October 15, 2025 • 20 mins
This week on the American Family Farmer, host Doug Stephan sits down with Dave and Amy Hartshorn, the powerhouse duo behind Hartshorn Farm, a certified organic farm nestled in Waitsfield, Vermont. For over three decades, Dave and Amy have been cultivating not only some of the state’s finest organic produce and maple syrup, but also a thriving community around sustainability, education, and mindful living.
Dave shares his inspiring journey from his family’s dairy and maple sugaring roots to becoming the first certified organic farmer in the Mad River Valley—a pioneer who believes deeply in giving back to the land. Amy, a longtime green living advocate and educator, adds her perspective on how the farm’s mission extends beyond food, touching on wellness, detoxing our homes and lives, and reconnecting with nature.
Together, they’ve built a vibrant destination where visitors can enjoy farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and handmade Vermont specialties, all while learning about regenerative agriculture and holistic living. From their open-air farm stand and pick-your-own berries to innovative products like freeze-dried cherry tomatoes and maple sriracha sauce, Hartshorn Farm is redefining what it means to farm with heart and purpose.
Tune in to hear how this couple’s shared vision—rooted in authenticity, environmental stewardship, and community connection—is sowing the seeds for a more sustainable future.
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
Dave shares his inspiring journey from his family’s dairy and maple sugaring roots to becoming the first certified organic farmer in the Mad River Valley—a pioneer who believes deeply in giving back to the land. Amy, a longtime green living advocate and educator, adds her perspective on how the farm’s mission extends beyond food, touching on wellness, detoxing our homes and lives, and reconnecting with nature.
Together, they’ve built a vibrant destination where visitors can enjoy farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and handmade Vermont specialties, all while learning about regenerative agriculture and holistic living. From their open-air farm stand and pick-your-own berries to innovative products like freeze-dried cherry tomatoes and maple sriracha sauce, Hartshorn Farm is redefining what it means to farm with heart and purpose.
Tune in to hear how this couple’s shared vision—rooted in authenticity, environmental stewardship, and community connection—is sowing the seeds for a more sustainable future.
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
the safe, proven way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. Welcome to the American Family Farmer.
I'm Doug Stefan with Dave and Amy Hartshorn, who are
the owners of Hartshorn Organic Farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont.
Looking to the mountains for a frost. Not happy about
(00:22):
the forecast down here in Massachusetts where I am. Folks,
we have a frost forecast for later this week. Have
you had one up there yet?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Five? You've had five frosts?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, that.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Requires an extra three hours a day.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Did you Are you able to keep the frost away
by taking certain measures? Sometimes people who have things to
protect work hard, as you're suggesting, through the night. They'll
keep fires going and things like that. Is that what
you have had to do in light of the frosts
that are setting themselves up.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
No, it's it's not a you couldn't set fires. We're
in a we're in a drought and uh.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Forest fire issue, right.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Yeah, but I do have lots of row covers that
protect to one degree. So you put multiple covers on,
you can get multiple degrees but you know it's an
extra three hours a.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Day of work.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
Yes, yeah, And so like you said, there's a much
harder freeze coming, which will be the end no matter
what covering you do. Uh, we are, we are. We
do have a field of corn. It's all the work
is in it, all the time, all the effort we
(01:47):
protected it and saved it from the last frost. I
don't know what we'll do this time. We'll try and
add another layer.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So the essence of what you're doing up there in
the vegetable department versus what I'm doing here in Massachusetts
in the cattle department, I'm still chopping corn and I
worry about But I mean, I said to myself, what
do I worrying about a frost? It's like expecting to
be on the next trip to the moon.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What are you gonna do about it?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
There's not much you can do, but in your case, no,
But in your case you, as you're suggesting, one of
the things that happens when you're running a farm like
yours is that you do take extraordinary measures to protect
what you have. So let's talk about waits Field, Vermont,
where you are in the state, and how supportive the
(02:37):
local community is of you and your farm and other
farmers who were up there.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Well, Vermont is a foody state, so for example, support
from the community was greatest during a Hurricane Irene. Do
you remember that one? Sure?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Do I remember driving through Vermont a month or so
after the hurricane and seeing all of that. I went
up to pick up a piece of equipment, and the
roads were washed out, the farm, the cornfields were demolished,
And I can't imagine that somebody doing what you're doing
had a good time of it at all.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, for instance, in our local community, they set up
a place where people could go in and donate, and
just our little valley here amassed more funds of relief
to the to the community than the entire state did
in the same period of time.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Wow, that's an amazing community support.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And we even had school groups come in and help
us because we had pumpkins and squash and everything displayed
that were floating away, and we had all kinds of
people come and help us set things back up. And
instead of buying a tomato for the normal price, they'd
pay four or five times what it cost.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Well, there's something to be said for that kind of
a community to be sure where you're in the right place,
it would seem for doing what you're doing. Dave and
Amy Hartshorn are here from Hartshorn Organic Farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont.
