Harwood Ag Apprenticeship Program - Recently Updated Pages

Kalie Schneider

getlerk — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:16:35 CDT

NOFA Conference February 14, 2009
Participating in the NOFA conference was very eye opening on a lot of different levels. One thing that really struck me was just the amount of people who attended, and the vibe of the place, that everyone was just happy and excited to be a part of this event. This aspect really showed the importance of the event, and how people are really starting to take seriously the idea of local food, and a theme throughout the day, it felt, was recognizing that the way we are living now will not be able to be sustained infinitely, that sooner or later we will have to dramatically change the way we live and the way we eat, which is a lot about what the NOFA conference held for me.

I was definitely exposed to a whole new level of what the local food movement in Vermont is. I had never really heard about everything going on in Hardwick, especially, which was a lot of what Andrew Meyer talked about in his speech. There is so much going on! The NOFA conference definitely opened my eyes to all the things that are happening in the realm of the local food movement in Vermont. By just taking a look at all the vendors and all of the teachers of the workshops, and different kinds of things they were doing, the agricultural movement in Vermont is vast! There really is so much neat stuff going on, all with the idea of building a means of sustainable agriculture and therefore a means for sustainable life all over Vermont. From vendors dealing with things from composting to local foods, and with workshops about so many different kinds of things, like farm to school ideas, raw milk, and CSA’s, the NOFA conference really showed how much is happening in Vermont’s agricultural movement, and how important it all is.

The first workshop I participated in was one about foraging for wild edible plants, and the second about native fruits. The first was definitely more interesting, I think because it was more applicable, something that could be put into practice and used in everyday life. It was also clear that the people who taught the workshop were very knowledgeable and really enjoyed teaching about this subject, which was nice. It was really fascinating to learn about types of plants you could find to eat that are right outside, in the woods and fields and stuff; things you wouldn’t need to buy or travel far for, but resources that are available and that we could use accordingly. The workshop on native fruits wasn’t really so much applicable to everyday life, unless you were a fruit farmer, really. It was very informational, but perhaps not something that would really come in handy unless I plan on planting a bunch of native fruit trees, which would not be bad, it would just take a while.

One thing I really enjoyed at the NOFA conference was the volunteer work we did in the morning, cooking with all of the kids. This was just a neat sort of thing to do, and was a good addition to the day on a whole. The NOFA conference was all around a really good experience that left me with a lot of ideas and hope for what is happening and what will happen in the future.

Wallace Dairy Farm, Waterbury
Rosina’s farm was the first farm I visited with Agricultural Exploration. We parked on the side of a dirt driveway, after climbing up the rolls and turns of Blush Hill, looking out over the Worcester Range. Rosina Wallace is an organic dairy farmer and an amazing woman. Walking in to the barns that were crooked and peeling, her felt like a place with a history, having been run by many generations before her. The white room filled with the smell of a farm, stalls of cows, cats and hay, was truly an amazing place. One part that always struck me, First at Rosina’s, and later at all the other farms we visited, was how much work goes into the production of food, and in turn, how much we take it for granted. This is one of the reasons I became involved in this program, and one of the things I found the most fascinating; all the stories, lifestyles and realities of farmers we live in such close proximity to, yet in our world of modern industrial agriculture, we at the same time live so far away from. Rosina’s farm really brought this into perspective for me, bringing to the surface the importance of small, local farms and all they do. Listening to stories Rosina told, whether about farming cold days in the winter, or walking through fields of milkweed and butterflies in the summer, all of the dedication, love and knowledge Rosina has for what she does is amazing and the visit to her farm something very inspiring to be a part of.

Caroline Dillon

getlerk — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:15:01 CDT

One of the stories that I remember most from Doug Turner is the one about his father’s ghost. He told us that he feels his father’s presence with him in the barn, whether it’s when he is milking cows or other chores. A door will open occasionally and instead of being spooked by it, all he says is, “Hi, Dad.” This story really shows how close a family can be on a farm. When it has been passed through generations, it possess something that can bring a family together even in a tragedy like when the Turner’s barn roof collapsed. That fact that Doug Turner’s dad’s ghost would supposedly stick around for company shows a great deal of loyalty and love in their family.

After seeing a dairy farm in action, I know that I don’t have what it takes to operate a system like that. There are things that seem great about dairy farming, like the close connection with the cows, a consistent schedule, or fresh milk. The only problem that faces me is that there is not time for vacation, or and kind of break. Every morning, means an early alarm clock followed quickly by farm choirs. Everyday is devoted to cows. Maybe I just say this because I’m used to my Christmas or summer vacation, but not time off would be a very hard schedule to live with.

At all the farms that the Agricultural Exploration class has visited, there seems to be a common issue of organics and money. The two appear the not get along that well. Running an organic farm is great but also much more expensive. It seems that many organic farmers have a hard time keeping it organic and profitable especially when the economy is in today’s state.

