Sterling College will soon have a new space to hold classes and demonstrations. Just before the start of the fall semester, students in the School of the New American Farmstead will be designing and building a timber frame structure on the campus in Craftsbury Common to be used as an outdoor classroom.
The two-week Timber Framing Practicum , to be held August 6-17, will cover the fundamentals of designing and constructing a post-and-beam structure using mortise and tenon joinery. “The new structure will be used for a variety of events where we would need to be under cover but still outside, like the hands-on mushroom class where we inoculate logs,” said Heather Jerrett, Dean of Continuing Education. “Next summer’s plans include a course on how to build a wood-fired oven, which will be the start of establishing an outdoor kitchen.”
The course is led by visiting faculty Makaio Maher of Green Timber Works and Sterling College faculty Rick Thomas, Charlie Ryland and Tony VanWinkle.
The School of the New American Farmstead (SNAF) is Sterling College’s continuing education program, which presents agrarians, culinarians, entrepreneurs and craftspeople ways to hone valuable skills while adhering to the College’s principles of environmental stewardship and experiential learning.
For more information on the School of the New American Farmstead and to register for this class, please visit: https://www.sterlingcollege.edu/course/timber-framing-practicum/
