SHARE:
Farm Pickings
News and Updates from Sanborn Mills Farm
— May 27, 2022 —
Available Workshops: June and July
Here are the available workshops that continue the 2022 season at Sanborn Mills Farm, June through July. Click on the workshop title to learn more and to register. Please note that workshops often fill early. (Workshops that are already full are not listed.) Click here for a month-by-month calendar of 2022 workshops at the Farm. Full workshops can be wait-listed.
Indigo Shibori Dyeing from Itajime, Arashi, Nui, Kumo, and Beyond: May 30-June 3
Draft Animal: Oxen Basics: June 3-5
Introduction to Hand Spinning: June 16-17
The Spirit of Art: Color: June 17-19
Secrets of the Great Wheel: June 18
Blacksmithing Basics: June 24-26
Natural Dye Basics: Fresh Leaf Indigo and Pigment Extraction: July 7-9
Flax in the Field: Growing, Harvesting, and Processing Flax for Handmade Linen: July 13-14
Flax to Linen: Handspinning Flax into Linen Yarn: July 15-16
Blacksmithing: Creating in Copper, Brass, and Iron: July 16-17
Stenciled Floor Cloth: Intermediate Stenciling: July 23-24
Rice Paste Resist: July 25-29
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meet Lea Rossignol, the Farm’s Outreach and Development Coordinator & Director of Northern New England Fibershed
Lea, who joined the Farm staff in November, calls her work “a dream come true.” She’s held a longtime interest in sustainability and in revitalizing local fiber and food production.
She says: “I think growing up on a dirt road in basically the middle of nowhere (Madison, N.H.) really influenced my love of nature and my passion for protecting it. A lot of the time a typical day would mean being outside in the woods with my brother from sun-up to sundown making forts, playing in streams, and catching tadpoles.”
That passion translates at the Farm into guiding our growing Fibershed program and connecting with local and regional fiber artists and instructors. After meeting fiber artist Sara Goodman several years ago at a local indigo dyeing workshop in Tamworth, N.H., she learned Sara was working on a natural dye studio at a certain farm in Loudon, N.H. Years later, when the dye studio, located in the bottom floor of the Grange, was almost finished, Sara reached out to let Lea know that Sanborn Mills Farm and its owner, Colin Cabot, were interested in being home to a Northern New England Fibershed encompassing New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
Now centered at Sanborn Mills Farm, the Northern New England Fibershed is an official affiliate of the Fibershed in California. The mission is to re-invigorate the once-thriving textile economy of New England. “We hope to do this by supporting individuals and businesses along the fiber supply chain,” says Lea. The Farm itself is part of that supply chain, producing flax and wool (see below).
Developing the Fibershed as well as managing the Farm’s social media outreach, Lea feels like she’s found her spot. “I just wanted to make an impact on the world in a deeper way,” she comments.
Oh, and that recognizable surname — any connection for Lea to the famous ski company? “I wish!” she laughs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Farm’s Sheep Contribute to the Fiber Program
Siri Swanson of Yankee Rock Farm in Vermont knows how to pull the wool over the eyes — over the eyes of our sheep, that is. She came to the Farm on Thursday, May 26, to shear our six ewes; the wool will be cleaned, carded, and then used in our Fiber program.
The sheep were none too happy about the prospect of being sheared, but once they were in Siri’s hands, they became calm as sleeping babies. It’s a pleasure and also an education to watch a real master like Siri work her skills.
Once sheared, our teamster Lars Prillaman, assisted by Brian Clough, trimmed the hooves, and now the flock is ready — and cool — for summer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full-Blooming Stream Garden Is Cool!
When the Farm staff wants to cool off on a hot late-spring or high summer day, the place to go is the Stream Garden just below the Sawmill. Designed by master gardener Bill Noble and first planted two years ago, the Stream Garden is hitting full stride in the late spring weather. On your next visit to the Farm, be sure to make the walk down to this special place.
Save the Date: Open Farm Day, July 24
Mark your calendar: Sanborn Mills Farm will host our traditional summer Open Farm Day, which has been on hiatus for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, on Sunday, July 24. Watch future editions of Farm Pickings and the Farm’s website for details as they develop.
And in Case You Missed It…
Check out this short article from the Stone Trust about the stone wall-building exhibit at the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Old Buildings and Trades Fair held at Sanborn Mills Farm on Saturday, May 14. Great photos of our teamster Tyler Allen working the oxen!
www.sanbornmills.org
Photo Credits
Photos by Steve Bjerklie.
Sanborn Mills Inc. | (603) 435-7314 | info@sanbornmills.org | www.sanbornmills.org
Hands-on education in traditional craft and farming: Inspiring the future with tools from the past.