|
|
 Summer Camp Flyers in the Mail
If you haven't received your copy, or you'd like to get one, download it here, or email Julia Penca. She can also add your name to our mailing list to receive next year's flyer. Online registration for our lottery ends FEBRUARY 18. Apply now.
Welcome Center Hours
WINTER HOURS: 10 am - 5 pm, daily.
Upcoming Programs
All Listings. Register at 802-985-8686
- Tracking & Trailing a VT Carnivore, Saturday, FEBRUARY 13
- Forester for A Day, Sat, FEB. 20
- Owl Prowl, Saturday, FEB. 27
- Bedrock to Birds RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM, Friday-Sunday, May 28–30
Star-Gazing Sleigh Rides
Saturdays,
FEB 13 & 27, MARCH 6, & Sunday, FEB 14
6:00, 6:45, 7:30 pm
Members: $12/adults; $7/child; others: $15/$10. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: 802-985-8686.
Weekend Sleigh Rides
Sat & Sun, every 1/2 hour, 11 am-2 pm
All sleigh rides are weather permitting.
 A Vermont Wedding Site Like No Other..
On the shores of Lake Champlain in the historic Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms.
For information on booking a 2010 or 2011 wedding, email Andrea Van Hoven, or call her at 802-985-0405.
Proceeds support Shelburne Farms education programs and the stewardship of its historic buildings and landscape.
What staff are reading
A lot of our staff are readers, especially this time of year. In the spirit of "hibernating," here's a sample of what's on our night tables. (A more complete list is here.)
- Tender At The Bone, Ruth Reichl
Jane Boisvert, Development Clerk
- Fourth Uncle in the Mountain, Quang Van Nguyen
Judy Brooks, Tour Guide Coordinator
- The Children’s Story, A.S. Byatt
Holly Brough, Communications Director
- Ada BlackJack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic,
Jennifer Niven
Lenore Budd, Membership Coordinator
- A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
Margaret Burke, Field Trip Coordinator
- The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Megan Camp, Vice-President
Join us on:
   |
| |
|
|
 Dear friend of Shelburne Farms,
One of my favorite questions to ask students is, “How do you adapt to winter?” Some students tell me they’re hibernators. They’d like to spend the whole winter snuggled up in a cave like a little brown bat. Others claim to be dormant, like a skunk or raccoon: They might just wake up to snack (or to build the occasional snowman). But here at the Farm, they all become “Active in Winter!”
It’s inspiring to go into the forest with kids in the wintertime. Helping them find fresh tracks or learn to build a fire for the first time is thrilling! They leave raving to their friends about having seen “A REAL DEER” or how they overcame the challenges of trekking across a field through the harsh wind to find a safe place in the woods. It’s a privilege to watch them realize that even on the frostiest days when the world may appear to be hibernating, the land is alive and offers itself as our classroom and playground.
And it's not just children learning to cope with the cold. At the end of a recent school visit, a teacher said to me, “As a hibernator myself, I had been dreading this trip. I didn’t want to spend a bitter day outside. But I learned a lot about survival, and being outdoors isn’t so bad at all--especially when I’m keeping active and prepared for the weather!”
To find out more about animals in winter, try Bernd Heinrich’s Winter World, or any Tom Brown Field Guide. (They're both at the Welcome Center.) Or email me for a complete bibliography. How do you stay “Active in Winter?”
Margaret Burke
Field Trip Coordinator |
 Are you big enough to tap?
Measuring human "trunks" instead of tree trunks is a fun, visual way for kids to see how big a maple tree needs to be for tapping. That was one of many ideas for educators at our recent "Sweet Sugaring" workshop. Sugaring is a month or two off, so now's the time for teachers to learn how to share its magic with students. Find the magic yourself at Maple Sugaring Weekend, March 27 & 28, or check out our other educator workshops.
Baby Goats 101
 In order to have kid goats in June, you need a buck goat in January! We have borrowed "Evan" to sire this year's kid goats at the Children's Farmyard. "Evan" is an Alpine goat, and he'll be enjoying his status here for another week or so. Then, we'll return him to our friends at Fat Toad Farm in Brookfield, Vermont.
The Year in 'Highlights'
As a warm-up at our January all-staff meeting, everyone shared a 'highlight' from 2009. (Some were hard-pressed to keep it to one.) A few are below.
Send us your Farm highlight from 2009! We'd love to hear and share it.
More staff highlights.
- “I got to teach my Mom at a professional development conference for educators!"
-- Laura Viani, Education
- “The awards ceremony at the American Cheese Society Conference —It was like the Grammys of Cheese!"
-- Ellen Fox, Cheese & Catalog
- “I have a new office with chickens outside my window. I feel so connected.”
-- Allison Oskar, Accounting
- “My mom and sister visited me during the Harvest Festival and finally got to see that I don’t just work at ‘some farm in Shelburne’.”
-- Jamie Heinchon, Buildings & Grounds
 Star Gazing Sleigh Rides a Hit
With chilly nights and snowy fields, our star-gazing sleigh rides have been a hit this season. Julia Penca, our "welcoming committee" on those evenings, reports, "People hop off the sleighs saying how amazing it is to see the property at night--and the wildlife." And with Valentine's Day not far off, Julia also reports that last year, three couples got engaged on evening sleigh rides. What will this year bring? Upcoming dates: Saturdays, FEB 13 & 27, MARCH 6, & Sunday, FEB 14
6:00, 6:45, 7:30 pm. Call 802-985-8686
Bill Oosterman rests himself & team between rides.
 Winter Phenology: Foxes
By Matt Kolan, Shelburne Farms naturalist
In early January, red foxes often abandon their solitary wandering and begin traveling in pairs -- leaving braided trails in the snow. During this courtship, a vixen will often dig out several lairs. Eventually, she'll choose one as a whelping den for her kits in spring. You might smell signs of courting foxes. Both sexes are scenting more often and the smell is now much stronger and mustier--you can detect it at quite a distance. Learn more at Tracking and Trailing a Vermont Carnivore, Saturday, February 13.
What is phenology, anyway? Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle events. Put simply, it is nature’s calendar.
|
Shelburne Farms cultivates a conservation ethic by teaching and demonstrating the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources.
We are a nonprofit environmental education center, 1,400-acre working farm, and National Historic Landmark.