Spring 2013 Homestead Flyer

Benner's Farm
56 Gnarled Hollow Road
Setauket, New York, 11733
631-689-8172
bennersfarm.com
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PERMIT #38
E. SETAUKET, NY
11733
Current Resident Or:
Storms
Sandy changed the farm. Like so many storms in our
past, she came, blew trees down, then left, leaving a very
different landscape, especially up by the big oak. Her 90
+mph path of destruction affected the entire farm, yet no
buildings were hit and except for some rabbits that escaped
her flipping of the big hutch, no animals were affected. She
did come close. Many trees missed buildings by inches, but
all in all we are unscathed. Not so the woods.
When we arrived here in 1977 the place was so overgrown
that we hired a guy (Crazy John, we called him) to brush
hog the small trees and brush that had taken over our
present field area. He opened a path up into the woods
that allowed me and my small Farmall Cub tractor to access the fallen and leaning trees that had been blown over
after a particularly bad nor’easter the year before. We used
that wood and other downed trees from our mini-forest to
burn in our whole house wood stove and to split into post
and rail fencing. Yes, I was a rail-splitter just like Abe!**
Our first winter was brutal. We had an inch thick ice
storm in late fall that broke off huge amounts of branches
from most of our trees. That storm was followed by a pair of
two foot blizzards that buried the farm in snow that lasted
well into spring. Additionally it was cold! By the time the
spring thaw arrived the ground was frozen down to about
three feet. I know, as I had to dig through the frozen ground
to bury one of the first ewes we had purchased. We had no
running water to the barn at that time and so were carrying water from the house to the few animals we owned.
As the years passed, trees grew from saplings into mature
trees and older trees were blown over by the periodic storms
we endured. Slowly, open area appeared throughout our
landscape and we either put animals there, or mowed it
to keep first and second generation growth at bay. For
instance, the swing hanging from the big white oak in our
woods was first hung in our second year on the farm by one
of my female students with a proclivity for climbing. The
first child to be thrown into the sky was our son Ben, whose
eyes were like saucers as he reemerged from the trees that
at that time filled the arc of the swing. All of those trees
are gone now through successive natural storms. We have
cut down very few trees ourselves, leaving that work to
Mother Nature.
Most of the trees that blow over in the storms are Black
Locusts. These trees grow quickly, sprouting whenever
their surface roots are disturbed. Most of the trees that
went down with Sandy were three or four inch saplings
when we first moved to the farm. Add thirty five years
and you’ve got the two foot diameter trees that were blown
Continued from first page
over. We lose black locusts because they have a shallow
root system. When they topple they usually lift a rather
large dirt saucer attached to the trunk of the tree. Our
oaks, maples and beeches have deeper roots and can take
greater winds. We lost only one oak with Sandy. It wasn’t
uprooted, but had its branches broken off by a particularly
potent gust.
Most of the Nor’easters take down a few trees with each
storm. Like Sandy, Hurricane Gloria took down at least
a hundred. While she raged, I braved the storm to see
what damage was being done as the eye of the hurricane
swept north through the adjacent valley to our west. I
will never forget the freight train sound and the blowing
branches and leaves as I ran
from protective building to
building to peer around corners and experience nature’s
fury. When she had passed,
it looked like a gigantic hand
had taken a huge steel wool
pad and rubbed off the edge
of our woods. All the bark,
branches and small saplings
had been eradicated, leaving
white wood bared from the
onslaught. By the time we
cleaned up those trees our
field had grown by half and
more open areas appeared.
Many trees on the farm were
topped or destroyed by Gloria
and it took many years for
those reminders to be cleaned
up.
Not all trees come down with
wind. We’ve had a number
struck by lightning, with a
few that split right down the
middle to sway eerily with a
long wide white stripe on either side of the split. Some of
those are still up in the woods
hanging onto their tentative
lives. When the kids were
little, a huge thunderstorm
formed one early summer
morning and was so fearsome that Sam, our six year old
youngest of four, came crawling into our bed. We began to
allay his fears by telling him about seeing the light from a
lightning bolt and then counting in seconds to tell how far
away the lightning was from us. It’s wired into teachers
to pass on information, so Sammy got an earful about the
almost instant speed of light and the thousand feet per
second speed of sound which enabled us to establish that
the bulk of the storm was about two thirds of a mile away.
