Questions? Call us at (802) 785-4737 or send us an email   |   Current weather on the farm: 88°F (31°C), clear below 12,000 ft.   |   Eye on the Sky forecast

News

The latest news, press releases, and newsletters from the farm

  • [farm workshop] Practices to Promote Fresh Produce Food Safety for Direct Markets

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center is hosting a NOFA-VT farmers’ workshop on September 8, from 5 to 7pm:

    NOFA-VTThis twilight workshop with Vern Grubinger of UVM Extension and Dave Rogers of NOFA-VT will focus on key information and practical steps to improve food safety-related practices for vegetable growers and orchardists who are not seeking or contemplating GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification.

    A farm and facilities tour will focus on identification of critical food safety control points, exemplary practices, and practical improvement strategies. Developments in food safety legislation and regulation will be covered.

    Cost:  Free for VOF farmers and VVBGA members, $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members. Preregistration not required. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)for more info, 434-4122.

  • Silenced Voices — an important new film, showing on the farm, August 13, 6 pm

    Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project shows their new important documentary film Silenced Voices on Friday, August 13, 6 pm here at Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center. Come early & explore the farm teaching gardens & self-guided farm tour. Shop at the farmstand and enjoy an iced coffee at cafe open until 6 pm. The film will be followed by a discussion and dialogue with the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project and filmmakers.

    About Silenced Voices
    Migrant Farmworker José Obeth Santiz Cruz was killed in a farming accident last December in Vermont. The Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project sent a delegation to Mexico to return his remains and document his family and community coming to terms with his death, sharing stories about the causes, effects, and their experiences of migration. Their stories draw attention to the conditions and economic policies that force migrants from their homes in Mexico and suggest a need for a new dialogue about the root causes of migration. Produced and directed by Gustavo Terán, Brendan O’Neill, and Sam Mayfield for the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project.

     

  • A New Works Project Administration

    Farm co-manager Will Allen has coauthored a piece with the Organic Consumers Association. Here’s an excerpt:

    A modern day Works Project Administration could train and employ a massive green corps to create the green infrastructure and post-carbon economy. When FDR created the Works Project Administration in the 1930s there were about 60,000,000 workers in the labor market. Twenty-five percent, or 15,000,000 people were unemployed. Today, there are 154,400,000 workers in the labor market. The Labor Department estimates that 10.3% of the population is unemployed. Most analysts argue that the percentage is closer to 16.5%. Whoever is right, and whether it is 15.9 million or 24.7 million, more people are out of work now than during the Great Depression. And they desperately need jobs and training, just like people did during the Depression.

    Environmentalist Bill McKibben is right, we need to mobilize a grassroots army to demand reductions in emissions and armies of workers to convert our infrastructure to a green economy. That means you must text, twitter, e-mail, and use FaceBook, Google, YouTube and other resources to get educated about climate change. Once you understand the gravity of the situation you will be able to change your habits, inform your friends, and participate in climate change demonstrations. Get organized at the local level and then coordinate your local efforts with nationwide networks such as the Organic Consumers Association and www.350.org.

    Your children and grandchildren are depending on you to make their world livable. The hour is late.

    Read the full article.

  • Agriculture on the national level

    Mark Bittman, a food writer we like, posted an important update to national-level food issues yesterday. Bittman is the author of Food Matters, which he describes this way:

    a look at the links among eating too much meat, obesity, global warming, and other nasty features of modern life. (It has good recipes, too.)

    If you’re following this stuff, check out the post:

    Big Ag’s Big Pal in the Oval Office

    Even as a journalist following food and politics, I have trouble keeping up with the revolving door between the Obama administration and the corner offices of huge agrichemical and GMO seed producers like Monsanto and DuPont. The latest announcement to catch me by surprise is that Romona Romero, a DuPont corporate lawyer, has just been nominated by the president to the post of General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [read more]

     

  • How to avoid late blight in 2010

    The movie barn at the farm was packed on May 13, 2010, by local gardeners and concerned citizens who came to see a slideshow and discussion with Anne Hazelrigg, plant and disease specialist from the extension service at UVM. If you weren’t able to join us, here’s a summary of her talk on this important topic:

    2009 was the perfect storm for late blight. In order for late blight to affect us so early again in the northeast, we would have to have more cool and moist weather, a host (solanacea crops), and both part A and part B of the sporangia.

