in her hands
A women’s animal husbandry and fiber arts retreat.
March 13th-17th 2025
Nevada City, California
In Her Hands is a women’s retreat opportunity to gather in a circle of sisterhood along side our dear animal kin who provide us with an abundance of food and fiber.
In this retreat, we will dive deep into animal husbandry and fiber arts through workshops and hands on experience with daily chores, milking our sweet dairy goats, making delicious raw goat milk treats like cheese and ice cream, processing raw mohair and llama fiber grown here on our farm into beautiful felted pouches, as well as baking sourdough.
With our hands, we will remember. The ways that our great grandmothers knew. The skills that root us into the Earth. The life that flows in harmony with the moon cycles and the seasons. The feminine force who creates magic with the natural world around her. The soft strength of a woman. The healing balm of sisterhood.
The ways we would like to pass down to our grandchildren. The beauty way.
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Animal husbandry
We will cover all of the basics of how to raise chickens, goats, camelids, rabbits and beyond for fiber and food. Topics include…shelter, food, daily chores and lifestyle, land management, holistic health care, costs, and more!
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Cheese and sourdough
Make delicious raw chèvre and mozzarella goat cheese and bake fresh sourdough bread and crackers to enjoy it on! As well as ice cream, kefir, and of course enjoying the simplicity of a glass of farm fresh goat milk. (It’s soo good!)
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fiber arts
Learn about harvesting fiber from our Angora goats and llamas, clean and card their fiber, and finally wet felt your own beautiful one of a kind medicine pouch as well as do some needle felting!
what is included
-All workshop materials
-Participants leave with their special felted creations, kefir grains and sourdough starter as well as some handouts to go along with topics that will be discussed throughout the weekend.
-18+ hours of workshop time guided
-Beautifully catered organic breakfast and dinner (total of 8 meals)
-Lodging of your choice...indoor, belle tent, or bring your own tent
-Evenings of outdoor sauna, hot tub, cold plunge and shower nourishing care time
-2 morning yoga classes
-1 morning Tea ceremony
Where you will stay
We will gather on our homestead which is located within the unceded ancestral homelands of the Nisenan, nestled in the Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills. We live in Nevada City, California, where we tend 20 acres overlooking the western Sierra Nevadas and the Yuba river canyon, growing food and fiber for our family and community. We have a small herd of goats and llamas and chickens and they are an integral part of our farm and family.
Our classroom is a gorgeous custom 30 foot yurt; complete with a wood stove, a beautiful kitchen, as well as an indoor bathroom and hot shower for everyone to use. The catering kitchen and dining area is in a separate near by space. And we have an outdoor spa area which includes a sauna, hot tub, cold plunge and hot shower.
There are 3 options for dream time spaces, including an indoor room, a belle tent, or you may bring your own tent. Locals are welcome to commute.
Thursday
12-3 Arrivals
3-5 Opening circle
5-7 Dinner
Free time and settling in
Friday
6-7 Yoga
7-9 Chores and Breakfast
9-12 Animal Husbandry 101, fiber processing
12-2 Lunch break
2-5 Fiber processing, and mozzarella
5-7 Dinner
Free time / sauna
Saturday
6-7 Tea Ceremony
7-9 Chores and Breakfast
9-12 Sourdough, Chèvre and Kiefer
12-2 Lunch break
2-5 Felting and Sourdough
5-7 Dinner
Free time / sauna
Sunday
6-7 Yoga
7-9 Chores and Breakfast
9-12 Felting
12-2 Lunch break
2-5 Felting and Ice Cream
5-7 Dinner
Free time / sauna
Monday
7-9 Breakfast
9-12 Closing Circle
12-3 Lunch and departures
creation as ceremony
-Yoga. We will be sitting for many hours each day crafting away, so to support our bodies we will have a local yoga instructor coming to visit us in the mornings and guide us in a gentle practice.
-Tea. One morning, we will rise to the singing of the kettle, and sit together in ceremony. Tea reminds us just how beautiful the mundane is. Water, air, fire, earth; all coming together in perfect harmony in every moment, within our bowls, and upon our looms.
-Self Care. Our evenings will be blessed with nourishing self care time in our beautiful outdoor spa area, which includes a cedar sauna, a hot tub and cold plunge, and hot shower; all overlooking the mountains.
-Communal altar. I believe that animal husbandry and fiber art can be a spiritual practice. I will be encouraging you to infuse your experience here with loving intention. To help ground our personal and collective prayers, we will build and tend to a communal altar space in the yurt.
-Sacred Fire. We will be sitting beside the wood stove through our gathering, and it will be an integral space holder for us. We will light our fire with reverence, and offer our prayers to it through the weekend.
-Song and Story. Connect to the spirit of this work through melodies and words that carry it’s medicine.
-...and whatever other goodness naturally unfurls!!
and so much more…
Meet your guide
Hi! I’m Annyea.
exchange
Choose your lodging option.
Early bird runs until 11/2
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$1300
Early bird $1200
This is a big beautiful, cozy, temperature controlled room in the upstairs of the barn/dining area. There is a bathroom downstairs. It is ideal for someone traveling from far away, or someone who just prefers to sleep indoors. It can be shared by 3 or 4 ladies. Cot sized foam sleeping mats and bedding are all included.
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$1200 per person shared or $1300 per person solo
Early bird $1100/$1200
Enjoy our little village of belle tents! Each tent works well for 1-2 ladies. Perfect for someone who wants to dream close to the Earth but would rather not pack all of their camping gear. It will be all set up for you with a sleeping pad and cozy bedding, lighting, a rug and a chair.
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$1000
Early bird $950
For ladies who have their camping gear or who live locally and would rather sleep at home.
Will you join us?
Thank you so much for your interest! If you are curious about joining us, please fill out this brief form so that we can connect.
FAQs
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This workshop is geared towards beginners. We will be starting with the most basic concepts and techniques for each craft and working our way from there. So if you're a beginner, you're in the perfect place! Folks with experience are welcome too.
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As you can see in the schedule, this is a very full weekend and in order to pack everything in, we need to stay focused. This workshop is not designed to support the presence of small children. As the host of this gathering, my daughter will be on the land but with full time caretakers during class times.
And, as a mama of a toddler, I understand how hard it can be to squeeze in time for this kind of creativity. I am beginning to host workshops for mamas with littles so please reach out of that’s you!
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To keep things intimate and spacious, I am able to host around 10 participants. I trust that the perfect group will come together! In the past, these spots have filled quickly so please fill out an application asap if you are interested!
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If you are flying in, we will absolutely help get you to the homestead. The closest airport is about 1.5 hours away and it might look like you taking a bus to get just a little closer. All can be discussed on a case by case basis.
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Simply because I love sitting in a circle, crafting with women. Women’s only spaces are ancient and sacred, needed and worthy of being. This is the vision that I have for this gathering and this is what I want to hold space for here at this time.
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Yes! Please reach out to me if you are interested. Here are the possible work trade positions available for discussion:
-Caterer support person
-Fire tender *filled
-Photographer
-Set up and break down
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Yes I am open to discussing payment plans! Let’s chat and find a way to make this work for you. : )
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Lovingly...no! We have 2 dogs that don't do well with other pups on the land, as well of lots of sweet farm animals. It will be best for everyone if you leave your pup at home.
