FOR NICHOLE GERDING, proprietress of Thankful Sage Farm School, in Willsboro, seasonal planning guides her way of life. From household to homeschooling, work and recreation, Gerding brings 18th- and 19th-century practices and sensibilities into the 21st century. She slows things down and makes space for cyclical routines that inform the lives of her family, her clients and customers, her community and herself. She is driven to capture memory and pass it on, often grounding it in the olfactory sense. Gerding works to “normalize heritage skills” of early America and bring them back into common use.
Eleven years ago Gerding founded Thankful Sage Farm School at her kitchen table in Pennsylvania, making soaps and candles using traditional methods, materials and tools (“old good things,” as she describes them). Today her handcrafted products can be found in more than 400 stores worldwide and she teaches
