Making history present.
Tillers International is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that leads in teaching essential homesteading skills. Our offerings include toolmaking, timber framing, woodworking, coopering, and blacksmithing. We nurture leaders in food security from emerging regions through hands-on experience with our experts. Our community includes living history professionals, innovative farmers, and curious learners nationwide. At Tillers, we believe historic skills, taught in our courses in the US and abroad, drive personal and community growth.
Collaborating with small-scale farmers to improve food security.
At Tillers International, our dedication goes beyond teaching: it’s about forging meaningful partnerships with small-scale farmers across the globe to enhance food security and community resilience. Our approach is rooted in the sharing of traditional homesteading skills and innovative tools, tailored to empower communities to thrive sustainably. Through dynamic collaboration with local partners in various developing regions, we engage in rigorous research and practical education to co-create farming systems that are not only sustainable but also adaptable to the challenges of climate change, using resources that are readily available within these communities.
We invite you to delve deeper into our global mission, explore the inspiring initiatives it has sparked, and discover the various ways you can contribute to this transformative journey. By clicking below, you’ll uncover stories of empowerment, innovation, and the collective effort to build a more food-secure world, one community at a time.
Sustainable farming through the preservation of heritage skills.
In the realm of sustainable agriculture, a growing number of farmers are turning to the wisdom of their forebears, embracing time-honored farming techniques to steward their lands with respect and responsibility. From the use of draft animals to the art of tool fabrication, and from traditional silage making to the principles of soil regeneration, these heritage skills form an essential link to our agricultural heritage. They not only celebrate our connection to the land through generations but also chart a course toward a more sustainable and resilient future for farming.
Tillers International stands as a guardian and promoter of these invaluable skills, fostering an international exchange of knowledge that spans from seasoned experts to enthusiastic beginners. Our commitment lies in the preservation and dissemination of these sustainable farming practices, ensuring that they continue to enrich and guide ethical agriculture worldwide. By joining hands with Tillers, you become part of a community dedicated to nurturing self-sufficiency, ethical stewardship, and the sustainable legacy of our agricultural heritage.
Blacksmithing, timber framing, and other homesteading classes.
Our classes take inspiration from a time in the United States where few people had access to electricity or motors. We look at methods common to people from 1860 to 1920, when most rural Americans were ‘off-grid.’ As a result, our classes attract individuals who are interested in history, the use of hand tools, nostalgia, and doing things ‘the old-school way.’ Among our catalog of homesteading classes, we offer:
• Farming With Draft Animals
• Metalworking
• Toolmaking
• Woodworking
• Timber Framing
• Stone Masonry
• Coopering
• Medicine Making