I had just told him about my brother, who had been in our
family car, (very safe as he was surrounded by metal), and
had experienced seeing the light and hearing the thunder at
the same time just as the tree next to the car was hit! Just
then our room was filled with an extremely bright light and
was also reverberating with the sound of thunder. Someplace very close had been hit. Sam’s response was, “Boy
Dad, you can really tell a story!” Within minutes, Dave,
Kir, and Judy were in our room. They were all bug-eyed
with concern when Ben came into the room declaring that
his room had been hit and that there were blue lightning
bolts dancing around his walls and radios. We began exploring and found that the kitchen and his room had indeed
been visited by a pulse that had fried a number of electrical
components. The lightning had struck one of our basswood
trees out front, followed it down about a third, hopped to the
other tree, followed it down
to the lights that we used
to play volleyball, then gone
along the ground and entered
the house at the kitchen
corner. Both trees had been
blown apart with the strike
leaving large chunks of tree
shrapnel strewn across the
area. If you look up into
those trees you can still see
where the lightning struck.
Since
Sandy’s devastation
we have been pulling out
the trunks of the trees, sawing up the larger branches
for firewood and storing the
trunks along the perimeter
of the lower pasture. We
will be bringing in a bulldozer to landscape the area
affected and plant new trees
along the edges of the new
pasturelands. You will be
shocked at the huge area that
has been affected. Now the
big oak stands almost alone
as it must have a hundred
years ago when the whole
hill was fenced and used for
pastured animals. There
is some trade-off with the
changes. On the down side,
we’ve lost habitat for our wild populations of birds, amphibians, reptiles and small animals. On the plus side,
we’ve opened areas for pasture and vistas that haven’t
been seen in a hundred years. I hope you come to visit our
changing homestead so you can see the transformation for
yourselves.
**We are going to show how to split rails this spring on
the weekend of April 27th and 28th. If you have always
wanted to know the process, come out and give it a try.
Deer
We’ve been on the farm for thirty six years now. Up until
last year we encouraged our wild population to prosper
with the understanding that periodically we would lose
a chicken or two to raccoons or that box turtles would
show up in the strawberry
field and munch some of
our red beauties. That
changed last year with
the invasion of the family
of eight fox that took up
residence here. We had
to buy an electric fence
as the fox had driven the
wild rabbits toward the
house and into our garden. We lost early peas,
beets, and other tasty
veggies to the marauding
rabbits. Eventually the
garden produced so much
that we could take down
the fence and share with
our rabbit friends. That
is until deer found the
garden!
We’ve never had deer on our property except for an occa-
sional visitor passing through on the way to better feeding
grounds. Two years ago that changed. We were not affected by their presence but our neighbor on the northwest
corner of the farm lost all of her sweet spring bulbs to the
deer. We ignored the problem until these foragers began to
eat our new crop of strawberry plants. In one night at least
three rows were nibbled off till only the core of the plants
remained. We began to consider our options. When they
ate our biggest gourd type pumpkins
and went on to the rest of the field,
Jean was on the phone with agencies
looking for options. We tried bow
hunters. If you visited last fall you
might have noticed a small, camouflaged blind set up near the compost
heap. That hunter was followed by
several others who had permission
to shoot the deer when there were
no visitors around. No deer were
eliminated. We tried a few other
tactics with the same results. This
spring we will erect a tall fence that
hopefully will keep them out.
Problem is that there are no natural predators, except
us, to keep native populations in check and these animals
are flexible and resourceful. Additionally hunting restrictions have allowed the populations to grow exponentially.
Three times more deer live in the east than lived here in
1980 and twenty five times more than in 1900 when most
of the east was deforested and covered with farms. Since
then wooded areas intersperse our neighborhoods, an ideal
habitat for deer. Deer wander less than two square miles
in their lifetimes! When established they have a tendency
to stay and prosper if not curbed.
Goats,
sheep and deer are ungulates that have many
similarities. All are herbivores and have a fourchambered stomach, eating in the morning then
spending much of the day
chewing their cuds and digesting. They all have offspring that stand within a
half hour of birth suckling
milk from their moms.
