I am offering the farm as a gift to Mercer County in memory of Charley.  To be used as a Living History Farm, where the way of living in its early days could not only be seen but actually tried by the public, especially children… milking a cow, gathering eggs in a homemade basket…helping to shear sheep, carding wool, spinning and weaving…

A farm has always been a great place for exploring.  Perhaps 4-H groups and others could help people learn by actually doing.  There could be tree plantings, riding a donkey, cleaning out a stable, and saving the manure to go back into the earth.  Girls can do most of these things too.  There would be ploughing and sowing and canning and pickling.  And don’t forget rainbows and swinging on wild grape vines. 

Could volunteers build the way they built in the early days with similar tools?  And let the public watch and lend a hand?

Older people could teach the young how to sew a fine seam, or find hickory nuts to crack with a stone on the hearth, or find wild herbs for curing the miseries… or just go off fishing with a hickory stick pole.  And what grandmother doesn’t like to rock the cradle with her toe while her knitting needles and her spinning wheel prepare for winter?

And the barn. The rugged old individualist, pigeons in its belfry, and bats, too, and barn swallows swooping in and out – because life lives on other life…wooden plough and oxen, treasured manure, sowing and reaping…Harvest Home and fiddlers… swing your partner and steal a kiss.  Sleigh bells and up before dawn, fragrance of mint as you herd the cows up from the meadow, with the sun slanting across the Delaware.  And church.  And spring again.

Now what else can you think of?

Sincerely,

Inez Howell

Open throughout the year for self-guided tours, school group visits and weekend family programs, the farm invites visitors to join in the work and fun of seasonal activities such as ice harvesting, maple sugaring, sheep shearing, pumpkin harvesting and dozens of hands-on activities related to actual operations.   The farm's annual calendar of events (below) includes monthly hayrides (or sleighrides!), weekly craft programs for children and New Jersey's only horsedrawn plowing match. The farm is also home to New Jersey's longest-running corn maze, which challenges visitors to find their way through miles of green pathways with the help of gameboards, clues, compasses and advice from a mazemaster perched high in a tower.

• 130 acre working farm with 45 tillable acres, 40 acres woods, 30 acres meadows, streams, pond and bridge located within the Pleasant Valley Rural Historic District
  
  
• 5 buildings listed on the New Jersey State and National Registers of Historic Places including 18th century farmhouse, 19th century barn, wagon house, corn crib, ice house
  
  
• ADA accessible Visitor Center with classroom and gift shop
  
  
• modern restrooms at reception area; porta-jons in barnyard area
  
  
• parking for 50 cars + bus turn-around; overflow field parking
  
  
• picnic area near parking lot
  
  
• 1/4 mile packed gravel lanes; stroller and wheelchair accessible
  
  
• 2 miles dirt lanes and stream crossings; accessible on foot
  
  
• 20-point self-guided tour through .6 miles of fields, meadows and barnyard; tour map available at Visitor Center, and on-line at www.howellfarm.org.
  

Self-Guided Tours: A 20-point self-guided tour leaves from the Visitor Center and takes visitors around a .6 mile loop past fields and meadows, over two stream crossings and through the barnyard where there is access to the farmhouse, barn, wagon house and ice house.  Tour maps are available in the Visitor Center, or can viewed on-line at www.howellfarm.org

School & Community Programs:  Seasonal operations such as ice harvesting, maple sugaring, sheep shearing, wheat threshing and corn harvesting are the focus of 2-hour long, hands-on programs for groups, offered weekday mornings.  Other programs include Farm Animals, Simple Machines, Summer-on-the-Farm and custom tours.

The Hatchery: In this unique weekday morning program, pre-schoolers enjoy farm activities while their parents help out with field, program or office operations.  One- day- per- week sessions lasting 12 weeks meet spring and fall.  There is week long summer session that meets daily.

FarmHands: Children aged 6-9 can experience farm life through chores, field activities and old-fashioned fun while parents help the staff with special projects and public programs.  FarmHands meets Saturday afternoons.

Farm Camp: Summer days are filled with fun and learning as children discover the wonders of farm life, nature and New Jersey history.  Farm Camps are for ages 6-8 and 9-12, and are offered as day camps scheduled in week-long sessions.

Corn Maze: Families, scout groups and others who like big challenges will have mind-boggling fun inside this giant green puzzle.  The 4-acre cornfield maze features 2 miles of passageways, endless dead ends and just one way out.  An all new theme, design and gameboard are featured annually. The maze is open mid-September through mid November.

