Photo Credit : Courtesy of Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins
For “New England Makers” (season 6, episode 2), Weekends with Yankee Richard Wiese is in Shaftsbury, Vermont, to meet Tammy White and her flock of sheep at Wing & A Prayer Farm and learn how she turns wool into stunningly beautiful yarn. The farm is also on the New England farm stay circuit through Airbnb. For the perfect blend of natural delights and modern comforts, a farm stay can provide the perfect getaway. Here’s a list of more favorite farm stays in New England.
Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins in Hartland, Vermont Photo Credit : Courtesy of Fat Sheep Farm & Cabins
Before they owned 59 acres of woods, fields, and sheep-grazing grounds, Todd Heyman and Suzy Kaplan sketched their dream farm on graph paper. That vision, including five sun-filled cabins with fully outfitted kitchens, is now a real rural escape, where you can collect eggs, milk sheep, or simply porch-sit and allow magical mountain views to stir dreams of your own. Three cabins are dog-friendly; stalls are available for visiting horses.
Take your picnic breakfast, and choose your grazing spot. There are so many idyllic options on this conserved 120-acre plot enfolded by mountains, including a replica of Thoreau’s Walden cabin. The farm’s lineage reaches back six generations; the solar-powered, three-guestroom B&B is a glimpse of green energy’s future. You can feed the small llama herd, weed gardens, help with haying, or spend days hiking and biking and nights dark-sky gazing.
Set beside a koi-filled pond, this log-cabin inn has three woodsy-chic suites with spa-style bathrooms and optional attached single rooms. Explore 26 acres, the domain of black swans, hens, and peacocks, where the chief crop is shiitake mushrooms, grown using traditional Japanese techniques.
Share your getaway with alpacas, white peacocks, and babydoll sheep when you book the lone suite at this fragrant private farm. The space, which sleeps four, is styled with reclaimed-wood wallboard, beams, and furnishings; amethyst geode sinks; and picture windows that frame views of 4,000 lavender plants, arrayed in a sunburst around a gazebo.
Weeklong summer stays in the pond-view, three-bedroom cottage at this 500-acre-plus farm will place you amid cows and sheep … and on a path to discovering a Maine-led trend toward sustainable farming. Help with morning chores; cook with produce, meats, and cheeses from the farm store; forage for blueberries; loll away hours on the screened porch. By your final evening by the fire pit, you’ll feel utterly unwound.
Kids willingly unplug at this hands-on farm with resort-style amenities including indoor and outdoor pools. There are always cows to milk, horses to ride, and grumbling chickens hiding the blue eggs you’ll want cooked your way for breakfast, yet each weekend offers new themed or seasonal activities that strengthen family ties or kindle passion for a hobby like cross-stitch or square dancing. Warm pre-dinner fritters and warmer hospitality welcome all guests “home.”
