Tag Archives: special event

Woolapalooza: Everyone’s Favorite Fiber Festival

This past weekend we enjoyed another successful celebration of sheep and their wooly contributions to the way we live. Woolapalooza, Drumlin Farm’s annual springtime festival, connects our visitors to the Sheep-to-Sweater story through live demonstrations, hands-on activities, and visits to our resident sheep.

At the Crossroads Barn, visitors got to witness live sheep shearing done by our season’s expert Kevin Ford.

Sharpening the shearing scissors

It’s sometimes hard to tell where the sheep ends and it’s thick wool coat begins, but this ain’t Kevin’s first sheep haircut.

On the Sheep-to-Sweater Interpretative Trail, families followed along a trail of tables set up with different interactive aspects of wool processing.

Getting a closer look at the wool carders.

This hand-cranked carding machine turns larger clumps of wool into smooth fibers ready for spinning.

The first of many foot-powered spinning wheels shows how piles of wool are spun into yarn.

Visitors were invited to explore our regular exhibits, making their way through the Farm Loop with other crafts and vendor tables set up, and a chili lunch at the Farm Life Center.

Hand made yarns for sale, continuing to be made while you browse.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, vendors, and sponsors Iggy’s Bread, Whole Foods Sudbury, Black Earth Compost, and Verrill Farm, for their help in creating another fun filled day! See you at Woolapalooza 2019!

Another Delicious Pancake Breakfast

This past weekend we enjoyed fluffy pancakes, fresh Drumlin Farm sausage and potatoes, and real maple syrup at our annual Farmer’s Breakfast. Visitors were able to learn about the “sap-to-syrup” journey that starts with tapping a maple tree….

Our sugarbush has a few of our resident sugar maple trees tapped and collecting sap, which later becomes the Drumlin Farm syrup you can buy at our admissions window. The drip is slow and the mapling season is short, but the product is sweet!

The tapping involves drilling a hole into the trunk of the tree, which visitors were able to try for themselves at the Pond House.

The sap collected from the trees is actually 97% water. The water gets boiled out in our evaporator and among the sweet smelling steam you can find the beginnings of maple syrup.

At this stage, visitors were able to enjoy samplings of the “maple tea” that is made; not as thick as maple syrup, but still delicious.

For those of us that didn’t grow up on maple farms, this process is eye opening and a definite photo-opp to take advantage of.

Outside the Nature Center, we prepared the perfect syrup soaker – fresh pancakes!

Inside, we warmed up with pancakes with real maple syrup, Drumlin Farm sausage and roasted potatoes, and coffee. This hearty breakfast was perfect for the brisk, sunny winter days we had.

With a little luck, our raffle winners were also able to take home a pancake basket prize!

Thank you to all of our volunteers that helped with preparing, serving, and cleaning, as well as our sponsors this year: Karma Coffee, PEAK Event Services, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods (Sudbury), Donelan’s, and Sudbury Farms. See you next year!

Missed the Pancake Breakfast? Can’t get enough of Drumlin Farm? Browse our other upcoming programs and events in our program catalog.