Homesteading Festival at VIC on Sept. 29-Schedule! - 2012-09-21

The 2012 Adirondack Rural Skills & Homesteading Festival

The Paul Smith’s College VIC is pleased to announce the 2012 Adirondack Rural Skills & Homesteading Festival Presented by Mother Earth News. This celebration of rural skills will showcase the talents of a bygone era with a distinctly Adirondack flair. Exhibitions will include logging and farming with draft horses sponsored by the Paul Smith’s Draft Horse Club, and a demonstration of competitive lumberjack sports by the Paul Smith’s Woodsmen’s Team. Workshops will appeal to a wide range of interests and include topics such as canning, cider making, woodworking, renewable energy, cordwood construction, small-scale farming, heating with firewood and primitive skills.

Read the event press release.

Workshop Titles and Presenters:

9 a.m.-4 p.m. - Cider Pressing- Paul Smith’s College Sustainability Office
9 a.m.-4 p.m. - Butter Making- Paul Smith’s College Sustainability Office
10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. - Paul Smith’s Woodsmen’s Team Exhibitions
10 a.m. & 3:30 p.m. - Fire Without Matches- Hal Beck (Adirondack Leadership Expeditions)
10 a.m. & 12 p.m. -Make Your Own Sauerkraut: The Basics of Fermentation- TBA
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Horses & Hand Tools: Low Impact Logging (Paul Smith’s College Draft Horse Club)
11 a.m. & 2 p.m. - Canning 101: Elizabeth Harper
Noon-4 p.m. Horses on the Homestead: The Original Tractor (Paul Smith’s College Draft Horse Club)
Noon on - From Tree to Tool: Traditional Longbow Construction- Craig Milewski
12:30 p.m. - Fly Tying 101- Randall Swanson
1 p.m. - The Great Carhartt Giveaway- Sponsored by TRiO SSS and Student Activities
1-1:45 p.m. - Featured Presenter: Rob Roy- “Pay as you go” The key to a sustainable life (a financial literacy lesson from a cordwood builder) Sponsored by TRiO Student Support Services
2 p.m. - Paul Smith’s College Natural Resources Presentation for Prospective Students
2 p.m. - Backyard Chickens Part 1: From Chicks to Eggs- David Patrick
2 p.m. - Mountain Music Jam- (Cary & Curt Stager)
2:15 p.m. - Q&A Session: Paul Smith’s College Natural Resources Program: Walking the Talk (NRMP, NRSS)
2:30 p.m. - Backyard Chickens Part 2: The Meat Bird- Joe Orefice
9 a.m.-4 p.m. - Wood Chopping 101: Secrets of Successful Splitting- Paul Smith’s Forestry Club
3 p.m. - Firewood Science: Getting the most BTU’s from your woodlot- Joe Orefice
3:30 p.m. - ANCA Cleaner, Greener Communities: Creating a More Sustainable Adirondack-North Country
4 p.m. - Antique/farm tractor operation, safety and maintenance- Joe Orefice
10:30 a.m. - The Backyard Mycologist: A Field Walk- The Adirondack Mycology Club

Ongoing - Local Food Culinary Arts Demonstration
Ongoing - Birchbark Baskets & Primitive Skills (Bethany Garrison, ALE, Future Generations, TRiO)
Ongoing - Cleaner Greener Communities (ANCA and Conservation Design: Green Communities)
Ongoing - Adirondack Farmers’ Market
Ongoing - Museum Exhibit: Hippie Homes & Homesteads: Presented by TAUNY
Ongoing - The Saranac Lake Artworks Artist at Work Tour
Ongoing - Beef cattle for the small farm- Joe Orefice
Ongoing - Cordwood Construction: Rob Roy
Ongoing - The Homestead Goat: From Milk to Soap (The Adirondack Goat Club)
Ongoing - Firewood Giveaway- 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m.