Two hundred years ago, nearly every hillside you can see from Hildene was sheep pasture. On Saturday, October 24, you can spend a couple of hours finding out how that happened, meet the flock that carries the story forward today, and go home with something you made from their wool. It's free, there's no sign-up, and all are welcome.

An Afternoon in the Dene

"Threads of History: Sheep and Fleece at Hildene Farm" is scheduled for 11AM-1PM at Hildene Farm in the dene, 1552 River Road. It is part of the Manchester Community Library's “Threads of History” series. Registration is not required and there is no fee for the program, thanks to support from Vermont Humanities. Go directly to the farm and park there. 

If you have ever driven past the gate and wondered what's there, this is an easy way to find out. You don't need to be a member. You don't need to know anything about sheep.

"Ages zero to ninety," says Ann Hausslein, Hildene Farm's Gardens Manager and Educator, when asked about the potential audience for the afternoon event. Kyle Turner of Hildene's youth education team, who is leading the day with Ann, puts it another way: "I think it's more impactful when we can have different generations all learning the same thing and all exploring spaces together."

What The Day Offers

The workshop has two parts. If the weather holds, the first part starts outside in the fall sunlight with the sweeping valley views. Kyle will share how Vermont's sheep-raising past reshaped the landscape, and how you can still read that history in the hills and stone walls around us. From there, everyone walks to the barn to meet Hildene's flock and learn a bit about what it takes to raise sheep today. Livestock Manager George Gowdy will be on hand to answer questions.

Then Ann takes over for the hands-on part: a quick introduction to the wool and how it felts together, followed by a felting project simple and engaging enough for anyone to finish. 

Make a Bookmark with Wool from Hildene's Own Sheep

Every piece of wool on the worktable comes from a sheep at Hildene Farm. After shearing, the fleece is cleaned and spun into roving, carded or pin-drafted long, untwisted bundles of wool prepared for hand-spinning, felting, or fiber arts, in the natural colors of the sheep. Some is shaped into felted sheets which are cut to bookmark size by Hildene volunteers. 

Guests choose a bookmark, select their colors, and needle-felt the wool onto it. "Kind of like a reverse needlepoint," as one first-timer put it. "You're pushing the needle into the felt rather than through it."

The color palette available is the best part. Alongside the natural creams, grays, and browns of the flock, Burr and Burton Academy's ethnobotany students have dyed Hildene wool using plants, the way it was done when wool was Vermont's biggest business. For the workshop, Ann has chosen four colors: yellow from weld, a softer gold from onion skins, orange from coreopsis, and pink from madder root.

"You really don't need that much wool" Ann says. A bookmark takes only a few tufts, so there's room to play. Make a stripe, make a landscape, make two bookmarks if you're quick.

The Museum Store displays an assortment of fiber art finished pieces created by the Hildene Farm crew.

Why Sheep and Why Here

Vermont's "sheep mania" began in the early 1800s, when a Boston merchant named William Jarvis brought Spain's closely guarded Merino sheep to Vermont, and the rest of the state followed. Within a few decades, most of the state's forests had been cleared for pasture. The stone walls you find on nearly every hike in the Northshire are, in large part, leftover sheep fences.

The forest came back. Hildene's flock is a reminder of what the landscape was like before the circumstances changed. The Farm in the dene is one of the few places where you can see both at once: the pasture, the barn, and the tree-studded landscape that has grown back around them.

Plan your visit

• What: Threads of History: Sheep and Fleece at Hildene Farm

• When: Saturday, October 24, 11AM to 1PM

• Where: Hildene Farm in the dene, 1552 River Road, Manchester. Park at the farm.

• Cost: Free. No sign-up required. Supported in part by Vermont Humanities.

• Who: All ages. Families welcome.

The Manchester Community Library's Threads of History series continues through the fall, including "The Story of the Manchester Journal: 165+ Years of Local Intelligence" on October 29 and "Broadside Printing and a Revolutionary Press" on November 14. Find the full series on the library's website.