Volunteer Programs: Carpenters, gardeners, seamstresses and researchers are needed to help with current projects.  Office, maze, and program assistants are also needed.  Hours are flexible.

Saturday Calendar: Field & Craft Programs (children's craft programs indicated in italics)
January
    27 Ice Harvest
        Ice Candle $3

February
     3 Sugar Tree Tapping
       Tree Tap $1
   10 Valentine's Day Sleighrides
        Old Fashioned Scrap Card $2
   17 Winter Kitchen
       Pot Scrubber $1
   24 Maple Sugaring
       Maple Sugar Man $2

March
      3 Maple Sugaring
        Maple Sugar Candy $2
    10 Visits from Horse Doctor, Dentist, Shoer
        Horseshoe Letter Holder $3
    17 Workhorse Rides
        Stick Riding Horse $3
    14 Spring Tillage Wagon Tours
        Animal Placemat $2
    31 New Faces Day
        Animal Wooden Stick Puppet $2


April
      7 Henhouse Visits      
        Painted Egg Cup $3
    14 Sawmilling & Tree Planting
        Terra Cotta Flower Pouch $2 
    21 Spring Beekeeping
       Egg Carton Garden $1
    28 Potato Planting  
       Potato Prints $2
 

May
     5 Sheep Shearing
       Wooly Sheep Pin $2
    12 Corn Planting
       Garden Row Markers $3
    19 Back to the Future
       Tic Tac Toe Game $2
    26 Hayrides
       Decorated Straw Hat $3
June
     2 Dairy Day
       Paper Barnyard $2
    9 Haying
       Weather Vane $2
   Hog Slopping & Weighing
       Pig in a Poke $3
   Dairying
       Milk-Painted Cheese Box $3

July
    Ice Cream Party
      Boat Making & Racing $3
    Wheat Harvest
       Harvest Maiden $2
  Evening Hayrides, 5-8pm

August
    Honey Harvest
      Honey Trail Mix $2
    Wagon Tours of Pleasant Valley Historic District
        Scrapbook $2
    Canning
        Flavored Vinegar $1
    Fiddlin' on the Farm
        Rubber Band Music Box $2

September
     Plowing Match
       Wheat Weaving Heart $2
   Back-to-School
       Pencil Box $3
   Potato Harvest
       Potato Chips $2
   Wagon Tours of Fall Tillage
       Miniature Braided Rug $2

October
      Pumpkin & Indian Corn Harvest
        Indian Corn Wreath $3
 Fall Festival
        Pumpkin Decorating $2
    Back to the Future
        Rubber Band Racer $3
    Fall Foliage Hayrides & Quilting
        Quilt Square $2
    Popcorn Harvest
        Popcorn Ball $1

November
    Bacon, Sausage & Scrapple Making
      Suet Feeders $3
  Corn Harvest for Wildlife Center
      Cornhusk Flower $1
  Cider Making
      Apple Garland $2
  Wagon Rides &
      Wreath & Sleighbell Sale
      Door Swag $3

December
    Christmas on the Farm
      Natural Bird Ornament $2

Howell Farm is one of over 100 "living history" farms located throughout the United States and Canada.  It is a member of the Association for Living History, Farm & Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) and was host to the organization's 2003 annual meeting and conference.

Besides preserving Mercer County's agricultural history and heritage, Howell Farm provides internships and training for Peace Corps volunteers, missionaries, agricultural extension agents and others who are introducing animal-powered technology to international farmers who currently work by hand.

Howell Farm cow, Molly, recently made her national television debut when she appeared on ABC's Good Morning America show.  Molly was the star of a cow-milking contest staged by Howell Farm for anchors Diane Sawyer, Charlie Gibson and Robin Roberts.

Hollywood came to Howell Farm when a dozen actors -- among them, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody and Bryce Dallas Howard -- spent a day of "boot camp" at Howell Farm in preparation for their roles in M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 movie, The Village  (Touchstone Pictures).  As part of their training, the actors plowed fields, built fences, fed animals, cleaned barns, cooked over a woodburning stove and made a load of hay.  During the day -- which they deemed "very successful" -- William Hurt was stung by bees, Joaquin Phoenix cut himself with a scythe  and several ladies were kicked and muddied while trimming sheep's hooves.

Volunteers provide over one third of the labor that runs Howell Farm!  In 2004, volunteers contributed over 17,000 hours, helping with field, barn, household, office and maze operations.

The Friends of Howell Farm is a non-profit organization that provides funding and other support for special projects such as the restoration of the farm's 18th barn, the Pleasant Valley Oral History Project and the farm's Intern Program.