Ag Events • “We Moo, Do You?™”
Look closely and note there is one hawk (top left) with the turkey vultures warming up on a February morning. According to the Turkey Vulture Society, these large birds are often “seen in a spread-winged stance called the ‘horaltic pose.’ The stance may serve multiple functions, including warming the body and drying the wings. Research on this pose suggests that they spread their wings in the mornings, once the sun’s intensity reaches a certain level, to raise body temperature (which they lower at night by a few degrees as an energy saving mechanism).”
A stone wall workshop is scheduled for March 10, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Vermont. This introductory stone wall building workshop is for homeowners and tradespeople with a focus on basic techniques for creating dry-laid walls. Workshops are held inside warm greenhouses in Hinesburg through March 2012. The one-day workshop cost is $100 and space is limited. For complete schedule and registration information, go to www.queencitysoilandstone.com/workshops.html or contact Charley MacMartin, (802) 318-2411.
A working dairy (Jerseys), a herd of sheep and draft horses are part of life at the Billings Farm & Museum in Vermont. For details on activities of special interest, visit www.billingsfarm.org.
Stonewall Apiary is partnering with the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) in Mystic, for a series of beginner beekeeper classes. Taught by beekeeper Stuart Woronecki, these classes will cover what it takes to keep your own bees. Dates are Feb. 27, March 5, March 12, March 19, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Cost is $75; $60 for DPNC members and space is limited. Link to Stonewall Apiary’s site is provided here for the details.
The Connecticut Flower & Garden Show is set for Thursday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Connecticut Convention Center. Nearly three acres will display more than 20 gardens created by professional landscape designers and nonprofit organizations, and include naturalistic, low maintenance and organic gardens. Design and horticulture competition, garden ornaments, herbs, bulbs, seeds, fertilizers, soils, gardening books, patio furniture, ornaments and lawn equipment for purchase. Bring a half cup of soil to the UConn Co-op booth for free soil testing. Admission is $16. For details see www.ctflowershow.com.
Fruit tree pruning demonstrations are free at Lyman’s 40th Annual Winterfest on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, but those interested must call to register. Pruning techniques can help or hurt health and productivity of fruit trees. For this two-hour workshop, experienced orchardists will teach techniques on apple trees in the Middlefield farm orchard. Materials will be available to take home. Call (860) 349-6043.
Many farm markets keep going year-round and there are many benefits to getting out and looking around. If you have a favorite, look them up on Facebook for news or events. Or stop by Urban Oaks in New Britain, Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wooster Square Winter Farmers’ Market (outdoors), New Haven, Saturday (first and third of the month), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. DePalma Court, between Chapel and Wooster Street.
The Billings Forge Winter Farmers’ Market, is now 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Thursdays at 563 Broad St., Hartford. Apples, winter greens, maple syrup, honey products, potatoes, humanely-raised beef, pork and eggs, milk, cheese, organic coffee, bread, music.
WinterFresh Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market (indoors) 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays at Coventry High School, 78 Ripley Hill Rd., Coventry. Stonington Winter Farmers’ Market, Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Cutler Street, Stonington Community Center.
Members of Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust will lead a walking group this spring at Goodwin Forest in Hampton, Connecticut. Sign up is required; for information call (860) 455-9534.
The CT 4-H Sheep Project Clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the UConn Storrs Campus from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Registration will take place in the Ratcliffe Hicks Arena. New this year, pre-registration for the program. The registration form can be found at the 4-H web site at www.4-H.uconn.edu.
The Connecticut Farm Bureau Association “Processing your Farm Products for Profit” is on tap for Saturday, March 31, starting at 8 a.m. A one-day program on regulations for processing and selling farm-raised products. At the Exley Science Center, Wesleyan University, 265 Church St., Middletown. Fee is $90.
For more events and ag-related news (plus tidbits from places we find in our travels), see the Moo Dog Press blog.
