Wildcrafted Vinegars and Oxymels with Dwight Zietlow

1:00- 3:00, May 16^th. Experience an old-time soda fountain (with natural ingredients) and to learn how to make wildcrafted vinegars and oxymels/shrubs. We will learn how to use vinegars creatively in daily life, far beyond just drinking vinegar. The program runs 1:00-3:00, and you will take home a quart jar of your own vinegar start. Options are available for a morning hike and/or an overnight stay.

Programming Cost: $45/person for the 2-hour Saturday afternoon workshop, including the materials. Start registration by clicking the RSVP link; After you submit a registration, we will send you an invoice for payment. 

Location: on-site at “Iowisota”, 2472 IA-26, Lansing, Iowa.

What to expect for the Saturday event: We will start the session in the Gathering Room for background on sweet and sour and fizz, and how they can be made from natural ingredients. Then we will move to the soda fountain (kitchen!) with Dwight as our own “soda jerk” (it’s a real thing from the 1940s) to prepare some delightful concoctions of sweet and sour and other flavors into a soda. As we sip our sodas, we will return to the Gathering Room to learn the mechanics of how vinegars are made by a natural fermentation process involving a solution of wildflowers/flavors, a sugar source, natural yeast and bacteria in our environment, an acidic component, and time. We will learn how to turn vinegars and honey/sweetener and other infused flavors into an oxymel/shrub. Then we will proceed to making the base for our own vinegars, which you will be able to take home with you.

All ingredients and materials will be provided. This workshop is a logical follow-up to the Kordiall session that Dwight taught in 2025, but you need not have participated in that session to fully benefit from this one.

Bonus Wildflower walk: 10:00 to 12:00 Saturday. We will do a short hike at Iowisota, identifying spring wildflowers. You will also be able to collect some flowers to use in your vinegar later. There is no additional cost for this. You do not need to participate in the walk to do the workshop. If you want to do the hike and stay through the workshop, you can bring your own sandwich/snacks or join us for a provided lunch (donation accepted).

Overnight “Bed and Breakfast” stay Opportunity:  Additional $100/room/night. Lodging taxes will be added. Breakfasts are included.

·        Stay in one of our 6 guest bedrooms, with all the modern amenities. Most rooms have queen or double beds, two have bunk beds. (See the accommodations tab on the website for information on all the rooms).

·        The setting of Iowisota includes nearly 200 acres of private forest and many trails to hike and explore. The sleeping rooms are a delightful blend of historic, rustic, and modern. The “gathering room” with its stone fireplace, expansive windows, and comfortable seating provides a place to hang out and chat with the hosts and other guests.

About the speaker/guest expert: Dwight Zietlow is a wild kordiall/vinegar aficionado and makes some of the best kordialls and vinegars in the world (subjective statement, but true!). Dwight has retired from a “day job” of peddling commercial sodas… he understands the importance of fizz and fermentation, and how to make it happen naturally.  Dwight’s classes at the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival are incredibly popular and always fill up fast.

About your hosts: Linda and Dennis Haugen both recently retired from careers as forest health specialists with the US Forest Service. Linda grew up on the Iowisota property, moving here with her parents in 1968. Linda and Dennis built the new residence and Iowisota Retreat and Education Center and moved back to northeast Iowa in 2023. They have a wealth of knowledge about natural resources in general, and about the Iowisota property specifically.   

How to sign up and pay: Registration is limited to 20 participants. On-site accommodation is limited. Click the link for registration and then fill out the registration form. This will hold your space. Once you have completed the form, we will email you an invoice that you can pay by check, credit card, or PayPal.