Farm
F&W’s organic farm is a typical Vermont hillside farm that is healthfully sustained.
We raise dairy cows, pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas, laying hens, meat chickens, and ducks. All F&W animals are lovingly cared for throughout their lives here. Our farm animals play a role in keeping our fields fertilized and our gardens free of weeds. Each animal has a specific purpose, such as producing milk, meat, dairy, fiber, or eggs. None of the animals raised at Farm and Wilderness are considered pets, they are here to show people where their food comes from and what it takes to raise animals for food and fiber. It also shows a kinder, more respectful way to raise animals for consumption. They teach us about lifecycles from birth through death as well as about responsibility to others, and hopefully empathy for other species.
Acres of gardens are planted each spring and tended by campers during the summer. Our camp kitchens use our organic, fresh produce throughout the growing season. Fall harvest is boxed for our local C.S.A., canned, dried, or frozen. Our organic dairy provides us with much of the milk we drink.
Farm & Wilderness has a long history of environmental sustainability, for years the camps have composted food scraps and only a few flush toilets for the 800 staff and campers, instead relying on outhouses or what F&W folks call “Kybos”. The humanure is composted and spread on a non-food crop field saving F&W an estimated 1 million gallons of water annually and the thermophilic composting process sequesters much of the carbon at the same time. F&W, as far as we know, is one of the only organizations to do this on such a large scale. Permission for this is granted under a Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Permit.
In 2015 we received a grant from Green Mountain Power (GMP) to install solar panels on the Tamarack Farmhouse roof, producing over 18,000 kWhrs annually, more than the building uses.
