Workshops | Wolfe's Neck Center | Sustainable Farming & Agriculture

Past Workshops

Elderberry Syrup Workshop

Elderberry syrup is a delicious and immune boosting herbal concoction that helps to both ward off and speed up the recovery of viral infections. In this workshop, we will make a big batch of elderberry syrup as a group, and each participant will take home a bottle to keep themselves and their families healthy this winter. It makes a great gift too! We will also spend some time talking about the immune system, and how to keep it as healthy as possible. This workshop is taught by Allie Armstrong, herbalist and functional medicine health coach.

Make Your Own Kombucha Workshop

Have you been wanting to learn how to make your own kombucha? Kombucha is a beverage filled with health promoting minerals, enzymes, and probiotics. Learn about the beneficial properties and how to make it yourself, taste test different flavors, and take home a “scoby” to begin making your own brew! Ages 12 and up

Winter Growing Tour & Talk

Come out to the farm and explore best practices for winter growing. Participants will tour our year-round growing infrastructure and then venture inside to talk about extension practices for the backyard grower (weather depending). There will also be a chance to purchase winter growing starters!

Topics covered include: What plants need to grow all winter, understanding photoperiod, microclimates, greenhouse components, maintaining soil fertility in a closed environment, designing your winter garden.

Herb Workshop: Salve Making

Make your own healing salve, the perfect remedy for dry winter skin and a great addition to your natural medicine cabinet. You can also use on burns, scrapes and bug bites. Take home your own tin of salve made from farm-grown calendula, comfrey and plantain mixed with beeswax and oil. Ages 10 & up.

Winter Wellness Workshop

Explore herbal remedies specifically for the winter season that will help boost your immune system to keep the winter blues and colds away. We’ll discuss the medicinal uses of a variety of herbs, and you’ll choose an herb to concoct into an herbal vinegar to take home to enjoy! Ages 10 and up

Herbal Tea Workshop

Come and make your own herbal tea right here on the farm! Head to the gardens for this workshop with one of our staff educators to learn about the different herbs we grow at Wolfe’s Neck Center. We will then use fresh and dried herbs to brew a cup to taste, and then bring home your own loose tea to enjoy with your family. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Fermenting Veggies Workshop

In this workshop, we’ll head up to the organic fruit and vegetable plot to harvest our own vegetables to ferment. We’ll discuss the health benefits of eating fermented foods, how to ferment veggies, and everyone will leave with a jar of their own personally crafted fermented vegetables to enjoy at home. Recommended for ages 10 and up.

Canning Workshop

Featuring University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Learn the art and science of making farm fresh jam at Wolfe’s Neck Center with experts from University of Maine Cooperative Extension and our own master canner. We’ll use what’s in season to make jam together and sample with crackers. See how value-added products are an important component of our fruit and vegetable farming enterprise.

Bee Medicine Workshop

Ever wonder why honey is so good for you? In this workshop, we’ll explore how bee products including honey, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom and bee pollen have been used since ancient times to aid humans with various health needs. Leave with the knowledge of what these bee products are, what they are used for medicinally, and how to incorporate these products into your life to assist your well being. Ages 12 and up.

Spring Tea & Herb Walk

Join us in this workshop to make your own unique tea blend to take home, crafted based on your personal health needs. We will talk about the medicinal benefits of herbs grown here at Wolfe’s Neck Center, visit the herb garden, and sample tea with both dried and freshly picked herbs.

All About Seaweed Workshop

Explore the coast of Wolfe’s Neck in this workshop by learning about seaweed and its health benefits. Sample different varieties and leave with ideas on how to incorporate seaweed into your daily life. Ages 12 and up.

Composting on the Farm

If you think you generate a lot of compost in your household, imagine what it looks like on a farm scale! In this workshop, we’ll discuss what it takes to manage food waste and biomass (leaf piles, grass clippings, etc.), both in your own gardens and on our farm. Learn the science behind what’s in your compost pile, followed by a walking tour of compost in action. The workshop will include both a lecture and a walk around barn and chicken tractor.

Family Tree Tea

Join us for a walk through the woods to gather white pine needles and forage for other edible plants to make tea with. We’ll come together around our forest fire pit to make a big batch of “tree tea” and talk about the health benefits of our ingredients.

Draft Power Workshop & Demonstration

Not everyone is burning fuel and using tractors to get the job done around the farm. Some farmers still work their land the old fashioned way, with horses, oxen and walk-behind or ride-along equipment. In this workshop & demo, we will learn how the farmers communicate with, instruct and train oxen for farming from former Wolfe’s Neck educator and program participant Katie Josephs and her 4-H team. They will introduce their team of oxen to us and teach us how they are rigged up for work, and how they respond to commands. We’ll take a hay ride up to our vegetable plot and see the action begin as the oxen plow up a few rows!

Understanding Integrated Pest Management

Are the bugs and weeds in your garden getting you down? This workshop digs into integrated pest management and integrated weed suppression management practices. We’ll focus on organic solutions to help you get out of the weeds. Topics covered include: Pest identification, crop rotation & interplanting, deep organic pest control, and timing crops according to pest life cycle.