Billings Backyard: Introduction to Vineyards and Verjus-Cancelled

Thank you for your interest! This workshop has been cancelled.

Price:  $15 person/$10 member
Presenters: Sharen Conner & Martha Esersky Lorden
Location: Visitor Center Learning Kitchen
Ages: 16+

Curious about starting your own vineyard? Wondering what to do with the grapes once they’ve grown? Sharen Conner and Martha Esersky Lorden are here to answer your questions! They’ll discuss how to select, plant, and care for your own vines and introduce you to the wonderful world of Verjus—a unfermented, acidic juice made from unripe grapes and delicious in sauces, salad dressings, and more. The class will discuss the history and uses of Verjus, how to make it, and include demonstrations and tastings of a few recipes made with the delicious product.

About the Presenters
Sharen Conner is the viticulturist and verjus entrepreneur for Lincoln Bridge Farms. She formerly worked 40 years in education as a learning specialist for special needs students. Her family planted a one-acre vineyard (600 vines) in 2009. In 2016 and 2017, she learned to make wine in a commercially conventional manner and in 2018 and 2019, she experimented with “wild fermentation” using an ancient technique called “pied de cuve” or foot of the barrel. In 2020, Sharen turned her focus to verjus and produced some for the farm stand and again the next year. In 2022, she obtained a food producers license and began to sell to restaurants and retail outlets. Sharen is committed to caring for the environment through employing organic methods and providing experiential education to her “farm stay” guests and wwoofers (wwoof.org) who come to help and learn these aspects of agriculture firsthand.

Martha Esersky Lorden is a food writer, culinary historian, and cookbook reviewer. Her travels and education, particularly her years living and cooking in Italy honed her natural love and instinct for good food. During the years she lived in Italy, she worked the wine harvest, plucked chickens, and made pasta with her Italian farming neighbors. She studied cooking at Apicius, the culinary institute of Florence, the Bologna Cooking School, and took courses at Johnson and Wales College in Providence, Rhode Island and studied food writing at Boston University. A member of the Culinary Historians of New York, she also studied with noted food anthropologists and culinary historians. Martha reviews cookbooks for Publishers Weekly, has written features for its online newsletter, Cooking the Books. and interviewed many chef-authors. She created of the Good Books for Cooks column for the Hanover Consumer Food Co-op monthly magazine, and profiled women farmers for the nonprofit New Hampshire Farms Network (www.newhampshirefarms.net). Her blog, (www.outtathekitchen.com) is a melange of food memoir, culinary history, travel, and recipes was launched in 2012. Until recently, she enjoyed a five year adventure running a food truck called Martha’s On A Roll. She teaches courses in historical cooking and world gastronomy for the adult extension education program, Osher at Dartmouth, including topics such as Gastronomy of the Netherlands, Culinary Adventures with Lewis and Clark, Cowboy Cuisine, Dining by Rail, and Victorian Victuals.

View our Safety Policy

Cancellation Policy: There are often waitlists for our courses, so please let us know in advance if you are unable to attend. Refunds are available up to 7 days before the class is held. There are no refunds within 7 days.

Contact info@billingsfarm.org with questions.