Julia Cummings

getlerk — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:13:23 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Jessica Normandeau

jessn — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:42:05 CDT

Reflection to the NOFA Conference

Several weeks ago, I attended the annual NOFA conference at Vt Tech. The overall experience was absolutely incredible, the people there, the ones teaching and attending the conference were so passionate about every stretch of farming. While there I attended several workshops: I caught the end of Growing and Harvesting Healing Herbsthen went toWild Edibles in the Age of Relocalization and Native Fruits. It was cool to see specialists who knew and cared so much about what they were teaching. This inspired me to care about what I was learning.

As not just an at home gardener but also a hiker and someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, the conference was beneficial to me in more ways than one. The edibles workshop was very cool because I now have a better understanding of the foods that grow in a natural environment and just might be able to harvest them myself this summer/spring. Likewise the native fruit workshop gave me insight into the fruit trees and bushes I might want to plant in the future knowing they will thrive in a Vermont climate.

The ice cream at the end of the very long day was of course terrific just as I was told. The people were great and my experience was unique.

After having attended the conference, to me the title "Grow it Here! Innovations Toward Local food Sovereignty" has a certain air of passion. Seeing all the people so into new farming techniques and methods makes me understand the practice to be very scientific and innovative in a way that benefits the grower, the consumer and nature.

Before the NOFA conference I didn't understand how huge the agriculture movement in Vermont was. To me it was something existent, but I had no idea the extent to which people from all over the state were involved. For this reason the NOFA conference was very eye opening in the way that it did not just go to teach me about new farming innovations but about the idea of farming as innovative in general.

Visiting the Turner farm was an eye opening experience. I had never been to a dairy farm much less seen the innermost workings of one. It was so cool to listen to Doug speak about the logistics of dairy farming, especially organic dairy farming. I probably remember most about my time with him how difficult it is to be a dairy farmer. It is so intense, how everything the cow eats and all medical treatments have to be organic. It was interesting to me that a lot of the remedies for illnesses and diseases are herbal even for cows. The ghost stories were also pretty cool too!
After my experience on Doug’s farm I do not think I am cut out for the life of a dairy farmer. I have so much more appreciation for the job now knowing its difficulty. Just the fact that Doug sometimes goes to bed at 12 and wakes up at 5 is incredible. While I respect his work I know it would be so hard and I don' think I would be able to handle it.
When Doug was telling us about how difficult it is to be a dairy farmer I initially thought it must be even more difficult to be an organic dairy farmer but it is so cool that you can actually earn more as an organic farmer. It is a nice concept and a nice step I think towards promoting organics. Either way however rewarding his job may be the work is hard and the pay is small.

Ashley Hermanowski

greaser — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:28:12 CDT

Ag. App Journal

Goals: 1. Learn how to grow a small vegetable farm successfully 2. See what farmers really feed their animals 3. See where the milk goes from farm-supermarket, what the process is 4. Understand why local farms are disappearing and why more people aren't farming

October 13th 2008 today we went to bunches of farms and did fantastic things. we learned about vegetable farming, meat farming, and dairy farming. we saw many animals including cows and pigs and goose, turkeys, and cats, and dogs, and yaks, and garlic. we went to gaylord farm and pulled some tomates, we went to knoll farm too it was beautiful. They had tons of open field space and you overlooked the whole valley. I ate tons of garlic and kombucha my breath probably smells bad. I smell like cows and dirt too. It was definately a lot of fun!

November 13th 2008
Agricultural Apprenticeship
Quarter 2

I am interested in apprenticing on a local farm for several reasons, one of which is so I can gain a greater understanding of what it’s like to live like a farmer. I’ve heard many things about how difficult this lifestyle can be, but I wanted to experience it for myself. Also, farming, in order for the United States to become more agriculturally independent, needs to be more common, so getting to learn more about farming might be more useful to be in the future. The farm I would be most interested in working on would be a vegetable farm. I am hoping that through this apprenticeship I learn what it takes to be a farmer and learn some tips or common knowledge shared by farmers that I can use if I ever want to start a farm or even garden of my own so I can maintain it well. I also would hope to learn, more in depth, the growing need and importance of farmers. I have no farms in mind particularly, anything where I could learn a lot about vegetable growing!

April 2, 2009 Rosina Walace Dairy Farm

I remember that Rosina had a lot to say about how difficult it was to maintain a farm and make sure she is following the rules. One thing I found surprising is her story about keeping her cows on organic grass. On day she said they broke free and ran into my yard, and if the inspector caught them eating my grass, which wasn't certified organic, then they wouldn't be able to take Rosina's milk as organic. It made me think about how careful you must be to maintain a farm. Rosina was also talking about how in the past couple years she had lost more money selling her milk then gaining. She had to spend extra money on organic cow feed and other picky expenses that add up in the end for her. Despite the many problems Rosina was going through she still had a positive outlook which I thought was very important to have if your caught in a tight spot like her.

