones lining the roadsides, the ones you’ve walked past a thousand times.
This Sunday we’ll slow down together and explore ways to practice remembering. Come meet the plants and find your way back to living among them.
Plant Walk
Sunday August 23 | 10am - 12pm
Darling Wood Farm
Middleville ON
https://honeybeehomestead.ca/plant-walk
Pre-registration required
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Perth, ON
K0G1M0
Opening Hours
| Monday | 9am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 5pm |
| Friday | 9am - 5pm |
| Saturday | 9am - 5pm |
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