Like goats, deer have
a varied diet. Springtime deer need protein
so they eat green plants,
grasses and seeds. In
summer they crave corn,
tree leaves and especially
strawberry plants, ugh!
They eat corn, acorns and
other nuts in the fall and
buds and twigs of woody
plants in the winter. Unlike goats and sheep, deer can run
at forty miles an hour, jump ten feet and swim at thirteen
miles an hour. Jean and I saw a deer rapidly swimming
across Port Jefferson Harbor one day!
Deer have good night vision and can see in a 310 degree
view. They have a fine sense of smell, and constantly lick
their noses which helps detect danger, gender and conditions around them. They hear a higher sound frequencies
than humans. They and their cousins, elk and moose,
are the only animal to have antlers,
the fastest growing living tissue on
earth! These antlers are grown by
the males, or bucks, who use them
during mating season, or rut, to show
dominance over other suitors. Unlike
horns, antlers fall off and are grown
again each year.
A few marauding deer can be dev-
astating as neighborhoods are infiltrated. Scientists are trying to figure
out ways to humanly restrict their
population as they bring Lime disease ticks with them and can be dangerous when cornered
or during rut. There are some backyard controls that can
be bought, gathered or made, but they are difficult to use
over large fields. We’ve decided on deer fence as our control.
The longer I live on this homestead, the more I realize how
humans have changed our environment and how animals
and plants learn to cope with our
dominant presence.
Comings and Goings
Hello farm friends and family!
We are recovering from
Hurricane Sandy’s wrath and are busy replanting and resculpting the farm after nature’s pruning last October. We
hope your troubles were minor ones. So many folks were
hurt by Sandy’s winds and are still struggling to repair, replace, rebuild and recover that our losses seem minimal by
comparison. You will notice the differences when you visit
this spring, but we hope the changes benefit the farm. Our
animals will be grazing on new open pastures, our visitors
will soon see newly
planted orchards
and a new “sugar bush” (Sugar
Maple grove) will
begin to grow for
future maple syrup
demonstrations.
We’ll hope to plant
a small vineyard
as well, learning to
manage each new
area as we share it
with you. Learning
truly is a life-long
experience.
B en,
David and
Sam have been
working hard on the farm all summer and through the
fall improving the farm and grounds. They had re-fenced
the sheep side of the red barn and added a center walkway.
Ben designed the new ram house and finished it with Sam
and David’s help. They took down the little greenhouse
and will re-sculpt the grassy area above the grey barn to
make a new flat tent site for larger weddings and events.
Trenches were dug and electric and water lines laid so that
we have use of these utilities in a number of new places
on the farm. Both the store and the admission shed were
moved last fall and a new walkway from the back pasture/
overflow parking area was put in by the duck pond. Our
sons accomplish so much!
Our animal population fared well in spite of the storm.
Only the platform rabbit hutch suffered as it blew over, just
missing the second row of hutches. Sam supervised moving
the uncovered cages to the barn where some of our rabbits
spent most of the winter. Then, after the improvements to
the red barn were made we moved some of the inside rabbit
cages to their new cement pad under the shelter of the red
barn roof. The sheep had to be moved from the red barn’s
paddock to allow us to dig trenches, so we moved the goats
to the barn and used both the new ram pen and the goat
pen to separate our flock for breeding. Ben had planned
to re-build the goat house as well but Sandy interfered.
Now, the bred ewes
and does are in the
big barn waiting for
spring deliveries,
the rams are back
in their new pen
by the garden. The
new electric line to
the red barn will
facilitate the use of
the brooder so our
new spring chicks
and ducklings will
be warm and safe.
P aula,
Susanna
and our sons erected a small green
house within the
large one to facilitate seed starting without having to heat
a huge area. We hope the double area of insulation coupled
with warming pads below will aid in early seed germination. We are offering custom garden seedlings this year
so we will need to be off to an early start this spring. See
our website or call to chat with Paula for specifics.