My experience at Rosina's was great, but personally I wouldn't want to be a dairy farmer because of my own eating habits and because of those I would have no use for the milking cows. I'm interested in pursuing a different career although on the side I definately do want to grow vegetables and food for myself when I'm older. I think that the economics of dairy farming today is becoming increasingly inconvenient for organic farmers.

Talking to Rosina, it is definately clear that she wants to bemore sustainable and help the organic movement grow but it's difficult for her to maintain a steady income. I think that farmers like Rosina try very hard to keep the local dairy coming but the government and new sanitation laws are preventing the local economy from having much success. It also seems like the raise in milk means that there is more demand for milk across the country.

Student Pages

getlerk — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:53:33 CST

Agricultural Apprenticeship
Carson Haskins (Semester 1)
Julia Hayer (Quarter 1)
Lane LeBoeuf (Quarter 2, Semester 2)
Anshe Lotspeich (Quarter 1)
Daniel O'Shaughnessy (Quarter 2, Semester 2)
Sarah Reid (Quarter 2)
Henry Woodard (Quarter 1)

Agricultural Exploration
Julia Cummings (Semester 2)
Caroline Dillon (Semester 2)
Ariel Goodman (Semester 2)
Ashley Hermanowski (Semester 2)
Jessica Normandeau (Semester 2)
Kalie Schneider (Semester 2)

Ariel Goodman

getlerk — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:08:26 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Sarah Reid

socs — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:46:24 CST

HEY EVERYONE! I AM SARAH AND MY PROFILE
NAME IS SOCS, AS IN THE SOCIALS IN
THE OUTSIDERS. OKAY? OKAY!!

My learning goals are:
1. Learn how to milk a cow not by hand.
2. Know exactly what is being fed to all the animals in the barn.
3. See how an organic farm works!

October 13th, 2008:
It was absolutely fantastic going to all the farms today. Gaylord runs his farm SO WELL, and tailgating on Rt. 100 was pretty darn funny :) My hands are dirty, I smell like cows, and my breath smells like garlic...yum. I'm pumped for some more awesomeness coming up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 10th, 2008:
I'm interested in apprenticing on a local farm because I really want to know more about farms and how they work. I'm interested in running an organic farm in the future, maybe, and this is a good opportunity to gain knowledge. I want to work on organic farms, and specifically ones with animals. (I really like working with animals.) Dairy, horse, sheep, or goat farms would be absolutely fantastic. I'd like to work with the Von Trapp Farm for Quarter Two.

I think that I could see myself becoming one of the new farmers, because I'm very interested in being able to support myself and not purchase food as often as possible. I think my farm would be relatively small, with a good amount of acreage, and have a lot of animals. I'd probably not be farming with my current family, because no one has shown great interest in farming, but maybe my future family would farm with me. I'd have as many animals as I could rotate, with the focus being milk-producers. I'd have a few barns, but none of them massive. I'd be selling my milk to organic suppliers, and co-ops, as well as the local community. I'd sell all other products (such as eggs, wool, and produce) to the local community. And that's about it. :)

November 20th, 2008
Today I went to the Von Trapp farm for the first time! It was really fun, and though I've already worked there, I still really like doing it. I'm really happy that I got to go learn, because now I know a lot more about farms, even though I've been only doing it for a day. I first wrestled some cows who had been in the pasture (and were pretty wild) into stantions, and it was pretty scary. But I liked it. And then I spread hay evenly to the cows, who were really sweet, and continued on to sweep it on both sides. It was really warm in the barn. Kelley was doing the milking, and had barely started when I finished feeding the cows. So then Kelly taught me how to clean the cow's teats by "dipping" them in Iodine ( I think) and we had to wiped them off with a paper towel , and Kelly would attach the suction machine. I dipped all the cows and emptied the milk buckets into a larger compartment that had a tube connected to the bulk tank. I fed all the calves, graining the older ones. The younger ones wouldn't eat very much food, and the older ones were so exuberant they had to be harnessed while they ate. Milking was really great, but one of the calves died the day before, which was very sad. It was only 2 weeks old. There was also a young bull, which was surprising, because the Von Trapps only have females, but they are keeping this one for the Geigers. I collected eggs from the upper and lower henhouses, which was about two dozen. That was definitely not as fun, but it was okay. I drank fresh milk (which most people can't stomach) and left with half a dozen eggs. I loved it!

