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Wetland Restoration: "What Do You Want to Do That For?"
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Enhancing wetland areas on your farm can bring a whole new community of wildlife to your land. The title in layman’s terms is really pronounced, “Whatta ya wanna do that for”, driving my spellcheck into utter meltdown. It’s a common phrase used by folks who don’t understand a decision, idea or action. It’s exactly what farmers (and…
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Elderberry and Beyond: New Options for River Lands in the Northeast
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Riparian buffer plantings can reap rewards for nature and business. By Liz Brownlee and Connor Stedman Stan Ward springs into his greenhouse full of excitement, eager to show off elderberry cuttings. He’s growing elderberry, Echinacea, and other perennial medicinals on his upland farm in central Vermont, but these elderberries are bound for lower ground. This year,…
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Any Help at All Would Have Been Better Than the Help I Have Got
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By Jan Andrews If you are going to have horses and live on a farm, you are going to be harvesting hay. Putting away hay is a thankless job. It is hot, heavy, repetitive work. The hay scratches and, every now and then, a real treat comes your way when you get a bale containing…
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Conservation Success on Full Moon Farm
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by Andrea Brendalen and John M. Thursgood Full Moon Farm is a NOFA-Certified Organic farm run by husband and wife, David Zuckerman and Rachel Nevitt. The farm started in 1999 at the Intervale Center in Burlington, Vermont. The two purchased their 155-acre piece of land located in Hinesburg, Vermont in 2008 and began farming there…
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Happy Cows, Healthy Fish
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Gordon Waite, a man with a friendly demeanor and steady smile, manages twenty Herefords on his 67-acre farm situated in Granville, Vermont. Gordon cannot picture himself doing anything besides farming. “I love farming, and I love my animals,” Gordon proudly announced, an honest statement he demonstrated by calling each of his cows from a distance…
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Off the Ground: Conservation Program Promotes both Hay Yield and Bird Habitat
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In our last two “Stewardship and Nature” columns, the National Audubon Society described the partnership they have had with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and landowners to facilitate the management of wildlife habitat to promote avian species (birds). In this article Toby Alexander explains the process used to develop an agronomic practice and financial…
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Photo Feature: Remembering Summer’s Bounty
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Welcome to our new photo essay feature! For 2012, we’ll be bringing you seasonal images from the Whole Systems Design Research Farm in the Mad River Valley region of Vermont. The farm is a demonstration site to test out regenerative food, fuel, and shelter systems that operate on current solar energy. Learn more about the…
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Farmscapes For Birds, Part 2
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Audubon Vermont is working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on two exciting programs, called the Forest Bird Initiative (FBI) and Champlain Valley Bird Initiative (CVBI). Both programs engage landowners in managing their land to protect a number of priority bird species in the region. Through these programs, forest, shrubland, and grass landowners are…
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Farmscapes for Birds
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This article is the first in a two-part series. In the winter article I will highlight some real-life success stories of working with landowners in partnership with NRCS and Audubon Vermont. Audubon Vermont is working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on two exciting programs, called the Forest Bird Initiative (FBI) and Champlain Valley…
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The Wonder of Life
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This will be the fifth and last in a series of essays penned by Bill Duesing and edited by Suzanne Duesing from the book Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future. It is fitting that we have looped around from one year to the next and have begun another as…
Stewardship
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