We lost quite a few classes in late October and early No-
vember, again thanks to Sandy school day closures. Our
office staff was very creative in finding ways to use the
extra pumpkins, donating many of them to food pantries
for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Paula ran two Creative
Centerpiece Workshops for adults this fall. The Thanks-
giving centerpieces used some of the class pumpkins as a
holder for the flowers and natural fall foliage. The Fall
Greens Workshop also delighted participants who placed
their creations on their Christmas and Chanukah tables.
We’ve planned more spring adult workshops and garden
classes for you this spring.
In late October our office manager, Jacqueline Chartier,
tearfully informed us of her
imminent move to Maryland where her husband,
David Seel had been offered
a job opportunity. So, amid
the wreckage of the woods
our little office took a hit as
well. Jac left after helping
to show Susanna Gatz, our
garden apprentice from the
spring and summer, how
to man the phones, book
classes and keep our database records. While all this
was happening, Bob was in
Stony Brook hospital for an
operation to remove part
of his large intestine, the
result of a cancerous polyp.
He has recovered and is
doing fine.
expecting a second girl. Kirsten was quite upset and has
offered to be there for Zoe when she needs advice on living
with three brothers.
After the holidays, as we were packing for Florida, came
the sad news of Curt Hoaglund’s passing. His wife Sue
called to tell us and we put our packing on hold to be
there for the family. Curt and Bob had developed and
taught the Environment Team at
Northport High School for almost
25 years. We’ve been friends
and colleagues for more than 40
years, teaching, raising kids, vacationing, and sharing our lives
together in Northport and even
in Florida where they spent winters a couple of hours south of us.
Curt had been ill for quite a few
years, wheelchair bound for the
last 5 or 6 but even with all his
medical problems his spirit and
determination kept him looking
toward better times. We hope he
has found them. We miss him.
So, this newsletter is once again
going to press as the farm gears
up for spring. Who knows how
this New Year will play out? We
do know that spring births, laughSeptember 9th, baby boy
ing children cuddling bunnies and
Frederick Donald was born
baby farm animals will happen,
56 Gnarled Hollow Road
to Ben’s college buddy Docthat we’ll have a June family
Setauket, NY, 11733
tor Cliff Ehmke and wife
wedding, and in July my Mom’s
Angie. Angie went into
95th birthday will be celebrated.
labor during the Fiddle and
We’ll be hosting more weddings
throughout the year, campers will
Folk Festival we held in
investigate the farm and the Fiddle and Folk Festival will
September. December 7th, Ty Griffin was born to Traci
round out our summer. I hope you will look for our courses
and Todd Thrasher. This is Todd’s fourth child and was
and workshop offerings for kids, and adults, our festivals,
expected to be a girl, born by section on the 11th. But,
spring and summer camps, our delicious vegetables, strawdue to unexpected fetal distress the date was moved up
and to everyone’s surprise she was a he! Siblings Daryl
berries, eggs and all that our farm has to offer. Make us
and Casey were delighted and sister Zoe had to readjust
part of your busy lives and may your comings and goings
to living with three brothers. This strikes a chord in our
be happy ones.
household because when Sam was born, we had been
Benner's Farm
Spring 2013, vol. 27:1
Garden Corner: Trees
Nature in February ~ at first glance it seems to be
frozen in time. But if we look closely, we’ll notice the
subtle changes that are taking place. After the Winter
Solstice on December twenty first, the sun’s light begins
to grow longer each day. In February this becomes more
evident. The trees stand bare, but below-ground, the
sap begins to flow as the Maple trees promise us syrup
and candy made with their generous offering.
I n our Food Web, plants produce,
animals consume. Through photosynthesis, plants produce their own food
(and become food for others). Simply
put, water travels up from the roots to
the leaves of the plant, where carbon
dioxide and the sun’s radiant energy
turns the water molecules and carbon
dioxide into mechanical energy such
as sugars or carbohydrates. These
sugars, along with water and minerals
from the soil, travel throughout the
plant and help it to grow.
Each day, an average size tree filters and cleans the air
and provides enough oxygen to meet the breathing needs
of a family of four. Besides the obvious products, like
food, oxygen, shelter, fuel and paper, trees also provide
us with another major component, cellulose. This is the
substance that gives the tree its rigidity and support.
