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News and Updates from Sanborn Mills Farm
2025 Workshop Season Kicks Off!
Sanborn Mills Farm commenced its 2025 workshop season with a diverse array of hands-on classes, reflecting its commitment to preserving and teaching traditional crafts. The season began with workshops such as Introduction to Woodworking led by Brad Wolcott, Beginning Hand Spindle with Donna Kay, Blacksmithing Basics with Garry Kalajian, and an in-studio dye day for the Natural Dye Study Group facilitated by Amanda Smith.
From Field to Table: Threshing Beans and Feeding the Season at Sanborn Mills Farm
The 2025 season at Sanborn Mills Farm is off to a vibrant start—and behind the scenes, a hardworking team has been bringing the farm’s bounty to life in a way that connects our agricultural roots directly to the meals we share. One of the most satisfying recent efforts involved preparing dry beans grown on the farm for our Head Chef, Kelly Fahey, to use in nourishing, homemade dishes for this year’s workshop students.
Threshing and winnowing are age-old agricultural processes used to separate grain or seeds from their husks and chaff. In the case of our dry beans, the process began with threshing—breaking open the pods to free the beans inside. The farm team used an antique threshing machine, a beautifully restored piece of equipment, to carry out this task efficiently and in true Sanborn Mills fashion—honoring tradition while putting it to work in a modern setting. The rhythmic clatter of the machine echoed through the farm as Laura Dahl, Jennifer Merrill, Samantha Locke, Ray Ramsey, and Tyler Allen fed dried bean plants into the thresher, separating the valuable beans from their brittle pods.
Next came winnowing, the process of cleaning the beans by removing lighter chaff and debris. This was done using a combination of air flow and careful hand-sorting, ensuring that only clean, beautiful beans made their way to the kitchen.
We can’t wait to see what delicious concoctions Chef Kelly comes up with featuring these farm-grown ingredients. It’s a full-circle moment: food grown, harvested, cleaned, and cooked right here on the land where our students learn, create, and connect.
Farm to Table Lunches are Back!
We’re thrilled to announce that these special meals will start back up in May. Celebrate what’s fresh and in season and join your community to sit down together and enjoy the flavors of Sanborn Mills. Keep an eye out—dates for 2025 lunches will be announced soon, and we can’t wait to welcome you to the table!
Indigo Extract and Cyanotype Intensive
Learn to create a stable, beginner-friendly iron indigo vat in this one-day workshop and dive into the vibrant world of natural dyeing with confidence. You’ll leave with the knowledge to mix your own vat at home and start experimenting with the rich blues of natural indigo.
Explore the luminous world of cyanotype in this hands-on workshop where you’ll learn to create beautiful blue prints using plants, objects, and photographic negatives, all developed with the power of sunlight. With demonstrations on experimental techniques like wet cyanotype, toning, and mixed media, you’ll discover endless ways to personalize and expand your creative process.
Sanborn Mills Farm | www.sanbornmills.org
Sanborn Mills Farm | 7097 Sanborn Road | Loudon, NH 03307 US