Sustainable living workshops with Lisa Rayner
I am now offering workshops on a variety of sustainable living topics in Flagstaff, Sedona, the Verde Valley, Winslow and the Grand Canyon. I am charging $30 per hour for my time, so the more students (up to 6 maximum), the lower the cost per student. Cooking classes have an added half-hour prep/cleanup time cost ($15) plus ingredient costs (or supply them yourself). Workshops outside Flagstaff also include a $50 charge for gasoline and driving time. Below are the topics and suggested workshop lengths. Contact me at the e-mail at the bottom of this page.

Sourdough artisan bread
I have been baking my own whole wheat sourdough bread for 15 years. Sourdough cultures are composed of a symbiosis of wild yeast and lactic acid-producing bacteria (the same kind used to ferment vegetables, dairy products and other foods). I have two different sourdough cultures. I also wrote a book on the topic called “Wild Bread”. I recommend a 3-4 hour class to experience the complete cycle of starting with active culture (which I would begin preparing the day before) and practicing with making dough, letting it rise and baking it (one of my cultures is very fast for a sourdough culture). Shorter classes could involve making the dough, but there would not be enough time for rising. This workshop also includes discussion of how to care for a sourdough culture, how to capture one from the air or where to buy a traditional cultures from around the world, and the many different kinds of breads you can bake with sourdough (basically, anything you can bake with baker’s yeast). Workshop participants get to choose which type of bread to make during the workshop (we can discuss options by e-mail). I also hand grind my whole grain flours so you can see how that works, too. In addition, I have some experience baking with rye and gluten free flours.

Solar cooking
I use my solar cookers year-round. I wrote the book The Sunny Side of Cooking. I have four different cooker models for demonstration purposes. The length of the workshop would depend on what you want to cook. A minimum of 1 hour is enough time to discuss how solar cookers work and cooking times. To provide enough time to cook something like brown rice and vegetables or a pie (and eat it), 3-4 hours is recommended. We can also discuss pasteurizing liquids, solar canning and other topics as desired. If the weather is poor the day of the workshop, we can still do it indoors or reschedule it.

Vegetable fermentations
I use the European-style salt or salt brine technique in an earthenware crock. This method can be used to make sauerkraut, Korean kimchee, “dill” pickles (any vegetable), brined olives, and other foods. Spice combos are up to you (the possibilities are endless). Lactic acid bacteria do the work of fermentation. This is a bring-your-own crock and ingredients workshop. If we will be preparing just one crock, one hour will provide plenty of time to make up the fermentation and discuss how the process works. If several people want to take home prepared crocks, more time would be necessary. We’ll also discuss the many varieties of lactic acid fermentations around the world. Here is one possible source for traditional ceramic fermentation crocks. Here is a source for inexpensive glass fermentation jars with airtight locks.

Water bath canning
I am currently writing a book about canning. We’ll discuss USDA safety guidelines and details on making and preserving a variety of foods. Learn how to safely can high acid foods by boiling canning jars in any pot that is large enough to fit them (no pressure canner is needed). High acid foods include fruit, fruit preserves, salsa, chutney, vinegar-pickled vegetables and lactic-fermented foods like sauerkraut and fermented pickles. It is easy to preserve fruit and jam with little or no added sugar. To provide enough time to complete a small canning project, I suggest 2 hours. We’ll make whatever you want to try and you can take the goods home with you. Jars with lids are available new in cases of 12 at any supermarket and Homco. In addition, I also have European-style Weck canning jars that use the old style glass lids and rubber gaskets. These are not USDA-approved, because the USDA never approves anything it has not tested. However, I think this jar style holds promise. Unlike American metal lids (and nearly all canned foods period), the older-style of lids are not lined with Bisphenol A. The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is available free on the Web.

Making homemade fresh pasta
I have a hand-crank pasta machine. It is also possible to make pasta with rolling pin and knife. A 2 hour workshop is recommended to provide adequate time for learning and practicing the skill of making dough, rolling it out, slicing it, and boiling some to eat. While most fresh pasta is made with wheat, durum or spelt flour, it is also possible to make rye and buckwheat pastas. Colored pastas are fun, too. This workshop might work best if participants bring their own flour to make the dough and then take home the pasta they make.

