Jacquelyn Riel

Woodstock, Vermont…  From sunflowers to homemade jam to wagon rides, kick off the fall season with fun-filled events and experiences at Billings Farm & Museum. Delight in the spectacular colors of sunflowers and the picturesque landscape as you stroll through the gardens and along the pastures. Enjoy harvest activities, learn food preservation methods and see traditional crafts.

September events and experiences: 

3^rd Annual Sunflower House. The largest Sunflower House in the United States is in full bloom! Thousands of sunflowers in this almost 20,000-square-foot, maze-like structure form rooms and hallways for exploring, and nearly endless photo opportunities. Wander through over 100 varieties of bright, bold flowers ranging in height from 18 inches to a towering 14 feet. Win Billings Farm cheese in the #SunflowerSelfie Instagram Challenge! One winner will be selected weekly through September 9. The Sunflower House is expected to be in bloom through mid-September.

Making Jam with Chef Emery, September 11, 10:00-11:30 am. – A Billings Backyard Workshop. In a jam about Jam?? Join Billings Farm’s Chef Emery as she leads our next Billings Backyard program and learn how to turn your surplus seasonal ingredients into delicious jams. The presentation is followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Register by September 10 at billingsfarm.org.

Traditional Crafts Day – September 12. Explore some of Vermont’s traditional crafts and discover their history, process, and uses. Demonstrations will include:

• Wheel-thrown Pottery with Laura White of Woodstock, Vermont. Watch Laura demonstrate how to create artful bowls and other vessels for daily use using a pottery wheel.
• Leather Tanning with Mark Humpal of Cornish, New Hampshire. See the craft involved in making and repairing leather harnesses for horses.
• Sheep Shear Cuttings with Carolyn Guest of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Carolyn will demonstrate this traditional art form that originated before the 1800s when farmers’ wives used cutting tools and materials on hand to make decorations for the home.
• Fiber Art Crafts with the Billings Farm staff. See how wool is spun and used for weaving and knitting.

Harvest Weeks at the Farm. As the end of the gardening season approaches, learn about autumn harvest activities and preserving foods through interactive demonstrations and food tastings each week:

• Herbs – Sept. 6-12 & Sept. 20-26. Learn about harvesting and drying herbs and their medicinal and culinary uses. Watch how to make Cheddar Straws and enjoy a sample!
• Harvesting and Putting Food By – Sept. 13-19. Help harvest crops from our gardens and learn about different preservation methods such as canning, pickling and drying. See a demonstration of how to make Quick Pickles and sample the results.
• Apples – Sept. 27-Oct. 3. There are 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States. Learn which ones are grown locally here in Vermont. Sample several varieties and taste the differences. See how we make Mini Apple Pies – enjoy a sample and take home the recipe!

Voices from the Land, photography exhibition by Jim Westphalen – Sept. 18-Oct.20 Traveling through Vermont, we might assume rural beauty to be commonplace. But what do we “see” when we pass an old barn or outbuilding? In this exhibition of 22 large-format photographs by celebrated Vermont photographer Jim Westphalen, hosted by Billings Farm & Museum, each picture tells a story, through indelible images of rural structures and landscapes of Vermont.

Wagon Ride Weekend – Sept. 25 and 26. Guests will enjoy fall foliage with a narrated wagon ride around the Billings Farm fields. On Sunday, Trail Break Taps + Tacos food truck will be on site from 11-4:30 serving a variety of tacos, street corn, chips and salsa, and Jarritos Mexican sodas. Trail Break will also offer a beer garden featuring draft beer and margaritas.

Visiting safely. For the continued safety of our staff and guests, all guests over the age of 2 are required to wear a face covering in all indoor spaces. For outdoor spaces, mask wearing is optional for fully-vaccinated persons; unvaccinated persons must wear masks when around people and unable to maintain 6’ physical distances. No entry is permitted without a face covering. Visit billingsfarm.org/safety for details.

Billings Farm & Museum, now in its 39^th season, is open daily, 10AM-5PM, through October 31 and weekends 10AM-4PM, November-February. Find the Special Events Calendar, daily schedules, admission pricing and membership information at billingsfarm.org. Celebrate Billings Farm’s 150^th Anniversary with a visit this season and support its education mission at billingsfarm.org/donate.

The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution. Billings Farm & Museum is committed to providing educational opportunities and experiences to our visitors, whether here in Woodstock, Vermont or at home wherever you are through our online resources at Billings Farm at Home. Visit us on billingsfarm.org, and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/BillingsFarmMuseum/ and Instagram at instagram.com/billingsfarm/.