November 23rd, 2008
On Friday I went to The Mountain School of Milton Academy. It was the most amazing school I've ever been to, because it is run as a farm and a school. There are tons of barns, animals, and multiple greenhouses. I was pleasantly surprised by the immensity of their land. The students run the farm for half the day, and go to school for the other half. I drove an hour and a little bit to get there, because the school s in Vershire. I nervously ate some breakfast, for I only knew two people there, which was lucky. I then went to a tour of campus, and i got to see all the animals and the massive garden on Garden Hill. The garden is run very well, being in the best location of the entire school, along with a small apple orchard, and a small shed. There were multiple barns, built sturdily and very well, with beef cows and sheep living in them, as well as 200 laying and meat hens. There was a large and very clean root cellar, and a Harvest Kitchen. It was really, really cool. I then went to English and French and Environmental Science, the latter being the most relevant. The final projects for the students is a synopsis on what they had been working on for the entire semester; a plot of land that they had to study in depth. They took core samples and did forestry work, as well as inferred who could have been there by clues in soil and trees. I then ate some lunch, and continued on to do afternoon chores. I took the heads and tails off of beets for two hours, placing them in the massive root cellar, and feeding the cows the leaves. It was really nice to be there, though I soon left. I really want to go to the Mountain School because I'd learn a lot about farming by doing it every day; its like Ag Ap to the extreme.

December 8th
Yesterday I made up the two hours I missed the week before by working for 4 hours at the Von Trapps. I got there at 5:30, and left at 9:30. It was probably 3 degrees outside, but I would bet that it was 60 in the barn, just because of Cow Heat only!! WOW. I first grained all the cows and calves, and swept the hay towards the heifers that Martin and Kelly had just picked up from Moretown. I then dipped and wiped most of the cows' teats to prepare for milking, and did some post-dipping. I fed the new calf (born on Thanksgiving)who luckily is a girl so I can grow attached to her as I want to. She is absolutely adorable, and quite the hungry calf! I dodged falling haybales and spread them out for all the cows, being careful to collect the baling twine. One of the cows had a really bad case of colic and hadn't eaten because she had a ball of baling twine stuck in her rumen! She was unable to eat her cud, but had been doing better recently. Another cow had stepped on her teat and sliced off the tip (ouch), so Martin and Kelly had to be careful to pour her milk into another vat to give to the 3 pigs they have. The pigs are fed exclusively on Red Hen bread and bad milk, and they are HUGE! I then moved two dozen hens from the upper henhouse to the one located in the barn, which was quite the adventure. I had to grab hens which were above my head and shove them into tiny crates. Martin helped me alot but my wrists still hurt from carrying the heavy chickens. The hens lay a lot better when warm, and the barn was very warm. Then I talked to Martin about farming, and he said that he had to be very innovative when farming. Most of the farms that went under were not innovative enough, and he says he's always thinking about how to fix a problem. One they may have soon is with their new cheese factory. The building is up, but the processes have yet to start, and when they do, all the farm's milk will be converted into cheese. Right now it is being turned into yogurt at Stonyfield Dairy. They would separate the solids from the whey, shipping the solids and keeping loads of whey. Thus they'd have a lot of whey, used for nothing, and pigs can survive solely on whey! So they'd have 30 pigs all the time, which would mean a new pig barn. Martin wants to keep an efficient system on the farm, so he decided that a hoop house might be a good idea. He'd be able to drive a tractor through the center, and clean out all the manure through that (because pigs sleep and go to the bathroom in different places). Another option would be pasture feeding the pigs, which would get the farm 200 dollars per pound of price meat!! They're not altogether sure yet, but they're always thinking. I'm excited to go back!

December 22nd
So yesterday I went to the Von Trapps for a little while (actually, 4 hours). I went at a different time than usual because there was a huge snowstorm and I needed to be back home safely. Well, it was very interesting to be able to see a different aspect of farming. We first went outside (brr) and brought all the cows inside. I had to go in the deep snow of the pasture and circle the cows into the barn. It took a little while, and I had to search for a "kicker" ( a bar which is a device that pulls the udder up a bit higher or something). It was very easy to get them in the barn, and then I had to bring the heifers in to their stantions. There was a new calf who looked sick, and one of the other calves got her head stuck between the bars of her stall! We got her out fine, though. We then shoveled off the ground by the cows because they would track in stuff, and their floor would become very slippery. Then we went outside again to feed the cows who were currently living in the cold, which took a very very long time. We had to spread hay bales in long lines over the entire field, a cold process, because we needed to make sure the cows could each eat food safely. We then shoveled for a while and worked hard again, for the work never stops! All in all, it was a cold, fun day.

