If you would like to learn to: cut trees and use horses to drag them from the woods; use horses to plow gardens and mow hay; saw logs into lumber and build a tiny house; plant gardens and store the crops for winter; harvest wild edibles and make wine from fruits, berries, and flowers in your neighborhood; raise and butcher chickens and pigs and cure and smoke meat and fish; dye wool with natural dyes and knit and weave it into an expression of yourself; make dishes, cups and pots from clay or build an outdoor bake oven from the clay in your yard; forge useful and ornamental objects from steel; paint, sing, and dance and celebrate this magnificent life — where would you go? May we suggest the Stone Soup Institute?

Stone Soup Institute (SSI) is an international school that offers courses of study, integrating traditional as well as contemporary practices and knowledge in the Agrarian Arts, Crafts and Fine Arts. We deliver the education in trimesters keeping the curriculum in tune with the seasons.

Students can opt to stay through the gap months for an additional fee. We are starting to do more day long workshops like winemaking, basket weaving, blacksmithing, butchering chickens, etc. For more information on SSI’s educational programming, visit http://stone-soup-institute.org.

Stone Soup Institute is situated on 3.7 acres of land in Harpswell (owned by a co-founder, Rolf Hamacher of Germany) where we are building a model suburban homestead to demonstrate how much food can be grown on a small holding. The institute has been working on a 2,000 square foot building from trees that were cut from the land and sawn at a local sawmill. This building will house the institute’s wood working shop on the first floor and a fiber arts studio on the second floor. The frame is up and sheathed, the roof is on, the well is drilled, and the septic system is in.

This work continues as the institute generates capital. One of the institute’s new fundraising approaches, to invite a local song writer/musician to perform a benefit concert, led it to Jonathan Edwards.

During the time of the Vietnam War, Edwards became one of the people many young men and women were looking up to, as protests were igniting and young Americans were looking for peace and independence. He shared his own life experiences through his songs and after “Sunshine” he became an “overnight success.”

Eventually, the endless five and six one nighters a week took its toll. A life-threatening illness brought everything sharply into focus for Edwards. He abandoned his career and relocated to a farm he’d bought in Nova Scotia.

“The illness straightened me out about my priorities regarding life, and I wanted to go back to the land,” Edwards said. “I wanted to learn how to grow a garden and raise animals, learn to work with horses, and be in the woods and streams.”

Edwards’ need to be part of the Earth and living a self-sustaining life back in the 70s is what the institute sees happening with many of young people today.

Once again Edwards raises his voice of hope for our collective future in his new CD “Tomorrow’s Child.”

Most importantly, there is a common thread that runs through Edwards’ life and the reason the Stone Soup Institute came to fruition.

There are many fine farms where young people who want to make their living farming can apprentice, but where can people go who want to learn basic homesteading skills? The instructors at Stone Soup Institute have been honing their craft for over 40 years. Their accumulation of knowledge is broad, deep, and available to anyone bold enough and curious enough to stand where the past meets the future and explore the possibilities.

From this wealth of knowledge and the stirring lyrics of Edwards, the institute has been able to find sponsors who support this cause.

The Friday, July 31, concert at the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham will raise funds for capital improvements to the SSI campus and offer the communities an evening of fine entertainment with Edwards. Tickets are $30 in advance through www.brownpapertickets.com and $35 at the door.