PHOTO: Billings Farm’s Sunflower House, COURTESY OF BILLINGS FARM & MUSEUM

A parade of vintage tractors and fun-filled family activities

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT . . . Billings Farm & Museum will host the 21^st Annual Antique Tractor Day on Sunday, August 1, from 10 AM – 5 PM, featuring restored tractors from 1943.

 Watch the Tractor Parades at 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM and cheer on your favorite tractor in the “Slow Race” at 4:00 PM. Meet the tractor exhibitors. Hear about their tractor’s history and how the tractors were restored.

Kids can have fun driving pedal tractors through the obstacle course and making a wooden tractor to take home. Families will enjoy a tractor-drawn wagon ride around the farm and take the tractor-themed Story Walk along the pasture fences.

In the Learning Kitchen see demonstrations of summertime salad recipes for potato, cucumber, and pesto pasta, using ingredients from our gardens. Enjoy samples too! The Dairy Bar will be serving delicious Vermont-made ice cream, root beer floats, Billings Farm cheeses and more!

Trailbreak Taps and Tacos, from White River Junction, Vermont, will be on site with their food truck from 11 AM – 4:30 PM serving a variety of tacos, street corn, chips and salsa, and Jarritos Mexican sodas. Guests will also enjoy the beer garden featuring draft beer and margaritas. Admission to Billings Farm & Museum is required.

 While on site for Antique Tractor Day, guests can visit the 3^rd Annual Sunflower House, just beginning to bloom. This 20,000 square foot structure will amaze with flowers ranging in height from 18 inches to a towering 14 feet. The 35^th Annual Quilt Exhibition will also be open during the Antique Tractor Day event. This colorful display of contemporary quilts made by local quilters and historic quilts from the museum’s collection runs through August 22.

 Visiting safely.  For the continued safety of our staff and guests, all guests over the age of 2 are required to wear a face covering in all indoor spaces. For outdoor spaces, mask wearing is optional for fully-vaccinated persons; unvaccinated persons must wear masks when around people and unable to maintain 6’ physical distances. No entry is permitted without a face covering.  Visit billingsfarm.org/safety for details.

Billings Farm & Museum, now in its 39^th season, is open daily, 10AM-5PM, through October 31 and weekends 10AM-4PM, November-February. Find the Special Events Calendar, daily schedules, admission pricing and membership information at billingsfarm.org. Celebrate Billings Farm’s 150^th Anniversary with a visit this season and support its education mission at billingsfarm.org/donate.

The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution. Billings Farm & Museum is committed to providing educational opportunities and experiences to our visitors, whether here in Woodstock, Vermont or at home wherever you are through our online resources at Billings Farm at Home. Visit us on billingsfarm.org, and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/BillingsFarmMuseum/ and Instagram at instagram.com/billingsfarm/.

Tractors lining up for the tractor parade.

COURTESY OF BILLINGS FARM & MUSEUM

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT….  Billings Farm & Museum is pleased to announce the Juror’s Choice and Staff Choice Award for the 35^th Annual Quilt Exhibition.  The awards were presented at the opening reception on July 16^th.

The Quilt Exhibition is a juried show, with each of the exhibition’s three jurors selecting a quilt they thought most deserving of recognition. Linda Diak of Chester, VT was recognized for her quilt, Berkeley by juror Marti DelNevo; Floral Bouquets made by Mary Jane Arvidson of Brownsville, VT, was selected by juror Nola Forbes; Norma Ippolito of Chester, VT, was selected by juror Froncie Quinn for her quilt, Confetti Carnival, which also received the Billings Farm & Museum Staff Choice Award.

The Quilt Exhibition is open daily 10 AM – 5 PM through August 22^nd. Visitors can view a colorful display of textiles made by quilters in Windsor County, a Challenge Quilt display crafted by the Heart of the Land Quilters’ Guild of the Hartland, Vermont area, along with several historical quilts from the museum’s collection. See quilting demonstrations and enjoy scavenger hunts for young and old. From July 22 through August 19, join us for Thursday Threads, a weekly series featuring interactive fiber arts and textile-related demonstrations and crafts.

Our Virtual Quilt Exhibition, found at https://billingsfarm.org/quilt-exhibition/ features in-depth conversations with jurors and close up views of all of the quilts.

