The Quillisascut Farm School of Domestic Arts
Sustainable Small-Acreage
Farming from Field to Table
During weeklong retreats, participants milk goats, make cheese, help care for farm animals,
transplant vegetables, and harvest produce from the gardens. Presentations about honeybees,
grass-finished meats, composting, organic labeling standards, genetically-modified foods, and
globalization, plus visits to neighboring farms are all part of the experience.

Day 1: Monday
2:00 pm Arrive and settle in
2:30 pm Cheese plate, introductions, schedule, expectations, goals, outcomes,
             barriers, worthy habits
3:30 pm Kitchen and pantry tour
4:00 pm Farm/garden tour, compost demonstration
6:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Video: Broken Limbs: Apples, Agriculture and the New American Farmer
8:30 pm Discussion: Keeping the Family on the Farm and the Farm in the Family.
             How can we challenge the next generation to return to farming?

Day 2: Tuesday
6:00 am Butcher goat
7:30 am Breakfast/coffee
8:00 am Morning meeting/Word of the Day: “Respect”
8:45 am Cheesemaking
11:00 am Garden work
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Farm visit: organic orchard and coffee roasters
3:30 pm Knife skills and preparation of pizza toppings for dinner
5:30 pm Begin firing pizzas in the wood fired oven
6:00 pm Dinner and clean up
7:30 pm Group presentations/projects: Farm-to-Cafeteria

Day 3: Wednesday
6:00 am Morning Milking
7:00 am Morning Chores and Garden Work
7:30 am Breakfast/Coffee
8:00 am Morning Meeting/Word of the Day: “Sustainable”
9:00 am Nutrition and Health Benefits of a Local Food System
11:00 am Chef Connections
12:00 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Farm visit: pastured poultry farm/grass fed/finished meats and the
             WSU’s Mobile Poultry Processing Unit (MPPU)
3:30 pm Dinner prep and cider making
6:00 pm Dinner and clean-up
7:30 pm Direct marketing for small farms: MPPU continued, models/co-ops, CSA’s

Day 4: Thursday
6:00 am Morning milking
7:00 am Morning chores and garden work
7:30 am Breakfast/Coffee
8:00 am Morning meeting/Word of the Day: “Enough”
9:00 am Herbal infusions
10:00 pm Farm visit: organic orchard
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Beekeeping and honey
3:00 pm Nature walk
3:30 pm Dinner prep and cider making
6:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Group presentations/projects as many as time will allow if everyone would come prepared to tell about projects they are working on. Part of the adventure is seeing how we can work together or help each other with the work we are doing.

Day 5: Friday
6:00 am Morning milking group
7:00 am Morning chores and garden work
7:30 am Breakfast
8:00 am Morning meeting/Word of the Day: “Grateful”
9:00 am Quillisascut Farm to Table video
9:45 am Discussion: The agricultural professional’s role in small farm viability
11:00 am Pack, write in guestbook, goodbyes…

Daily Chores and Garden Work
● Harvest corn, hang for drying, cut down stalks to feed to animals
● Harvest pole beans, potatoes, tomatillos, dried shelly beans, tomatoes s
● Pick up hazelnuts, walnuts from around trees
● Pick up ground fruit and feed to goats/pigs
● Feed and water the goats, pigs, cows, quail, and chickens
● Gather quail and chicken eggs
● Move mobile chicken tractor
● Water main garden, vineyard, potager, yard, and raised beds
● Empty compost, animal bucket, goat