Ruby is an educator, author, gardener, beekeeper, artist and activist. As a life-long learner she has tried her hand at diverse skills, from stilt walking to sheep sheering and sewing machine repair. She has taught herself cooking, canning and fermentation techniques, as well as how to set tile, install a sink, do electrical wiring, tend a beehive and repair a motorcycle.
Ruby holds certificates in permaculture design, massage and coaching and has studied botany, pollination ecology, mushroom cultivation, entomology, wild food foraging, herbal medicine, sheep shearing and native plant ecology.
She has extensive experience in the arts including work with ceramic, mosaic, glass, textile, printmaking, puppetry, collage, assemblage, costume design, graphic design and photography. She is known for her work as founder and artistic director of the art for justice project, Wise Fool Puppet Intervention, and has performed and exhibited her work throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since the mid-1980s.
The product of three generations of teachers, Ruby's experience as an educator extends back thirty years. She has taught art, theatre, gardening, beekeeping, canning, cheese making and more to people ages five to ninety-five.
In 2008 she founded The Institute of Urban Homesteading, a small homegrown folk school which offers adults education in urban agriculture and heirloom kitchen skills.
She is co-author of the book Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living and has been featured in a wide range of periodicals.
Ruby lives and farms on 1/10th acre in Oakland California, home to 250 species of plants, 2 beehives, 6 dogs, 3 cats, 3 chickens, 7 pigeons, 2 mourning doves and 40 rabbits.
2016 Session 3
- Making Mead, Metheglin & Melomels, Infused Honey Wines, part 1 & 2 beginning- intermediate
- Pollination to the People: Introduction to Native Bees and Pollination Ecology, parts 1 & 2 beginning/ intermediate
Session 3 Teachers 2016
Añole Dahlstrom
Kris Freewomyn
Tina Goat/Glaessner
Sena Kugbega
Moria Merriweather
Larrisa Montfort
Jessica Prentice
Elizabeth Sailer, L.Ac.
Kathren Murrell Stevenson, Ph.D.
Melissa Weaver
Jamie Martinez Wood
Crones
Young Women
Sarai Shapiro
Jamie Martinez Wood
Young Children
Chelsea Leone
Melita Silberstein
Mid Kids
Lauren Ari
Reem Khalil
Añole Dahlstrom
Early Morning Classes
Laura Walker