Daniel O'Shaughnessy

DaNo2840 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:34:57 CST

50 Million Farmers Response
This large figure of the number of farmers the us will soon need doesn't surprise me at all.
At the rate our population is growing how would we not need 50000000 more farmers.
I can not only see my self becoming a farmer but i know thats what i intend to do. I have always liked farming, i like driving the tractors and running all the equipment the most, i like the animals (when they behave), and i have always liked being able to see the fruits of your own labor. Working out side is what ive always done every day before i even became intrested in farming and it will probably be that way for the rest of my life. I plan to have an organic dairy farm with 50-80 holstiens or jerseys. i would like to have a nice farm with nice equipment and a nice head of cattle and of coarse a nice MAPLE SUGAR BUSH. I would grow corn, hay, and alfalfa. i would hope to have a family to help me and hopefully my friends will stop by and help every once in a while too. I would have nice barns and a big equipment shed so i can keep all my equipment and all my motorized toys under cover.
And i would have a big sugar house witha loft above the evaporator with a tv,dish satilite, xbox360, and a couple of recliners oh and dont forget the bose suround sound.......:) but for right now i can only dream......

Week of 11/10
This week i just about finished up logging the old maple sugar bush which my great aunt owns and in which i plan to tap. Still have a few more standing dead soft wood trees that i think i am just going to cut down and leave, only because i do not want them to naturally fall on my pipe line and break it when i put it up. i might take the wood to burn in the sugar house but i dont know yet it will all depend on how much time i have.
Also on the weekend i did some work in the sugar bush on my property and on my neigbors side of the sugar bush. I extended a main line ( line where all the little "tree to tree" lines spill into and then it carries the sap to the tank) And i started to put up lateral lines ( the "tree to tree" lines) all in all i picked up about 35 +/- taps with about 20-30 more to pipe in on his property. Not a bad week.
Next week my uncle allen is coming over to advise me on where i should string the main lines in my great aunts sugar bush, also the sugar house is going to start being constructed, Not much will get done next week as i have caught the deer season feever. Happy hunting.

The week after 11/10 u can figure it out
Took the last of the maples out of the bush and blocked them up, attempted to grade out some of my ruts but mud doesnt grade out so well, kinda made it worse. Allen is supposed to come over and show me where i should hang my mane lines. dont know if that will happen or not. I was thinking of locating my tank in a new spot in order to pick up more trees on a slope going opposite of where i am running my lines but the new spot is kind of in a swamp so i think i will keep my old spot.

Thanks giving week
Didn't do a whole lot. split some fire wood, and moved some more sugar wood into the woodshed. Had a problem with the recoil start on my chain saw but i used my inginuity and fixed it right in the woods. still havent fixed the handle on my stihl saw., i will have to steel a parts saw from the farm and take the handle off of it and put it on mine. Thats all that happened besides thanks giving and hunting deer. Oh my brother shot my deer, made me mad.

The first week in December.
Did some stuff. but was litterally hung up a couple of days. Cut about 7 pole sized trees to use to build my tank shed. And gott the tractor hung up on a log. (log got wedged under it and i was going no where fast). but hadley taught me a new farmer trick where you cut a 6 ft pole log and chain it to the rim of the tractor, it pole vaulted me over the log and i was free. neat trick but only needs to be used in extreme situations. Good to know, but can be dangerous if not done right.

2nd week in December
Started to build the tank shed, i got 1 wall up.....barely. but i need anothe person to help me, the 8" 20ft log is to much for 1 person. Rob williams is going to help me next wednesday. Strung a bunch of wire to support the main lines. have wire in half of the sugar bush, untill i ran out of wire, hadley brought another coil home today (sunday) i put up about 150ft of pipe on some of the wire i had up already. until i ran out of wire ties. (they hold the pipe to the support wire) but had wire ties to string up 1/2" pipe which im only useing alittle of . and put up about 100 ft of that. i did all the pipe on friday on our snow day. got alot done. allen said he had wire ties i could use. I am hounding him to get the yamaha snomachine running, i am tired of waisting diesel driving the tractor back and forth from the woods and our house, plus the rattle of the tire chains get anoiying. i cant wait to play on it to though:). that about does it for this week. things are looking up and i think i will be able to get all the pipe up in time. Oh and my sugar house is half built YAY!!!!

Week before christmas
Got a little bit done, split some fire wood so i could get one little log pile out of the way. strung wire this week and allen brought me some wire ties, doesnt look like im going to get that yamaha, ugh a snowmachine would be amazingly helpful, oh well i dont have any money to buy one any way......