How to use a pressure cooker
Pressure cookers are easy to use and save both energy and time. In my personal opinion, I think everyone living at high altitudes should own one. They’re great for beans, grains, soup stock, soups, stews, vegetables, and more. I have two models, a T-Fal and, my favorite, the super-easy-to-use Hawkins Futura. If you just want understand how they work, a half-hour workshop is plenty of time. If you want to cook something and eat it, at least 1 hour is recommended.

Gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free whole grain baking
Perfect for people with food allergies (or who have children with food allergies). While I do not eat a gluten-free diet, I am vegan and have lots of experience with gluten-free whole grains. Most gluten-free recipes contain a lot of starchy, nutritionally deficient flours like tapioca and potato starch. My recipes use 100% whole grains. It is possible to make delicious pancakes, muffins, cookies, and more with gluten-free whole grains. I recommend 2 hours so that we can bake 3-4 items, such as sourdough Ethiopian injera pancakes, corn muffins, and garbanzo flour cookies.

 Vegan nutrition and cooking
I have been vegetarian since 1985 and vegan for more than 20 years. Learn how a healthy vegan diet can provide plenty of protein, iron, zinc, calcium, omega-3 fats, and lots of antioxidants from grains, beans, nuts, seeds, fungi, fruits and vegetables. What we cook is up to you.

Making soymilk, tofu, yogurt and tempeh
I have an electric soymilk maker. Fresh soy foods taste *so* much better than the store bought versions. I buy organic, non-GMO soybeans in bulk from the Harvest Club natural foods buying club (e-mail me for contact information). Tofu is super easy to make from fresh soy milk. Soy yogurt is another easy soy food which is fermented with the same lactic acid bacteria used to make dairy yogurt. Tempeh originated in Java. It is fermented using a fungi that weaves hulled soybeans together with long filaments to form a delicious patty totally unlike other soy foods in flavor and versatility. One to 1 ½ hours is plenty of time to make soymilk and tofu and cook homemade tempeh. Two hours is needed if you wish to inoculate and form tempeh patties from soaked soybeans.

Weaving on a European-style loom
I learned to weave on my mother’s loom when I was 12. I have a 4-harness, 6-treadle Harrisville Designs floor loom that can weave fabric and tapestries up to 36 inches wide. This style of loom works well with cotton, wool and synthetic yarns which have “stretch” to them (it is not suitable for flax and hemp which are rigid fibers, but the process is roughly similar). A one hour workshop is enough time to get a chance to use the loom and to discuss how to warp a loom and each of the different parts and how they work. I bought my loom as a kit and put it together myself, so I am very familiar with every single part. I also have samples of many items I have woven over the years.

Peak oil, climate change and Transition Culture
I have an informative, photo-filled Power Point slideshow that I show to permaculture design course students. Learn how are lives will be changing dramatically over the next couple of decades as we head toward the downslope  of global oil production while navigating the effects of climate change and water scarcity in the Southwest. How can we use the tools of the Transition Movement to reorganize our communities to maintain a high quality of life without fossil fuels or nuclear power? This presentation requires 1 ½ to 2 hours, depending on how much discussion time you wish to have.

Creating a local food system
This is another informative, photo-filled Power Point slideshow that I show to permaculture design course students. Learn about the history of agriculture in northern Arizona (*lots* of interesting historical photos from local archives), why farming disappeared in the Flagstaff area after World War II and how we can recreate a local food system in an era of peak oil and climate change using permaculture ethics and design principles.

Patterns in nature
Yet another informative, photo-filled Power Point slideshow that I show to permaculture design course students. Learn about the physical, visual, auditory, scent-based and other types of patterns found in living organisms, weather patterns, water, and the Earth’s geology that we can use in our own permaculture designs, from Fibonacci spirals to hexagonal cracking to chaotic flow forms. I link these patterns to the art, music and dance of indigenous peoples around the world. Traditional art is expressly designed to capture and transmit these patterns to teach the next generation what they need to know to work with nature rather than against it. This presentation is valuable to permaculture enthusiasts as well as fine artists, artisans, musicians and dancers who want to incorporate natural patterns into their work.