Whether visiting onsite or online, guests will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite quilt to receive the People’s Choice Award. Vote while visiting the Quilt Exhibition. Online voting begins on July 19. The People’s Choice will be announced on Friday, August 13.

Visiting safely.  Billings Farm & Museum follows guidance from the CDC and the Vermont Forward Plan to determine our protocols. For the continued safety of our staff and guests, all guests over the age of 2 are required to wear a face covering in all indoor spaces. For outdoor spaces, mask wearing is optional for fully-vaccinated persons; unvaccinated persons must wear masks when around people and unable to maintain 6’ physical distances. No entry is permitted without a face covering.  Visit billingsfarm.org/safety for details.

Billings Farm & Museum, now in its 39^th season, is open daily, 10AM-5PM, through October 31 and weekends 10AM-4PM, November-February. Find the Special Events Calendar, daily schedules, admission pricing and membership information at billingsfarm.org. Celebrate Billings Farm’s 150^th Anniversary with a visit this season and support its education mission at billingsfarm.org/donate.

The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution. Billings Farm & Museum is committed to providing educational opportunities and experiences to our visitors, whether here in Woodstock, Vermont or at home wherever you are through our online resources at Billings Farm at Home. Visit us on billingsfarm.org, and find us on Facebook at Facebook at facebook.com/BillingsFarmMuseum/and Instagram at instagram.com/billingsfarm/.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BILLINGS FARM & MUSEUM

 A Billings Backyard Series Presentation Saturday, July 17, 2021, 10:00 – 11:30 am

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT . . .  There is no better way to cook a delicious meal this summer than outside in the fresh air on the grill! The Billings Backyard Series presents Backyard Grilling with Chef Emery on Saturday, July 17 from 10 – 11:30 AM. 

The art of grilling is easy to master if you know what to look for and how to best utilize your grill for different foods. Follow along with Chef Emery as she demonstrates how to prepare a delicious meal entirely on the grill using fresh, local ingredients, including offerings from your summer garden. Whether you are a seasoned at-home griller or new to the game, this class is perfect for all!

This presentation is offered at Billings Farm & Museum and is followed by a 30-minute Q&A period. The workshop costs $15/person; $10/BF&M Member. Space is limited!  Reserve your spot at www.billingsfarm.org/classes-workshops/ or call 802-457-2355.

About Chef Emery. Emery Gray, the Farm to Table Manager at Billings Farm & Museum, had a passion for food at a very young age. Seeing the way that people connected through the growing, sharing, and cooking of food inspired her to make a career in the kitchen. She attended The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, earning her Associates Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. Traveling the world has translated her passion into a deep appreciation for sustainability of local food systems.

Visiting safely. We take the safety of our staff, animals, and our guests seriously. Billings Farm & Museum follows guidance from the CDC and the Vermont Forward Plan to determine our protocols. For the continued safety of our staff and guests, all guests over the age of 2 are required to wear a face covering in all indoor spaces and outdoors when 6 feet of distance cannot be maintained from people who are not in your traveling party.

Billings Backyard is a series of workshops designed to teach sustainable living skills to adult participants and is underwritten by a generous grant from the SpringRiver Private Foundation Trust. Each workshop includes hands-on demonstrations and concrete steps for incorporating these skills into everyday life. Upcoming workshops:

August 21: Autumn Gardening and Putting Your Garden to Bed with Master Gardener Ben Pauly

September 11: Making Jam with Billings Farm’s Chef Emery

November 13: Felted Soapmaking with Fiber Artist, Tiana St. James

December 4: Holiday Gifts from the Kitchen with Billings Farm’s Chef Emery

*Some workshops will be held on site and some may be live on Zoom. Check our website for further details.

Billings Farm & Museum, now in its 39^th season, is open daily, 10AM-5PM, through October 31 and weekends 10AM-4PM, November-February. Find the Special Events Calendar, daily schedules, admission pricing and membership information at billingsfarm.org. Celebrate Billings Farm’s 150^th Anniversary with a visit this season and support its education mission at billingsfarm.org/donate.

The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution. Billings Farm & Museum is committed to providing educational opportunities and experiences to our visitors, whether here in Woodstock, Vermont or at home wherever you are through our online resources at Billings Farm at Home. Visit us on billingsfarm.org, and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/BillingsFarmMuseum/ and Instagram at instagram.com/billingsfarm/.

PHOTO: Chef Emery Gray, Farm to Table Manager at Billings Farm & Museum