MARCH 2026 BROADSHEET

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!

The intention behind The Rooted Exchange is to keep you up to date on all the seasonal comings and goings on our regenerative farm nestled in the highlands of the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. Sure, you’ll hear about our offerings, opportunities, and gatherings at the farm, but you can also expect to hear stories about our adventures (and, let’s be honest, misadventures), things we’re learning as first-generation farmers, seasonally driven recipes we are loving, and about our beautifully rugged corner of Vermont.

More than anything, our broadsheet will try to harken you back to something simpler, truer, more rhythmic, and connected and, with each quiet monthly(ish) arrival in your inbox, serve as a reminder to slow down, take a deep breath, find a moment of peace, and receive a warm Vermont hug.

SOURDOUGH

LAST SOURDOUGH CSA OF THE SEASON

It’s hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the Deep Winter and the coziness and connectedness that the Sourdough CSAs and Sourdough Holiday offerings brought!

We believe that something intangible happens when you join Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). There is something that alters course when you invest your hard dollars back into your local food network and the humans who pour their love, energy, and craft into their product that you receive. That exchange, that energetic alignment, that casted vote of faith and confidence in your grower or maker is subtle but powerful.

Sure, a CSA is bread, veggies, meat, or flowers… but I really think it is so much more than that.

It’s…

Bodies, nourished.

Spirits, filled.

Needs, met.

Relationships, formed.

Connection, bolstered.

Community, strengthened.

Sustainability, prioritized.

That’s pretty cool and powerful, don’t you think?

We have one final 6-week Sourdough CSA that kicks off on April 2 before the rhythms of the farm and our offerings really begin to shift to reflect the new season we find ourselves in. Lucky for you, there are just a small handful of spots remaining. Click on the link below to learn more details and join our community.

ROOTS

ON SOIL AND PLUCKY SPROUTS

Throughout the winter, Lizzie has been deep diving into growers courses and reading a ton on on soil health, cover crops, intensive planting strategies, and organic, regenerative farming methods.

She has come away from the winter season learning and believing that, more than anything, Root to Rise Farm grows healthy soil.

Sure, we raise livestock, veggies, flowers, bake artisan bread, help feed our community, and try to bring people together, but the underpinning of it all is our desire to build healthy soil through a diverse, sustainable, symbiotic, regenerative system.

Why? Well…Healthy soil is, single-handedly, one of the easiest, most effective, and most impactful ways to not only nourish our bodies, support our immune systems (which after a few winters of a LOT of sicknesses, we’ll take whatever help we can get😅), and increase our production and ability to feed our communities but it’s also one of the easiest and most impactful ways to slow and reverse global warming via carbon capturing. What’s even cooler about this is that you don’t have to be a regenerative farmer yourself to contribute to this effort. Heck, you don’t even have to have a garden or a backyard.

As a consumer, supporting local farmers who subscribe to this belief system and do this kind of farming is one of the easiest ways that you can do your part in building a sustainable future.

In that spirit, our first wave of heirloom veggies are getting their starts as brave, plucky, hopeful seedlings in our warm, cozy Deep Winter Greenhouse. On our planting list for our cool spring season: cabbage, broccoli, lettuce varieties, micro-greens, spinach, arugula, chard, radish varieties, onions, garlic, turnip, carrots, beets, bok choy, kale, peas, herbs, and a whole bunch of cool-temp loving cut flowers.

Lizzie has also been busy re-imagining the traditional CSA model in a way that hopefully meets your needs as modern, busy folk who love to have a bit more flexibility, choice, and convenience. The CSA she’s creating allows for a bit more of that while still holding dear the nostalgia, seasonal rhythms, and feel-goodness of Community Supported Agriculture.

If you want to be the first to know about it (and maybe even gain access to a founders member perk), join The Field Share waitlist here:

SCOTTISH HIGHLAND CATTLE

OVERWINTERING A GROWING FOLD

Each winter we’ve lived on the farm has taken a different flavor, this one was no exception. It’s been a very snowy, very cold, very long winter in the NEK… near daily snowfall and -30 degree mornings seemed to be the norm for most of January and February. While it certainly made overwintering livestock a challenge (think breaking ice in water troughs with an axe or tractors getting stuck in 3 feet of snow while laying out round hay bales for grazing kinda challenge), we are continually impressed with our Scottish Highland Cattle’s breathtaking, rugged resilience and ability to thrive in our hearty, cold season.

Bred for centuries to withstand the intense weather patterns of the Scottish Highlands, these cattle thicken up their shaggy double coats when the weather starts to turn in October and prefer to stay outside, taking cover as a community from wind and snow in the safe stands of trees and forest that we provide to them. The morning after a fresh snow, it’s quite a sight to see them emerging from the trees, snow and ice crystals sitting on top of their double coat, breath vaporizing in the sun, walking up towards you for some well-deserved love and scratches. When you nuzzle your fingers up underneath to their top coat, it’s always a moment of wonder and awe that they are completely dry and toasty warm.

Over the past year, we have grown our fold to a total of 26 animals and had our first calving season. We had 5 healthy, thriving calves born to our farm: 4 lads and 1 little lass named Hugh, Dougal, Lachlan, Seamus, and Rosebud. These babes stayed with their mums, nursing, frolicking through the pastures, causing mischief, and being protected by the matriarchal herd until they were about 6-9 months old, at which point we humanely and gently weaned them. After weaning, we begin to have more direct interaction with them and invest a lot of time through halter training, lead walking, socializing, brushing, and building trust in humans.

We have several calves already spoken for and scheduled to join their new farms a bit later in the spring, but still have 2 very handsome, sweet, and even-tempered steer calves, Hugh and Lachlan, and our 1 heifer calf, Rosebud, available. While it’s bittersweet to see these calves head off into the farm and settle in with just the right people, it’s also a moment of immense pride and satisfaction knowing that we stewarded these animals with all the love, compassion, tenderness, and goodness that we could possibly offer.

NEW NOTE-WORTHIES

GROWING, GROWING

What happens when you have two highly motivated, creative problem solving, ever-learning, ever-dreaming, go-getters who get married, have kids, and buy and restore a 100-acre farm of limitless potential and possibility? Well… a lot. Especially if we aren’t mindful of our bandwidth and capacity. 😂

As we move into our busiest, liveliest seasons: spring and summer, we are deeply committed to moving with great intention and focus on the well-being of our family, the land we steward, and the community we cherish. We allow our values of resiliency, authenticity, integrity, empathy, and inclusivity to guide and anchor all of our decisions.

We have big dreams for this farm and the role it can play in our community … and… we also know we realistically can’t (and really shouldn’t) do it all alone. We’ve learned that everyone thrives when we run together in community.

So this year, our growth is going to look like: expanding our team by hiring two epic humans, layering in more regenerative farming practices through grazing pasture-raised birds behind our cattle (meat chickens, laying hens, and holiday turkeys), raising a handful of pigs, planting more trees utilizing agroforestry methods, expanding our grazing pastures and fencing systems on our land across the road, adding in a new bed for cut flowers, heirloom pumpkins, and berries, launching The Field Share CSA, and creating more opportunities for people to gather and connect in safe, supported, joy-filled community. Through all of it, we are honored to continue to help feed our neighbors in need high quality food, received with dignity and respect, through our partnerships with two of our local Vermont Food Banks.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

LIZZIE,TOM, AND OUR WEE LASSIES