We are so excited to announce our Beginning Farmer Workshop Series, beginning July 14th.
In partnership with NOFA-VT, and six experienced farmers in the Rutland Region, each workshop will provide skills and training relevant to new and aspiring farmers, farm workers, interns and apprentices.
Workshops are every other Wednesday evening throughout the summer.
Click on the links below for workshop descriptions, location, directions and other details!
Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm
Dutchess Farm • Poultney
Farmer Stephen Chamberlain, NRCS Soil Conservationist Carla Fenner, and NOFA-VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Wendy Sue Harper will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Farmer's Market, and the Rutland Co-op.
Directions to Dutchess Farm:
From Poultney go north on Rt. 30 about 3 miles, turn right on Ward Road. Go to end. At T turn left onto Lewis Road go about 300 yards. I will park white box van at turnoff (left) into field. Park either on Lewis Road or on top of hill if you pull into turn off. From Castleton Corners, head south on Rt 30. About 1 mile will be Brown’s Farmstand. Proceed 2 miles south (straight) from there, turn left onto Walker Rd. Go to end. At T turn left go to top of hill, pass 2746 Lewis Road (pale yellow house with Red barn with "Tidy Hill Farm" sign). Just ahead pull off on right to field. (white box van parked there. Park on road or top of hill.
Parking: Please park on left as you enter field, and please make sure not to park on cropland.
Business Strategies and Cheese
Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm
Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester
Pre-registration required (limit 20) - register for this workshop online, by sending an email to info@nofavt.org or by calling 434-4122. Workshops are free.
Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Greg Bernhart and Hannah Sessions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese production areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop.
Directions to 2001 Old Jerusalem Rd, Salisbury:
From Middlebury (North): Rt. 7 South to Halladay Rd (take right). At Stop sign take right onto Shard Villa Rd. Go 3.5 miles on paved road. Go straight onto Leland Rd (graveyard on right). Blue Ledge Farm is 3.5 miles on left.
From Brandon (South): Rt 7 North to Arnold District Rd (take left). At stop sign go left. Go one mile and take right onto dirt road which follows creek (Old Jerusalem Rd). Blue Ledge Farm is 2 miles on the right.
From Whiting & Rt 30 (West): From Rt 30, go east on the Leicester-Whiting Rd. Go approximately 3 miles to Leicester Jct. Take left (Old Jerusalem Rd) immediately after bridge. We are 2 miles up Old Jerusalem Rd on the right.
Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm
Larson Farm • Wells
Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social- register for the NOFAvore social/mixer online, by sending an email to info@nofavt.org or by calling 434-4122.
Join Richard Larson as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equipment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when working with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Larson Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef.
Plus! Join us for RAFFL’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends.
Directions to 69 South Street, Wells:
From the center of downtown Wells, turn south at the country store onto South Street. Go 3/4 mile, and turn in at the blue mailbox with yellow cross (Swedish flag).
Parking: Park at the large horse paddock near house
Crop Planning: Succession Planting & Diversification Choices
Wednesday, September 8 • 5 - 7pm
Cerridwen Farm, Green Mountain College • Poultney
Pre-registration required (limit 30) - register for this workshop online, by sending an email to info@nofavt.org or by calling 434-4122. Workshops are free.
Successful management of small-scale, diversified farms benefits greatly from intensive planning before the growing season starts. This workshop with Kenneth Mulder, Farm Manager at GMC, will focus on developing a production plan for a diversified vegetable production operation, including estimating demand and yield, utilizing intercropping and rotations for ecological efficiency, and using succession plantings to maintain a steady crop supply. Cerridwen Farm at Green Mountain College is a 22-acre diversified educational farm where students compliment their classroom education with hands-on experience in vegetable production and animal management.
Directions to 1 Brennan Circle, Poultney:
Cerridwen Farm is located on the south end of Green Mountain College's campus which is at the west end of Main Street in Poultney. Take Main Street to the main college entrance. Turn left on College Ave. White farm house with a circular drive will be on the right with the barns just behind. The workshop will begin in the basement of Griswold Library, just north of the farm house.
Parking: Participants can park in the farm house driveway. If that is full, visitor parking is available in the college circle with permits available in Pollock Hall on the south side of the circle.
Organic Pest and Disease Management
Wednesday, September 22 • 5 - 7pm
Boardman Hill Farm • West Rutland
State Agency of Agriculture Entomologist Jon Turmel and UVM Extension Plant Pathologist Ann Hazelrigg team up with vegetable farmer Greg Cox to help apprentices and beginning farmers understand insect, disease, and weed problems and solutions. Take advantage of these expert eyes as they work together to teach identification tips for the most common and uncommon vegetable pests. Hosted by Boardman Hill Farm, a family owned and operated organic farm cultivating organic vegetables and flowers.
Directions to 1030 Boardman Hill Road, West Rutland:
Take Route 4 west from Rutland. Take exit 6 towards VT-4/VT-3/Proctor/West Rutland. Take Left at the end of the exit ramp. This road becomes Boardman Hill Road after passing under the highway. Take Boardman Hill Road up the hill for about a mile. Farm is on the right, look for the sign.
