Farm EDUCATIONAL Workshops
The farm is always looking for new ways to build a community of people who want to slow down, respect animals as much as we do and love good food! Check back often for new offerings.
Sunflower Farm Offers Workshops Year Round! Our goal is to provide a break from the daily grind and a window into the most human parts of yourself. While our workshops offer diverse explorations, each experience is grounded in creativity, community and connections to nature. Of course, a visit with the goat herd is part of every gathering!
Groups of All Ages
Hope, Chris, Lila and Tess are all trained experienced educations and we love sharing the farm with groups of all ages from elementary school classrooms to seniors in assisted living. Give us a call so we can plan a special hour unique to the needs and desires of your school, workplace or family. If your group does not have the funds, please contact us and we will see what we can work out. We want it to be an occasion that everyone talks about for months after! If your group lives too far away to visit, we also have lots of experience with virtual field trips.
Food & Local Culture
May through December we offer periodic cheese classes for beginner cheese makers exploring Farmer's Cheese, Chèvre, Feta and Cajeta. Every class is a mixture of tasting, creating and learning. Choose some fresh ingredients from the farm's herb garden and mix up your own goat cheese to take home to share. Come early or stay late to try your hand at goat milking. Some wine and laughter always mixed in for good measure!
Farm Fun
Always wanted to own your own herd, but nervous about learning the details of goat care? Come to our Best Goat Class Eva’ and learn to trim hooves, milk a goat and give shots. Even get a tour of the cheese kitchen and mix up your own chevre to take home! Bringing home kids this spring and feel a little nervous? Then this class is an excellent chance to ask lots of questions and to connect with others who are getting goats for the first time.
EDUCATIONAL VISITS FOR GROUPS OF ALL AGES & SIZES
We welcome educational visits from groups of all sizes and all ages. We have been classroom teachers for 25 years and are enjoying the opportunity the farm provides to connect people to their food sources in meaningful ways. We can work with schools, nursing homes, daycares, tour groups, workplaces and families to design an educational experience geared specifically to your needs and interests. Your Farm Visit might include: pasture time, tasting of products, games in the field, acting out a goat related story with our goat kids, time to hold goat kids, Cheese making, a goat milking demo, learning about the animals on our farm, animal care and our products.
Prices depend on the size of a group, the length of the visit and what you would like to be part of your experience while at Sunflower Farm. Minimum $200. per visit. Please call or email Hope to chat about possibilities. Some groups in the past have come to do sketch work for art class, to write in journals, to have a physical experience as a break from desk work, and to learn more about small farming in Maine. Families sometimes come for a crash course on goat ownership so they can learn to clip hooves, milk a goat and ask lots of questions. If you have original ideas for your group, just let us know, we would be happy to make it happen. Prefer to let us design a visit we know your group will love? Give us the info on the group and leave the rest up to us so you can enjoy the day.
CHEESE CLASSES IN THE CHEESE KITCHEN
Looking for a fresh way to spend a few hours? Come have a tasty and memorable afternoon learning how to make cheese with other fun adults from May-November! Check our calendar and Facebook page for upcoming classes.
The cost is $60. a person for 2 hours. We will go over the process for chevre and feta, make a quick Farmer's cheese, make cajeta, and mix up some chevre of your own design for you to take home. (Cool ingredient ideas or edible decorations? Bring them along...but we'll have lots here.) You'll leave with lots of treats and the ability to make cheese at home. If you like, you can help out with evening milking (and goat snuggling) before heading home for supper.
Can also do more simple class for groups looking to learn a bit about milk and cheese and who want to mix up their own chevre to bring home. This activity would be 1 hour and cost $30. per person.
If you are interested in signing up for a future class click link below where you will find more info on classes in July, August and September.