Honey Field Farm: A Sweet and Spicy Visit

Emily Nelson (she/her) enjoys fishing, hiking, and swimming at the beach during the summer. Her favorite veggies are snap peas and cauliflower, but she is more of a fruit person, and loves pomegranates and apples!

The Teen Farm Fellows took off to another service learning site, Honey Field Farm, just 10 minutes down the road from Cedar Circle. Honey Field is a small, organic farm. After we met with the lead, Valerie, we introduced ourselves to the rest of the Honey Field team.

Valerie then took us on a brief tour, including some background information about them and their farm. We saw their impeccable organization and the considerable thought and effort they put into their farm. Valerie and Eli, the two owners, took the time to share their love of plants and vegetables with us. They started the farm six years ago, when they purchased what was formerly known as Killdeer Farm. They own 15 acres of land full of organic crops that are distributed to 25 different partners, and specialize in growing hot peppers for their hot sauce.

One really interesting thing for me was their trial partnering with a UVM Extension. They have multiple greenhouses containing tomatoes, one of which remains unchanged, serving as the control group. The other house has Alyssum and Marigolds planted on the outside in an attempt to draw the pests away from the plants without using harmful ingredients, a technique broadly known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in farming. They are beginning the second year of research. Last year, the results were inconclusive, but it is such an amazing advancement and incredibly mindful.

After our tour, we were presented with small, serrated knives. We went to their plot, which contains onion beds, and began to cut away the weeds. I learned from them that if a weed is too developed, pulling it can harm your crops, which is why we cut them. During our time weeding, the Teen Farm Fellows engaged in small talk with the Honey Field employees about each other’s favorite vegetables, but it quickly evolved into a lively conversation about our aspirations and why we wanted to join this program. We all shared our passion and love for farming and the environment, which led to lots of laughs and a sense of belonging. I can speak for all of us when we had an amazing time visiting Honey Field. We love meeting new people and learning new things, but the people there were especially nice and accepting, which we all appreciate.