We're talking about what they have done this year, perhaps
a little inspiration for you if you're interested in organic.
(04:16):
I spend a lot of time on this program talking
about organic because I think it's the way to be,
not the way to go, but the way to be.
And I'll explain that statement as we continue here on
this week's American Family Farmer. Caltron is on the top
of the food chain, if you will, when it comes
to losing weight, and because it is fall, it's time
to focus on what we seem to get into every
(04:39):
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Speaker 1 (05:25):
Elizabeth Miller from top loss dot Com and Caldron here
back on the American family farmer Doug Stefan with the
pleasure of Dave and Amy Hartshorn's company here from Heartshoring
Organic Farm up and the waits Field Vermont. We're talking
about the weather conditions and things that happen in their community,
(05:48):
which sounds like a very supportive place. Vermont's a good
Egg States, so at least I think if it wasn't
for the fact that it's the damn cold, I almost
would rather be there. And here's bad enough in Massachusetts,
but as exemplified by the fact that you've had five
frosts already and we haven't had any, there's just that
(06:09):
little bit of a difference, but it's such a wonderful
There's nothing I like better than going, let's say, to
an auction in Vermona, going up to pick up some cows,
or in some way, shape or form, take the opportunity
to go up Route five. It's one of my favorite rides,
just going up and down Route five. For those of
you who are in the rest of the country, it's
(06:30):
one of those those delightful rural experiences.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
That a lot of people can have in different parts
of the country.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But the topography and the landscapes are just created. I'm
waxing philosophically, you know, let's get back to the fact
of the matter. Why organic, Dave Amy, Why did you
decide to have an organic farm?
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Well, I didn't start out that way. It was I
think three years where I wasn't organic, but I didn't
I hadn't used any pesticides or herbicides, so I could
see and I was suggested to by a lot of
people that that's where Vermont was going as far.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
As the foodies, quality food.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
So it was easy for me to transition to organic,
and so I did. And I'm not sorry I did
because I have a lot of folks that come in
because they're not sprayed and there's care for the land
and continuality of a good soil.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, that's really we love it's all about. That's the
soil is The soil is what it's all about. If
you don't have good soil, you're not going to have
much of a product. Go ahead, Amy, you were.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Going to add to Oh, yeah, I was just going
to say.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
We love to inspire people to through all kinds of
educational opportunities to teach them about organic and why we
think it's such a great thing to do, you know,
for the land, for the air, for the water, for humans,
for animals, particularly pollinators. So that's something that we're very
focused on, you know, sharing why we do it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So I want to have you share what you're about.
The two of you, Dave and Amy.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Are you both farm kids?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Were you born?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
No, couldn't be farther from the truth.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Tellers want to be a farm kid.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Yeah, I was born on the farm. I've never been
anywhere else. And I was born to a dairy farmer
family and we started out with dairy cattle and I
transitioned to fruit and vegetables when I was a Oh
I probably in close to my forties. I think Amy
(08:41):
has a different story.
