Thomas Jefferson Was Right
It is mid morning as I sit here trying to find words to describe our Vermont experience. The campground at Lake Dunmore is quiet in this late autumn season. Golden-red leaves fall past the trailer window; some solitary leaves swirl slowly and pirouette a few times before settling on the ground, others throw themselves headlong into the pile. A sudden gust of wind can send a flurry of leaves sailing through the air, bright bits of color that dance in the sunlight. It is warmer than usual for this time of year. And everyone talks about the strangeness of the fall foliage season… it is late in coming to this part of Vermont. In other areas the leaves have already fallen.
Vermont is autumn at its best. The two-lane roads wind through rolling green fields edged in red maple, sugar maple and golden oak trees. The distinctive smell of silage lets you know you have come to a dairy farm long before you see the herds of black and white cows and the complex of barns, silos, and farmhouse. There are pumpkins everywhere, for sale at small roadside stands, lined up on porches, and displayed in front of stores with cornstalks and elaborately dressed scarecrows. The tradition of carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins actually originated in New England in the 1840’s. According to the last Census of Agriculture, Vermont farmers produce over 7 million pounds of pumpkins each year. Apple orchards advertise for “pick-your-own” apples, and the cider mills are busy. The Champlain Valley is the largest producer of apples in the state of Vermont. On Tuesday we visited two orchards near Shoreham.
Champlain Orchards consists of 60 acres of apple trees on high land overlooking Lake Champlain. It was a sunny day as we walked through the rows of dwarf trees picking our own apples - $4.00 for a 1/2 peck bag. Northern Spy, Mutsu, and Wolf River – not exactly common supermarket names. The apples were not perfect, but what flavor! I filled a pint container with raspberries from the pick-your-own rows, and we added a homemade apple pie and a pint Mason jar of dark amber maple syrup to our purchases at the farm market. Then we visited the Douglas Orchards and Cider Mill up the road. The owner waited on us, wearing his farming clothes and baseball hat. He was putting jugs of cider into the cooler, made fresh this morning, he told us. Bob asked how things were going. “Well we had a bad hailstorm in June and I figured it wasn’t going to be a good year, but as its turned out I’ve done better than expected so I can’t complain.” I asked how long he had farmed here, and he proudly told me that he was a fourth-generation farmer on this land - back to the 1890’s. We bought a jug of the fresh-this-morning cider. As we were leaving I saw a woman carrying a big bag of apples up the hill towards the barn – bringing her own apples to the cider mill.
Nearly half a million acres of Vermont land is associated with agriculture, and the farms of Vermont sustain its pastoral landscape. As the Secretary for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture says, “Vermont farms provide a sense of place, an identity and a connection to land and heritage that is invaluable.” Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Vermont economy, producing $3 billion worth of agricultural products each year. In a nation that is losing its small farms and farmers to big commercial agri-farms, there are approximately 6,300 farms in Vermont that produce everything from apples to Christmas trees. It is no accident. It is supported by everyone. Many Vermont chefs and restaurants advertise that they are members of the Vermont Fresh Network, which promotes a farm and chef partnership, and the use of farm fresh local products.
Thomas Jefferson was right. In a 1787 letter to George Washington he wrote, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”
Vermont is autumn at its best. The two-lane roads wind through rolling green fields edged in red maple, sugar maple and golden oak trees. The distinctive smell of silage lets you know you have come to a dairy farm long before you see the herds of black and white cows and the complex of barns, silos, and farmhouse. There are pumpkins everywhere, for sale at small roadside stands, lined up on porches, and displayed in front of stores with cornstalks and elaborately dressed scarecrows. The tradition of carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins actually originated in New England in the 1840’s. According to the last Census of Agriculture, Vermont farmers produce over 7 million pounds of pumpkins each year. Apple orchards advertise for “pick-your-own” apples, and the cider mills are busy. The Champlain Valley is the largest producer of apples in the state of Vermont. On Tuesday we visited two orchards near Shoreham.
Champlain Orchards consists of 60 acres of apple trees on high land overlooking Lake Champlain. It was a sunny day as we walked through the rows of dwarf trees picking our own apples - $4.00 for a 1/2 peck bag. Northern Spy, Mutsu, and Wolf River – not exactly common supermarket names. The apples were not perfect, but what flavor! I filled a pint container with raspberries from the pick-your-own rows, and we added a homemade apple pie and a pint Mason jar of dark amber maple syrup to our purchases at the farm market. Then we visited the Douglas Orchards and Cider Mill up the road. The owner waited on us, wearing his farming clothes and baseball hat. He was putting jugs of cider into the cooler, made fresh this morning, he told us. Bob asked how things were going. “Well we had a bad hailstorm in June and I figured it wasn’t going to be a good year, but as its turned out I’ve done better than expected so I can’t complain.” I asked how long he had farmed here, and he proudly told me that he was a fourth-generation farmer on this land - back to the 1890’s. We bought a jug of the fresh-this-morning cider. As we were leaving I saw a woman carrying a big bag of apples up the hill towards the barn – bringing her own apples to the cider mill.
Nearly half a million acres of Vermont land is associated with agriculture, and the farms of Vermont sustain its pastoral landscape. As the Secretary for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture says, “Vermont farms provide a sense of place, an identity and a connection to land and heritage that is invaluable.” Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Vermont economy, producing $3 billion worth of agricultural products each year. In a nation that is losing its small farms and farmers to big commercial agri-farms, there are approximately 6,300 farms in Vermont that produce everything from apples to Christmas trees. It is no accident. It is supported by everyone. Many Vermont chefs and restaurants advertise that they are members of the Vermont Fresh Network, which promotes a farm and chef partnership, and the use of farm fresh local products.
Thomas Jefferson was right. In a 1787 letter to George Washington he wrote, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”
posted by Looking for Hope | 1:35 PM
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