Our Instructors

Harvey is a green builder, licensed plumber, conservation-oriented land developer, organic farmer, teacher, and writer. Harvey is influenced by his experiences of living in various community settings, including a remote retreat center in the cascade mountains in Washington state, and five years in a traditional, rural village in Southern Africa. Harvey initiated and helped develop the Sustainable Farming Program at Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in Pittsboro, NC and has taught many classes at CCCC in the past 25 years in Sustainable Agriculture, Permaculture, Green Building, and Construction/Plumbing. Harvey was the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Farmer of the Year in 1998. Harvey serves on the board of the Deep River Folk School.

Henrietta Cummings is a local Herbalist. She has been studying medicinal herbs since the 1970’s and wildcrafting and growing herbs using organic methods for almost as long.

Her passions are being with the plants, sharing herbal knowledge through teaching classes and workshops, teaching individuals through hands-on study on the farm, and cultivating a wide variety of culinary and medicinal herbs.

Ben Harman is a local chemist and nutritionist with a long-standing interest in agriculture, food, woodworking, and traditional handicrafts. Through studies in Nutrition and Food Science at NC State University, as well as instructors at the Deep River Folk School, the GreenWood Wright's Fest, and other mentors Ben has developed a useful toolkit of skills and knowledge. Ben enjoys sharing his passion for DIY, healthy living, creative design, and resilient living with the community

Ben serves on the board of the Deep River Folk School.

A Texas native, Nathan has been interested in sustainability since joining the Piedmont Biofuels Co-op to make his own diesel in 2006. In 2016, he moved with his wife, Calllie — along with 3 dogs — into a 200 square foot tiny house on wheels that they built together, and in 2019 founded a small pocket neighorhood of tiny houses called Cranmore Meadows. This 30-acre property in Haw River serves as a residential neighborhood, nature preserve, permaculture farm, event venue, and sustainabillity laboratory.

Nathan serves on the board of the Deep River Folk School.

Nancy Harman is a community midwife who also likes raising food using permaculture principles, and visiting farms around the world in Africa and India and Alaska. A fermentation fanatic, she also knows that the food that we eat is an important part of our healing.

Nancy serves on the board of the Deep River Folk School.

Mike Hansen summarizes his regenerative farming approach with four words: Graze Against The Machine.

Mike’s early connection to nature was forged in childhood in rural Zimbabwe. His reverence for nature deepened during a decade of backpacking, photographing and foraging food & medicine in the Canadian Rockies.

Hapi was born in Trinidad and Tobago. She grew up in a family that enjoyed nature and exploring spiritually. Her favorite Island memories are preparing delicious raw and vegetarian food with her Uncle who was a raw foodist. She also became very fond of Astronomy and the study of how planets have an effect on human behavior.

Courtney Lockener is an artist and designer who works in fashion, textiles, photography, video, and performance. She is on the leadership team of Piedmont Fibershed, a nonprofit dedicated to building a sustainable fiber and textile economy in central North Carolina and surrounding regions. She also works for TS Designs in Burlington, NC developing production-scale natural dye services. You can see her artwork at www.ceelockula.com

Alex Maness is an artist working primarily in photography and video, but he also designs video installations for theatrical and dance performances. He grew up in an environment that encouraged and rewarded exploration and innovation and has thrived on building, making, and creating from scratch ever since. A project of the last ten years has been Shadowbox Studio in Durham which is both a performance venue focusing on offbeat dance, music, and theater, but is also a working photography/ video studio.

Gred Gross is a retired teacher and builder, living in Celo community since the early 80s.  He is currently working in his community with other folks raising staple crops (potatoes, dry corn, and squash) as well as beef and pork on a small scale, doing mostly on-farm slaughtering of their animals. His interest in biochar goes back a ways when an old friend  turned him on to it.  He has been making several batches a year to be used primarily in compost. Some gets used in humane and chicken litter.

Linwood Watson is a husband, father, orchardist, physician, and powwow singer/dancer. Born and raised in eastern North Carolina, he is an enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe. He is married to his wife Turi, and has 2 school age children- Aspen, a girls fancy shawl dancer, and Skye, a girls jingle dress dancer. His family has lived in Fuquay-Varina since 2008, and when he is not in the urgent care clinic he is out in the AspenSkye Orchard (established 2013).

Grace McFetters has studied various fiber arts since 2013, starting with knitting. She began to explore weaving in early 2017. Grace established her fiber studio, Transcend Fiber Studio, in 2018, and formalized her fiber business in early 2020. She has taught Ukrainian Easter Eggs since 2011, and began teaching fiber arts, including knitting, weaving, hand spinning, and dyeing since 2018. As Grace grows as an artist and continues learning new techniques, she continues to add to her teaching repertoire. She now teaches sewing, both by hand and by machine, as well as some fun topics like needle felting, wool painting, and textile collage.

