MAY 2026 BROADSHEET

GREEN AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE

Green, in all her glory, drenches every crevice of the landscape here in the NEK. It’s one of those moments in the season where, if you really stop and allow your eyes to take it all in, you can’t help but be filled with awe and wonder that so many shades of green could possibly exist in our world.

It’s almost enough to make you forget that just 5 weeks ago, the landscape was wearing a cloak of snowy grays and whites and you spent more time than you’d care to admit questioning if it would ever be warm again.

The slow and subtle shift of the evening sun, dinners out on the back porch while the golden light and warm breezes dance through the leaves, new calves romping around, and the return of a sea of dandelions can only be described in one word: May.

The farm is in full swing, a buzzing, cheerful energy swirling around, and it’s time to catch you up on all the things that have been happening this month.

THE FARMSTAND

FARMSTAND SEASON RETURNS

As the earth fully awakens and the long, golden days of the growing season settle into our river valley, our daily rhythms shift again to prepare for another beautiful milestone we have been eagerly anticipating: the reopening of our farmstand on Thursday, June 11. Mark your calendars!

The farmstand shelves, which stood quiet through the deep winter of The Kingdom, will once again be filled with the early gifts of spring. We are so excited to welcome you back to a space full with crisp spring greens, tender veggies, and cheerful rustic blooms—the very first offerings of the soil we have spent these months tending. Alongside the fresh harvest, our farmhouse kitchen microbakery will be humming as it prepares crusty loaves of sourdough bread and a monthly menu of baked goods, bringing that familiar, "deep-in-your-bones" comfort into the warmth of the new season.

We have also been quietly building up our farm pantry offerings, tucking and preserving the essence of spring into jars for you to take home.

This opening will feature sweet, homemade dandelion honey—a true labor of love that captures the very first sunshine the bees and blossoms shared with us from our untreated regenerative pastures—and jars of bright, nostalgic strawberry rhubarb jam featuring rhubarb from one of our dearest family friends and neighbors, Irene from 102 Bleu. It’s as local as local gets.

To celebrate the creative pulse of the farm, we will also have a few little tangible pieces of our world to share with you: canvas farm totes, hats, stickers, and greeting cards.

The farmstand has always been more than just a place to exchange goods; it is a community touchpoint, a space where our paths cross, a reminder of the simplicity and goodness of an old-fashioned honor system, and a celebration of the local food web that sustains us all. We cannot wait to see your faces, share in the beauty of these long days, and welcome you into this next beautiful chapter of the season.

Our Farmstand doors will be open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9AM-5PM beginning on 6/11. If the flag is out, swing on through!

THE FIELD SHARE

A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD FAVORITE

At Root to Rise, we believe nourishing yourself should feel like a homecoming. That is why we reimagined the traditional CSA into our Field Share—a softer, more flexible partnership built entirely around choice, designed to rhythmically move alongside the ever shifting seasons of the Northeast Kingdom, our farm’s offerings, and the modern needs of your own kitchen and schedule.

As a Field Share member, you secure your place in our intimate circle of neighbors. Each Thursday, you receive an early menu drop via our private virtual storefront on the website, Hotplate, showcasing the very best of what is available from our gardens, pastures, and microbakery. From there, you have the freedom to hand-select exactly what resonates with you each week—whether that is a crusty sourdough boule and a rustic farm bouquet, or pasture-raised chicken and a bundle of heirloom greens. You shop and pay only for what you need, and we gather your custom share with intention, having it ready for a seamless pickup at the farm or in Lyndonville.

The response to this new model has filled our hearts to the brim. Our Full Season memberships and our first block, The Awakening Season, are now completely full. We are so deeply grateful to everyone who has chosen to walk this path with us!

As the summer unfolds, we will follow the changing heartbeat of the land through our two remaining distinct seasonal blocks, and a few fleeting spaces are still waiting to be claimed:

• The High Season (Mid-July/August) — 2 Slots Remaining: This block features peak summer vegetables, cheerful fresh-cut flowers, homemade jams, pickles, our first available pasture-raised chicken, and all the sourdough microbakery items you love.

• The Golden Season (End of August/September) — 3 Slots Remaining: A beautiful bounty of fall sourdough, textured blooms, autumn veggies, and priority access to order from our upcoming pasture-raised pork, beef, and Thanksgiving turkey meat programs.

Every member, regardless of their block, will receive a durable Root to Rise canvas tote for pickup days, delightful "Farmer’s Extras" tucked into their weekly orders, and an invitation to our exclusive, members-only farm celebration at the end of the season to walk the pastures, getting to know our incredible farm team, your community, and the land that has nourished you all season long. You’ll also get to meet and visit with the Scottish Highlands, chickens, turkeys, and pigs.

If you have been waiting for the right moment to step into the rhythm of the farm, these final few slots are your invitation. Come grow with us, tend to your kitchen with intention, and strengthen the roots of our shared community.

ROOTS

THE PATIENT COMING OF SPRING

There is a lesson in patience that the land teaches us every year, me especially. This spring has been slow and hesitant to arrive in our corner of Vermont. For weeks, the rhythm of our days was dictated by the unpredictable breath of late frost, even up until just a few days ago!

