Upper Valley CRAFT farmers and farm-workers met at Cedar Circle Farm last night to discuss regenerative agriculture and tour the farm with owners Will Allen and Kate Duesterberg. We met at the staff lunch tables where a new kid’s garden has been established as part of the summer camp that is taking place on the farm this summer at part of the education initiatives of Cedar Circle.
In addition to summer camps and workshops, Cedar Circle farmers are taking the lead in the region for experimenting with cutting edge regenerative agriculture initiatives such as no-till and intensive cover-cropping to work towards solving the climate change crisis through soil carbon sequestration and provide a farm model focused on social, ecological, and economic resiliency share with farmers and farm workers in the region. In addition to providing organic produce to consumers within the region, Cedar Circle has a strong dedication to increasing awareness and education around issues related to agricultural impacts (both positive and negative) on the environment.
Since the farm began in 2000, Will and Kate have been working with a non-profit organization in MA to support these initiatives to raise awareness. It is lucky we have such a resource here in the Upper Valley to combine the environmental movement with local food production. Most of all, it seems to me, that Cedar Circle Farm is most interested in taking the lead with experimenting with different regenerative practices designed to build ecosystem health which are new to production-based models of organic farms such as Cedar Circle and many others in the Upper Valley region. This is all made possible with the partnership with the MA non-profit, work with the Rodale Institute, and the support with grants from Dr. Mercola and UVM which have allowed them the time and money to invest in new land and equipment to begin exploring how to implement no-till into Upper Valley production systems.
So far, they have been working on crimp rolling a test field of rye and fixing up a drill seeder and transplanter which will hopefully get used within the next week! I look forward to learning more about Cedar Circle’s experiences with no-till farming and the lessons they can share with others in the region who may be interested in incorporating into their own agroecosystems.