Christmas week
got alot done, i put up the rest of the wire in the woods, i broke several different sections a few times. every time it would break where i spliced it, it maid me mad when it happened, because i would be puting the finishing touches on it and tightening it up and it would go twaaaaaaannngggg SNAP!, and i would go %$##$ %#%%%. and get to splice it and do it all over again, fun for me, but not really. i even worked on christmas day, i put up about 150ft of half inch. I noticed the tractor was leaking antifreeze but it turns out a clamp was loose on a hose. we went and looked at an evaporator, it was a 3 1/2 x 14 but hadley and allen thought it was to big and said i should go with a 4x12 (really they are the same size in surface area but W/E)

1st week in January
Put up alot of pipe, almost all of my main line. i have abotu 200 ft more of 3/4 and i would have had it all done before we went back to school but i ran out of pipe, so close to having the main line done and i ran out of pipe, i placed an order to bascom maple farms for wireties, 500 spouts, tees, hooked connectors fittings etc when i pushed finish i almost had a heart atack $583 is what the total came to. OUCH but its what i needed so i forked it out. i ran out of 1/2 wire ties, only have 150 ft of 1/2 main line to go too, UGH again sooooo close, i think ive found my evaporator its a small bros 4x12 with stainless steel pans, looks very nice in the pics the guy sent. I might buy it with out even having to look at it! i hope so the guy is in bradford Vt

2nd week in jan
Well the evap. in brad ford didnt work out, guy was kinda strange about the whole thing and ended up not wanting to sell it, UGH, get my hopes up for nothing, got all my mainline up except for the 200 ft of 3/4" but me and unlce allen went and tore some orange 3/4" out of a sugar woods that was being logged off and it was free. But i will have to wait until its 25 out to install that stuff because its brittle under 25 and will break while your unwinding it, but its free so im not going to complain, im going to the maple school on sat w my dad, then on sun i will hang w/ him cause i havent seen him in 2 months, probably will tool around on his snowmachine as i havent ridden on this year, i put up 52 taps of latteral lines, theyre all ready to go i just have to drill a hole and tapp them in when the time comes, only 348 left to go, im going to run some more mainline on to the williams property and ppick up 40 more taps, im hoping for 125 taps done by the end of this next week, its supposed to be real cold so we will see im not productive in the cold because the pipe doesnt like to cooparate when its that cold.

Lane LeBoeuf

LeBoeufL — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:42:01 CST

Thursday November 13, 2008
Day 1 DeFreest Farm
I've never really worked on a farm before, although I live right next to Kendal Maynard's farm. David Defreest is one of my friends, and that's how I knew I wanted to work on the Defreest farm. I had been up there twice before, and both times David, Hannah, and me went horse back riding. the second time was pretty cool, because we went on a cattle drive, kind of. Thursday i went up to the farm and we moved calf's from Davids to Hannah's. it was pretty frustrating trying to get them to move anywhere, until i learned that we could just pick them up. It got a lot easier after that. all in all i think that we moved eighteen calves up to Hannah's. I'm looking forward to going back up there again on Thursday.

Thursday December 4, 2008
Day 2 DeFreest Farm
This was my second day actually working on the farm, and I had no clue what Dave had in store for me. Earlier that day a cow broke it's leg and he had to end up shooting it. So by the time i got there they had most of the cow cut up. i got the job of cutting up the hind quarters. Once that was done we started to grind it all up into hamburg. i had no problem doing this because i have had a lot of experience cutting up deer. there must have been 250 pounds of hamburg easy.

Thursday December 11, 2008
Day 3 DeFreest Farm
Dave forgot to come down and pick me up at the bottom of the road, so i walked up to the farm. I thought that it would be a lot worse, but it actually wasn't that bad. when i got up there we started right in at loading the cows into the trailer. we were taking the ones that were ready to calf or were going to be bred over to there other barn. The third load was the hardest, because they wouldn't go into the trailer. they rounded on us and bolted for the far side of the stall. Dave told one of the workers not to go down there yet, but he didn't listen. the worker startled the cows and the broke threw the fence, and the wooden beams. they got in with the other cows and we lost them in the other pen. we only ended up taking 4 that trip. on the the last load we brought the tractor down and boxed them in. it was a lot easier to get them in the trailer that time.

Thursday December 18, 2008
Day 4 DeFreest Farm
I had to walk up the hill today also, but Dave was with me so it wasn't that bad. I got to run the backhoe loading corn meal into the cow feeder. Then i hopped on the tractor and went up to the corn piles and and filled the auger with corn. They got these huge piles of corn, and cow feed everywhere. I hope its enough to get threw winter.
Basically, that's all i did from 3:30 till 8:00ish.

Tuesday December 23, 2008
Day 5 DeFreest Farm
I went up on a Tuesday because it was going to be Christmas Thursday, and I had to get my hours in. Dave took me over to the four corners so i could load feed with there new front loader. Well it was new this year, not like brand new. I hoped in the loader, and it took me a good five minutes to figure out how to get it moving. But after that it was easy from there. Ted came out after the first load to help me and Philippe (i cant spell Spanish names) with the other three loads. It was an early night that night, so i got done around six. There's really not that much to way about running a tractor.