Inside the shelter of our cozy Deep Winter Greenhouse, however, life was quietly preparing. Seedlings grown from heirloom seeds were tucked away, tended to with daily intention, and encouraged to grow strong, deep roots while they waited for the Earth outside to warm. They’d take little field trips in and out on warm, sunny days to begin their process of hardening off.

Alongside everything in the Greenhouse and while continuing to try to practice patience (so hard!!), I’ve been busy prepping our veggie beds for the long, hopefully productive days ahead: soil broad forked, amended with fresh compost, new irrigation systems built out, and hand-built trellis structures now stand tall against the horizon, waiting for vines to climb.

With the frost finally retreating, we have officially finished planted those cold-tolerant seedlings out into the open air (but always with the frost cloth at the ready!). Our beds are now full and alive with seedlings stretching their legs and leaves: kale, crisp radishes, vibrant salad greens, snap peas, beets, carrots, aromatic herbs, and sweet companion flowers. To tuck these young plants into the soil after months of care is a profound act of faith and hope—a physical weaving of our winter intentions into the living reality of the growing season.

Every leaf and root now stretching into the Earth is destined for your table and ours. As you look out at the greening landscape this week, know that the farm is pulsing with new life, growing sweet and strong under the NEK sun, just for you.

SCOTTISH HIGHLAND CATTLE

A RETURN TO THE PASTURE

If you were to ask me to name my absolute favorite marker of spring, I would not point to the calendar or the first green shoots in the greenhouse. I would tell you it is the day our Scottish Highland cattle leave the heavy, deeply trodden soil of their winter pasture and step out, with a slow and rhythmic joy, into the wide, open green fields for their first rotation of summer grazing.

Watching their shaggy, magnificent coats catch the light as they move across the fresh grass brings a profound sense of peace. In a world that feels fragile, loud, and deeply fractured—filled with a constant drumbeat of chaos and noise from politics near and far—the land offers us a steady, timeless truth.

Watching the herd move in harmony with the grass, turning sunshine into sustenance, makes everything feel, if only for a moment, entirely alright with the world. It is a quiet sanctuary, a reminder of the enduring rhythms that sustain us when the rest of the world feels unsteady.

Adding to the sweet magic of this seasonal transition, our beautiful cow Aoife gave us the ultimate gift on Mother’s Day: a healthy, vibrant bull calf. Our second calf of the season.

We have named him Sionnach (pronounced shun-noch), which translates to "little red fox" in Gaelic.

He earned his name almost instantly from our 11-year old, thanks to his reddish coat and a striking, whimsical little white tip at the very end of his tail, reminding us of a fox cub hiding in the tall grass. Watching him find his footing and spunk alongside his protective, well-seasoned mum, Aoife, is a sight that heals. He is a living spark of new life, marking the threshold of this beautiful, light-filled season.

NEW NOTE-WORTHIES

EXPANDING HORIZONS

As we stretch into this new season, our physical boundaries are expanding to meet the vision we have held for this land. In our pastures across the road, Madison and Tom are in the midst of fencing sixty acres of beautiful, rolling land. Soon, our Scottish Highlands and meat chickens and laying hens will step onto these acres for the first time ever to practice the slow, regenerative dance of rotational grazing, healing the soil as they move.

We don’t wish for this land to be a hidden sanctuary, just for us to enjoy. Along the edge of these western pastures, hugging the steady, deep Connecticut River, we are carving out a gentle walking path that will eventually be open to the community for limited hours each week. When it’s ready, it will be our invitation to you to come, visit the farmstand, slow your stride, breathe with the land, and find your own quiet respite in this wild landscape.

Nearby, another new dream is taking root in the form of our 25x 50 foot cut flower beds. Sunflowers, fever few, dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, stock, snap dragons, sweet peas, and more will be well on their way. Tom also just finished installing whimsical pumpkin arches for me, which will grow heavy with climbing vines and bursting with blossoms of heirloom pumpkins. These beds will supply our Field Share flower offerings and keep our farmstand shelves vibrant all summer long. As the season matures and harvests materialize, we look forward to hosting several "you-pick" flower times—inviting you into the rows to cut your own beautiful, textured bouquets under the afternoon sun.

To help support all of this growth, it is a joy to announce that Shannon Duffy has joined our team as our Roots and Shoots Support! Her warm, kind presence strengthens us as a proudly female-powered farm—one that consciously and actively centers the values of resilience, integrity, empathy, inclusivity, and authenticity.

At Root to Rise, we view our work not just as farming, but as the living, breathing practice of matriarchy. To us, this means operating within a circular system rather than a hierarchy; a system where women and men equitably join together, intentionally centering and protecting the most vulnerable among us: our children, the land beneath our boots, neighbors in need, and the animals in our care. In every seed planted, every fence post driven, and every loaf baked, in every food donation made to our food bank partners, we prioritize what is most deeply beneficial for our community and the land.

Thank you for being the community that holds this vision with us.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

LIZZIE,TOM, AND OUR WEE LASSIES