Come join Rural Vermont and Mary Lake on Sunday, November 17th at Shepherd Moon Farm in Corinth for a lamb on-farm slaughter and processing workshop. In the first half of this 2-part workshop, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter a lamb. In the second half of the workshop, participants will learn how to efficiently butcher and process a lamb.

The workshop will be hosted by Dani Grover and Eva Westheimer of Shepherd Moon Farm. Shepherd Moon Farm is a newly created sheep farm with plans to start milking and making cheese next season. Dani Grover and Eva Westheimer started the farm and moved to Corinth in 2022 with plans to co-locate production alongside respite for folks engaged in social movement and organizing work. 

Please join Rural Vermont and Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert, Vermont on Saturday, November 10 for a pig slaughter and processing workshop.

In the first half of this 2-part workshop, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter, gut, skin, and quarter a whole pig. The 2nd half of the workshop will feature instruction on how to efficiently butcher and process various pork cuts.

Join the Vermont Wild Kitchen for an evening of good food, people, and discussion! We'll explore, cook, and eat burdock root, which can be foraged throughout Vermont. One of our guest chefs will be Chrys Tsang and they will cook kinpira gobo with burdock root. Our other guest chefs Ari Lattanzi and Matt Bull from Make Do Farm will walk us through prepping and cooking turkey, which many folks are raising and hunting this time of year. The event will be held from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the BLM House in South Royalton. Free but registration required and limited capacity.

Please join us at Union Brook Farm for a turkey processing workshop on Sunday, November 3 from 11:30am - 3:30pm!

Emily Virzi and Rose Thackeray will teach participants the basics of raising, slaughtering, and processing turkeys. Participants get to take home 2-3# of ground turkey!

At this slaughter and processing workshop, participants will learn how to slaughter, butcher and process turkey in a way to get the best results for a succulent bird. Wings, breasts and thighs all need different temperatures and times to cook. Cooking the whole bird makes for dry breasts, burnt wings tips, and everyone fighting over the dark meat. Buy whole turkeys directly from farmers and learn how to cook the bird in the way that makes the best meal at this workshop!

Are you interested in increasing your or your community’s sustainability, climate resilience, and food access? Rabbit meat is among the most sustainable proteins you can consume, using far less resources and definitely less work than most other livestock. And, yes, it really does taste like chicken... buttery, lean chicken!

Join Rural Vermont and Giant Journey Farm in Newfane on Saturday, October 26th from 10:00-1:00 to learn about raising and processing the other other white meat! The workshop will be led by farm owners Seren and Rick on their quirky 2 acre regenerative farm where they teach folks about farming while they grow year-round produce, and raise poultry, rabbits, and goats. 

It’s that time of year! We look forward to gathering with the Rural Vermont community to make art, share a hot meal, meet and elect our Board of Directors, hear and offer updates, and much more! As always, this event is FREE for Rural Vermont members! Not a member? Join in advance or pay $35 at the door.

Please join us at Union Brook Farm in Northfield for a chicken processing workshop on Sunday, September 29 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm!

Emily Virzi and Rose Thackeray will teach participants the basics of raising, slaughtering, and processing meat chickens. Participants get to take home one whole delicious meat bird! If there is time and interest, Em & Rose will lead us through instruction for the cutting/parting of whole birds. Limited capacity, register now! Registration fee is $70.

Rural Vermont and Vermont Growers Association are excited to present our 4th cannabis workshop collaboration at Tilia Hills! Tilia Hills is a small, diversified farm licensed as a Tier 1 Outdoor Cultivator, located in Franklin County and operated by husband and wife team Ethan Kramer and Kristin Wolford. Ethan and Kristin welcome us to their gorgeous outdoor cannabis operation, where we will discuss at-scale late season field and flower maintenance, ripening stages, harvest preparation, and much more.

Join Rural Vermont for a chicken barbeque at our Quarterly Member Forum on Thursday, August 22nd from 5:30-8pm at Four Springs Farm in Royalton. We’ll celebrate the passage of the parted poultry bill with a grilled chicken potluck picnic, art stations, and summer fun! Free for Rural Vermont members and $10-$15 for everyone else. UPDATE 8/18: This event is FULL and cannot accommodate walk-ins.

Come join Rural Vermont and Mary Lake on Saturday, August 17th at NewGrass Farmstead in Wolcott for an on-farm slaughter and processing workshop. This is an opportunity to learn about the need for culling as part of livestock management and the benefit of on-farm slaughter to ensure quality of the entirety of life for the old beloved livestock animals. In the first half of this 2-part workshop, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter a culled ewe. In the second half of the workshop, participants will learn how to efficiently butcher and process a ewe.

Learn more about Vermont’s 30x30 process and join the 6/27 public meeting of the VT Conservation Strategy Initiative (VCSI)! Meeting registration is required. Farmer stipends are available through Rural Vermont for attending.

