Workshops
Let’s learn, grow, and inspire positive change together with a focus on sustainability and organic farming! Join us for workshops on local ecology, sustainable agriculture, wild crafting, gardening, climate change mitigation, cooking with farm-grown organic ingredients, and more.
Upcoming
• May 17-18 & June 15 — Scything 101 & Beyond
• June 7 — Green Pestos (It’s Not All About Basil) with Guest Chef & Dietician Elise Cushman
• June 29 — Seed Saving of Biennial Vegetables
• September 7 — Extending the Garden Season through Perennial, Overwintered and Self-Seeded Vegetables
Financial Support Info
Scything 101 & Beyond
Dates & Times:
- Saturday, May 17, 12:00–5:00 p.m.
- Sunday, May 18, 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
- Sunday, June 15, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Come meet Vermont “scythe sisters” and competitive hand-mowers and teachers, Michaela Stickney and Danielle Rougeau at Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center. Sharpen your skills and knowledge about scythe handling, blades, whetstones, and grass by joining this short scythe school snapshot. Esteemed scythe ambassador Don Elder from New Hampshire will join to further immerse you in the meditative realm of hand-mowing. Connect with this ancient knowledge that will strengthen your core muscles outdoors and deepen your roots with the earth. It’s addictive! Swing-snath, steel-sing, stone-hone, hammer-peen, and sip some switchel.
Cost: $100 - financial aid available
Green Pestos (It’s Not All About Basil)
Cooking Class with Guest Chef & Dietician Elise Cushman
Date: Saturday, June 7, 2025
Time: 5:30–7:00 p.m.
Discover the vibrant world of green pestos beyond the classic basil version. In this hands-on cooking class, you’ll explore creative combinations using herbs, greens, nuts, and cheeses to craft bold, fresh pestos perfect for pasta, dips, spreads, and more. Come ready to taste, blend, and rethink everything you know about pesto!
Whether you’re a seasoned cook or just getting started, you’ll leave inspired to eat seasonally and cook with confidence. Bring a knife from home that you’re comfortable working with—we’ll sharpen it and teach you how to perfect your technique! Don’t have one? We’ve got you covered. Guests will be working in pairs, so come with a friend or come ready to make a new one!
Cost: $45 - financial aid available
Seed Saving of Biennial Vegetables
Date: Sunday, June 29, 2025
Time: 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Join Sylvia Smith and Ruth Fleishman of Upper Valley Seed Savers for a free, informative workshop on saving seeds of biennial vegetables! This event is open to all and will provide more details than the general seed saving talk held earlier in the spring.
Many of the vegetables we grow and eat are biennials, and we usually eat them before they make seeds. Getting seeds is a two-year project, and some can be challenging to get seed from, but several of them aren’t all that tricky. We’ll look closely at some of the common ones and go over the basic procedures for saving their seeds.
Attendees will receive printed materials plus seeds that you can plant this season to begin your journey into biennial seed saving. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and grow your gardening skills!
This talk will be hosted on Cedar Circle’s front lawn under the white tent. Please park in the overflow parking lot located south of our greenhouses / farmstand, and find the green tent on the lawn just north of the farmstand near our front entrance. This event will be held rain or shine (if there’s lightning or thunder in the forecast, we’ll reschedule).
Cost: Free!
Extending the Garden Season through Perennial, Overwintered and Self-Seeded Vegetables
Date: Sunday, September 7, 2025
Time: 1:00–2:00 p.m.
Are you tired of waiting until June to enjoy fresh-picked veggies from your garden? If so, join Jeff Lubell of Upper Valley Seed Savers for a workshop focused on using perennial vegetables, vegetables planted the prior year that overwinter in the garden, and vegetables that perpetuate themselves by self-seeding to produce a bountiful May harvest. This event is open to all.
Common perennial vegetables include asparagus, rhubarb, and chives. Other perennial vegetables include sea kale—which grew on Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate—sylvetta arugula, scorzonera, patience dock, perennial leeks, potato onions and more. Many vegetables overwinter in the Upper Valley, including carrots, hardy forms of kale, chard, and winter field peas. Self-seeded vegetables that can be harvested in May include mache and claytonia.
Attendees will receive printed materials plus seeds / bulbs that you can plant to enjoy a May harvest. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and grow your gardening skills!
This talk will be hosted on Cedar Circle’s front lawn under the white tent. Please park in the overflow parking lot located east of our greenhouses / farmstand, and find the tent on the lawn just north of the farmstand near our front entrance. This event will be held rain or shine (if there’s lightning or thunder in the forecast, we’ll reschedule).
Cost: Free!
Past workshops: Intermediate Gardening, Maple Sugaring: Backyard Basics, Design Your Own Annual Planter, Pollinators on Blueberry Farms, Identify and Manage Common Garden Pests, Harvest Taste Create Play, Farmer-Led Field Walk, Make Your Own Herb Planter, Create Your Own Flower Bouquet, Macrame & Lattes, Fiber Arts: Flower Printing
