The growing season is upon us. Guidestone recently sent us this amazing list of educational opportunities they have available right here in our Valley. -ss
Join Farmhands Education staff for one or many of these fun, hands-on learning opportunities. Designed for children ages 5 and up, all programs are interactive, educational, and exciting opportunities to experience a working farm or ranch, meet the resident animals, assist with projects and explore the surrounding natural habitat. Teaching locations include Weathervane Farm and Cottonwood Creek Dairy at The Meadows in Buena Vista and the historic Hutchinson Homestead in Salida.
Pre-registration is required for all programs. Please contact Farmhands Director Andrea Earley Coen at (970)309-3175 or email FarmhandsED@gmail.com to register or for more information.
The Meadows, Buena Vista
Farm Camp
Ages: 5 and up
Dates: June 8-10, July 6-8, July 27-29
Times: 9am-3pm each day
Cost: $120 per camp/ 10% discount if you register for all three
Join Farmhands for this unique and exceptionally fun 3-day program. Each day begins with farm chores and a snack. Then it really gets exciting! Days will be filled with teambuilding, nature exploration, aquatic ecology, farm projects, art, journaling, music and possibly even a hint of magic…. We will conclude the camp with a farm feast, harvested and prepared by the campers for their families.
The following programs meet from 9:00-12:00pm and cost $20 each. A farm-grown snack will be provided. Designed for ages 5 and up.
Nature Detectives
June 15 & July 22
Let’s put on our detective hats and go! Explore the woodlands and meadows surrounding Weathervane Farm to learn more about the wild animals that call this place home. Tracks, bones, eat marks and even scat will be our clues to unravel the mysteries of these animals’ homes and habits.
Junior Farmer
June 29
Don your overalls and come on out to the farm for a day of good-ole, down home farm work and fun. We will help work on some projects for Weathervane Farm, and the day will conclude with a special, tasty frozen treat thanks to the cows at Cottonwood Creek Dairy!
Diggin’ for Decomposers
July 20
Get ready to go hunting for the small and squirmy! Through exploration both on the farm and in the surrounding woodlands, learn how the creepiest, crawliest critters are the key to both a forest and our food.
Family Farm Days
Open to ALL ages – Great for families with children 4 and under!
Dates: June 26, July 10, July 24, Aug. 7
Times: 9-11:30am
Cost: $20 for a family of 4/$3 each additional person
Want to come to camp, too? Here’s your chance! Spend a morning on the farm with the whole family. Meet and feed the animals, tour the farm, assist in a farm project and create a farm-inspired craft to take home. A farm-grown snack will be provided, and you are invited to bring a picnic lunch and stay as long as you like!
Hutchinson Homestead, Salida
Ranch Camp
Ages: 5 and up
Dates: June 22-24, July 13-15, Aug. 3-5
Times: 9am-3pm each day
Cost: $120 per camp/ 10% discount if you register for all three
Spend three fun-filled days on a historic ranch! Each day will begin with ranch chores, and participants will get to assist in a variety of ranch projects, learn some animal husbandry skills, explore the pastures and creek, learn about the Hutchinson’s family and general ranching history and practice several traditional art skills, like spinning, candle making, butter making or making jam. There may even be a hint of magic that arises from the past…. The camp will conclude with a ranch-inspired feast and a square dance for campers and their families.
Traditional Arts Series
Dates: Mondays June 7, 14, 21, 28 & July 12,19, 26
Times: 10am-2pm
$25/day or $150 for all 7
Traditional arts are skills that were once a necessary part of daily life and a meaningful way to connect to place and home. In this Series, children will get a chance to learn and have fun practicing these skills in a setting that evokes the spirit of these traditions. All projects will be able to be taken home. The series will include spinning, butter making, candle making, soap making, food preservation and blacksmithing. Sign up for one or all 7!
June 7: Butter Making
Making butter from a family’s “house cow” was common practice on ranches and small farms. Several different styles of butter churns will be demonstrated, and with milk and cream from Cottonwood Creek Dairy and the help of a couple of butter-making songs, participants will make butter, and of course, eat it!
June 14: Soap Making
Taught by Terri Dunn of Mudflower Soaps. Participants will get to explore two different styles of soap making: a more traditional lye-based style and a quick glycerin variety. Assisting in the process of making each kind, everyone will get to bring some handmade soap home.
June 21: Spinning
Animals raised for their fiber were a necessity back in the day, and this class will explore the steps from animal to hand-spun product. Topics will include: identifying different breeds of fiber-bearing animals with corresponding examples of their fleece, cleaning and carding wool, different styles of spinning and creating a hand-spun bracelet as well as either a wet felted or woven sample to take home.
June 28: Candle Making
How were the first candles made? In this class, participants will discover many different styles of lighting that were used before electricity. Then we will make our own hand-dipped beeswax candles that can be brought home and used to read by, eat by….
July 12: Blacksmithing
Alf Rudd, a BV-based blacksmith of 50 years, will lead this exciting demonstration and hands-on based class on the history and skill of blacksmithing. The Homestead’s intact and artifact-rich blacksmith shop will be the setting, and with his traveling blacksmithing forge, Alf will demonstrate the skill of this art. Participants will also have the opportunity to cold-work metal into a piece of functional hardware that can be brought home and used.
July 19: Food Preservation
Knowing how to preserve the foods grown in a homestead’s kitchen garden was an invaluable skill for feeding a family all winter long. These skills are no less important today, and this class will be an introduction to a variety of different styles of preserving foods. The harvesting of foods and how to prepare them for freezing, dehydration and canning will all be explored, and participants will assist in the making of dilly beans and an in-season fruit jam to be taken home and shared with the whole family.
July 26: Branding
No calves will actually be branded in this class that helps unravel the mystery of how to read branding symbols and explores the significant role brands played in ranching history. Co-taught by Abby Hutchinson and Andrea, participants will learn the difference between a Flying J, Triple Bar and Lazy 7, as well as many other brand symbols. With these examples along with some of the Hutchinson family’s branding irons as a guide, everyone will get to create his or her own “brand” stamp to take home.
Annabel’s Garden
Wednesday afternoons from 3:00-5:00, ongoing from May through October
$5/child/week
Gardens were an important part of any homestead, and this weekly series will celebrate the efforts and role of gardening on a ranch. Initially offered as an after-school program, this group of students will meet weekly from early May through the summer to develop, maintain and harvest a children’s garden. Topics will include garden design, seed choice, planting, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, seed saving and food preservation. Many vegetables will be historically and geographically accurate to a high altitude garden of the late 1800-early 1900’s. Edible flowers, herbs, sunflowers and fun, kid-friendly planting designs will be incorporated into the garden as well.
Guidestone’s keystone education program, Farmhands, provides opportunities for children and school groups to put their hands in the soil throughout the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Farmhands has two teaching sites: in Buena Vista at The Meadows on Cottonwood Creek, and in Salida at the historic Hutchinson Homestead. Farmhands curriculum focuses on nature appreciation, ecological understanding, sustainable agriculture and human health and nutrition.
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