Mixed with chemicals and other materials, cellulose can
be made into carpets, wigs, fabrics such as rayon, furniture, cellophane and plastics, sausage casing, shatterproof
glass, explosives, shampoo thickeners, imitation leather,
sponges, toothpaste and hundreds of other products. Other
by-products can be made into chewing gum, paint thinner
and medicines. Still another component called latex can
produce rubber and adhesives. It is estimated that a person living in the U.S.
uses the equivalent of one hundred foot
tall tree each year! Wood is 100% renewable, recyclable, and reusable. It is also
biodegradable and will enrich the soil as
it decomposes. Therefore it is sensible to
replant and sustain the forests that we
harvest!
Nature never ceases to transform and
renew. Super-storm Sandy painted a
new farm canvas, transforming much of
the towering green canopy in our woodland. In absence of their larger relatives,
the smaller understory trees and shrubs
now have the opportunity to bask in the sunshine, spread
their roots and grow to their full potential. Other plants
that preferred the shade of the canopy will be replaced by
nature with those that are suited to her new conditions.
One thing that will never
change is that Nature is always changing!
Herb & Plant Sales
Mayday Celebration
selling organically grown custom spring garden
plants, herbs, natives, and unusual heritage varieties
throughout the spring and summer.
Our 23rd May Day Celebration will be held Sunday, May
5th. Bring the family and celebrate the coming of spring
with live music, dance, and flowers! Dance around the
maypole, enjoy the Feinberg Brothers bluegrass band,
feed and cuddle our baby animals, and enjoy the traditional crafts, vendors and food at our old-fashioned festival.
Procedes support Homestead Arts Inc., a not for profit
organization dedicated to enriching our cultural heritage.
We're
Easter Egg Hunt
Easter Sunday- March 31st, 1, 2 & 3 pm Bring your own
basket, and a camera so you can capture your little ones as
they discover bright eggs filled with treats hidden just for them!
Free with admission to the farm
School Field Trips
We are booking now for both spring and fall trips to the
farm. Our hands-on programs allow children to pet and
cuddle all our farm babies and learn about life on a farm.
Extended trips allow time for group demonstrations and a
more involved tour. We are now providing full day handson Colonial farm programs for older elementary children.
These trips are designed to show how people lived many
years ago and allow children to try their hand at doing
some of the chores and crafts of yesteryear. Colonial crafts
programs can be brought to your classroom or incorporated
into your trip to our farm.
Call us for more information.
Strawberry Fair Weekend
Join us on June 8th and 9 th
for an old-fashioned fun-filled
and delicious celebration of one of natures finest treats.
Our organic Strawberries will be chocolated, sundaed,
jammed, waffled and available by the pint or quart. Try
a sample of Bob’s famous strawberry ice cream and spend
the day on our farm playing old-fashioned games with your
children, listening to homemade music, enjoying the farm,
the animals, and having some good old-fashioned fun!
Fiddle and Folk Fest
Three Stages, Great Music, Dance, Food and Fun.
This
end of the Summer treat is held on September 8th, 10 - 7
Spring Break Fun...on the farm!
(children ages six to ten)
Designed for those of you who are not going on vacation
over the spring holiday. What better way to spend your
spring vacation than joining in the outdoor fun we have
planned here on the farm! Kids will start seeds for their
own gardens, watch chicks hatch from eggs, help with farm
chores and care for the new little goats and lambs, play lots
of games, make unique crafts, enjoy tractor rides and trips
to the big swing. The days will fly by and the memories
will last for years to come! (9AM.-1PM. $200) If you are
busy part of the week, you may register for a day or more
at a daily rate. ($50) March 25th - 29th
Summer Camps
Tot Camp, Our week-long morning program (9-12) for
pre-schoolers is back for the seventh great summer! Run
simultaneously but separately from our regular camp, this
active hands-on program will surely delight your three to
four year olds as they experience and learn about the animals and plants of the farm. Crafts, snacks, music, and
lots of fun will be had by all. Classes are small and run
for six weeks only, so register early
Day Camp programs are available by the week; half
day (9-12 & 1-4) or full day (9-4) for elementary aged kids
k-14. With a different theme each day, campers are busy
learning about animals, plants and nature, history, science,
crafts, and food. With fun and games of all kinds, special
guests, and creative endeavors, our campers are assured of
a wonderful and entertaining summer experience. Eight
weeks are available this year. Every camper gets a special
limited edition farm tee shirt. Snacks are provided morning and afternoon.