    Late blight need living tissue to survive tthe winter. Most likely that would be unharvested potatoes from last season which were infected with the blight spores. Late blight spores cannot survive on tomato seed. No need to worry about volunteer tomatoes.

    Don’t plant home-saved potato seed this year.

    Do buy certified seed potatoes; for example, from: Fedco Seeds, Moose Tubers, Johnny’s Select.

    Rotate your crops. Don’t plant potatoes or tomatoes where either of them grew last year.

    Scout last year’s potato crops often for volunteers that were left in the ground. Remove them.

    Buy locally grown tomato starts.

    Buy late blight-resistant tomatoes (for a list of varieties, visit this online tool from UVM, http://www.uvm.edu/mastergardener/)

    If you suspect you have found late blight, call 800-639-2230. Suspected plant samples can be put in a plastic bag and mailed to:
    Plant Diagnostic Clinic
    63 Carrigan Dr. Geoffords Halls
    Burlington, VT 05405

    We’ll all benefit from all of our efforts to prevent a repeat of the 2009 season, thanks!

  • Help for cleaning up your garden this year

    Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D., NOFA Vermont’s Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor, wrote up this helpful article for gardeners with notes about how to clean up this year’s blighted plants and avoid late blight next year (PDFs):

    Here is the link to the article.
    Here is a link to a chart of varieties that have shown resistance to the late blight.

  • Educational Farm Tours

    The farm is now open for the season and the schools are lining up for farm tours. On Friday April 30th, 20 Hanover High school students came to the farm for an extensive farm tour and an educational game with Cat in celebration of Earth day.

  • Saveur magazine calls us out as “outstanding in our field”

    We couldn’t have said it any better. Thank you, Saveur:

    Shopping at farm stands is one of summer’s greatest pleasures. Dining at them is even better. Here are six that serve great homegrown fare.

    We’re pleased as punch to be included in this list. [8/4/09]

  • Cedar CIrcle Farm Education Programs in 2009 - Recap!

    2009 was a successful year for our educational programs here at the farm. Here is a summary of our accomplishments:
    . . . we held six well-attended classes focused on teaching home-gardening and cooking, in addition to the many home and school gardening classes that Cat taught around the Upper Valley.
    . . . in May we held an On-Farm Compost workshop for farmers and aspiring farmers.
    . . . both Thetford schools began collecting compost at school, held celebratory local meals served in their cafeterias, and increased the amount of food their cafeterias purchase from local farms.
    . . . Thetford Elementary completed their second full year of growing food and flowers and we developed K-2 curriculum to tie into the school gardens.
    . . . we had about 1,000 students, campers, and scouts from all over the Upper Valley visit the farm this year for educational farm tours, agricultural games and activities, pumpkin picking, harvesting, planting, and working in the fields.
    . . . to conduct outreach and to develop educational programs, Cat collaborates with and is a member of community groups: Pompanoosuc Agriculture Society (PAS), Thetford Community Garden Committee, Upper Valley Food Co-op Education Committee, Valley Food Council, Upper Valley Farm to School.
    . . . all of our festivals and Dinners in the Field were successful and well-attended.

    We’re looking forward to growing on these successful programs in 2010.
    —Cat Buxton, Education Coordinator
    11/07/09

  • Over 1,100 visitors for our 7th Annual Pumpkin Festival

    We had beautiful fall weather for our 7th Annual Pumpkin Festival, held at the farm on Sunday, October 11. Over 1,100 people enjoyed the festivities which included a children’s play, live bluegrass music by the Crunchy Western Boys of Warren, NH, a cider-pressing demonstration, horse-drawn wagon rides, pumpkin picking, boat rides on the river, and a variety of educational displays and children’s arts and crafts activities.

    Our Waste Recovery Area — designed to minimize festival waste through composting, recycling, and reuse, collected only 2.5 bags of trash . . . mostly hot drink cups. The cups we’ve been using, while paper, don’t compost because of a plastic liner. We know this because after six months in the compost after last year’s festival, all that was left of them was a pile of plastic sacks. We are continually trying to improve our planning to help to minimize waste. This winter we’ll follow some leads to a pure paper hot drink cup. 10/26/09

Press Releases

Newsletters

Join our email list