Giant Journey Farm

1

Beloved Community,

We didn't think this would be the week/circumstance in which we'd be reaching out about this but perhaps there's no better time. We've got some BIG, TENDER, EXCITING NEWS to share.

Giant Journey Farm is going out of business BUT we're not closing up shop. We're evolving in the search for more life-affirming ways of being that align with our values, create quality of life for our family and non-human kin, and give us more opportunities to practice the skills the future we want and need requires us to strengthen - community. Ok, that word soup may feel very inspiring (or convoluted) so what are we getting at here?

We're beginning the transition from single-family for-profit (or not as the case has been) farm to a collectively run homestead (or whatever form this practice is going to take) that feeds our community's most vulnerable and builds more capacity and resilience through access; to skill building and knowledge, the land, and each other.

Why? That last part, the bolded part, has been our mission all along, and the system we live in is only interested in that mission as feel-good marketing. Unfettered, late-stage (we hope) capitalism won't allow us to do our work, make it accessible to everyone, and make a living wage. The structures and institutions that govern our current system won't accommodate economic viability at our micro scale. But they don't govern all the ways we work together.

Doing this work for-profit also creates relationships that are transactional, no matter how much we've tried to make that not true, or less true. We chose the CSA model because of its relational foundations but our society's understanding of this model has been dulled down to a subscription service. We've lacked not just the financial security we strived for but the support and labor to make this farm sustainable. Attaching our dignity and vision to this system is no longer an option. The persistent pain of monetizing our bodies is unacceptable.

With each passing year, Seren spent more and more time out of the field, hustling and running the business, and our family's relationship to the land (and our health and wellbeing) deteriorated. While our farming practices are still the best possible agricultural methods for our non-human kin, every natural setback (slugs ate the growth points off our whole first planting of carrots, or after a decade we finally got a groundhog and it ate all the broccoli before we could get electric fencing to slow it down, or flooding and extreme early heat stunting or bolting our crops) left us panicked by scarcity, frustrated, and demoralized. Our crop plan grew dizzying, our season extending to a staggering 10 months and trying to squeeze in every little bit possible.

Times are urgent, we must slow down. We must make time for ourselves, for ritual, for each other. We must farm for joy, for pleasure, for the resistance. We must farm for magick.

If you're interested in the next phase of this Giant Journey please join us for an initial meeting either Thursday, December 5 4:30-6 or Saturday, December 7 10-11:30 for more information and a discussion. Please share this information in your networks.

In Community,
Seren and Rick

Are you interested in increasing your or your community's sustainability, climate resilience, and food access? Rabbit meat is among the most sustainable proteins you can consume, using far less resources and definitely less work than most other livestock. And, yes, it really does taste like chicken... buttery, lean chicken!

Join Rural Vermont and Giant Journey Farm in Newfane on Saturday, October 26th from 10:00am -1:00pm to learn about raising and processing the other white meat! The workshop will be led by farm owners Seren and Rick on their quirky 2 acre regenerative farm where they teach folks about farming while they grow year-round produce, and raise poultry, rabbits, and goats.

This is an interactive workshop that will take you from step up, breeding, and care, to humane harvesting and packaging.

Rural Vermont will also present the updates to federal and state on-farm slaughter regulation, particularly around the proposed clarifying language being advocated for by Rural Vermont and its partners. There will be plenty of room for questions and discussion throughout the event.

Tickets: $30-$50/participant (sliding scale)

Registration: https://www.ruralvermont.org/merch/on-farm-slaughter-workshop-rabbit

Special Notes: Please BYO brown bag lunch and snacks. Please bring a water bottle. Meat and other farm goods will be available for purchase after the workshop. Please wear rugged footwear and weather appropriate clothing.

A Note About Workshop Pricing & Registration:

Rural Vermont works alongside farm hosts, instructors, and other non-profits to bring a variety of workshops and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to our members and communities throughout Vermont. Our ticket prices are built on the needs of the community, the needs of the farm hosts and instructors, and the structure of the workshop itself. We work hard to provide accessible, quality programming and to also pay fair compensation to our farm hosts, our instructors, and to cover the cost of managing and producing our workshops. As such, our ticket pricing varies from workshop to workshop and we strive to keep our pricing within a fair range. Thank you for participating and learning alongside us!

This workshop is generously sponsored by Hanover Co-op Food Stores.