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Community Days at Tabler Farm: Event series teaches wild soda making, meditation techniques

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Aug 4, 2023

Landon Guasp, of Shepherdstown, pours some wild soda for community members to taste at Tabler Farm's workshop on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Tabler Farm’s first AmeriCorps member Tania Johnson-Hester began her six-month term of work in March and, since then, has developed a popular program that she hopes will continue at the farm, long after her term ends.

The free, family-friendly program, Community Days at Tabler Farm, began with a botanical drawing workshop on July 15. The second event in the program, held this past Saturday morning, taught participants about wild fermentation and tea.

“The first time I heard of wild soda was actually when I was interning at a farm in North Carolina. The farm manager was telling me that all plants have wild yeast on them, so you can make fermented beverages with them. I got some books and looked the information up, and taught myself how to do it,” Johnson-Hester said. “I knew that it was becoming popular, so I though we could do it here!

“We wanted to get people out here. There are scientific studies that have shown that being out in nature can help relieve stress and help with anxiety and help people to be more grounded,” Johnson-Hester said, noting Saturday’s workshop ended with a drum circle. “I wanted people to see two different aspects of experiencing nature at these events — there’s the production side, but then there are also rituals that you can do in nature, like drum circles and meditation, things like that.”

With each workshop, Johnson-Hester has noted an increase in turnout. She hopes to continue seeing this positive trend later this month, for the Community Days at Tabler Farm’s final workshop, scheduled for Aug. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon. The workshop will focus on hydrosols, or “flower waters.”

Tabler Farm AmeriCorps member Tania Johnson-Hester explains the wild soda-making process to workshop attendees on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

“We’re going to take herbs and make floral water for perfume or cooking. I have a hydrosolic distiller, but I’ll also show people how to make it at home,” Johnson-Hester said. “Either yoga or meditation will be held at the end.”

Soon after the series ends, Johnson-Hester will be leaving Shepherdstown with her partner, Landon Guasp, as she takes on her next job as a farm manager in South Carolina. Guasp, who has served as Johnson-Hester’s workshop assistant and regular volunteer at Tabler Farm, said he has enjoyed seeing families and community members of all ages learning together.

“I hope they took away the great things that just grow in your backyard, that you can make into wonderful things, like tea sodas,” Guasp said. “Participating in the Community Days at Tabler Farm is a way to get closer to nature with your family. It’s important that people get into nature, and any way that you can connect nature with your family is awesome!”

Looking back over her time at Tabler Farm, Johnson-Hester said her experience has been a, both figurative and literal, growing opportunity.

“This was the first year that there’s been an AmeriCorps member here, so I’ve been the test for everything,” Johnson-Hester said, before mentioning one other program she’s enjoyed becoming a part of. “I’ve done food tastings at the Shepherdstown Shares Food Pantry — I’ve helped them come up with recipes from the produce that we sell them and then do the food tastings for the pantry’s clients, so they can sample recipes using ingredients they aren’t familiar with. For a while, people didn’t want kale or beets, because they didn’t know what to do with them. But having recipes given to them that they’ve been able to sample has made a noticeable difference.”

A drum circle plays together beside Tabler Farm's apple orchard on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

To register for the final workshop of the Community Days at Tabler Farm series, visit https://www.shepherd.edu/community-days-at-tabler-farm/.