Kinder Kamp group is specially designed for early school
aged children and we maintain a 6:1 camper to counselor
ratio with this group.
Explorer group is for children through the rest of their
elementary years.
Senior campers: Due to the many requests from campers
and parents we have extended the age of older campers to
accommodate the 12-14 year old group. These will assist
counselors, have more responsibility with farm chores,
extended craft projects, and they will be encouraged to participate in creative independent and group presentations.
Special Before and After Care is available
this year for a nominal fee. Those of you with work related
issues may take advantage of one or both of these offerings.
In addition we are offering a Counselor In Training program for select 14 and 15 year olds who meet our criteria.
Workshops for Kids
Bunny Blast (kids 4 and up), April 6th
This hands-on bunny workshop allows children to hold and
snuggle with some of our new baby bunnies. Children will
learn about the care and feeding of rabbits, make a soft
bunny craft and more. Taught by Judy Wilson 10-12 $35
Barnyard Babies (kids 3 and up), April 13th & May 18th
Our popular introduction to the new baby animals on the
farm will run twice. Children will be introduced to all of
our baby animals and discover what they eat, how they
grow and how we take care of them. Choose the best one
for your schedule. Taught by Angela Montana 10-12 $35
Eat Dirt You Worm! (kids 5 and up), April 20th
Learn about worms: what they eat, how they live, why
they are important to us. They will study composting and
make their own "starter compost" with real red wrigglers.
Taught by Judy Wilson 10-12 $35
Ready, Set, Grow (kids 7 and up), April 27th
Children will discover how seeds germinate, the process of
photosynthesis and the importance of plants in our world.
As soil sleuths we’ll discover living organisms which help
plants grow. Children will make several seed related
projects. Taught by Paula Bivona 10-12 $35
Caterpillars & Critters (kids 3 and up), May 4th
Make and take home a foot-long caterpillar that will grow
into a flower garden. Learn about the bugs and critters
that live in the garden. Taught by Judy Wilson 10-12 $35
Sensational Strawberries (kids 4 and up), May 25th
Join us as we hike to the strawberry field, pick ripe fruit
and make delicious goodies to eat, take home and enjoy.
Help transform our delicious strawberries into jam, ice
cream, cupcakes and more. Two sessions. Farm Staff,
10-12 & 12:30 -2:30 $40
Workshops for Adults
Seed Planting for Early Spring March 2nd
Learn about open pollinated early weather veggies, herbs
and edible flowers, then plant their seeds and take them
home to start your own garden. Paula Bivona 10-11:30 $35
Earth Friendly Herb and Vegetable Gardening
April 13th Discover how to grow a fresh variety of healthy
food in your own back yard using Earth and People Friendly
Methods, Paula Bivona 10-11:30 $25
Mothers Day Centerpiece Workshop May 8th
Wow your family and friends by creating a unique Mothers
Day Centerpiece crafted with a variety of natural flowers
and materials. Paula Bivona 4:30 - 5:30 $35
Needlefelted Tea Cup Pincushion Workshop May 11th
Learn to dry felt using needles! Take home a one of a kind
pincushion that will bring raves from anyone who sees
them! Diane Schwindt, 10-12, $35
Registration refunds: A ten percent fee will be deducted Gardeners Delight Natural Body Care
from all cancelled sessions to cover administrative costs.
No refunds will be given to cancellations made less than
one week in advance.
