UVM Extension Commercial Horticulture

09/21/2026

Join us this Wednesday at High Meadows Farm!

Howard Prussack has been farming at this location since 1971. His farm was the first in Vermont to be certified organic, in 1976. He grows a dozen acres of certified organic vegetables in the field and has 30,000 sq. ft. of high tunnels. Sales are at Brattleboro farmers' market and wholesale to coops and garden centers throughout New England, delivered by the farm's trucks and through one distributor. The focus is on a few major crops: potted herbs, garlic, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and winter squash. Howard also grows some celery, ginger, and tumeric in tunnels. Cover crops, rotations, and various ground covers are used intensively. We'll discuss marketing, tour the fields and tunnels, talk cover crops, and see the wash/pack/storage located in a refurbished barn. Howard will demonstrate his Tilmor Super-E electric cultivating tractor and describe its performance this past season.

This event is supported by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. This events is open to all--and it is geared for commercial growers. No registration required, just show up!

Wednesday September 23, 3:00-5:30
STORAGE CROPS, SOIL HEALTH, MARKETING, AND AN ELECTRIC TRACTOR
High Meadows Farm, 742 Westminster West Road, Putney, VT 05346

08/24/2026

Join us tomorrow!

Jess Purks and Connor Self grow a 1/2 acre of certified organic vegetables and flowers at a human-powered scale, with minimal tillage. They sell their products through two farmers’ markets, a farmstand and wholesale accounts. Since starting their farm in 2022, they utilized resources such as the NOFA Journey Farmer program and NRCS funding to help build their business. Please join us as we tour the farm to learn about their flower and vegetable production practices. During the tour, we will explore NRCS practices implemented on the farm such as high tunnels, low tunnels, reduced tillage, and pest management. We will end the tour with a hands-on activity guided by UVM and Xerces scientists to scout for insects on the farm.

, 120 Wilmouth Hill Rd, Shrewsbury, VT 05738
Tuesday August 25. 4:00-6:30

Please park on the roadside to leave the parking spots near the farm stand for customers and attendees with limited mobility. This event is supported by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program , and .

Please contact Julie Callahan with any questions.
[email protected] 518-944-7149

08/18/2026

Join us next week!

Jess Purks and Connor Self grow a 1/2 acre of certified organic vegetables and flowers at a human-powered scale, with minimal tillage. They sell their products through two farmers’ markets, a farmstand and wholesale accounts. Since starting their farm in 2022, they utilized resources such as the NOFA Journey Farmer program and NRCS funding to help build their business. Please join us as we tour the farm to learn about their flower and vegetable production practices. During the tour, we will explore NRCS practices implemented on the farm such as high tunnels, low tunnels, reduced tillage, and pest management. We will end the tour with a hands-on activity guided by UVM and Xerces scientists to scout for insects on the farm.

,120 Wilmouth Hill Rd, Shrewsbury, VT 05738
Tuesday August 25. 4:00-6:30

Please park on the roadside to leave the parking spots near the farm stand for customers and attendees with limited mobility. This event is supported by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program , One Hive Foundation, and .

Please contact Julie Callahan with any questions.
[email protected] 518-944-7149

08/12/2026

On August 5th, the VVBGA, UVM Extension, and the Vermont Herb Growers Initiative got together for a workshop at in Hyde Park. We got an overview of their business, and a deep dive in how the process medicinal herbs. Jeff shared so much from field systems for efficiency, effective drying techniques to preserve quality, and demonstrated how hand processing is an effective method to garble products into a marketable form.

The event was then topped off with an organoleptic analysis of several different products to learn how to utilize all of your senses to evaluate the products.

Read more notes from the visit on our blog: https://go.uvm.edu/commhort

07/31/2026

This year we are working with 15 farms that are doing sequential plantings of buckwheat to provide a pollen and nectar sources for pollinators and beneficial insects. This year the team is also surveying insects and measuring nitrogen held by those plantings and dry matter gained. Cheryl Sullivan described other insects she has observed in buckwheat- beneficial insects include syrphid flies, predatory thrips, lady beetles, tachinids, parasitic wasps, Orius and pest insects like tarnished plant bugs, and thrips.

07/30/2026

Don't miss this rare chance to walk the fields of the renowned Zack Woods Herb Farm (), a certified organic medicinal herb farm and botanical sanctuary. Jeff and Melanie Carpenter, owners and operators, established the farm in 1999. They authored the book The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer in 2015. Jeff will guide attendees through every stage of their operation: propagation, soil health, field production, harvesting, post-harvest processing, drying, and the infrastructure that makes it all work. With 25+ years of experience in medicinal herb cultivation, Jeff brings deep, practical knowledge you won't find in a textbook.

Wednesday August 5, 1:00-3:00
MEDICINAL HERB PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING
Zack Woods Herb Farm, 216 Mead Rd Hyde Park, VT 05655

Stipends are available for farmers to cover travel and time costs associated with attending the workshop. For more information or to request a stipend, please contact Sarah Shaw (): [email protected] or Julia Etter (): [email protected]

This event is supported by the Vermont Herb Growers Initiative through a grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture () Specialty Crop Block Grant program.

07/29/2026

While it may be mid summer now, its never to early to start thinking about winter! This video from Clear Brook Farm was just published from NOFA-VT and shares some tips for winter greens growing success.

https://youtu.be/KMczzzEdX3w?si=zUDKpM83_XtI88W

Learn about organic practices in action thanks to the Transition to...

07/29/2026

Ever seen a native bee nesting site? We learned while visiting that some pollinators prefer vertical "straws" and others prefer horizontal. They like to nest in hollow, pithy stems of dead plants so leaving old plant material around is great habitat for them.

07/28/2026

This last week we visited for a workshop on pollinators! We learned about planting perennial, native flowering hedgerows. Riparian plantings along the river. Compost application with NRCS assistance. Successive buckwheat plantings, and wild bee nesting sites.

See all the notes from the visit on our blog at: https://go.uvm.edu/commhort

07/20/2026

The best opportunities to learn something new is with your peers! Back in May we visited Stargrazer Farm for an on-farm workshop all about apples. () Terry Bradshaw shared IPM strategies, and shared best management practices to promote pollinator's. We also discussed the use of sprayers, calibration, and weather station monitoring using NEWA.

To learn more visit https://newa.cornell.edu or on our blog at https://go.uvm.edu/commhort