Sanborn Mills Farm

Call Directions Website

Sanborn Mills Farm Hands on education in craft and traditional farming. Inspiring the future with tools from the past.

Sanborn Mills Farm is a traditional New Hampshire working farm with agricultural fields and managed forests, timber framed barns and outbuildings still in use for animals, a sawmill, a grist mill (both water-powered), and a blacksmith shop, all dating from the 1830s. The farm buildings are clustered around two dams at the outlet of Sanborn Pond, and are surrounded by almost 2,000 acres of open space in conservation.

Our friends at the Canterbury Shaker Village produced this thoughtful look at the partnership between our organizations....
10/13/2026

Our friends at the Canterbury Shaker Village produced this thoughtful look at the partnership between our organizations. Thank you to the team at Canterbury Shaker Village for giving us the opportunity to work alongside you with shared values of stewardship and education.

https://www.shakers.org/a-season-of-growth-with-sanborn-mills-farm/

Late autumn calls for practical preservation. Restoring historic walls requires a deep understanding of traditional mate...
10/11/2026

Late autumn calls for practical preservation. Restoring historic walls requires a deep understanding of traditional materials and the deliberate, physical process of layering them by hand.

In this two-day workshop, Emmett O'Carroll teaches the discipline of traditional lime plaster creation and repair. Students will work directly on one of our historic properties, mastering lathe preparation, applying a scratch coat with a horsehair basecoat, and executing precise straight edging and Darby work before finishing with a lime top coat. You will learn the history and science behind the material while actively preserving a piece of New England architecture.

Finishing is often called the last chance to ruin a project, but it is also the last thing you do and the first thing pe...
10/09/2026

Finishing is often called the last chance to ruin a project, but it is also the last thing you do and the first thing people see. It is a high-stakes discipline where hours of precise joinery and hand-tool work meet the unpredictable reality of grain and pigment.

Look at this as an opportunity to practice one of the most challenging parts of a woodworking project before applying it to your own furniture. In this three-day course, Brad Wolcott teaches students how to prepare raw material and properly apply fine finishes by hand using a brush, pad, or rag. You will leave the woodshop with five completed sample boards to serve as a reliable reference for making the best first impression on your future work.

Introduction to Finishing for Woodworkers runs November 6–8.

Getting into the Halloween spirit in the curing room! đź‘» The vibrant pink glow and hanging stalks might look a little par...
10/07/2026

Getting into the Halloween spirit in the curing room! 👻 The vibrant pink glow and hanging stalks might look a little paranormal, but it’s just the perfect setup to preserve our onion harvest.

We didn't plan for this class to be on Holloween, but it is quite serendipitous. Join certified Sanborn Mills Farm staff...
10/06/2026

We didn't plan for this class to be on Holloween, but it is quite serendipitous. Join certified Sanborn Mills Farm staff, Ray Ramsey and Tyler Allen, for a spooky special: Chicken Processing!

In this hands-on class students will learn the basic skills of humanely processing their own birds. You will leave with one 5 – 6 lb. packaged bird to take home.

This essential agricultural skill vital to any homesteader’s practice. Visit our website for more information!

Friend of the farm Craig Mabie will lead a tour of the new trail south of the Sanborn Pond this Saturday, 10/10 at 10am....
10/06/2026

Friend of the farm Craig Mabie will lead a tour of the new trail south of the Sanborn Pond this Saturday, 10/10 at 10am. Don't miss this chance to see the fall foliage in the woods. More information is available on our website!

Dear leaf peepers: it may not be the Kanc, but we're proud of our color in Loudon!
10/05/2026

Dear leaf peepers: it may not be the Kanc, but we're proud of our color in Loudon!

If you visit the Deerfield Fair this weekend, stop by the Vegetable Barn to see Calvin Matras' red ribbon farm project! ...
10/03/2026

If you visit the Deerfield Fair this weekend, stop by the Vegetable Barn to see Calvin Matras' red ribbon farm project! Last year, Ray Ramsey gifted Calvin some seed. Calvin sowed the seed, harvested it, and brought the harvest to our 1919 thresher.

Read the story here - https://sanbornmills.org/blog/restoring-the-harvest/

Most people meet a drill press as a machine to be wary of. Sarah Highland treats it as a tool you can learn to trust.Fro...
10/02/2026

Most people meet a drill press as a machine to be wary of. Sarah Highland treats it as a tool you can learn to trust.

From October 30 to November 1, she leads A Women’s Introduction to Woodshop Tools: The Little Dovetail Bench, offered with the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. The project is small on purpose. Over three days you lay out the cuts, run the chop saw, bandsaw, table saw, jigsaw, and drill press, then pick up a mallet, a chisel, and a block plane to cut the dovetail that holds the bench together.

Highland has spent her working life at the meeting of wood, design, and people, from timber frames raised in a group to homes and barns built of real wood. This class is for beginners and for anyone with a little shop time already behind them. Visit our site for registration information.

The trees are already vibrant here at the farm!
09/30/2026

The trees are already vibrant here at the farm!

Address

7097 Sanborn Road
Loudon, NH
03307

Telephone

(603) 435-7314

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sanborn Mills Farm posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category