Courtesy of Billings Farm & Museum
One of Billings’ Southdown ewes gets sheared as part of an annual demonstration.
WOODSTOCK — Billings Farm & Museum, gateway to Vermont’s rural heritage, will open for its 33rd season on Friday, May 1, featuring horse-drawn wagon rides, free ice cream, and farm programs, in addition to the operating dairy farm, restored farmhouse and farm life exhibits.
The Farm & Museum will be open daily through Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, Billings features “Sheep Shearing & Herding with Border Collies” from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The weekend showcases the spring shearing of the farm’s Southdown ewes by Craig Marcotte at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m., along with spinning and carding demonstrations of the skills needed to turn fleece into yarn. Plus, watch herdsman Steve Wetmore as his team of border collies herds sheep in the farm fields during narrated programs at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Wool craft activities will take place in the activity barn.
The operating dairy farm, farm life exhibits, and the restored and furnished farmhouse are included in the entrance fee. For more info, www.billingsfarm.org.
