Embarking on a life of farming is daunting at its best and downright frustrating at its worst.
Most farming stories begin with the exhilaration of following the heart, followed by the intimidation of mastering countless skills rapidly. Learning how to farm can be an arduous, expensive, and frustrating journey that dooms many to early failure.
At River Cottage Farm, we started with nothing. Over years of hard work and hard lessons, we amassed expertise from agricultural textbooks, best-practices conferences, and, most of all, our fellow farmers. With their help, we built our successful farm.
Now, it’s our turn to share what we have learned with you. That’s why we are offering workshops at the farm where you can join us for a day or stay with us for up to a week. Through our workshop program, you will experience the workings of a farm, learn in a one-on-one setting, and practice the skills you will need to run your own establishment. With our subject-focused workshops, you can customize your learning to the topics that will be most useful to your future farm;
100% Grass Fed Dairying
Raising Sheep
Raising Pastured Poultry
Raising Laying Hens
Pasturing Pigs
Raising Grass Fed Beef
Fiber Beginning to End
During our 5-day Farm Workshops you can get an overview of all aspects of the farm including;
Record Keeping for a Sustainable Farm
Setting up Quickbooks for Your Farm
How to Design a Website
How to Cook What You Raise
Cheesemaking 101
Passing the Farm On to the Next Generation
How to Set up at a Farmer’s Market
We have no hesitation in saying that you will save your tuition, many times over, in the first year of your venture. Click on a Farm Stay Workshop banner to see more about each workshop.
Fiber Workshop
The Continuous Thread What I love so much about the Fiber Arts is that, from the day a lamb is born, or an indigo seed is dropped into the soil until someone wears our labor or love, one continuous thread holds us all together. It makes me think about the creek that...
We've all been there; traveling from one farm conference to the next, gathering ideas and leaving super excited about possibilities and just a tad overwhelmed thinking about the execution. Come and spend the week on our farm, working with us during the day, spending...
All About Pastured Poultry
My son, Brayden has been moving and building chicken pens since he was around 10 years of age. I myself was the first person in Kentucky to get a slap on the wrist from the Kentucky Health Department for selling pastured chicken. In the late 1990's I presented at...
Grass Fed Sheep 101
,This workshop will begin with learning to ask the right questions before you even set those four little hooves down on your farm. We have a battery of questions that we are certain haven't even entered your mind and the answers to those questions will show a clear...
100% Grass Fed Dairying Workshop
How to Start and Run a Grass Fed DairyLearn how to run a small, 100% Grass Fed micro dairy on your farm. Many people still tell us that you can't produce milk without feeding grain but we've done it successfully for the past 20 years. You'll learn how to chose a...