There is a legacy throughout my family of having at least one member who served in all major conflicts back to the Revolutionary War. The other side of that coin is they were all farmers, homesteaders and innovators of their time from Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky.
In 2009, my wife and I kept grew our first garden in a community growing space in northern Vermont. There was a moment of clarity and renewed sense of purpose after being recently discharged from the Marine Corps with multiple combat deployments, that encouraged further exploration into food production. Over a decade later, we now manage 10 acres of land and implemented practices deeply rooted in agroforestry, agroecology and whole systems thinking.
Wild Roots Community Farm is a diversified operation dedicated to community resilience through food systems education, wilderness survival, and self-rescue.
We are a part of the fabric which molds and shapes our landscape, and if we take moments to observe how natural systems function- their patterns, existing wildlife, how weather moves and reacts to topography and micro-climates, etc., we can make decisions that increase our ability to adapt to the internal and external forces of a food system.
On the farm we raise pigs, goats and chickens, grow annual vegetables and various tree crops in our pasture that is managed by rotating species. Through service-learning projects with community partners, we have built dedicated wildlife corridors to support native pollinators and songbird habitat. Wild Roots Community Farm is also the host site for a nature based early education program, Wrens Nest Forest Preschool.
As always, we genuinely enjoy meeting new people, hosting events, supporting student lead projects or just getting our hands in the ground with volunteer groups. There are many big plans for the future, and we hope you are able to pay a visit.
-Farmer Jon
Wild Roots Community Farm
Accipiter Fieldcraft