Farm Pickings

News and Updates from Sanborn Mills Farm

— July 31, 2024 —

I learn as much from a turtle as from a religious text.



— His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Farm to Table Dinner & Silent Auction,

Sept. 7

This year’s Farm to Table Dinner & Silent Auction, one of the most anticipated and popular events at Sanborn Mills Farm, will be held Saturday, Sept. 7. As always, the Dinner and Auction will benefit our scholarship fund, which provides assistance so everyone has an opportunity to participate in our educational workshops.

Preceding the Dinner will be a cocktail hour on the terrace. This year’s Auction will be held in Fifield Hall and will feature items from local artisans and current as well as past workshop faculty. The Auction will also include experiences on the Farm with our staff.

Click here for our Dinner and Auction webpage and to purchase tickets.

Sawmill Demos at August

Farm to Table Lunches

Following two Farm to Table Lunches in August, we will demonstrate the water-powered sawmill at Sanborn Mills Farm. Our sawmill — the original structure dates to 1829, sited where an even older mill stood in the 1770s — features both a circular saw and an up-and-down saw. We believe our sawmill is the only such water-powered mill in the United States with both an operating circular saw and an operating up-and-down saw. The older up-and-down saw, which may seem slow by comparison with the circular saw, nonetheless revolutionized lumber milling. Not only did it automate milling, it required just one person to operate, a significant advantage when so many other tasks on a farm required manual labor. The circular saw, developed in the mid-19th century, was a significant improvement, vastly speeding up the process. Circular saws led to modern sawmills.

The sawmill will be demonstrated from 1 to 2 p.m. after the Farm to Table Lunches on August 2 and August 22. Other August dates for the lunches are August 8 and 16, and each of these may include other demonstrations at the Farm — stay tuned!

Our Farm to Table lunches are popular, especially when a demonstration is included, so don’t hesitate to sign up for one of our lunch dates. Click here for more information and to register.

And don’t forget our Sunday Suppers this summer. The next one will be held on Sunday, August 11. Our head chef Kelly Fahey and sous chef Taylor George look forward to preparing for you a delicious meal from Farm-grown produce and meats. More information and registration can be found by clicking here.

Upcoming Workshops of Interest

Sanborn Mills Farm’s 2024 Workshop Program is now underway, but it’s never too early to register for a favorite workshop later in the schedule. Many of our workshops fill quickly, so if there’s a workshop or two that catches your interest, make a point to register soon. The full schedule of 2024 workshops is posted on our website here.

Here are three upcoming workshops that may be of particular interest to you. Click on the workshop title for more information and to register.

Indigo Weekend

August 10-11

Instructor: Sara Goodman

One spot available!

This two-day class is a wonderful introduction to the magical experience of working with indigo — a dye unlike all others. On the first day we will begin in the Sanborn Mills dye garden, harvesting fresh indigo leaves to dye silk scarves a brilliant turquoise blue. We will also extract indigo pigment from these fresh leaves. Then, using indigo extract powder, workshop participants will learn how to make an iron vat with extract, ferrous sulfate, and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide.) This is the easiest and most stable of the natural vats and is a good place to begin an exploration of dyeing with natural indigo. A smaller 1-2-3 vat will also be made using fructose as the reducing agent. Some basic shibori techniques and a process of using a clay paste resist will be taught for making patterns on cloth. Participants will have the opportunity to dye 3 cotton bandanas, as well as a piece of natural fiber clothing they have brought with them, using these techniques, in the indigo vats.

The Nerd’s Guide to Mordants!

August 14-18

Instructor: Kathy Hattori

This workshop is the nerd’s guide to mordants – what they are, why they are important and how they are used in natural dyeing. Everyone wants to create long-lasting and beautiful plant color and the best way to do that is to mordant properly. The class will experiment with the most popular plant-based tannins and alum accumulators, mineral salt mordants, and other binders to see the effects on animal and plant fibers. Each mordant variable will be dyed so that we can see results, and we will build a reference folio for students to take with them as a record of their experiments. The class will work with cotton, linen, hemp, silk and wool fabric with enough fabric left over for future experiments, comparisons and creativity. This workshop is open to all levels.

Conjuring Color Blends

August 21-25

Instructor: Kathy Hattori

Two spots available!

This is a course on how to blend colors using natural dyes in unexpected combinations to create beautiful results. The palette will be developed on natural fabrics including hemp, cotton, silk and wool, with an emphasis on cellulose fibers. We will work with natural dyes in raw, concentrated extract and liquid form, different mineral salts and indigo. Pre- and post-dips in iron, pH color changes or other substances will add a new dimension to the palette. We will cover responsible foraging, safe use of dyes and mordants, and strategies for saving, reusing and extending the life of natural dye baths. This is an immersion dye workshop but many of these techniques may be used for painting, printing and surface design and we will review how to adapt the recipes to other practices. Each student will take away a swatch folio of many different shades, recipes and techniques for future study and experimentation.

www.sanbornmills.org

Photo Credits

Top photo by Steve Bjerklie.

Sawmill and Farm to Table Dinner photos by Steve Bjerklie.

Workshop photos courtesy the instructors.

Sanborn Mills Farm | 7097 Sanborn Road | Loudon, NH 03307 US