Virtual Farm Tour with Grow It Green
Anytime
Grow It Green Urban Farm in Morristown has been working its way through the pandemic with expanded CSA options. Now they’re trying to reproduce a feeling of the farm tour experience with virtual experiences. “This would be the time of year the second and seventh grade students among many other groups would be bounding off buses coming to the farm.” They created a virtual lesson for students from pre-K to second grade, with farmer Tina Miller guiding you around the farm to learn about a dozen different plants, with a special focus on learning what parts of each plant we eat, the unique way each plant grows, and even why the farm also plants flowers (hint: it encourages bee visitors!). The YouTube video is free, the tour lasts about 20 minutes (a great time to sit the kids down and get something done), and there’s even a visit to the chicken coop where you get to meet farmer Shaun Ananko and resident chicken (and compost muncher) Omelet. Grow It Green Urban Farm, 31 Hazel Street, Morristown; 973-206-4177
Bourbon & Rye Zoom Class with Union Horse Distilling Co.
Thursday, June 11, 5:30pm
Owner Sharon Sevrens has been doing virtual tastings since early on in the lockdown, but Amanti Vino is going for it with their first-ever virtual Zoom Spirits class—tackling America’s whiskey darling, Bourbon, and her spicier cousin Rye, with a little help from Union Horse Distilling Co. out of Kansas City. The event is scheduled for 5:30pm, and you can attend live, but you can also “attend” a recorded version of it at your convenience. The $110 ticket price comes with two half-bottles and one full bottle of whiskey, so you’ll be getting more than bourbon savvy for your buck. Email [email protected] to purchase tickets and bottles.
Virtual Cooking Class with Hudson Table: Greek Classics
Thursday, June 18, 6–7:30pm
Cooking class is obviously meant to be tactile and communal. Hudson Table in Hoboken is doing its very best to get both of those into play with its fairly packed schedule of online courses. Hoboken area locals can order the class with ingredients (and pick them up from Hudson Table from 1–5pm on the day of the class), but those farther away can just purchase the class and ingredients separately. Classes meet via Zoom and are led by a chef-instructor for anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. If you can’t make Greek Classics (you’ll learn how to make Roasted Garlic Hummus and Baklava, among other things), they have a whole schedule of courses coming up (Summer Cookout, Gluten-Free BBQ, Paella, Spanish Brunch, etc.) Hudson Table, 140 Clinton Street, Hoboken; 201-420-0707
Advanced Whiskey Training Program
Saturday, June 20, 9:30am–12:30pm; and Sunday, June 21, 2:30–5:30pm
According to the New Brunswick-based Whiskey Gourmet, there is “a demand for online whiskey training” at the moment. You can join in the (studious) fun with an intensive two-day Whisky Ambassador session, part of their Whisky Ambassador Program. You’ll get a sense for whisky history, production, and business, with an emphasis on whisky styles globally and, yes, a chance to practice tasting skills on new fewer than six single malts. The course is a one-on-one with a Whisky Ambassador tutor, so you can change the exact meeting times if need be once you’ve registered and made contact. They’ll also send whiskies to your house at that point, too, so pick a date a week out minimum to allow for delivery of the good stuff. The cost is $415, but that buys you six bottles and certification. (If you do the class with a friend, it’s only $377 each.)
Weekly Virtual Cocktail Class with Cul+ure Collective
Thursdays, 7pm
The good folks at Cul+ure Collective have it down by now—they’ve been doing virtual cocktail classes for several weeks. They even have membership levels: you can buy a single class for $10, a month for $30, or a year’s worth of virtual cocktail classes for $299 (which, let’s face it, we might be doing this for a while longer). The differences aren’t just price: monthly membership, e.g., gets you access to over 100 cocktail recipes at all times. Classes meet at 7pm on Thursdays. FYI, this is more than a really high-grade Happy Hour: Beverage Partner Jamie Dodge was Bar Manager at both Elements and Mistral in Princeton prior to joining Cul+ure Collective. His team are top notch; take advantage, from a safe distance. Cul+ure Collective, 610 Bangs Avenue, Asbury Park; 732-328-9150