Spring is moving along on the farm. We turn our cows and sheep out to pasture this week (and a lone cattle egret has made its annual return)! The cool dry weather has held back the grass from growing as quickly as we’d like, but last weekend’s rain and the warm temperatures forecast for this week should help push the pastures along. Seventy-five ewes have so far given birth to 140 lambs, and two pregnant ewes are still expecting. We’re getting ready to send cows and lambs to the Children’s Farmyard in time for opening day, so that you can meet, milk, brush, and learn about them! The dairy staff have also been busy with educational programs – Dairy Day, Future Farmers of America Convention, and school field trips!
– Sam Dixon, Dairy Farm Manager
At the Market Garden we’re transplanting starts from the greenhouses to our fields – peas, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, Brussels sprouts, napa cabbage and more. We’re also already harvesting greens, like kale, chard, spinach, and lettuce. Last week we made our first fresh veggie deliveries to the inn kitchen for lunches for our educational program. We’re looking forward to supplying food to the inn restaurant once it opens! Our strawberries are starting to ripen…
– Josh Carter, Market Garden Manager
After a great sugaring season, we’ve pulled all the taps from the forest. Now we’re donning gloves to pull up tons of invasive garlic mustard from the woodlands. We’re also milling lumber that will help us repair our barns, become furniture, as well as be sold to help support our nonprofit. Lastly, we’re inoculating shiitake mushroom logs! It’ll take a year for the spawn to colonize the logs. The logs we inoculated last year are in the greenhouse soaking, getting ready to supply delicious organic mushrooms to salads, soups, and entrees at the restaurant.
– Dana Bishop, Natural Resources and Assistant Woodlands Manager
Kelp growers. Hospitals. Chefs. Mental health agencies. Food shelves. What do they all have in common? These strange bedfellows are all important players in the Northeast’s ever-expanding farm to school programs.
Since we're not harvesting crops, rotating the cows through pasture, or leading them to and from milking, winter gives us a little window for maintenance, repairs, and improvements. And calving!
For most farmers, winter means planning. Shelburne Farms is no exception. But as an education organization, there's extra planning around sharing our gardens with students.
Agriculture and tourism are both vibrant contributors to Vermont. Now with new guides to support them, Vermont farmers can think creatively and realistically about how to engage customers in activities on their farms.
What happens when a boy with food anxieties is regularly exposed to new foods in the classroom? Dana Hudson found out as a Shelburne Farms educator for a "Dairy in the Classroom" program.
Hot, stormy weather threatened the early hours of the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, but fortunately, the sun came out for a great event -- to showcase our own cheese and that of so many other artisanal producers.
Since participating in James Beard Foundation's Boot Camp here at the Farm, a three-day intensive training for chefs in policy and advocacy, I’ve been reflecting on the synchronicities between our organizations, despite our differing roles within the food sector.
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