Farmer Olympics has become an annual tradition for NOFA-VT, and we’re excited to host our 10th year of the games at High Meadows Farm in the southeast part of the state. Farmers, start putting together a team today! 

Do you have a dream of starting a farm? Join us this summer for Farm Dreams to explore your farm vision, connect with other aspiring farmers, learn about resources for beginning farmers in Vermont, and grow your understanding of farm business management and land access. This two-part series will cover the basics and provide structured activities for you to develop your vision. 

Do you have a dream of starting a farm? Join us this summer for Farm Dreams to explore your farm vision, connect with other aspiring farmers, learn about resources for beginning farmers in Vermont, and grow your understanding of farm business management and land access. This two-part series will cover the basics and provide structured activities for you to develop your vision. 

Utilizing forests and woodlots to grow non-timber products can diversify your enterprise and build ecological resilience. Join us at the UVM Research Forest to explore the nuances of successfully establishing production-scale forest botanical polycultures. This workshop will cover the role forest farming can play within forest management plans, how to identify and evaluate sites for forest farming potential, and approaches for establishing perennial polycultures to meet existing markets.

Utilizing forests and woodlots to grow non-timber products can diversify your enterprise and build ecological resilience. Join us at the Smokey House Center to explore the nuances of successfully establishing production-scale forest botanical polycultures. This workshop will cover the role forest farming can play within forest management plans, how to identify and evaluate sites for forest farming potential, and approaches for establishing perennial polycultures to meet existing markets.

Tour Cedar Mountain Farm, a micro-dairy and no-till market garden in Hartland, to explore how regenerative practices can build climate resilience. For over thirty years, Stephen Leslie and Kerry Gawalt have applied soil health principles to support biodiversity and mitigate the impacts of heat, drought, and heavy rainfall. Their efforts include developing silvopasture and alley cropping systems, installing a gravity-fed hillside pasture water pipeline, and fostering native riparian zones.

Join us for a hands-on workshop at Sterling College where we'll set up compact Johnson-Su bioreactors—perfect for small-scale farms or backyard gardens. Johnson-Su compost is a high-fungal, static vermicompost known for enhancing soil biology, improving soil health, and boosting crop productivity. Learn how to build and use these bioreactors, and dive into the science behind why this method works so well. Each participant will bring home materials to create their own small Johnson-Su bioreactor.

While no-till vegetable production is gaining popularity on small to mid-scale farms in Vermont, long-term successful management requires distinct approaches from those used in tillage-based cropping systems. Join Patrick Sullivan of Ananda Gardens for a deep dive into how they manage their unique no-till system, including learning how they established their production systems using deep composting approaches and why this system has changed as the farm has matured.

In this workshop, participants are encouraged to explore the unique flavors and endless baking possibilities using local grain varieties from Vermont, Quebec, and New England growers. Baking instructor and certified bread sommelier Heiki Meyer of Brot Bakehouse School and Kitchen will demo several different sourdough preparation methods and share other unique ideas on how to prepare them.