Register Now For Spring Workshops at The Farmers’ Museum – Beginning April 6

Cooperstown, New York — Join the knowledgeable staff at The Farmers’ Museum and experience one or more of the Spring Workshops starting Saturday, April 6.  Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill or just have a desire to create something unique and handmade, these workshops will get you motivated. The museum’s resident experts will guide you every step of the way. The workshops focus on activities including blacksmithing, gardening, baking, printing, and broom making, and take place on Saturdays in April and May. Register now and enjoy a productive day on the Farm this spring.

All workshops require advance registration. For full workshop descriptions, pricing, and to register, visit FarmersMuseum.org. Workshops are held at The Farmers’ Museum located at 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, New York.

Spring Workshop Schedule:

Blacksmithing for Beginners
Saturday, April 6, 10am-4pm

This introductory class is geared toward people who want to learn about the art of blacksmithing, but have little or no experience. Participants will learn how to build and maintain a fire in the forge, heat metal, and practice hammer control while using the traditional tools and methods of a blacksmith. Each participant will build and take home a uniquely hand-crafted letter opener. Class Fee: Members, $110. Non-members, $120. Fee includes lunch and all materials. Requires advance registration, limited to 2 participants that must be 14 years and older.

Baking at Lippitt Farmstead
Saturday, April 13, 10am-4pm

Spend your day in the kitchen of the Lippitt Farm House learning how to bake traditional breads and cakes. Fire and bake in the brick bake oven, as well as a bake kettle, or Dutch oven. Share your delicious goods at the end of the session or take them home to impress your family. Class Fee: Members $95. Non-members $105. Lunch is provided. All ingredients included and each participant will take home a cookbook with historical recipes. Requires advance registration, limited to 6 participants.

Broom Making
Saturday, April 20, 10am-4pm

How does a broom become a broom? Learn this and more as you transform a wooden handle, broom corn straw, and wind into a beautiful and functional handmade broom. Take home your own creation to clean house or give away as a gift. Class Fee: Members $85. Non-members $95. Fee includes materials and lunch. Requires advance registration, limited to 8 participants.

Printing
Saturday, April 20, 10am-4pm

In the modern era, we think little to nothing of typing text, adding graphics, and pressing “print” from our devices. This workshop will explore how printing technology evolved over centuries, including the creation and uses of type and images. Participants will have hands-on time to set a small item of their choice, such as, but not limited to, a business card, personal stationery, greeting card, or other creative document, and should come prepared with a project idea or concept. Participants will also assist in operating a 19th-century press in the Middlefield Printing Office to complete their project. Class Fee: Members $85. Non-members $95. Lunch is provided. Requires advance registration, class limited to 6 participants.

Square Foot Gardening
Saturday, April 27, 10am-4pm

Learn the techniques involved in square foot gardening. Find out how to set up your own customizable grid, creating your soil mix, which plants to select, and how to maintain them. This low-maintenance, high-yield method requires little room and is great to get the whole family interested in gardening. We will even give you some of our heirloom seeds and seedlings to get you started. Class Fee:  Members $110, includes kit. Non-members $120, includes kit. Lunch is provided. Requires advance registration, limited to 8 participants.

Intermediate Blacksmithing
Saturday, April 27, 10am-4pm

During this workshop, students will have a chance to forge their own 19th-century-style spatula in the historic Field Blacksmith Shop. Students taking the intermediate class will be expected to have prior blacksmithing experience and an understanding of the tools and basic techniques. This course will cover thinning and drawing out material, rounding material using a swage set, forging set-downs, and bending. If time allows, the students may also have a chance to hand file their work. Class Fee: Members, $110. Non-members, $120. Fee includes lunch and all materials. Requires advance registration, limited to 2 participants that must be 14 years and older.

Blacksmithing for Beginners
Saturday, May 18, 10am-4pm

This introductory class is geared toward people who want to learn about the art of blacksmithing, but have little or no experience. Participants will learn how to build and maintain a fire in the forge, heat metal, and practice hammer control while using the traditional tools and methods of a blacksmith. Each participant will build and take home their choice of a uniquely hand-crafted letter opener. Class Fee: Members, $110. Non-members, $120. Fee includes lunch and all materials. Requires advance registration, limited to 2 participants that must be 14 years and older.

About The Farmers’ Museum

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, a recreated historic village circa 1845, the Empire State Carousel, and a working farmstead. Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers’ Museum’s outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, and hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region. FarmersMuseum.org