Speaker 7 (08:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I started out in New York all places, feeling like
a plant out of place and longing to be on
an organic farm in Vermont. And I spent some transition years,
as I call them, in Massachusetts and got really into
green living and environmental activism and joined the Northeast Organic
Farming Sociation actually, and got to know farmers and go
(09:03):
to the annual summer conference and just get that, you know,
soaked into the whole farming vibe. And then Dave and
I actually met on match dot com and it was
kind of this amazing partnership between organic farmer and green
living expert who we both just love the land and
growing things, and yeah, so totally.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
They actually they actually have a section on match dot
com for organic farmers.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Organic farmers coming here to meet your match.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Well, no, it was just I was out in general population.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Now there actually was a farmer's only dot com, I think,
but we never joined that one.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
No, I got it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Okay, that's kind of cute.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I like that story.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And so now let's fast forward to where you are
right now and where you've matured to the kinds of
things that you're growing.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
What do you have the most success with.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I'm known for my tomatoes, people syrup, my sweetcorn. Those
are big draws, and those are the things I'm most
proud of. And the pumps. Oh, the pumpkins. Oh it's pumpkins. Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.
We've this place in the fall is nuts because I
(10:18):
spread pumpkins almost a quarter a mile and uh it's
it's a draw, a big draw.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Including a pumpkin heart that he set up, you know,
pumpkins in the shape of a heart.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Sure. I had last week on this program, we had
a pumpkin farmer. I thought it was appropriate for this
time of year to have someone that has spent the
whole summer raising pumpkins. I think this guy had. I
had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acres of pumpkins
and cells all over the country. But people are interested
(10:52):
in what they can find. Ever since COVID, I think, well,
this is what I find, and maybe you have found
the same thing.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Maybe you have a.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Different experience finding the farm during COVID and staying with
the farm after COVID. Has that been your experience?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You're absolutely correct.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Business turned skyward during COVID because we have an open
air farm stand and people loved the open air farm
stands and they kept coming and coming and coming. And
plus we had tremendous amount of people moved out of
the city and moved up here as a result of COVID,
(11:29):
and it's done nothing but propel the business.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And we also got smart and went to get credit
cards and venmo abilities so that it wasn't just cash
only and having gets staffed all the time. So we
really kind of upped our game and it paid off.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
How hard is it to get help up there?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
We have? That's my that's really the lingering problem that
I have on my farm. I just can't find people
down here. Well, I think kids are unreliable and the parents.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You know, it's just it's an issue. Go ahead, please, yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
I think that's a problem for any business is now.
The only way you get somebody here is to steal
somebody or poach somebody from another business. And the other
big issue is I'm, you know, retirement age, and I
have no one behind me, as do a lot of
(12:20):
my friends who have local businesses. If something happens, you
get injured or unable to work, the business is done.
That's true for the maple and the fruit and vegetables.
We're trying to find a solution to keep this thing going,
but it may end end right here. That's a problem
(12:43):
across the country.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It is.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I'm actually dealing with that on my farm, a succession
plan with my son being very He wasn't at first.
I didn't think this would be what he would do,
But in the last year he's become very interested in
all as you are suggesting, we're not getting any younger,
and because he sees the impact that well, the impact
had on him and his sisters they were growing up,
(13:08):
but then they went off into other areas literally and figuratively.
But now he's really got himself his head's back in
the game here and wanting not necessarily to spend full
time at it, but to make sure that we have
a succession plan that will have merit. And I think
(13:28):
that's what you're suggesting, David. There are some places you
can go to some of these websites and find ways
and ideas about succession, but it really is it's a
very difficult problem. It's another one of those things, sort
of the stake in the heart in American agriculture. Let's
talk a little bit more about that in a matter
of moments. Here we're having a conversation with David Amy
(13:49):
Hartshorn from their organic farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont. Interesting
insight into their experience and what's going on in terms
of the optimism that people have about the future of
farming because.
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Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, we're on the farm in Waitsfield, Vermond with
Dave and Amy Hartshorn, and we're talking about the things
that they have done that are successful things ideas, if
you will.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
How do you deal with weeds?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It's always my thing. I don't use chemicals, but man,
do I have a problem with my corn fields and weeds?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What do you do to to you with it?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
Well, as far as sweet corn is concerned, I've gone
to transplanting everything because I couldn't compete with the wheat.
Well I did compete with the weeds, but it was
a tremendous weed battle. But when you have a transplant
that goes in at six inches, it's up around eight
(17:22):
before the other weeds really come through, and then you
can just throw dirt into the rows and cover it,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
So that's so, how do you do that?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
In terms of transplanting, how much corn can you actually grow?
