CHARLEMONT — Hawlemont Regional School’s Hawlemont, Agriculture, and You (HAY) program will host its sixth annual HAY conference this Saturday where a variety of new and repeating workshops will take place throughout the day.
The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at Hawlemont Regional School. The day is divided into three separate blocks of time for a total of 20 workshops run by volunteers, as well as a break for lunch. Each session costs $15, or one can attend all three sessions for $40. The program costs $25 for children or $10 per workshop.
“This is a great community driven day of workshops,” agriculture educator Sienna Laire said. “We can teach one another and learn from local specialists living in our community about being sustainable, coming back to the land and providing for ourselves and one another.”
New workshops this year include Salve Making with Hannah Jacobson-Hardy. The owner of Sweet Birch Herbals and Full Moon Ghee in Ashfield will teach people to make healing salves by infusing local plants in oil.
Stevie Jick of Stream Punk Village will teach log cabin/sauna building in the first session starting at 9:30 a.m.. People will get the opportunity to debark logs and see a demonstration of the traditional method of sauna building.
Michelle Lee, owner of A Chick in the Sticks Homestead will teach the basics of raising rabbits in the backyard. Rabbits are fairly easy to breed and can be eaten as sustainable meat. This workshop helps anyone interested get started.
“We have all of these really wonderful and generous people in the community. We have new people and those who show up every year,” Laire said.
Returning volunteers include Shahid Jalil of Sidehill Farm who will teach about how to make paneer, an Indian cheese, and Sheila Litchfield will demonstrate how to make tiramisu from mascarpone cheese, which she will teach how to make in an earlier session.
A local trio will play live music during the community lunch at 12:15 p.m. where soup and salad will be served. Registration for the conference begins at 9 a.m. or can be done online beforehand at forms.gle/bokhVjKbN25yoqjdA.
“The event is all about investing in the community and our planet to slow down and learn from one another,” Laire said.
Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.