June is Milk & Honey Month at Queens County Farm Museum
Milk & Honey Month at Queens County Farm Museum is an exciting month-long celebration of New York State dairy and honey. The celebration brings farm-fresh programming and delicious treats to Queens County Farm Museum throughout the month of June. Admission to Queens County Farm Museum is free. Milk & Honey Month robust programming includes both free and fee-based programs for all ages. Free programming includes daily Cabot Cheese Samples, the after school Milk & Cookie Hour on Fridays sponsored by Hudson Valley Fresh, Cowabunga Storytime in the Con Edison Reading Room and A Taste of History featuring butter churning, honey tasting and historic farmhouse tours in the Adriance Farmhouse (c. 1772). Fee based programs include Cheesemaking 101, Celebrate the Strawberry Moon and Max & Mina’s Ice Cream Pop Up.
Max & Mina’s, a local institution that has attracted families and celebrities alike, was founded in 1997 by brothers Bruce and Mark Becker, who were inspired by their grandfather Max’s unique homemade recipes. With unforgettable flavors like Corn on the Cob, Cheese Doodle, Unicorn, and Fruity Pebbles, their ice cream creations are as refreshing as they are one-of-a-kind. Travel Channel says Max & Mina’s is “one of America’s most famous ice cream paradises.” Max & Mina’s will add a gourmet flair to Milk & Honey Month programming during the weekends of June 10-11, 17-18, and 24-25.
Free Milk & Honey Month programs include:
• Free samples of Cabot Cheese daily, all month long.
• MOO-velous Kids’ Scavenger Hunt encourages young visitors to discover the farm’s pollinators and earn Milk & Honey Month stickers (daily).
• Milk & Cookie Hour every Friday in June (2, 9, 16, 23, 30) for an after-school treat from 3pm-4pm, courtesy of Hudson Valley Fresh.
• Root to Rise: Farm Yoga with instructor Theresa Rossini and free samples courtesy of Lifeway Kefir, Saturday, June 3; 10; 17; 24, 10am – 11am.
• Inside the Hive Talk on Thursday, June 8 from 10am – 12pm
• Bzzz! Apiary Talks with Queens Farm’s beekeeper 10 am – 12 pm, Saturday, June 3, 17 and Sunday, June 11, 25.
• Cowabunga Storytime at the Con Edison Reading Room Saturdays, June 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 10:30am – 12:30pm. Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets and a picnic basket to enjoy outdoor storytime over a scenic lunch.
• A Taste of History – Churn butter, taste honey and tour the historic Adriance Farmhouse, Sunday, June 4, 11 & 18, and Saturday, June 10 & 24.
• Milk & Honey Facial Mask Demos with Backyard Bees 11am – 3pm Sunday, June 11 and 25.
• Spring Dance Celebration, an interactive performance featuring LayeRhythm, on June 11, 1pm – 3pm, made possible by City Council Member Joann Ariola and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
• June Afternoons educational programming on weekday afternoons, June 12 – 30, 3pm – 5pm, made possible by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, NY State Senator John Liu and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
• Spring Food Festival on June 17, 11am – 4pm, made possible by City Council Member Linda Lee and the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
Fee-based Milk & Honey Month programs include:
• Art on the Farm: Watercolor, Pen & Ink with instructor Denis Ponsot. Visit the bee hives and goats as part of the farm’s scenic inspiration. Thursdays, June 1, 8, 15, 22; 10am – 1pm.
• Celebrate the Strawberry Moon, made possible by Queens Farm’s pollinators, Saturday, June 3, 7pm-9pm. Adults will enjoy a sunset farm tour, strawberry sampling, and wine pairing as they admire June’s full moon, known as the Strawberry Moon, rising in the summer sky. This name has been used by Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples, among others, to mark the ripening of “June-bearing” strawberries that are ready for harvest.
• Cheesemaking 101, Wednesday, June 7 & 14, 6pm – 8:30pm.
• Max & Mina’s Ice Cream Pop-Up, June 10-11, 17-18, 24-25.
• Urban Beekeeping, Saturday, June 24; 10am – 12pm.
“Few things are more delicious than Milk & Honey,” stated Jennifer Walden Weprin, Executive Director of the Queens County Farm Museum. “Milk & Honey Month gives us a chance to feature New York State agriculture and connect New Yorkers to local producers on the farm’s bucolic 47-acre historic site.”
Milk & Honey Month honors National Dairy Month and National Pollinator Month, both in June. New York State is home to over 3,600 dairy farms that supply over 15 billion pounds of milk annually, making the Empire State the nation’s fourth largest dairy state. More than 95% of dairy farms in the state are family-owned. The dairy industry is the State’s largest agricultural sector, and contributes significant revenue to the State’s economy. According to a 2020 New York State Agriculture & Markets Report, New York State dairy processors made over a billion pounds of cheese that same year. The average household buys 35 pints of ice cream/sherbet every year.
Milk & Honey Month programming is made possible through the generous support of Queens County Farm Museum supporters including New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, Northwell Health, New York Animal Agriculture Coalition, Andrew’s Honey, Cabot Cheese Cooperative, Max & Mina’s, Queens Public Library, Queens Chamber of Commerce, Backyard Bees, Lifeway Kefir and Hudson Valley Fresh.