It sounds like a gargantua. I mean I plant forty
acres of corn. Granted it's cow corn, but I can't
imagine starting forty acres worth of seeds and then transplanting
them into the fields.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Well, sweet corn is a whole different story. If you
if you had forty acres of sweet corn, you probably
have a millionaires of corns. No, we don't do that.
We're on a much smaller, much smaller scale. Our our
organic sweet corn sells for a buck twenty five an
year here and it's well sought out all over the country.
(18:12):
Because of the glif astate problems.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah right, Yeah, well I don't have, and that's the
thing we tend to. I don't know if you ever
talk to your fellow farmers up there about this issue.
And some of them are so adamant because it gives
them more product to sell because they, you know, have
more fertilizers and things like that, and they don't pay
attention and they don't want to hear often the story
(18:38):
of what it does to the soil. Do you have
Is that an issue with your fellow farmers up there
or do you not.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Get into it?
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Yes, we have that problem right across the street.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
So I actually have to have to sequence my corn
so that it doesn't pollinate with their corn. Otherwise I
have to throw mine away.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Yeah, because they grow GMO corn and sprague life essayed
in this past season. They did it twice. And you know,
if you can smell it, you know it's drifting over
towards you.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Well, it's insurance GMOs, the genetic material that comes over
in the pollen right and not two hundred feet away,
And if the prevailing wind is right, it's going to
come over. So I have to time it just right
so that mine pollinates first.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I'm sure there are a lot of things that
we can learn. What's the website where can people go
to see what's going on on your farm?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Heartshornfarm dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
That's pretty easy, right, I could spell.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It heartshorn farm and that's a h A r T
s h o r n heartshornfarm dot com. What a
great experience. And I love the breath of fresh air
that you are and how you enjoy it and love it.
That's the key to making these things happen. Family farming
is still number one in the Erica for sure. Alive
(20:01):
and well looks like in waits Fiel, Vermont. Thanks very
much to Dave and Amy Hartshoran for telling us their
stories and explaining their experience here on this week's American
Family Farmer.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Thank you all right, take care.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
This program was produced at bob k Sound and Recording.
Please visit bobksound dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
which is the safe way for you to lose weight
and keep it off.
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
the safe, proven way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. Welcome to the American Family Farmer.
I'm Doug Stefan with Dave and Amy Hartshorn, who are
the owners of Hartshorn Organic Farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont.
Looking to the mountains for a frost. Not happy about
(00:22):
the forecast down here in Massachusetts where I am. Folks,
we have a frost forecast for later this week. Have
you had one up there yet?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Five? You've had five frosts?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, that.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Requires an extra three hours a day.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Did you Are you able to keep the frost away
by taking certain measures? Sometimes people who have things to
protect work hard, as you're suggesting, through the night. They'll
keep fires going and things like that. Is that what
you have had to do in light of the frosts
that are setting themselves up.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
No, it's it's not a you couldn't set fires. We're
in a we're in a drought and uh.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Forest fire issue, right.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Yeah, but I do have lots of row covers that
protect to one degree. So you put multiple covers on,
you can get multiple degrees but you know it's an
extra three hours a.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Day of work.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
Yes, yeah, And so like you said, there's a much
harder freeze coming, which will be the end no matter
what covering you do. Uh, we are, we are. We
do have a field of corn. It's all the work
is in it, all the time, all the effort we
(01:47):
protected it and saved it from the last frost. I
don't know what we'll do this time. We'll try and
add another layer.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So the essence of what you're doing up there in
the vegetable department versus what I'm doing here in Massachusetts
in the cattle department, I'm still chopping corn and I
worry about But I mean, I said to myself, what
do I worrying about a frost? It's like expecting to
be on the next trip to the moon.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What are you gonna do about it?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
There's not much you can do, but in your case, no,
But in your case you, as you're suggesting, one of
the things that happens when you're running a farm like
yours is that you do take extraordinary measures to protect
what you have. So let's talk about waits Field, Vermont,
where you are in the state, and how supportive the
(02:37):
local community is of you and your farm and other
farmers who were up there.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Well, Vermont is a foody state, so for example, support
from the community was greatest during a Hurricane Irene. Do
you remember that one? Sure?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Do I remember driving through Vermont a month or so
after the hurricane and seeing all of that. I went
up to pick up a piece of equipment, and the
roads were washed out, the farm, the cornfields were demolished,
And I can't imagine that somebody doing what you're doing
had a good time of it at all.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, for instance, in our local community, they set up
a place where people could go in and donate, and
just our little valley here amassed more funds of relief
to the to the community than the entire state did
in the same period of time.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Wow, that's an amazing community support.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And we even had school groups come in and help
us because we had pumpkins and squash and everything displayed
that were floating away, and we had all kinds of
people come and help us set things back up. And
instead of buying a tomato for the normal price, they'd
pay four or five times what it cost.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Well, there's something to be said for that kind of
a community to be sure where you're in the right place,
it would seem for doing what you're doing. Dave and
Amy Hartshorn are here from Hartshorn Organic Farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont.
