Two hundred years ago sheep farming was a very prosperous industry. But all that changed. Find out why happened that brought on the decline of sheep in Vermont.
Billings Farm hosts herding dog demonstrations every year during our Sheep Shearing & Herding event. Find out how working dogs are trained and view a demonstration of a herding dog in action.
It’s Sheep and Wool Week, and today we travel back in time with a recipe from the Fannie Farmer 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book for Chocolate Caramel made with sheep’s milk. Download the recipe and follow along with Emery as she makes this tasty treat from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book.
Weaving with Adele: The final step in our Sheep-to-Scarf project is weaving. Adele leads us through the process of setting up the loom and demonstrating her weaving technique.
Drop Spindle Spinning with Lynne: Today we are spinning wool into yarn – the next step in our Sheep-to-Scarf project! Hand-spinning can be done with a portable drop spindle and Lynne demonstrates the technique. See the final handcrafted scarf – and bid to win it in our online Sheep to Scarf auction along with other items made by our talented Billings Farm interpreters. All auction proceeds support Billings Farm & Museum and help us sustain our farm and educational programs while we are closed.
Spinning with Adele : When we left off on our Sheep to Scarf project, we had carded the wool. The next step is SPINNING! Adele shows how to spin with a hand-powered spinning wheel. See the final handcrafted scarf – and bid to win it in our online Sheep to Scarf auction along with other items made by our talented Billings Farm interpreters. All auction proceeds support Billings Farm & Museum and help us sustain our farm and educational programs while we are closed.
Prepping the Wool – Skirting: Now that we’ve shorn the sheep, the second step in our “Sheep-to-Scarf” project is skirting the wool. Watch Tiana demonstrate skirting and stay tuned for the next steps in the process each day this week.See the final product – a beautiful handwoven scarf – and bid to win it in our online auction – along with other handcrafted items made by our talented Billings Farm interpreters. All auction proceeds support Billings Farm & Museum and help us sustain our farm and educational programs while we are closed.
Sheep and Wool Week – Shearing: Welcome to Sheep and Wool Week ONLINE! Watch Step 1 in our Sheep to Scarf process – shearing. Craig Marcotte sheared our sheep just a year ago to provide the wool used by the Billings Farm fiber experts to create a one-of-a-kind handmade scarf. See the final product – a beautiful handwoven scarf – and bid to win it in our online auction – along with other handcrafted items made by our talented Billings Farm interpreters. All auction proceeds support Billings Farm & Museum and help us sustain our farm and educational programs while we are closed.
Sheep Shearing: Thanks to Craig Marcotte who shears the sheep at Billings Farm! Watch him shear Clarabelle on the hottest day this week, share some Billings Farm history and talk about how shearing is a little different for him this year.
Thursday Threads – Washing Wool : It’s Spring Cleaning Week at Billings Farm at Home. Today Tiana shows us what wool looks like before and after cleaning, and the steps in between.
Meet our Southdown Sheep : Tiana introduces us to Billings Farm’s Southdown ewes and Babydoll ram a few weeks before lambing.
Time Travel Tuesday – Chocolate Caramel: It’s Sheep and Wool Week, so our Learning Kitchen team wanted to explore what we could make with sheep’s milk. We travel back in time with a recipe from the Fannie Farmer 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book for Chocolate Caramel. Download the recipe, gather your ingredients and follow along with Emery to make this delicious treat.
Sheep Herding: Billings Farm hosts herding dog demonstrations every year during our Sheep Shearing & Herding event. Find out how working dogs are trained at Billings Farm at Home and check out this demonstration of a herding dog in action!
Lamb Stamp Craft
Wooly Lamb Craft
All About Shearing
The Sheep Boom in Vermont
How to Train a Herding Dog
What are “Ewe”?
Celebrity Sheep
Wool Around the World
All About Dairy 
Chocolate Caramel with Sheep’s Milk