May 22nd
Learn how to heal those cuts and scrapes, soothe dry skin
and ease aching joints with your gardens bounty. Paula
Bivona 4:30 - 5:30 $15 runs with after school courses
Register Online for Courses and Camp, www.bennersfarm.com
Calendar
February, Cedar Tree
1
Online registrations begin
2
Groundhog Day
10
Chinese New Year of the Snake
23 Maple Sugaring Demonstration
24
Workshops/visits for scouts
25
Full Snow Moon
March, Oak Tree
2
Seed Planting for Early Spring Workshop 1(Adults)
10
Daylight Savings begins
20
Vernal Equinox, Spring begins 7:02AM
23
Easter Flowers Sales begin
25-29 Spring Break Fun on Farm Camp starts
27 Full Sap Moon
30
Baby Barnyards Begin, open Weekends 12-4
31
Easter, Easter Egg Hunts at 1, 2 & 3
April, Walnut Tree
1
April Fools Day
2
1st session of Mommy and Me and other courses begin
6
Kids Workshop 1 Bunny Blast
13
Kids Workshop 2 Barnyard Babies
Earth Friendly Gardening Workshop 2 (adults)
20
Kids Workshop 3 Eat Dirt You Worms
21
Earth Friendly Demonstrations, Native American Plant Sale
22
Earth Day
25
Full Egg Moon
27-28 Log Splitting Demonstrations (Tom Sawyer Weekend)
27
Kids Workshop 4 Ready, Set, Grow
May, Ash Tree
4
Kids Workshop 5 Caterpillars and Critters
5
Mayday Celebration
7
2nd sessions of Mommy and Me and other courses start
8
Mothers Day Centerpiece Workshop 3
11
Needlefelting Tea Cup Pincushion Workshop 4
11-12 Herb and Plant Sale Weekend
12
Mothers Day Tea and Plant Sale
18
Kids Workshop 6 Barnyard Babies
18-19 Sheep Shearing, Fiber Days Weekend
22
Gardeners Delight, Natural Body Care for the Gardener, Workshop 5
25
Kids Workshop 7 Sensational Strawberries
25
Full Flower Moon
26
Interpretive Tour of Farm, Animals, Plants, History and more
27
We will be open Memorial Day, Player Piano Day
June, Birch Tree
8-9 Strawberry Fair Weekend
21
Summer Solstice 1:04AM
23
Full Strawberry Moon
24
First week of camp
July, Elm Tree
1-3
Second week of Camp, Full Thunder Moon 3rd
8
Third Week of Camp
15
Fourth Week of Camp
22
Fifth Week of Camp
22
Full Heat Moon
29
Sixth Week of Camp
August, Pine Tree
5
Seventh Week of Camp
12
Eighth Week of Camp,
12-13 Perseid Meteor showers
21
Full Grain Moon
September, Weeping Willow
8
Fiddle & Folk Fest
Saturday Events
Benner’s Farm is open to the public Weekends
12-4 P.M. from March 30th through our Strawberry
Festival weekend June 8th & 9th. Our nominal fee
of $7/Adult and $6/Child, (tax included) entitles
you to visit with our animals, walk through our
nature trails and participate in special events and
public talks. Our Baby Barnyard will be featured
throughout the spring to introduce you to all our new
animals.
Birthday Parties, Weddings and Private Parties
can be arranged by calling our office at 631-6898172 or email: Folks@BennersFarm.com
After School for Kids
Mommy and Me Our popular program for 2 and
3 year olds in which parent (or care giver) and child
explore their senses as they learn about the farm by
seeing, touching, smelling, hearing and even tasting.
A snack, a song and activity complete the fun of each
session.
Farm Fun is for young farmers aged 4-6. Meet and
learn about a new animal each session. Learn about
spring on the farm by growing plants and holding
and feeding farm babies.
Down on the Farm Boys and girls 7and up learn
about farm life through hands-on experience with
animals, gardens and chores. This spring we will
study baby animals, incubate and hatch eggs, plant
seeds and grow food. This active hour reinforces responsibility and group cooperation.
CALL FOR DATES AND TIMES
631-689-8172 or bennersfarm.com
The Little Store
A large assortment of seasonal goods: seedlings, produce,
eggs, t-shirts, jams, honey, soaps and other farm products.
Open weekends in the Spring noon till four
Directions to Benner's Farm
Exit 62 L.I.E. North, (Nichols Rd.), to 25A, East 5 lights, Right
on Old Town Rd. (at Apple Bank). Right at Stop sign, (Gnarled
Hollow Rd.). Second and Third driveway on Right side.