Dear Friend of the Farm, It's great to be back at Shelburne Farms, working with Josh Carter at the Market Garden to grow and serve great food. After weeks of talking to local farmers, hiring staff, and ordering supplies, we opened the restaurant on May 8th. Our new menu reflects spring—with wild foraged ramps, fiddleheads, mushrooms and rhubarb. And Josh and his team are growing delicious mixed salad greens, hakuri turnips, baby beets, micro radish greens and pea shoots. There’s something new every day, plus our pasture-raised beef, farm-fresh eggs, and farmstead cheddar cheese. Come mid-July our lamb will be ready. Whether I’m cooking for breakfast, dinner, or lunch at the Farm Cart, it’s fun to explore new ways to make field-to-fork connections. Come visit us and get a “taste” of the Farm. David Hugo, Food Service Manager

Bantams in the Barnyard

Children love chickens! So we just added about 20 feather-footed Bantam chicks to our farmyard. These smaller chickens (Bantam means “small”) are great for younger visitors to hold, and will replace some we've lost over time. Come visit them and all our animals at the Children's Farmyard. Remember to wash your hands after your visit!

Sustainability is a "Magnet" for Education

“It's not just about gardening and recycling, but really taking care of people. They're committed to engaging kids with the community."

    -- Denise Foote, Barnes Parent (from VPR podcast)

This September, two Burlington Schools, Lawrence Barnes and H.O. Wheeler, will become Vermont’s first magnet schools. The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes will be the nation’s first elementary magnet school focused on the theme of sustainability, thanks in part to Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable School Project team, who've developed curriculum with Barnes' teachers, administrators, and students for several years. Students will pursue hands-on curriculum to foster environmental awareness, citizenship and social responsibility. On April 30, Vermont Public Radio's Vermont Edition featured the magnet school initiative. You can listen to the VPR podcast, or visit the Burlington School District's magnet school web site.

Last Friday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Barnes as part of his "listening tour" of U.S. Schools. He was in town giving the Commencement address at St. Michael's College and had lunch at Barnes together with Senator Patrick Leahy. Watch a WCAX video of his visit (screen 5).

Pardon Our Progress at Inn Gardens

When you visit the Inn this summer you'll notice construction in the garden. Phase 2 of a $1.15 million Formal Gardens Restoration Project will include restoration of the balustrade (see photo), parts of which fell into the lake in 1982, and the lily pool, which last held water in 1996. Thankfully, you can still enjoy the Grand Allee, views across the lake, and visions of the fully restored gardens. See work in progress and historic photos at 7 Days Stuck in Vermont.

Cooking up Connections: Schools and Farms

“It was very inspiring, and perfect for the work I'm doing. I got fresh ideas for things to do in the classroom, as well as curriculum to pursue."

Sarah Bunker, Parent Volunteer, Shelburne

Serving lobster in Maine schools? Molding mud and straw to build a "garden hearth oven"? These were some of the more singular topics at the Northeast Farm to School Conference on May 17 and 18, designed to inspire and support "farm-to-school" initiatives across the northeast. Vermont FEED, a partnership of NOFA Vermont, Food Works, and Shelburne Farms, helped sponsor the event.

At the conference, Senator Patrick Leahy announced a $476,000 award to Shelburne Farms from the Center for Disease Control to strengthen the childhood nutrition education programs of Vermont FEED.

(VT FEED staff pictured above with Senator and Mrs. Leahy)

Breathe Easier with Environmental Education

A first of its kind study funded by EPA shows that environmental education programs are an effective tool in helping to improve air quality in North America. The National Park Service Conservation Study Institute and Shelburne Farms developed the evaluation program to measure how student projects achieved goals such as decreased levels of carbon monoxide and reduced car and bus idling. Find out more from the EPA press release or the full report.
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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.
1611 Harbor Road • Shelburne, Vermont • 05482 • www.shelburnefarms.org • 802-985-8686