Dan Sundberg graduated from University of Delaware with a BS in plant science and a master’s in landscape architecture before moving to North Carolina. He is a landscape architect with more than 35 years of professional experience. However, Dan’s real passion has always been working with wood, stone, cement, plants and glass as it has been since early in life. It was and is the desire to go further in scale and complexity with these materials which led to pursuing a degree and license in landscape architecture. 

"Dr McBug" has been playing with insects since 1959. He was Biological Control Administrator and State Apiarist of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture from 1990-1997.  Since 1996, he has led Symbiont Biological Pest Management, consulting with a wide range of local, regional, state, federal and international interests. He has worked on successful biological programs controlling hemlock woolly adelgid, Japanese beetle, and other pests of national and international concern. He joined CFSA in 1990, Board member for 6 years, and chaired several of the Sustainable Agriculture Conferences during the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a founding member of New River Organic Growers in Boone, NC.

Beverly has been singing as long as she can remember, starting when she was just several years old singing with her Grandmother, "Big Mamma."  In fact Beverly says that "Big Mamma" is her greatest music inspiration, learning gospel songs and call and response songs from her while growing up. Starting with singing in a church youth choir, "The Joyettes," Beverly has been singing in choirs and as a soloist for the past 50 years. While Gospel music is her background, she loves many genres of music including country, jazz, blues, R & B, and pop music.

Godi lives in Durham, NC, USA as part of an intentional eco-community. He is a gifted woodworker and carpenter and has been working as a craftsman for 30+ years, building a number of tiny homes and many beautiful products such as cutting boards, benches, tables and much more. He is also an accomplished mechanic. Godi is passionate about protecting nature rights and continuing his life work as an "Earth-Keeper", working in harmonious, reciprocal relationship with nature to create and foster healthy ecosystems where all beings can thrive.

Robert “Bobby” Tucker is a water resources engineer with over 15 years of experience in private consulting. He has worked on a vast range of water-related projects throughout the U.S. and beyond, with a focus on low-impact development, green infrastructure stormwater management, onsite wastewater reuse, and the integration of sustainable agriculture systems as a holistic approach to watershed challenges. Throughout his entire engineering career, he has built and run Okfuskee Farm (see below). He started Bodhi Land and Design in 2016 to better assimilate his two professions (engineer/farmer) while providing local clients a unique expertise in broad-acre permaculture, a professional understanding of functional land design, infrastructure development, and regulatory compliance.

Jing grew up in China and lived in many parts of the world before settling down in America. She has worked as a video producer, an educational consultant and is now passionate about answering the call of Mother Earth and practicing sustainable living. She is creating short video clips of the various workshops to allow the information to be shared more widely.  A resident of the Living Well Ecovillage in Franklinville NC, Jing is exploring green building technologies, tiny houses and cohousing options and plans to build her own woodworking workshop. She is also a certified Yoga teacher and a long-term meditation practitioner, and looks forward to sharing with more people her knowledge and experiences in living a healthy and joyful life.

Mike "Mozzy" Marzano is a passionate wood carver with over a decade of experience in the art of carving. For the past several years, he has dedicated himself to teaching students of all ages the intricate techniques and joys of transforming raw wood into beautiful, functional pieces of art. Mozzy believes that wood carving is not just a craft, but a form of self-expression that connects individuals to nature, creativity, and also to their deepest selves. 

In addition to his artistic pursuits, Mozzy has a solid background in hardware and industrial safety, which he draws upon to ensure a safe and productive environment for his students.

Mozzy's workshops are known for their welcoming atmosphere and hands-on approach, where students can explore their creativity while learning the fundamentals of woodworking. His passion for teaching and his commitment to fostering a love for craftsmanship make him a cherished mentor in the wood carving community.

When he's not in the workshop, Mozzy enjoys exploring the great outdoors, seeking inspiration from nature, and sharing his love for fine woodsmanship with his family and friends.

Amy Kidd graduated from NC State University and began her career as an agricultural educator. In 2013, one of her students expressed interest in starting a sheep production program at the school, which sparked Amy's curiosity. The school began raising Katahdins, a hair meat breed. After attending the 2015 state fair, the students began researching dark-colored wool breeds. Amy was fascinated by the Gotland sheep breed, which is known for their inquisitive and dog-like personality. In 2016, she purchased a ram and a wether, followed by four ewes, to expand her flock. Although she is no longer an agriculture teacher, she continues to share her passion for shepherding.