Wednesday December 31, 2008
Day 6 DeFreest Farm
My dad brought me up to the farm at around eight. I stood around and watched them milk for about fifteen minutes. Once Dave showed up we mixed up some milk and brought it down to the pigs. You barely touch them and they squeal like you were murdering them. Then we brought some milk down to the calf barn. It was pretty cold that day so the barns were all shut up. The methane was so bad in the calf barn i could barely breathe, but i got used to it pretty soon. I had to much out the stalls, and that was pretty nasty job. Then me and Dave fed them milk, gave then some grain. The big ones in the middle we gave them some hay. Then we gave them some more bedding. That took about two hours. Me and Dave walked back up to the barn. Me and Dave then went to go and get a load of feed. We came back with a full load, and couldn't get through the alley. The milk truck crept up behind us and blocked us in, so we left the feed wagon in the alley way. Dave Ethan, and me then out to muck all of the stalls in the new barn. Dave ran the tractor and me and Ethan ran the rakes. We got that done at around 11:30. I hopped into the backhoe and put two buckets of corn meal into the two loads of cow feed. I ate my lunch while in the tractor. Me Dave and Ethan then went up to the trailer and took the top two hay bails off of the trailer. We threw all of the moldy hay off into the loader bucket and Dave took that off somewhere. I stacked all of the good stuff into a pile by an old dump truck. Dave took the loader and got a load of corn meal then brought the loader to the buckets of molasses. We loaded the three 280 pound buckets into the bucket of the loader. Me and Dave got into the big john deer and hooked up the hay trailer and drove it over to the four corners. Ethan drove the loader behind us. He got some molasses in the corn meal, but the cows like the molasses anyway, so its OK. Me and Ethan started to much out some of the stalls while Dave worked the loader. Big Dave showed up and we worked with the loader some more. Then Christin showed up, and a cow died right as she left. We loaded it up into the Loader and then got in the car and went over to Dave's shop. Dave, little Dave, and Ethan worked on cutting up the cow. I took the loader back over to the four corners, and me and ted finished doing the stalls and fed the cows, by the time i drove the loader back to the barn it was eight at night. Not a bad days work if you ask me.

Ag Events

getlerk — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:43:55 CST

Grow it Here! NOFA Vermont's 27th Annual Winter Conference Starts: February 14, 2009 8:00AM
Ends: February 15, 2009Location: Vermont Technical College, Randolph, VTJoin us for our two day conference offering more than 60 workshops. The conference also features a farmers' market, NOFA Vermont's extensive book table, live music, silent auction, and the largest potluck lunches in New England!

The Saturday keynote will be given by Andrew Meyer, founder of The Center for Agricultural Economy, owner of Vermont Natural Coatings, a whey-based varnish company, and Vermont Soy, an organic soy drink and tofu company. Andrew is setting the scene in Vermont for true Food Sovereignty through agricultural and community innovations.

The Sunday keynote will be given by Eliot Coleman, farmer and author of The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest, and The Winter Harvest Manual. Eliot brings nearly 40 years of experience in all aspects of organic farming, including field vegetables, greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing, and four-season production and marketing. He will also give a farmer intensive workshop session on Monday, February 16 for advanced commercial growers.Contact: NOFA Vermont
Phone: 802-434-4122
info@nofavt.org
http://www.nofavt.org/annual-events/winter-conference

Assignments

getlerk — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:38:46 CST

Ag Apprentice Weekly Responsibility Checklist

DID I:

Work 2 hours on the farm?
Get my farm hours initialed by my farmer mentor on my timesheet?
Submit my weekly farm reflection (or other assignment) to the WIKI or the Ag Apprenticeship bin outside the Next Step office?
Submit my timesheet to the Next Step office?
Meet with Kristen?

Quarter 2 – Week 1 Assignment
***Please submit your reflection to the Ag Apprenticeship box outside the Next Step office or post it to the WIKI by Monday November 10th.

Please submit a reflection that communicates:
• Why are you interested to apprentice on a local farm?
• What type(s) of farm(s) do you want to work on?
• What do you hope to learn through your agricultural apprenticeship?
• Do you have any farms in mind that you would like to apprentice with during Quarter 2?

Additionally please respond to:
Author Richard Heinberg says that the United States needs an additional 50 million new farmers in the next 20-30 years in order to provide our citizens with a stable, healthy food supply! Can you see yourself becoming one of these new farmers? Why or why not? IF yes, what would your farm look like (You can use these questions to help think about your answer: What would you grow? How large is your farm? Would you have animals? Would you be farming with other friends and family? What type of equipment would you use? Would you have barns/buildings? Who would you be selling your food/animals to?)

Have fun with this exercise….use your creativity and imagination.

Contact Kristen at 498-8786 or getlerk@harwood.org if you have any questions or to set up a meeting. You may also stop in the Next Step office and speak with Rachel or Ellen and they will help you get in contact with me if I am not at school.

