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A "Solar Orchard" to grow at Shelburne Farms "Producing clean, renewable energy in the solar orchard is a great way for the farm to contribute to one of the pressing issues of sustainability." -- Alec Webb Under a 25-year cooperative agreement with us, Green Mountain Power plans to build a 770-panel "solar orchard" here in the coming months. The site (in a fallow field behind the Coach Barn), was carefully chosen to maintain the historic and scenic integrity of the Farm. Our partnership with GMP is a giant step toward creating the infrastructure that will help us achieve our own goal of producing all our own electricity onsite. The solar orchard is expected to be up and producing clean renewable energy in September. After that, we'll install an informational kiosk on the walking trail nearby for you to learn more. We'll also update you on progress in coming enewsletters. Read full GMP press release.
Thanks to all who voted, VT FEED and Jr. Iron Chef-VT each won $5,000 from Ashoka Changemakers and Green Mountain Coffee. VT FEED and Jr. Iron Chef were two of 15 deserving finalists in “Revelation to Action,” a grant competition that supports local groups making positive change in their communities. Thanks for your support! Read the full press release. Shelburne Farms is a partner of VT FEED and Vermont Jr. Iron Chef.
"It was a shot in the arm that will make the food service in our school so much better for the students." -- Susan Barnard, Teacher, Barre Town, VT For three days, teams from several elementary schools across Vermont gathered here at the Farm to connect the dots to bring more fresh, healthy, local food into school cafeterias. It's planning that teachers, farmers, parents, and food service often don't have time for. But with three days set aside, they were able to plan for menus kids will eat, with produce local farmers can grow and schools can afford. One team wanting to expand their school garden connected with a local emergency food shelf that can help with volunteers, and a farmer who will donate plowing. Your schoolchildren will reap the rewards. Get your school involved! Check out National Farm to School or Vermont FEED. This pilot workshop was presented by VT FEED (Shelburne Farms, NOFA-VT and Food Works at Two Rivers Center) in partnership with the Burlington School Food Project, Green Mountain Farm to School, Upper Valley Farm to School Network, the VT Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, VT Dept. of Education and VT Dept. of Health. Funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant #1H75DP002293-01. Composting heats up "Sam couldn’t feed the cows only haylage one day, dry hay another day and fresh pasture the next. He has a carefully balanced diet to keep the cows healthy and ensure good milk production. It’s the same when we’re making compost – we follow a recipe to feed the microorganisms." -- Market Gardener Josh Carter Our composting operation just got kicked into high gear with a new site, a new plan and a new compost recipe. Since May, Market Gardener Josh Carter has taken the lead working with Highfield Institute in Hardwick to develop a more refined composting system, including a new concrete bunker and mixing pad. So bring on those food scraps from the Inn kitchen and Farm Cart, garden waste, dairy and Farmyard waste, horse manure, wood chips, grounds waste, and compostables. It’s a recipe only microbes could love. But our vegetable gardens will love the result.
The project was made possible by a special grant supporting the improvement of the Farms’ organic farming practices. Some of our farm animals struggle more in the heat than others (like us). And they use various strategies to keep cool. Our sow in the Children's Farmyard, for instance, seems completely unfazed by the heat. Does it make you want to wallow in some mud? Educators here for "Service-Learning" Thirty-eight educators from as far away as Thailand, California, and Georgia arrived on Saturday for the Community Works Institute on Service-Learning. The week-long program will offer educators training, strategies and resources for service-learning and sustainability education. It's being offered by Community Works, in partnership with Shelburne Farms. And we have more professional development opportunities coming up this summer. Join us for:
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Josie Leavitt, co-owner of the 
You helped Jr. Iron Chef & VT FEED win!
Vermont Farm to School Summer Workshop = healthier food for our schoolchildren
Heat? What Heat?
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Shelburne Farms cultivates a conservation ethic by teaching and demonstrating the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources.
We are a nonprofit environmental education center, 1,400-acre working farm, and National Historic Landmark.