Coming up this August 6 - 13th, Vermont Open Farm Week will be celebrating its 9th Anniversary! This yearly celebration of Vermont's farm community and agricultural heritage offers farm tours, dinners, classes, and many more events that show the range of Vermont's working landscape. Some of these farms are only open to the public during this one week in August. Open Farm Week takes you all around the state. This is your chance to taste, to explore Vermont, and to meet our farmers.
A full list of events is posted in early July. Around this time of year, we start to get calls and emails asking when the complete Open Farm Week event list will be posted. So, we felt a sneak peek is in order. This year, we have some can't-miss favorites, and we are always happy to welcome new farms to the event. Below are just a small group of the farms and events happening this year.
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Cate Farm - Plainsfield
Cate Farm began growing organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers in 1981. They started small and have grown slowly to their present size of 22 acres and eight 96′ long greenhouses under cultivation. There mission: To grow the highest quality plants and produce for their community, at a price that is fair to both customers and farmers alike.
Tomato Trot 5K Fun Run
2nd Annual Cate Farm Tomato Trot 5K fun run/walk at 4pm, and Farm Social following at 5pm. Come run/ walk around Cate Farm! The Tomato Trot 5K is a scenic trail run/walk through farm fields and on woods roads, around the borders of Cate Farm. The first kilometer snakes along the Winooski River and is relatively flat; the rest of the run is over small rolling hills. Each runner/walker will receive a pound of Cate Farm tomatoes upon finishing the 5K, and anyone 65 or older who beats Farmer Richard’s time gets 2 pounds of tomatoes!
Doe's Leap Farm - East Fairfield
Doe's Leap is a first time participant in Open Farm, and we are so happy to have them share their farm with everyone this year. Have you ever tasted Doe's Leap Farm Cheese? It is dreamy! And their farm-made sausages are some of our favorites.
Farm Tour with Cheese and Sausage Tasting
Join the folks at Doe's Leap Farm us for an epic tour of their beautiful northern Vermont Farm. Take a pasture walk and meet the goats, witness a working Border Collie demonstration, tour the cheese facility. and discuss the importance of regenerative agriculture in providing environmentally sustainable, nutrient-dense food. The tour will culminate with a tasting of Doe's Leap certified organic goat cheeses and farm-made sausages.
Farm Craft VT - Shelburne
Farm Craft VT is a Seed to Soap herb farm growing over 50 varieties of herbs and flowers, distilling essential oils, pressing sunflower seed oil, and raising bees for honey and beeswax. Soaps, lotions, herbal teas and many other botanical products are handmade from farm grown materials, in small batches on the premises in their Farm Lab.
Farm Tour & Afternoon Tea Buffet
Smell the herbs, taste the honey, and check out the alembic still and farm lab. This walking tour lasts about 90 minutes, starting and ending at the farm shop. You'll get to visit the bees and take a peek into the observation hive window, taste some honey and then move to the herb garden for a scartch and sniff. Attendees will get to learn all about Farm Craft's entire seed to soap process. How they harvest the herbs and flowers, distill essential oils and hydrosols , and formulate and manufacture botanical products in the lab. After a quick tour of the lab, you'll be served a selection of herb tea blends, as well as fruit salad with gluten free macarons and honey cakes from Matryoshkas bakery.
Valley Dream Farm - Cambridge
Another first time participant, Valley Dream Farm is a family run business which began in 1992. Stop by and visit the farm stand and greenhouse. On Tuesday nights during the season they host true farm to table dinners.
Dinner on the Farm and Tour
Tuesday evening Chef dinner and tour. Evening begins with a hayride tour (weather permitting) guided tours of greenhouse and cut flower gardens, take home bouquet, an appetizer mingle (BYOB) we offer non-alcoholic beverages, sit down family style meal with two proteins, salad with fresh bread, farm grown organic vegetables, dessert, coffee and lots of Vermont flavors.
Morse Brook Farm - Westminster
Morse Brook Farm was established in 2019 This farm in Westminster raises sheep and taps their trees to make maple syrup. Watching border collies Poe and Cap herd Morse Brook's flock of sheep is magical.
Herding Demonstration
Learn about the role that Border Collies Poe and Cap play on Morse Brook farm. Watch the dogs work sheep, learn about the history of various breeds and their roles. The folks at Morse Brook couldn't do what they do on the farm without them! Afterwards try some of their maple syrup on some ice cream. Note: The herding events are early in the morning or later in the day so that the sheep and dogs do not overheat.
