Farmer for a Day | April Vacation Week

In the spring, the farmers at Appleton are busy planting vegetables and caring for the new life on the farm. There is no better place to spend spring farm days than in exploring in the fields & forests and learning to love the outdoors in all seasons! This program is for kids who are looking to make friends, explore the farm, and learn about life in New England in spring. Every day will include an outdoor adventure of hiking, a theme-based craft, a farm learning activity, and other farm explorations.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Workshop at Appleton Farm

Join us in making a pie together in celebration of Strawberry and Rhubarb season. Students will learn how to make flaky, all butter pie crust and the best way to highlight the prominent fruits of the month. This class will lead participants through arranging a lattice top and will include tips and tricks to make your pie a show stopper at your next pot luck! Class will end with enjoying a slice of pie together and students will be sent home with a full pie.
Teen Cupcake Creations - Spring is in the Air

Teens are invited to the Ipswich Public Library for a cupcake decorating workshop during April Vacation. Happy April Break! Let's start your vacation off right with a tasty contest and a chance to win prizes!
Appleton Farmhouse Workshop: Farm to Kitchen - Root Cellar

Join chef Liz Walcowicz in this lively, hands-on cooking class. Participants will learn how to utilize root vegetables from the farm and other local farmers to create an exciting multi-course meal. The menu changes seasonally and each class will provide an opportunity for participants to increase their comfort in the kitchen through new knife skills, techniques and flavor profiles. There will be equal parts cooking and eating, and class ends with a shared meal, so bring your appetite!
Winter DROP IN Preschool Farm Explorers

Winter is in the air and the animals of the farm and woods have prepared themselves for winter. Can we find their signs, like homes, tracks, and caches of food? What happens in winter around the farm? We invite little farmers to experience life at the farm in winter. Through farm “chores,” age-appropriate hands-on activities, stories, and visits with our barnyard animals, little farmers will become fully immersed in what life is like for a farmer.
Farmhouse Culinary Workshop: Chicken Pot Pie

In this workshop, participants will learn to make our Farmhouse Chicken Pot Pie using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. Appleton Farms Baker Kami Turgeon will lead a hands-on pie crust making demonstration using local flour. Learn the secrets to a perfectly flaky, sturdy crust, as well as how to make the filling and gravy. Participants will enjoy making pie dough by hand and will take home a prepped pie, ready for the oven! Class will end with a shared pie and sparkling water or tea.
Sourdough Bread Class at Appleton Farms

In this workshop, participants will learn to make bakery quality bread with local flour in their home oven. Culinary Program Jess Porter will demonstrate mixing, folding, shaping, proofing, scoring and baking Appleton’s flagship Farmstead Sourdough. We will discuss sourdough starter maintenance as well, and each new baker will be taking home some of Appleton’s own sourdough starter. Participants will be involved in hands-on experience mixing and shaping their own loaves, with the option of taking them home to bake! Class ends with fresh bread and seasonal accompaniments to enjoy.
Autumn Apple Harvest Workshop at Appleton Farms

It’s apple season in New England and we’re honoring this favorite crop in our farm kitchen! We’ll prepare a complete menu including both sweet & savory dishes using apples sourced from local orchards, with recipes such as Apple, Onion, & Cheddar Tart, Brick Chicken with Roasted Apples, Sage, & Cider Pan Gravy, Sweet & Sour Braised Red Cabbage with Apples, Caramel Apple Bread Pudding.
Cultures to Rinds: Cheese Making Fundamentals

Our cheese making classes are back! Join Appleton’s own award-winning cheese maker, Kristian Holbrook, for a hands-on cheese making class in our farm kitchen. You’ll learn all the basics of cheese making, make your own mozzarella and ricotta to take home, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of our dairy operation and cheese cave. Pre-registration required.
Earth Day: Kids Cook and Grow

Celebrate our Earth, farming, and delicious food with this fun hands-on planting and cooking experience! We’ll start in the teaching kitchen and get cooking. Kids will practice basic measuring and knife skills as we work together to whip up a tasty farm frittata with our own eggs. While our creation cooks kids will plant their own mini herb garden to take home. Learn about what plants need to survive and see what were planting in our own kitchen garden. Afterwards we’ll enjoy our snack together!