Wheat Planting & Threshing School Programs

September – October 

In this unique program, children learn farming from the ground up: starting in the field and ending in the kitchen! Participants begin by helping farmers prepare the ground for a crop of winter wheat: tilling the field, sowing seeds by “hand broadcasting”, and comparing this method to mechanical planting. Using Howell Farm wheat cut earlier this year, kids fast-forward to the next summer harvest – first learning how farmers bundle the stalks into sheaves, then stacking the sheaves into a free-standing “shock.”

The hands-on work continues, threshing the wheat with a flail and separating it from the chaff by winnowing with a hand-crank fanning mill. After learning how farmers would then store and process wheat – in the past and today – children finally pay a visit to the farmhouse kitchen to taste bread baked with flour ground from the same wheat grown on the farm.

Fall Farm Animals School Programs

September – November 

As the days get shorter and the leaves turn colors, the animals and the farmers get ready for winter. Learn how the farmer makes sure the animals’ basic needs are met and how the animals adapt to the seasons.

In a 90-minute sampler of the Howell Farm morning chores, children meet horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens, learning how a farmer’s family works to keep the animals healthy, warm, and productive during the coming winter. Participants help shell and grind corn for animal feed, look for eggs in the henhouse, and help the farmer with other work around the farm.