Daily Workshops Coming to The Farmers’ Museum

By: Keith Rohlman, Public Programs Intern

I’m excited to announce that starting July 5th, The Farmer’s Museum will be offering daily workshops on different crafts from the 1840s. All of the workshops will start at 1:00 pm sharp, and you can sign up in advance or on the day you choose to visit the museum. Sign up sheets will be in the building where the craft takes place.

On Mondays our blacksmith, Steve Kellogg, will be instructing a lucky few in how to forge your very own clothing hook for your home.

On Tuesdays our pharmacist, Patrick MacGregor, will be instructing visitors in the methods used in the 1840s to craft medicines.

Wednesday is a double-header! Gwen Miner will be showing us all how to bake in a hearth oven, and Wayne Coursen will be showing us how to mow with a scythe. And, last but certainly not least, Ted Shuart will be giving lessons on printing with a Washington press.

These workshops only cost $10, and you can sign up in the building where the workshop is held.  If you have questions, or would like to reserve a spot in advance of your visit, please call Kajsa Sabatke at 607-547-1453.

Workshops are off and rolling

By: Kate Betz, Manager of Public Programs

I am definitely a lucky lady. Sometimes—like when I can’t get my car out of my driveway because of snow or when the sun hasn’t made an appearance in weeks—I forget how beautiful our region is and how unique its opportunities are. Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to be a crash test dummy of sorts for a couple of our new hands-on craft workshops. I enjoyed them immensely! Not only did I get to soak up information that will help me both at work and in my home life, but I also got to see our interpreters doing what they do best—teaching the public. My first workshop experience was at our Heritage Vegetable Garden class in early April. We learned about historic vegetable growing, usage, and storing first, and then got to try our hands at building a hot frame. Hot frames are designed to give you a head start on spring planting. How? By using horse manure as a fuel to keep the inside of a wooden box warm enough so that seeds and plants can grow. Building the hot frame was definitely a workout for me and my fellow workshop participants, but it was incredibly satisfying. Make sure to check out Gwen Miner’s post about hot frames to learn more about the specifics and to see how our plants are doing in the completed frame. If jumping on a big pile of straw and manure wasn’t enough to get me excited about the opportunities on the farm, then I certainly got a taste of the hard work of farming in the second workshop I attended, our Farm Chores workshop. This workshop is designed to give visitors a taste of what getting the farm ready in the morning really means. I did everything from throwing hay bales from the loft, to letting out the animals (did you know the preferred language for steering sheep to pasture is “good day”?), mucking stalls, harnessing Zeb the horse, and cultivating a few rows in our hop field. I was tired and smelly by the end of the morning, but I had a truly wonderful time. If this has whet your appetite for getting your hands dirty in one of our workshops, make sure to check out the website for details on the season’s offerings.