VITAL COMMUNITIES
Upper Valley CRAFT
The Upper Valley CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) is an educational and a social opportunity for farm staff considering a farming career.
Upper Valley farms collaborate to offer this educational opportunity for their farm apprentices, interns, and staff. Participating farms and their staff form a group of teachers and learners, meeting together twice monthly through the summer season at each others’ farms to have a tour and an instructional talk given by the host farmer. Participants experience a diversity of successful farm models, learn about a variety of agricultural topics, and get to know their peers and area farm owners.
We are in our 7th year of Upper Valley CRAFT in 2018, with 9 participating farms and 21 workers attending the tours. Topics include crop planning, production techniques, and season extension. Most of the staff intend to have farming careers. CRAFT strengthens capacity, community, and collaboration among the awesome farms of the Upper Valley.
Participation in CRAFT starts with the farmer choosing to join the program. Because an integral part of the program is the reciprocal tours and talks, staff must be working on a CRAFT farm to attend the tours. That said, UV CRAFT is open to all farms in our region and every year we welcome new farms to the schedule. Do you have a farm, with staff who can benefit from on-farm learning? Contact us and let’s start collaborating!
Other participating CRAFT Programs in Vermont:
Participating Farms 2017
Sunrise Farm, White River Junction, VT
Crossroad Farm, Fairlee, VT
Hurricane Flats, South Royalton, VT
Root 5 Farm, Fairlee, VT
Sweetland Farm, Norwich, VT
Cedar Mountain Farm, Hartland, VT
Luna Bleu Farm, South Royalton, VT
Kiss the Cow, Barnard, VT
Heartwood Farm, Barnard, VT
Spring Ledge Farm, New London, NH
Cedar Circle Farm, East Thetford, VT
Tour Topics 2017
No-till research & development
Draft power market gardening
Weed control/cultivation
Crop planning
Winter growing
CRAFT Tour Resource Guide
Find links for more information about the topics covered at previous CRAFT tours.
CRAFT in other places
Our CRAFT program is inspired by the original CRAFT in Western Massachusetts, which maintains a list of all national CRAFT programs.
Visit our Resources page for help finding jobs, trainings, advice, and more.
What's Happening
Flavors of the Valley 2019 – Call for Vendors!
Vend at Flavors of the Valley!
Registration is open for the 18th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. [...]
Food Hub Forum for Farmers February 6!
Join Vital Communities and Food Connects
Wednesday February 6 from 4-6 pm
at Piecemeal Pie in White River Junction
for a forum to learn about how y [...]
Whole Farm Planning Group
Starting or running a farm business can be all-consuming, with tyranny of the urgent monopolizing your days, leaving little time to think about the bi [...]
2018 Farmer Celebration Mixer
Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2018!
Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and far [...]
Farmers’ Market Roundtable
Join Vital Communities and NOFA VT for a
Farmers' Market Roundtable
November 7, 2018 from 4-7 pm
at the Wilder Club & Library in Hartford, Verm [...]
Flavors of the Valley 2018
Registration is open for the 17th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. With 50+ vendors and more than [...]
Learn What Farm Workers are Looking for in Job
As part of a Northeast SARE Partnership grant to help farmers solve the challenge of finding and keeping farm labor we surveyed surrent farm staff to [...]
Farm Scale Decision Making Workshop
Are you evaluating a major change to your business model such as scaling up or dropping an enterprise?
Are you struggling to determine how that c [...]
Farmer Celebration Mixer
Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2017!
Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and far [...]
Food Hub Meeting Notes
The goal of the activities during the food hub meeting was to collect information from participants about pain points in the food system and prioriti [...]
Participating Farms 2015
Sunrise Farm, White River Junction, VT
Winter Moon Farm, Corinth, VT
Crossroad Farm, Fairlee, VT
Hurricane Flats, South Royalton, VT
Root 5 Farm, Fairlee, VT
Sweetland Farm, Norwich, VT
Blue Ox Farm, Enfield, NH
Cedar Mountain Farm, Hartland, VT
Deep Meadow Farm, Weathersfield, VT
Luna Bleu Farm, South Royalton, VT
4 Corners Farm, Newbury, VT
Tour Topics 2015
Crop planning/variety selection
Software for farm success
Weed control/cultivation
Draft power
Small scale dairy
Farm finances
Marketing
Winter growing
Crop storage
What's Happening
Flavors of the Valley 2019 – Call for Vendors!
Vend at Flavors of the Valley!
Registration is open for the 18th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. [...]
Food Hub Forum for Farmers February 6!
Join Vital Communities and Food Connects
Wednesday February 6 from 4-6 pm
at Piecemeal Pie in White River Junction
for a forum to learn about how y [...]
Whole Farm Planning Group
Starting or running a farm business can be all-consuming, with tyranny of the urgent monopolizing your days, leaving little time to think about the bi [...]
2018 Farmer Celebration Mixer
Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2018!
Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and far [...]
Farmers’ Market Roundtable
Join Vital Communities and NOFA VT for a
Farmers' Market Roundtable
November 7, 2018 from 4-7 pm
at the Wilder Club & Library in Hartford, Verm [...]
Flavors of the Valley 2018
Registration is open for the 17th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. With 50+ vendors and more than [...]
Learn What Farm Workers are Looking for in Job
As part of a Northeast SARE Partnership grant to help farmers solve the challenge of finding and keeping farm labor we surveyed surrent farm staff to [...]
Farm Scale Decision Making Workshop
Are you evaluating a major change to your business model such as scaling up or dropping an enterprise?
Are you struggling to determine how that c [...]
Farmer Celebration Mixer
Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2017!
Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and far [...]
Food Hub Meeting Notes
The goal of the activities during the food hub meeting was to collect information from participants about pain points in the food system and prioriti [...]