HILLTOWNS — Shepherdess Emily Vincent is enthused about hosting visitors to Two Rock Ranch for Family Farm Day on Sept. 8.

“A lot of farms in the area are really excited about having people from the Albany area come up to see the whole town because, I mean it’s a beautiful time of year and there’s a lot for the kids to do, so I think it’s going to be really great,” she said.

The Discover the Hilltowns tour is partnering with the Albany County Cornell Cooperative Extension for its third Family Farm Day. Both events are free, open to the public, and held rain or shine.

The Discover the Hilltowns self-guided driving tour will be on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 7 and 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Family Farm Day is exclusively on Sunday for the same hours. Two Rock Ranch is located at 78 Turner Road in Berne.

Vincent said that previous Farm Days have been at a dairy farm and a beef farm, so she thought that the tour organizers wanted to showcase a different type of farm.

“And so they wanted to do something other than beef because, when people typically think of a farm, they think of cows,” Vincent said. “So they wanted to show people in the Albany area that there are other things that are raised on the farm so that kids would have a chance to see small ruminants, which are sheep.”

Two Rock Ranch has horses; chickens; and white Dorper sheep, a meat breed developed in South Africa. The farm currently has 168 sheep, including 68 lambs. “I don’t know if I’m the largest sheep producer in Albany, but I have a lot of sheep,” said Vincent.

Vincent uses Anatolian shepherd dogs to guard the sheep, and uses rotational grazing to care for the land. To extend the growing season, the farm uses a greenhouse for fruits and vegetables.

In addition to being able to view the various animals, Vincent said, there will be live demonstrations of shearing sheep and spinning wool, and free pony rides. The Hilltown Ramblers will provide live music.

An educational component to the event includes Albany County Soil and Water representatives talking about soil health, a beehive demonstration, Master Gardeners providing information, and a demonstration from the Albany Police Mounted Unit.

“They’re also going to be showing how drones help farmers, and they’ll be doing a drone demonstration,” Vincent said. “I think showing some of the old-school farming with the new-school farming and all of that is going to paint a really great picture of farming today.”

The Discover the Hilltowns tour offers events at sites in Berne, Knox, Rensselaerville, and Westerlo. Printed maps are available at the Berne, Knox, and New Scotland town halls and at libraries in Berne, Westerlo, Altamont, Voorheesville, and Bethlehem as well as at other venues listed at the website for the hosting not-for-profit organization, the Helderberg Hilltowns Association.

Amy Pokorny, who chairs the tour, writes in a letter to the Enterprise editor, published this week, “As you explore the Hilltowns, you can wander the grounds of an artist’s castle, try out English country dancing in an octagonal barn, and sample maple cotton candy. You can marvel at border collies rounding up ducks or sheep. You can watch for migrating hawks at the top of the Helderberg encampment.”

The letter also mentions being able to visit other farms, an old grist mill, a yoga studio, and a dog-grooming salon as well as being able to picnic by a waterfall.

— Enterprise staff