Kingsfoil Meadows

Four young farmers and housemates-turned-friends excited to try communal land management for agriculture in northern VT.

Farming experience

3-5 years experience

Currently farming

Yes

Highest level of farming experience

Farm business ownership

Description of farming experience

Sam

Comm rabbit farmer 3 yr
Business mgmt
Bookkeeping 3 yr
No-till organic veggies 5 yr
Forest mgmt/agroforestry 4 yr
Livestock >1 yr
Animal processing/hide tanning >6 yr
Welding 2 yr
WWOOF USA

Jen

Food systems MS, UVM
Veg, perennial >5yr
Livestock (meat, dairy, eggs, fiber) 3yr
Mushroom prod. 3yr
Regen ag design/grazing consultation <1yr
Invasives mgmt <1yr
Soil health & conservation 1yr
WWOOF USA, Taiwan, Nepal, Japan, Romania, Turkey, UK

Ari

Landscape/invasives mgmt 2yr
Trees/perennial nursery 1yr
Carpentry/fine woodwork 4yr
Veg 4yr
NRCS grants & grant writing 1yr
Business mgmt
Welding/equipment maint 1yr
WWOOF USA

Julia

Perennial nursery 1yr
Organic veg 1yr
Grazier support, VAAFM 1yr
Carpentry 1yr
Sugaring
WWOOF USA

Farming plans

Tenure arrangement desired

Lease

Tenure arrangement description

We are looking for a lease of >1 year. As long as 5 if the arrangement is a good fit. We are flexible on acreage, we could go from 10-100. 1-5 tillable acres or more and 1-5 grazeable acres or more would be ideal. We’re not currently in a position to buy and are not looking for a farm transfer at this time.

We are open to adding or removing enterprises to our farm plan based on the needs of the landowner. We hope to find a partly forested parcel which could support veggie and specialty crop production, perennials, and a small presence of grazing and/or foraging livestock (small ruminants, poultry, maybe rabbits).

We are looking for a live-in situation, with year-round housing for 4 people.

Planned farm enterprise: Primary

Agroforestry

Planned farm enterprises: Others

Forest/Foraging, Livestock

Farm enterprises description

We all have unique skill sets and interests, with some overlap. Planned enterprises with point person:

Woodland stewardship, foraging/trapping (Sam)

Soil-building, fiber and dairy, silvopasture (Jen)

Specialty veg and grain crops, seed saving, bees (Ari)

Perennial farming, agroforestry services (Julia)

Multifunctional landscape management integrating annuals, perennials, and livestock; food forestry; community education in food production and skills (All)

We plan to start out focusing on perennials and a diverse garden, and aim to integrate livestock and additional enterprises as we get established.

Written business plan

In progress

Business planning description

At present our primary goal is stewarding VT farm & woodland while developing a multifunctional regenerative system to feed ourselves & our community. Alongside food production, our collective skills & interests include fiber processing, fiber arts, hide-tanning, sheep shearing, baking, woodcraft, & timber framing. We plan to expand into commercial production of farm produce & value-add products after a year test-driving our collaborative model & will work with the Intervale Center to hone a business plan. We aim to offer services & community classes in specialty skills (fiber arts, hide-tanning, agroforestry) from year 2 or 3. We each have off-farm income to support the start-up period.

Farmer housing needed

Yes

Water source needed

Yes

Farm infrastructure needed

Barn/farm buildings
Electricity/power

Description of infrastructure needed

Needs

Reliable water for animals, plants, and people
Some form of animal shelter
Fodder and tool storage.
Year-round housing for 4

Nice to haves

A hoop house or greenhouse would be wonderful but not essential.
Any available hand tools or other equipment would also be appreciated, but not requisite.
If haying is possible and equipment accessible, we would be interested.

What we can provide

Infrastructure maintenance and improvements
Small to medium build-outs including outbuildings, community event spaces, fencing, minor earthworks, and hedgeworks.

Access to equipment needed

No

Additional information

Living communally for the last 2 years, we learned to share space and projects effectively without stepping on one another's toes, became friends, and discovered a shared enthusiasm for a collaborative model of farming & land management. Our interests are both various & overlapping; this is to our advantage as we have been able to work semi-autonomously on our passion projects, collaborating with & supporting each other when need & excitement call. We believe this is the key to successful collaborative management. Our varied skills & passions uniquely situate us to farm, steward, & love the land with all 8 hands. We are excited give back to Vermont lands & communities with a VLL partnership!