HUHS Agricultural Apprenticeship Program

getlerk — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:35:35 CST

"My goal is to expand my small non profit sugaring hobby into a medium sized profitable sugaring operation."
Dan O'Shaughnessy, Grade 11

"I'm interested in apprenticing on a local farm because I really want to know more about farms and how they work. I'm interested in running an organic farm in the future, maybe, and this is a good opportunity to gain knowledge."
Sarah Reid, Grade 10

"I love farming because I get to be outside and work with animals and also give back to the community because without milk, meat, and vegetables, we would not be able to live the healthy lives that most people in the world are living."
Anshe Lotspeich, Grade 10

With the support of Harwood’s administration and the Next Step program, the Agricultural Apprenticeship program was created by students for students to gain real world, hands-on experience in the livelihood of farming. Students from Jean Berthiaume’s ‘Creating Sustainable Communities’ course envisioned the program to reconnect young people to farms, land, and food, and believed that this experience would provide participants the skill and inspiration to create a more sustainable world.

The Agricultural Apprenticeship experience provides an opportunity for students to work and learn the skills necessary to operate and maintain a vegetable, dairy, livestock, and/or maple sugar farm. The program will give students an opportunity to apply their education thus far in the real world experience of our community farms. Students will gain an overall understanding of the farm, and then through collaboration with the farm mentor and apprenticeship coordinator, be expected to identify a focus for deeper understanding to culminate in a final project that benefits the farm in some way.

Students will be encouraged to apprentice on several types of farms throughout the year to gain experience and perspective into the different types and approaches to agriculture. Credit will vary based on the structure and choice of students. Credit Approval Panel (CAP) creativity can be applied. This course is pass/fail.

Student Pages

Apprentice Assignments

Farms

Ag Events

Contact

Farms

getlerk — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:34:20 CST

Vegetable
Santa Davida Farm, Waitsfield
Vermont Food Bank/Kingsbury Farm, Warren
Little Hands Farm, Warren

Livestock
Vermont Yak Company, Waitsfield
5 Gallon Bucket Farm, Warren

Diverse Yield
Gaylord Farm, Meats-Eggs-Vegetables, Waitsfield
Deans Mountain Permaculture Farm, Orchard-Aquaculture-Annuals-Medicinals, Moretown

Dairy
Davis Farm, Waterbury
Wallace Farm, Waterbury
Defreest Farm, Warren

Maple Syrup
Hammond, Waitsfield

Flower
Mountain Flower Farm (Certified Organic), Warren
The Painted Tulip, Waterbury

Henry Woodard

flem — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:12:59 CST

Fall Field Trip Reflection
I really liked the field trip espically seeing all of the different types of farms that we went to. My favorite I would have to say was planting the garlic then seeing the yaks even though we werent able to go in an pet them as we migh've if they were cows. Also I liked seeing the inside of the Davis's barn because I've always wondered what the inside of their barn looked like living really close to it all of my life and how what they do is so similar to how we farm. In general it was a good time and I enjoyed seeing the different types of agriculture.

10/6/08-10/13/08, Henry Woodard, Woodard Farm
This week went fine. Mostly milked, the last time by myself because my father had to go to some thing. I acctually like milking by myself more then milking with someone because I don't really get distracted like I might if somebody was there. Also there's much more responsibility when you're alone because there's no one to help so you have to stay on your toes. We have aprox. 23 cows so takes a little while when you're alone but atleast there's no fresh cows so it's pretty much the same and there's not much that's new or trickey. A fresh cow is a cow that has just had a calf and whos milk isn't readdy to go into the tank yet. I didn't really learn anything new this time because I didn't do anything new it was all stuff I have already done.

10/13/08-10/20/08, Henry Woodard, Woodard farm
Most of this week I was over at my mothers but there was a few things that I did anyway. On the half-day/wednesday we were going to spread manure but instead I just mowed a field that needed to be mowed. While mowing this field I learned pretty much how to mow a field with that mower even though I did do some mowing last year with that same mower. I liked mowing, it takes a while and it's one of those tasks that you just have to be patent with but it was okay. One question about mowing that field is I don'5t really know why we were mowing it because for the past few years we haven't been using it for hay anyway. This was the week of the field trip so that was a big part of my agriculture time. I liked the field trip alot not only because I got to miss school but also because it was good for me to see different types of farming other then what I do all of the time. The last thing that I did was a milking probably just a normal one not alone or anything.

Santa Davida Farm

getlerk — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:58:34 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Gaylord Farm

getlerk — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:57:48 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Anshe Lotspeich

alotspeich15 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:45:25 CDT

Thursday September 18 - Davis Farm/Day 1
At the Davis Farm, I... wow this is easy now im done

today i went on FEILD TRIP IT WAS REALLY FUN AND I LEARENED lot about vegie farmer an

Julia Hayer

greaser — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:44:13 CDT

my name is really Wildflower... call me that every single time you see me. Please...

Davis Farm

getlerk — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:30:13 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.