# On Farm Classes and Workshops



## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

We added on farm classes and workshops as a way to earn some much needed income for the farm. We did our first class this past Saturday and had 15 people in attendance. It was a lot of fun for us to do and our participates got some hands on experience with poultry. (the class was about raising chickens). I advertise the classes on Local Harvest, our website and even craigslist. I see that there is a lot of interest in learning how to raise your own food. 

Can't wait for the next class!!:clap:


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## Pam6 (Apr 9, 2009)

Cool! Can you tell us how much you charged for the classes and what all did you cover?


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

How would I find something like this in my area??


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> How would I find something like this in my area??


I would love to know the same!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

BoldViolet said:


> I would love to know the same!


I don't know how close you are to:

www.breadbeckers.com

But they do classes on baking bread from whole wheat berries, and other such things. If I ever get down that way, I will surely check em out!


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

Our Raising Chicken Class was a 2 hour (but ran a bit longer) class and we charged $35.00 for adults and $5 for children under 12 attending with a parent. We covered everything from start to finish although we did not demonstrate how to process your own birds. Participants also visited our chicken tractor with the meat birds, our brooder area with the baby chicks, and toured our coop where the best laying hens ever live. I did a power point presentation and each participate took home a copy of the slides with their notes. Happy to share the PP with you if you email me. 

Next month we are offering classes on:

* Canning
* Soap Making
* Raising Goats
* Making Herbal Salves and Lip Balms

If you are looking for these types of classes, try Localharvest.org


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## rod&chas (Jan 17, 2011)

Where are you located?


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

hiddensprings said:


> Our Raising Chicken Class was a 2 hour (but ran a bit longer) class and we charged $35.00 for adults and $5 for children under 12 attending with a parent. We covered everything from start to finish although we did not demonstrate how to process your own birds. Participants also visited our chicken tractor with the meat birds, our brooder area with the baby chicks, and toured our coop where the best laying hens ever live. I did a power point presentation and each participate took home a copy of the slides with their notes. Happy to share the PP with you if you email me.
> 
> Next month we are offering classes on:
> 
> ...


There's a thread over in Preserving the Harvest about what type of insurance & credientals would be needed for giving a canning class. I'm sure that everyone would value your input.

Holding homesteading classes is a great idea.


~~ pelenaka ~~


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

rod&chas said:


> Where are you located?


We are in Tennessee, just a bit northwest of Nashville


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## PFS farmer (Sep 25, 2012)

:goodjob: Subscribed!! :thumb:

Keep us updated.

This is one of our goals once we are established.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I want so bad to be able to give classes like this. I would sure like more details on the classes you are giving. Once we finish moving and get set up, this is one of my eventual goals. Seems though where I live now would be the better area for it, sigh...


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## happychick (Sep 20, 2010)

I've heard of a lot of small farms able to stay a float by doing this...Even thought about it ourselves...


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## Debbie in Wa (Dec 28, 2007)

Pelenaka said:


> There's a thread over in Preserving the Harvest about what type of insurance & credientals would be needed for giving a canning class. I'm sure that everyone would value your input.
> 
> Holding homesteading classes is a great idea.
> 
> ...


can you help me find this thread as I can not find it there.

Thanks


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## ani's ark (May 12, 2012)

This is a fab idea! Best of luck, it sounds like you are onto a winner. 
We are starting a permaculture market garden business: Delivering weekly homegrown 'organic' fruit and veg boxes to people in the nearest city. Money will be tight, so we need ideas to make a bit more. We plan on using pigs and chickens to do a lot of the gardening and convert waste products to meat and eggs. 

A lot of people have expressed interested in our whole homestead project, as we have offgrid power system, make our bread and pickles and milk the dairy goat to make cheese etc. So we thought if we can make some money doing classes/tours and even occassional farmstay (make a tent site with campfire , outdoor toilet and a tap for overnight guests) it would be a great way to share our set-up and give people the opportunity to ask questions about what they are seeing, get ideas for their own homesteads.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

ani's ark said:


> This is a fab idea! Best of luck, it sounds like you are onto a winner.
> We are starting a permaculture market garden business: Delivering weekly homegrown 'organic' fruit and veg boxes to people in the nearest city. Money will be tight, so we need ideas to make a bit more. We plan on using pigs and chickens to do a lot of the gardening and convert waste products to meat and eggs.
> 
> A lot of people have expressed interested in our whole homestead project, as we have offgrid power system, make our bread and pickles and milk the dairy goat to make cheese etc. So we thought if we can make some money doing classes/tours and even occassional farmstay (make a tent site with campfire , outdoor toilet and a tap for overnight guests) it would be a great way to share our set-up and give people the opportunity to ask questions about what they are seeing, get ideas for their own homesteads.


I would love to take a class on your offgrid power system. We have done very well with our classes and workshops. I'm working on our 2013 schedule now. We're adding new classess based on feedback from customers, students, and surveys. This year we have a Chicken Processing class, A Beginning Bread Making class, and several new advanced soapmaking classes. I love teaching the classes and meeting new people. Plus, the extra income to the farm is fabulous!


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## Briarhill (Dec 30, 2011)

Been thinking long and hard about doing this same thing, even have folks asking us to do it... Congrats for stepping out there and doing it!


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

If you'd like to see a copy of my 2013 Class & Workshop schedule to get a better idea of the type of classes we offer and pricing, you can download a pdf file on our website's home page at: www.hiddenspringsfarms.com I just posted it.


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## Wannabee (Dec 8, 2004)

Would love to see the forum have a page dedicated to upcoming classes/workshops/gatherings that we could search for by state. That way we could all see what was available to us and when, as well as place our upcoming events. That would make life so much easier.


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## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

Sounds like a great class!

We offer beginner's beekeeping class a couple of times a year on our farm. They go over very well. In the past we have held them outside in the yard, but this coming Spring we are going to convert part of our hay mow into a classroom space, which should make things more comfortable.


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