Daily Inspiration: Meet Natalie Bogwalker

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Bogwalker.

Hi Natalie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Natalie Bogwalker, the Founder and Director of Wild Abundance, a permaculture and carpentry school located in the Appalachian Mountains outside of Asheville, NC.

Everything I do takes its cue from the natural world, which is a way of life that started when I was growing up in the forests of Washington State. Spending my childhood that way really informed how I experienced life, and I had a strong desire to do something good in the world. In college, I studied genetic engineering and wanted to find a cure for AIDS. Then, I got hit by a car, and my life flashed before my eyes (the cliché is true), and I realized that wasn’t my path.

I went traveling in Europe with the settlement money from the car crash. I saw that the world was really different outside of the US, and I was exposed to so much culture, epic architecture, and food, as well as a different way of interacting with nature and the world.

I was especially inspired by the ingenious way that humans house themselves. I started living in housing cooperatives and communes, where everyone was expected to contribute to community life. I decided I’d learn how to garden and grow really good food. Both my captivation with architecture and my passion for gardening are at the core of my business today.

When I finally came back to the States from Europe, I was looking for a place to settle down and make a home. I wanted to live with people who were eating wild food and living close to the land, so I joined the Wild Roots community in western North Carolina. We cooked all of our food over the fire, watered our gardens from the creek, and lived in bark houses. I became so inspired by this intense lifestyle that I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.

In 2007, I started the Firefly Skills Gathering, and while it’s under new leadership, it still takes place every summer to this day! Firefly initially focused on teaching earth-based skills like firemaking, basket weaving, wood-fired pottery, wild foods foraging, bow-making, and plant identification. It was so fulfilling that I became inspired to teach more regularly throughout the year. So, I left Wild Roots to find a home with more access to technology and the wider world. Around this time, I started an official school—Wild Abundance was born.

I decided to make my home in Bernardsville a biologically rich piece of paradise near Asheville, NC. I eventually purchased 17 acres of land with a small group of friends and divided it into personal personals that also included deed restrictions that made it amenable to the community.

It took a lot of energy, ingenuity, and personal connections to develop the land. I had very little money, so I leaned on other resources. I organized a couple of building workshops to help create infrastructure. I noticed that while many women attended, they often hung back and participated less than the men. So, I hired a teacher and started offering Women’s Carpentry Classes, which became the backbone of the school, along with other building workshops.

Wild Abundance was originally a passion project, but after becoming pregnant with my daughter, I needed to make money to support my family. So, I took a digital marketing class and learned about SEO research. I noticed that tiny houses were trending, so we started our Tiny House Building Class, which became another hugely successful workshop. This path also made sense because I’ve been living in tiny and small dwellings for years! My latest venture is writing a book on gardening with my dear friend and brilliant colleague, Chloe Lieberman. It will be released by Storey Publishing in the Fall of 2025.

I currently live in a small cabin with my daughter that I started building 13 years ago. I also spend my time directing Wild Abundance, playing in the woods and creeks, and continuing to take in the architecture and culture of Europe.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have certainly been plenty of these. One of my biggest challenges has been learning how to be a good leader and manager. My dad’s in management, so I’ve asked him a lot of questions over the years. His advice on being a great leader is to have humility, care about people, weave together different people’s gifts to accomplish something together, give respect, have tact, and have fun. Thanks, Dad!

Another significant challenge has been earning respect as a woman in the fields of building and primitive skills (both fields that have been male-dominated for a long time). Women have a lot more respect than they did 25 years ago, but it’s still been big work learning how to not always try to prove myself beyond my capacity and how to be humble while also commanding respect. When I was younger, I wanted to prove I could be as much a man as any man, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I don’t want to be a man—I love being a strong and capable woman.

Stress management has also been a big challenge. Running a business, having so much financial responsibility for other people’s livelihoods as well as my own, AND stewarding the land in a beautiful way can be overwhelming and stressful at times. I’ve learned to ride the waves – meditation is really helpful for me, and having the lived experience of my team and I is able to overcome challenges together, whatever they may be.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Everything we do at Wild Abundance takes an approach that is based on community—both communities of people and ecological communities. For example, every class we teach is centered on building connections among our students and with the natural world. Many of our workshops are team-oriented; our students work together under expert tutelage to create something beautiful.

This summer, our Women’s Advanced Carpentry Class built a sauna, and our Tiny House Class built a 12’x24’ tiny house shell. Other carpentry classes have erected timber-framed buildings and smaller DIY projects like picnic tables and bookshelves. It’s really a wonderful feeling to co-create something useful while developing personal skills that you can take home and put to work.

We also offer classes that center on ceremonial community-building, especially the Women’s Rewilding Retreat and our Foraging & Medicine Making Class. Both weaves together our relationships with the natural world and each other in tangible, hands-on ways.

We always consider how to enhance and create community when making any business decision or developing a new class!

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’m a sensational cook and mixologist, and I love incorporating wild foods and medicinal herbs into my culinary repertoire. Back when I lived at Wild Roots, I used to host fancy cocktail parties in my bark hut.

I’d serve herbal-inspired elixirs that would be welcome in any fancy bar alongside bear cracklings crusted with almond flour and honey. You can find some of my recipes on the Wild Abundance blog, including this one for persimmon pudding. More tantalizing recipes will be shared in my forthcoming book!

Pricing:

• Tiny House Workshop $1,800-$3,600
• Women’s Basic Carpentry $850-$1,700
• Women’s Rewilding Retreat $700-$1,400
• Online Gardening School $699
• Timber Framing Class $1,200-$2,400

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildabundance.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildabundance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildAbundance.net
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/wildabundance

Image Credits
Sarah Tew, Wild Abundance, Natalie, Wild Roots, Tiny House Workshop, and The Firefly Gathering