New Pond Farm

New Pond Farm is an environmental education center and teaching farm located in Redding, Connecticut. In 2007 they won the prestigious Connecticut Dairy Farm of Distinction Award.
History
New Pond Farm, located in Redding, Connecticut was founded by Carmen Mathews in 1984. Mathews wanted to give back to the community, and teach people about nature and farm life. Today, the farm has many festivals, volunteering opportunities and classes.
New Pond Farm is home to chickens, romney and Icelandic sheep, along with a diverse herd of dairy cattle.
New Pond is both a teaching farm and a working dairy with an established customer base. Visitors can purchase milk, cream-line yogurt, chocolate milk, eggs and other treats in their Dairy Annex. T. Milk is pasteurized right on the farm at lower temperatures than commercial milk, which preserves the quality and flavor of the milk. The milk the farm produces is not homogenized so every gallon has a golden rim of cream on the top just like old times.
Events
Year-Round, the farm hosts educational classes for school groups, boy scouts and girl scouts, and numerous classes for the farm's members and surrounding community. These include star-gazing and astronomy courses, farm chores with the farmers, bee keeping, fresh water classes and so much more. There is a quarterly newsletter and information on the farm's website with more information on classes and events offered.
The Easter Egg Hunt marks the calendar as the first major event the farm hosts. Children in several age groups run through the pastures collecting Easter Eggs, searching for that special "Golden Sparkle Egg." In May, the farm hosts the annual "Founders' May Fair," in which families can spend a day doing crafts, riding around the property in a cart pulled by beautiful draft horses, or watching the sheep shearer work on the flock.
Summer at the farm is reserved for the Summer Camp. As part of the farm's original mission, the summer camp has been established in order to bring inner-city children closer to the land. Three sessions of camp are held. Each session, 8 children from these inner-city areas are overnight campers and are joined during the day with 8 children from the towns surrounding New Pond Farm. A Summer Shakespeare Program is also held for actors going into 7th-9th grades, participants perform one of the Bard's comedies and learn about life in Elizbethan times.
The farm has recently began holding an annual Harvest Dinner where a chef prepares a wonderful dinner for the guests with products grown, produced or raised on the farm. The fall signifies the coming of the Annual Harvest Festival which celebrates the harvest season-pumpkin decorating, fiddle music, hayrides are just some of the activities.

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