Meet Our Instructors:

Farm Pickings

News and Updates from Sanborn Mills Farm

— May 11, 2023 —

Potatoes in the Ground!

Today was potato planting day at Sanborn Mills Farm. Tyler and Ray drove the oxen to create furrows, and Jenn, Dominica, Lars, Helen, Brian, and Madison pushed the potatoes into the ground. In French, a potato is called “pomme de terre,” which translates literally to “apple of (the) earth.” What a lovely way to describe these prosaic yet wonderful plants.

Meet Our Instructors:

Garry Kalajian,

Owain Harris,

Kathy Hattori

This year marks Garry’s 30th as a full-time blacksmith and blacksmithing instructor. His enormously popular workshops at Sanborn Mills Farm are held several times each season. Read more about Garry Kalajian here. For a list of his 2023 workshops at the Farm, click here. His next workshop will be of particular interest to novices and experienced smiths alike, “Blacksmithing: Numbers and Letters,” which will be held June 16. Garry’s workshops always fill up quickly, so don’t wait to sign up for Numbers and Letters, which you can do by clicking here.

Owain Harris, a self-taught woodworker, operates his own furniture studio in Gonic, N.H., where he designs and builds custom furnishings for galleries and residential clients. Starting as a framing carpenter, Owain worked as both a finish carpenter and remodeler before moving into the shop full-time in 2008. His work has received multiple awards, including a Pinnacle Award from the International Society of Furniture Designers and a Veneertech Craftsman Challenge Award. Magazine. His work may be seen at owainharris.com. He will teach three workshops this season at the Farm, starting with “String Inlay” on June 10-11.

Textile artist Kathy Hattori is deeplyinvolved in colors from natural sources, with a special interest in their history and their modern day uses and applications. She has been involved with textiles since 1982 and has traveled extensively to learn natural dye and textile techniques from treasured mentors. She teaches and lectures about natural dyes, and is the founder and president of Botanical Colors and is sought after worldwide as a speaker about the sustainable use of natural dyes in global textile production. She will teach “Conjuring Colors: Color Blends” from August 16 through 20.

Photo Credits

Potato planting photos by Lea Rossignol.

Instructor photos courtesy the instructors.

Other photography by Steve Bjerklie.