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Health & Fitness

Spring Workshops at Millstone Farm

Pig carving, backyard vegetable gardening, raising chickens, foraging, and beekeeping are all included in Millstone Farm's workshop series this spring.

Interested in raising chickens in your backyard or growing a vegetable garden to help feed your family? How about learning to forage for wild edibles, carve a pig, or keep bees? We'll cover all these topics in a series of fun and educational workshops this spring at Millstone Farm. Our workshops are open to people of all ages and experience levels, from the aspiring backyard farmer to the experienced homesteader looking for a refresher course or new ideas. Read on for the details!

 

Pig Carving 101 with Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale

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Saturday, March 23:  12pm – 3pm

Cost: $50, RSVP to f2f@schoolhouseatcannondale.com

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Back by popular demand! Join us for a hearty lunch and an up close and personal workshop on how to carve a whole pig, lead by Chef Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale. Tim will demonstrate his techniques while explaining each step and answering your questions along the way.

Please note, payment must be made to The Schoolhouse prior to the event and tickets are non-refundable.

 

The following workshops are $30 per person. Please RSVP to katie@millstonefarm.org. RSVP and payment are required in advance to hold your spot. Checks should be mailed to 180 Millstone Road, Wilton CT 06897.

 

Raising Backyard Chickens

Saturday, April 6:  1pm – 4pm

Millstone’s Farmer, Annie Farrell, covers the steps and skills required to raise happy, healthy chickens in your own backyard. From incubating to egg collecting, you’ll be well prepared to care for your brood. The workshop includes a look at our state of the art mobile chicken coops and a tour of the farm.

 

Backyard Vegetable Gardening

Saturday, April 27:  1pm – 4pm

Join the nation’s increasing population of backyard farmers and kick-start your growing season with an informative and interactive workshop on the basics of creating a productive veggie plot. Learn tricks of the trade, like growing in raised beds, companion planting, pest control, and more from Annie Farrell, then head out to our garden for hands on instruction in seed starting, direct seeding, transplanting, and more.

 

Foraging & Cooking with Wild Edibles

Sunday, May 19:  1pm – 4pm

Join wild edible and medicinal plant expert, Leda Meredith, on a foraging tour of Millstone’s 75 acres. Learn how to identify the area’s most common wild edibles, as well as tips for foraging safely and with minimal impact to the natural environment. After exploring the property, we’ll gather at the farmhouse for tastes of Leda’s favorite recipes made with wild edibles and a discussion on how to incorporate foraged foods into your cooking. 

Leda is an ethnobotanist, expert forager, and instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She is the author of two books, The Locavore’s Handbook and Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch, and writes the food preservation guide for About.com.

 

Introduction to Beekeeping

Saturday, June 1:  1pm – 4pm

*Rain date Sunday, June 2

Master Beekeeper Leslie Huston, will showcase the honey bee and its many amazing qualities. We will cover a bit of beekeeping history, examine the equipment and methods commonly used in keeping bees, sample some products of the hive, and discuss the challenges facing bees today. We will also visit Millstone’s hives for a close up look at a colony in action.

Leslie is an Eastern Apicultural Society Master Beekeeper and past president of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association (BYBA). She owns the beekeeping supply business, Bee-Commerce, tends hives at farms, orchards, and private homes, and teaches the BYBA's class on getting started in beekeeping. Leslie learned many of her fundamentals from Wilton’s premier beekeeper, Ed Weiss, who will be in attendance at our workshop. A master of the trade for over 30 years, Ed is the author of "The Queen and I" (a valuable resource for the novice beekeeper) and founder of the BYBA.

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