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Even as our visitor season winds down, we’re gearing up again! We’re getting ready to host the 5th Farm-Based Education Association Conference here November 3-5. As a friend of the Farm, you probably know about, or have enjoyed, our farm-based education programs. What you may not know is that we're committed to broadening opportunities for everyone to be able to visit and learn from a farm in their own community! So in a few weeks the Farm will be alive with more than 200 farmers, educators, and community leaders looking to share ideas and insights on how to offer public access and education on working farms and forests. The Farm-Based Education Association (FBEA) was launched here at the Farm in May 2006 by eleven farm-based organizations that use farms as the rootstock of their education initiatives. The FBEA’s mission is to inspire, nurture and promote farm-based education. Shelburne Farms continues to support FBEA and a working group of its members provides leadership for a growing international network. The need and relevance for the FBEA is greater than ever. Farm-based education connects people to the environment, their community, and the role of agriculture in our lives. It promotes land stewardship, the value of meaningful work, and supports the local food systems that sustain us. To find out more about FBEA, a farm near you, or to watch a video stream of the gathering visit www.farmbasededucation.org
Megan Camp You've helped us raise $11,200 for farm flood relief! You dined at the Inn in September and we donated $3,500 of our restaurant income that week. You put more than $700 in the bucket for flood relief at Harvest Festival. And last week, you dined and danced at our "Vermont 'Farm'-Raiser benefit to raise $7,000 for the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund. Thank you all, and many thanks as well to The Starline Rhythm Boys, Starry Night Cafe, Vermont Tent Company, and Farrell Distributing for their gracious contributions to that evening. Here's a report on the fund's first round of grants. The VT Farm Disaster Relief Fund is administered by the Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.
Students throughout Vermont, from Windham County to Newport, are celebrating Farm to School Month and National School Lunch Week (October 10-14) with special menus, community feasts, and themed events, including a Localvore Challenge in Windham County and Sprout’s Farmer’s Market in Sharon.
VT FEED (Food Education Every Day) is a partnership of Foodworks at Two Rivers Center, NOFA-VT, and Shelburne Farms.
The History of Shelburne Farms: A Changing Landscape, an Evolving Vision has won the 2011 Historic New England Book Prize from Historic New England. Congratulations to author, Erica Donnis for telling the story of this amazing place and growing organization. Order your copy of the book online (hardcover & softcover). Full press release.
Formal Garden Restoration winds down for season The Lily Pool, overlook balustrade, and supporting brickwork have all been restored this construction season. These are the major elements of Phase 2 of the Formal Gardens Restoration Project. Find out more about the ongoing project and how you can help, or read The Garden Conservancy's brief article on the restoration in their Sept. newsletter.
Look for our Holiday Catalog in the mail by early November. Our 2012 Shelburne Farms Wall Calendar will be available at the Welcome Center & Farm Store or online at about the same time. (Just in time for your holiday gift-giving.) This year, many of the calendar photos were contributed by friends who entered our photo contest in 2010. We're presenting at National Science Teachers Assoc. Director of Professional Development Jen Cirillo will be a featured presenter at the National Science Teachers Association's conference later in October. She'll be presenting "Teaching and Learning Our Way Toward a Sustainable Future." We're growing Shiitake Mushrooms Assistant Woodlands Manager Dana Biship is growing Shitake mushrooms here at the Farm for the first time. We're one of 25 research farm sites from Maine to West Virginia participating in a USDA project to evaluate shiitake mushroom production as a farm and forest enterprise. Most of our crop will be served at the Inn. Read a Burlington Free Press article about the USDA project .
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Don't forget to bring your bags to City Market!
Calling all teen-age
Dear Friend of Shelburne Farms,
October is National Farm to School Month! 
The History of Shelburne Farms 
Coming Soon:
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