Meet Ambria Klingle, Our 2023 Intern

Farm Pickings

News and Updates from Sanborn Mills Farm

— August 9, 2023 —

Annual Farm to Table Dinner, September 9

Join us at the Farm on Saturday, September 9, for our annual Farm to Table Dinner featuring a delicious multiple-course meal prepared from Farm-raised ingredients by head chef Kelly Fahey. This don’t-miss-it event benefits the Sanborn Mills Farm Scholarship Program.

Click here for more information and to reserve your place. Seating is limited, so don’t delay in making your reservation.

Upcoming Workshops Have Availability

Many of the workshops at Sanborn Mills Farm fill quickly, but we have a few upcoming workshops with availability. Each of these is worth investigating — don’t miss a wonderful opportunity to learn a new skill or refine an existing skill in the exquisite environment of the Farm. Click on the title of each workshop for more information and to register.

Flower Arrangements from the Field and Garden

August 19

Instructor: Helen Westergren

Join Helen Westergren, head gardener at Sanborn Mills Farm, for this one-day workshop that will introduce students to rich history of wild, seasonal, and natural floral design and provide an opportunity to work with flowers grown and foraged from Sanborn Mills Farm. Explore the gardens and grounds at Sanborn Mills and learn which plants are appropriate for cutting and observe their natural habit and shapes. Learn basic design principles, color theory, and ways of working with flowers to maximize vase life and capture their essence. This is a class for all levels with no prior experience required. 



Copperplate Calligraphy

August 19-20

Instructor: Laura Di Piazza

Copperplate is a beautiful and slowly inscribed hand that’s constructed stroke by connecting stroke and by applying varying pressure to the nib. This introductory weekend workshop focuses on the elegant pointed-pen Copperplate hand (also known as English Roundhand). Copperplate was developed in 16th century Europe and became widely used in the 19th century. Calligraphy, like many other no/low tech crafts, is making a comeback, as can be seen by the nearly 20M tags of #calligraphy on Instagram.

Harvesting Color

August 24-27

Instructor: Sara Goodman

The first day of this class will cover proper fiber preparation and mordanting for cellulose and protein fibers with alum. Yarn and cloth samples will be dyed in dye baths using plants from the dye garden here at the farm and materials collected from the forest and field. At this time of year there will be many plants available for collection — leaves from trees, nuts, bark, wildflowers, and roots. Possibilities for modifying colors by changing ph, adding iron, and over-dyeing with indigo will be explored.

Meet Ambria Klingle, Our 2023 Intern

Ambria came to Sanborn Mills Farm from her own 58-acre farm in Glens Fork, Ky., which she owns and farms with her husband Daniel Gillitz. “We’re establishing a small dairy and will make specialty cheeses,” she says. “It’ll be a pretty cow-centric operation.” Her interest in our Farm stems from her desire to use draft animals on her Kentucky farm. “This has been my first in-depth exposure to draft animals and it’s been great. I’ve learned so much, especially about working with oxen.” She admits some of the Farm’s other animals have caught her eye, though. “I’ve fallen in love with the sheep,” she smiles.

What We’re Reading

Book of the Month

Fermenting food, which has been practiced for thousands of years, is both a science and an art. In this book, authored by Alex Lewin, who taught a fermentation workshop at Sanborn Mills Farm earlier this month, the reader is taken through every step, including an overview of food preserving and the fermentation process. You learn about the health benefits of fermented foods and the best tools, supplies, and ingredients to use. There are step-by-step recipes for sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, yogurt, preserved lemons, chutney, kimchi, and more, getting the best out of every season’s bounty. Revised and expanded in 2022, the book is filled with beautiful photos and clear instructions help you build your skills with confidence. It’s no wonder people are fascinated with fermenting—the process is user friendly, and the rewards are huge.

To purchase a copy of “Real Food Fermentation” from Quarry Press, click here.

Photo Credits

Top photo by Kelly Fahey.

Workshop photos courtesy the instructors.

Photo of Ambria Klingle by Steve Bjerklie.

Cover of “Real Food Fermentation” courtesy Quarry Books.