We're talking about what they have done this year, perhaps
a little inspiration for you if you're interested in organic.
(04:16):
I spend a lot of time on this program talking
about organic because I think it's the way to be,
not the way to go, but the way to be.
And I'll explain that statement as we continue here on
this week's American Family Farmer. Caltron is on the top
of the food chain, if you will, when it comes
to losing weight, and because it is fall, it's time
to focus on what we seem to get into every
(04:39):
year at this time exactly.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
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Elizabeth Miller from top loss dot Com and Caldron here
back on the American family farmer Doug Stefan with the
pleasure of Dave and Amy Hartshorn's company here from Heartshoring
Organic Farm up and the waits Field Vermont. We're talking
about the weather conditions and things that happen in their community,
(05:48):
which sounds like a very supportive place. Vermont's a good
Egg States, so at least I think if it wasn't
for the fact that it's the damn cold, I almost
would rather be there. And here's bad enough in Massachusetts,
but as exemplified by the fact that you've had five
frosts already and we haven't had any, there's just that
(06:09):
little bit of a difference, but it's such a wonderful
There's nothing I like better than going, let's say, to
an auction in Vermona, going up to pick up some cows,
or in some way, shape or form, take the opportunity
to go up Route five. It's one of my favorite rides,
just going up and down Route five. For those of
you who are in the rest of the country, it's
(06:30):
one of those those delightful rural experiences.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
That a lot of people can have in different parts
of the country.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
But the topography and the landscapes are just created. I'm
waxing philosophically, you know, let's get back to the fact
of the matter. Why organic, Dave Amy, Why did you
decide to have an organic farm?
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Well, I didn't start out that way. It was I
think three years where I wasn't organic, but I didn't
I hadn't used any pesticides or herbicides, so I could
see and I was suggested to by a lot of
people that that's where Vermont was going as far.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
As the foodies, quality food.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
So it was easy for me to transition to organic,
and so I did. And I'm not sorry I did
because I have a lot of folks that come in
because they're not sprayed and there's care for the land
and continuality of a good soil.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, that's really we love it's all about. That's the
soil is The soil is what it's all about. If
you don't have good soil, you're not going to have
much of a product. Go ahead, Amy, you were.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Going to add to Oh, yeah, I was just going
to say.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
We love to inspire people to through all kinds of
educational opportunities to teach them about organic and why we
think it's such a great thing to do, you know,
for the land, for the air, for the water, for humans,
for animals, particularly pollinators. So that's something that we're very
focused on, you know, sharing why we do it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So I want to have you share what you're about.
The two of you, Dave and Amy.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Are you both farm kids?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Were you born?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
No, couldn't be farther from the truth.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Tellers want to be a farm kid.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Yeah, I was born on the farm. I've never been
anywhere else. And I was born to a dairy farmer
family and we started out with dairy cattle and I
transitioned to fruit and vegetables when I was a Oh
I probably in close to my forties. I think Amy
(08:41):
has a different story.