Registration has closed for this event.
Please email mollie@ruralvermont.org if you are interested in attending.

Join us Friday, May 3rd, from 9am - 3pm* at Foote Brook Farm, 641 VT-15 W, in Johnson, VT for a tree planting work brigade! We will be transitioning riverbank farmland impacted by the 2023 flooding into a riparian buffer zone to increase climate resiliency and adaptation on the farm. Work brigades are a popular education tool used around the world to strengthen communities, build trust and solidarity through collective labor, connection, mutual aid, and knowledge sharing. This is the first in a series of agricultural brigades hosted by the Vermont Agroecology School Collective (an independent project of Rural Vermont).  Lunch, refreshments, agroecological education and tools provided. RSVP required for planning purposes. 

Vermont’s ability to feed itself relies on thriving community scale farms working together towards food sovereignty and community resilience. We hope you can join us! 

*We may finish before 3pm depending on numbers. It’s okay if you can’t stay for the whole time.

The Vermont Wild Kitchen returns with another in-person program on Sunday, April 14th for a Franklin County event focused on rabbit: how to raise them, how to hunt them, and finally how to cook them! The day starts at Give a C.A.R.E Farmstead in Bakersfield and ends at East Fairfield Community Center. Free! THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY, BUT WE ARE KEEPING A WAIT LIST.

WE WELCOME MEMBERS OF ALL EXPERIENCE LEVELS!

All Rural Vermont members are invited to join the Rural Vermont staff and Board for our next virtual forum. These Quarterly Forums are opportunities for our members to join our Policy team in a virtual forum to discuss particular issues which may be affecting your farm and / or community, and/ or that we are currently working on. Bring your questions, ideas, and concerns. We look forward to seeing you there!

Over the past decade, Rural Vermont’s Small Farm Action Days have provided hundreds of agrarians with a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the Vermont legislative process. In 2024, we’ll be co-hosting Small Farm Action Day with NOFA-VT on Thursday, March 14th from 8am to 2:15pm at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. This full-day event is designed for those who are curious to learn more about navigating and influencing the legislative process, as well as gaining access to members of the agricultural committees. Attendees will gain skills, connections, and experience to confidently and effectively advocate for the wants and needs of themselves and their communities.

Rural Vermont and Vermont Growers Association are excited to present their second cannabis workshop collaboration at Old Growth Vermont in Danville with instruction by Fred Morin of Vermont Greenery! Old Growth Vermont is a licensed Tier 3 Outdoor Cultivator located in Danville and our farm hosts, Jesse and Shane, welcome us to their gorgeous cannabis operation. Vermont Greenery is a licensed Tier 1 Outdoor Cultivator, and the instructor for this workshop. Freddy is a passionate grower and breeder with a UVM Soil Extension and plant science background.

Please join us for a 3-hour workshop covering the essentials to overwintering cannabis plants, including propagation, seed saving, and more.

Thursday, December 7th

6:00PM - 7:30PM via Zoom

Join NOFA-NH and Seacoast Permaculture for a panel discussion and Q&A that asks: if not carbon markets and other payment for ecosystem (PES) programs, then what would work to support farmers who responsibly care for our ecosystem while feeding people?  A previous panel addressed issues with current carbon market and PES programs and the challenges of trying to monetize carbon sequestration or best ecological farming practices.  In this program, we welcome back our panelists to look at the alternatives we know work and ones being proposed that hold promise to truly support healthy growing practices.  How we grow food has serious implications for the climate, biodiversity and human health.  We need to make changes now, whether on our own farms or by supporting growers as they shift practices.  There are solutions - let's talk about how to reach them!

Panel: Cat Buxton, Julie Davenson, Earl Hatley, Caroline Gordon, and Stephen Leslie

Learn more here…

Come join Rural Vermont and Mary Lake on Saturday, Nov.18th at Argyll Farm in Bennington for an on-farm slaughter and processing workshop. In the first half of this 2-part workshop, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter a lamb and then how to efficiently butcher and process a lamb in the second half of the workshop. $70

We’ll see you this year in Southern Vermont! Come to Newfane on Tuesday 11/14 from 5-8pm; and join Rural Vermont staff, Board, and fellow members for our favorite annual tradition! Event will include live music, a shared meal and cash bar, art-making, our 2023 Board election, and more. FREE for members and $35 otherwise. RSVP is now closed but walk-ins can be accommodated.

Rural Vermont and Vermont Growers Association are excited to present their first cannabis workshop collaboration at Lovespun Homestead in southern Vermont! Lovespun Homestead is a licensed Tier 1 Outdoor Cultivator located in West Townshend and our farm hosts, Alex and Em, welcome us to their lovely homestead and cannabis operation.

Please join us for an outdoor 3-hour workshop covering the ABCs of cannabis post-harvest processing and production.