Come learn with us at the farm! We love to learn and to share our experiences and knowledge with others. Let us know if you'd like to see a particular topic offered and we'll see what we can do.
We've added four new workshops in 2026! Each has a specific date AND ALSO we can schedule additional dates by request. So if the dates listed below don't work for you, contact us (ancientspringfarm@protonmail.com or 336-639-4314) to schedule a private workshop (minimum 2 people, maximum 8 people). Workshop prices, registration deadlines, and other info are listed after descriptions.
To reserve spots for a workshop, pay us through Venmo using the QR code at the bottom of this page and include the name of the workshop and number of people in your payment notes. Contact us with any questions or issues. Registration payments are refundable until 8 pm on the registration deadline.
Crafting a Wreath
Beauty is all around us. We just have to see it! The farm yields all different kinds of decorative plant materials, feathers, and other design elements. Come make a decorative wreath with us using available materials of your choice! Don't think you're very artsy? We can help you find your style, color, and balance. We already have a lot of dried materials and feathers to work with but we can also have fun walking the farm to see what additional materials we can find.
January 17, 2026 10 am to noon $35 per person. Price includes supplies for making one wreath. Up to 2 hours. Register by January 15.
Beginning Chicken Keeping
Love eggs and want to produce your own? Captivated by chickens but don't know how to care for them? Come to the farm to learn! We'll talk about chicken breeds, behavior, chicks versus pullets, coop and run size and design, free-range versus contained, best care practices, basic health, wellness, first aid, and more - all with an eye toward keeping costs down. Of course you'll also get to meet the ladies and gent and tour their homes!
Psst, don't tell the other animals but chickens are Rebecca's favorite kind of farm animal! She has experience with both small-scale urban chicken raising and larger-scale rural chicken production. She built a small coop in her urban backyard and got her first three chickens during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Since purchasing the farm she's dramatically increased the size of her flock and coops and now sells eggs to friends and farmer's market customers.
January 31, 2026, 10 am to noon $40 per person. Approximately 2 hours. Register by January 29.
Making a Gourd Bird House
We had fun growing bird house gourds a couple years ago. Now that they're dried and cleaned, they're ready to be turned into cozy and creatively decorated bird houses! Learn some basics about making houses for different kinds of birds, then select the unique size and shape you'd like, drill the holes, and decorate the gourd according to your choosing using available paints and other materials.
February 7, 2026, 10 am to noon $40 per person. Price includes supplies for making one gourd bird house. Up to 2 hours. Register by February 5.
Foraging on the Farm
Have you ever looked closely at the wild plants that are growing in your lawn, along the road, and in other disturbed areas? Some people refer to them as weeds but did you know that many of those plants, as well as other vines, shrubs, and trees, are edible and a great source of nutrients and minerals for people? Come forage on the farm with Rebecca to find and taste many different edible flora! Edible wild plants vary with the season so we'll have fun walking the farm and seeing what we can find. We'll talk about how to forage and eat wild plants safely and sustainably. We'll also talk about ways to prepare specific wild plants and you'll get to take home what you've foraged.
Rebecca is an amateur herbalist and lover of things old, wild, and botanical. She is constantly learning about the incredible diversity of flora and fauna on the farm and about how to live a mindful and healthy life in balance with the environment.
March 21, 2026, 10 am to noon $25 per person. Approximately 1 hour. Register by March 19.
Landscaping with Native Plants
Did you know that a whole lot of native plants (and some of their cultivars) are beautiful, hardy, and easy to grow, and they attract gorgeous and beneficial birds, butterflies, bees, and all kinds of other pollinators and critters? Plus, many native plants reproduce easily so you can expand your garden and share plants with friends with minimal up-front costs. There's nothing like standing in the middle of a native-plant garden in early summer hearing and seeing dozens of different species of insects and birds eating and drinking! Come to the farm to learn about designing and maintaining native-plant gardens and propagating some specific native plants. You'll get to see numerous species of native plants in various stages of growth and learn about their qualities and best growing conditions. We can even develop a basic garden design for you while you're here and you may go home with some plant starts and/or seeds if we have them available!
Rebecca comes from a long line of gardeners and is a lover of things old, wild, and botanical. She is constantly learning more about the incredible diversity of flora and fauna on the farm and about how to live a mindful and healthy life in balance with the environment.
April 18, 2026, 2 to 4 pm $25 per person. Approximately 1 hour. Register by April 16.
Making Mead
Drink of ancient heroes and modern wizards, mead (alcohol made of fermented honey) is known archaeologically to be at least 5,000 to 9,000 years old and is found around the world. That antiquity makes mead one of the first alcoholic beverages our diverse ancestors consumed. Unlike grape and palm wine, beer, whiskey, rum, vodka, chicha, and other alcohols made with domesticated plants, mead can be created from completely wild, naturally occurring ingredients. As a result, mead is a very approachable and personable drink that is easy to make and infinitely adaptable to personal taste and experimentation. This workshop will begin with a brief history of mead and its appearance in archaeology and ancient and modern literature. Next will come a summary of the great variety of mead-like drinks that are made. After sampling many different flavors, participants will start their own half-gallon batches of mead using pure honey and water, and optionally flavored with one or more flowers, herbs, fruits, and/or woods of each participant’s choosing.
Rebecca is a professional archaeologist and historic preservationist, amateur Celtophile, and lover of things old, wild, and botanical. She learned to make mead from a grad school friend in 2005. Since then, she has experimented with diverse botanically based flavors and has created numerous batches of mead with plants she has collected herself, including many that grow on the farm.
May 9, 2026, 3 to 5 pm $60 per person. Price includes all supplies for starting a 1/2-gallon batch of mead. Approximately 2 hours. Register by May 2.
