Celebrate ripe, red organic strawberries and fields of bright orange pumpkins at Cedar Circle Farm!
Harvest Festivals
Dinners in the Field
Gardening and Cooking Classes
Tomato Tasting by the River
Guided Farm Tours — NEW!
Fall Educational Group Activities — FOR KIDS!
Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides to the Pumpkin Patch — FREE!
Beginning Farmer Workshops
Festivals ... dinners… tastings ... classes ... workshops. We have a full summer of events for you and your family here at the farm. Download the complete Cedar Circle Farm 2010 Calendar (pdf).
Harvest Festivals
Our 7th Annual Strawberry (Sunday, June 28th) and Pumpkin (Sunday, October 11th) Festivals are rain-or-shine harvest celebrations that draw more than 1,200 people of all ages from the Upper Valley and throughout New England. Horse-drawn wagon rides to and from the strawberry or pumpkin patch, kid’s activities, live music, draft horse demonstrations, guided farm tours, cooking demonstrations, and a farm-fresh food concession keep families entertained throughout the day, and coming back year after year.
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Dinners in the Field
Dinners in the Field are another favorite summer activity on the farm. Now in our fifth season, the 2009 dinners take place Saturday evenings. Tables are set with linens, china, and glassware, under tents along the banks of the Connecticut River. These popular dinners often feature a guest chef or food producer, and freshly harvested and prepared foods from the farm, served in a beautiful and tranquil setting in the company of friends and neighbors.
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Gardening and Cooking Classes
With the growing popularity of the localvore movement and the desire to eat more locally grown foods year around, gardening and the art of the pantry and “putting food by” are making a comeback. As part of our education program, Cedar Circle Farm offers annual gardening, cooking, and putting food by workshops. Join us to learn how to get your own home garden started, and then we’ll help you take your skills for using fresh produce to a new level. And we can help you eat local all year round with our canning and freezing workshops using organic vegetables from our fields—and take home tasty treats for your winter pantry of freezer!
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2nd Annual Tomato Tasting by the River
Friday, August 21, 5-8pm. Honor the commitment that generations of farmers have provided in preserving the biological and cultural diversity of our food traditions. Join us for a casual evening of celebration, live music, and a tasting of the many varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes grown at Cedar Circle Farm. Sample dozens of kinds of tomatoes and numerous tomato-based appetizers.
Features a talk on heirloom tomatoes and the Slow Food movement by New Hampshire writer and food activist Ben Watson, author of Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Tomatoes. $25 per person. Advanced registration required.
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Guided Farm Tours
Year round! Get a fresh seasonal taste of Cedar Circle Farm year-round. Come take a guided walking tour, a tractor-drawn, or a horse-drawn wagon ride of our beautiful farm with your friends and family. Learn about sustainable farming and energy systems, and visit our gardens, compost pile, chickens and horses. Tours can be customized to meet the curriculum needs of your Pre-K through 12 class, scout group, or youth program.
By appointment: please call Cat Buxton at the farm to make a reservation, 802-785-4737.
45 minute tours. $3-$5 per person, depending on choice of transportation, (minimum $25). Group rates available.
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Growing Minds — NEW!
Farm-based educational activities for your pre-K through 12 class, scout group, or youth program with Cedar Circle Staff. We can build an activity based on your interests or you can select one from our activity library!
By appointment: please call Cat Buxton at the farm to make a reservation, 802-785-4737.
30-45 minute activity. $3/person (minimum $30). Group rates available. Combine with a tour and save.
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Fall Educational Group Activities — FOR KIDS!
Tue-Fri, Oct 12-15 and Oct 19-22 ONLY
Bring your daycare, school, or youth group for a farm tour, a ride to the pumpkin patch, or an educational activity with Cedar Circle Farm’s Education Director, Cat Buxton.
These tours fill up quickly so register early.
PATCH RIDE Take a tractor-drawn wagon ride through our fields to the Pumpkin Patch. There will be time for each child to choose a pumpkin as large as they can carry and one for the classroom. 30 minutes round trip. $4 per child, includes pumpkin
GUIDED TOUR Take a guided farm tour by horse-drawn wagon ride. We’ll stop to see the compost, the chickens, and the crops on our way to the Pumpkin Patch. There will be time for each child to choose a pumpkin as large as they can carry and one for the classroom. 45 minutes round trip. $5 per child, includes pumpkin
GROWING MINDS ACTIVITIES Our Education Coordinator Cat Buxton has a bunch of games and activities to engage youth in agriculture and the living world around us. Activities include Three Sister’s Tag, Lifecycle of Plants, Seed or Insect Safari, Sensory Treasure Hunt, or ask Cat to customize an activity to meet your needs, interests, or age group, pre-K-12. 15-45 minutes per activity. - $3 per child. Combine with a tour and save.
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Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides to the Pumpkin Patch — FREE!
Oct 16-17 and 23-24 ONLY; Sat-Sun, 11 am-4 pm
Take a free horse-drawn wagon ride to the Pumpkin Patch to pick your perfect pumpkin. See our educational displays, take our self-guided farm tour, and visit the Hello Café and Farmstand. The kids can play in the sandbox and meet the horses and chickens.
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Beginning Farmer Workshops
Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center hosts and organizes workshops for beginning farmers, usually one per summer. For example, we have hosted an all-day event co-organized with the University of Vermont’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture and their Extension System’s Women’s Agriculture Network to provide beginning farmers and growers with practical information on managing mechanical systems on horticultural farms, with about forty people from around the state and a few from neighboring states attending.
Photos by Robert Eddy; Kimberly Grant