Speaker 7 (08:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I started out in New York all places, feeling like
a plant out of place and longing to be on
an organic farm in Vermont. And I spent some transition years,
as I call them, in Massachusetts and got really into
green living and environmental activism and joined the Northeast Organic
Farming Sociation actually, and got to know farmers and go
(09:03):
to the annual summer conference and just get that, you know,
soaked into the whole farming vibe. And then Dave and
I actually met on match dot com and it was
kind of this amazing partnership between organic farmer and green
living expert who we both just love the land and
growing things, and yeah, so totally.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
They actually they actually have a section on match dot
com for organic farmers.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Organic farmers coming here to meet your match.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Well, no, it was just I was out in general population.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Now there actually was a farmer's only dot com, I think,
but we never joined that one.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
No, I got it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Okay, that's kind of cute.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I like that story.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And so now let's fast forward to where you are
right now and where you've matured to the kinds of
things that you're growing.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
What do you have the most success with.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I'm known for my tomatoes, people syrup, my sweetcorn. Those
are big draws, and those are the things I'm most
proud of. And the pumps. Oh, the pumpkins. Oh it's pumpkins. Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.
We've this place in the fall is nuts because I
(10:18):
spread pumpkins almost a quarter a mile and uh it's
it's a draw, a big draw.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Including a pumpkin heart that he set up, you know,
pumpkins in the shape of a heart.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Sure. I had last week on this program, we had
a pumpkin farmer. I thought it was appropriate for this
time of year to have someone that has spent the
whole summer raising pumpkins. I think this guy had. I
had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acres of pumpkins
and cells all over the country. But people are interested
(10:52):
in what they can find. Ever since COVID, I think, well,
this is what I find, and maybe you have found
the same thing.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Maybe you have a.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Different experience finding the farm during COVID and staying with
the farm after COVID. Has that been your experience?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
You're absolutely correct.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Business turned skyward during COVID because we have an open
air farm stand and people loved the open air farm
stands and they kept coming and coming and coming. And
plus we had tremendous amount of people moved out of
the city and moved up here as a result of COVID,
(11:29):
and it's done nothing but propel the business.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And we also got smart and went to get credit
cards and venmo abilities so that it wasn't just cash
only and having gets staffed all the time. So we
really kind of upped our game and it paid off.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
How hard is it to get help up there?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
We have? That's my that's really the lingering problem that
I have on my farm. I just can't find people
down here. Well, I think kids are unreliable and the parents.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You know, it's just it's an issue. Go ahead, please, yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
I think that's a problem for any business is now.
The only way you get somebody here is to steal
somebody or poach somebody from another business. And the other
big issue is I'm, you know, retirement age, and I
have no one behind me, as do a lot of
(12:20):
my friends who have local businesses. If something happens, you
get injured or unable to work, the business is done.
That's true for the maple and the fruit and vegetables.
We're trying to find a solution to keep this thing going,
but it may end end right here. That's a problem
(12:43):
across the country.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It is.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I'm actually dealing with that on my farm, a succession
plan with my son being very He wasn't at first.
I didn't think this would be what he would do,
But in the last year he's become very interested in
all as you are suggesting, we're not getting any younger,
and because he sees the impact that well, the impact
had on him and his sisters they were growing up,
(13:08):
but then they went off into other areas literally and figuratively.
But now he's really got himself his head's back in
the game here and wanting not necessarily to spend full
time at it, but to make sure that we have
a succession plan that will have merit. And I think
(13:28):
that's what you're suggesting, David. There are some places you
can go to some of these websites and find ways
and ideas about succession, but it really is it's a
very difficult problem. It's another one of those things, sort
of the stake in the heart in American agriculture. Let's
talk a little bit more about that in a matter
of moments. Here we're having a conversation with David Amy
(13:49):
Hartshorn from their organic farm up in Waitsfield, Vermont. Interesting
insight into their experience and what's going on in terms
of the optimism that people have about the future of
farming because.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Of disasters like COVID.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'm Doug Stephan. The solution to your problem of gaining weight.
We're going into that season. You know it and I
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Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, we're on the farm in Waitsfield, Vermond with
Dave and Amy Hartshorn, and we're talking about the things
that they have done that are successful things ideas, if
you will.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
How do you deal with weeds?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It's always my thing. I don't use chemicals, but man,
do I have a problem with my corn fields and weeds?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What do you do to to you with it?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
Well, as far as sweet corn is concerned, I've gone
to transplanting everything because I couldn't compete with the wheat.
Well I did compete with the weeds, but it was
a tremendous weed battle. But when you have a transplant
that goes in at six inches, it's up around eight
(17:22):
before the other weeds really come through, and then you
can just throw dirt into the rows and cover it,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
So that's so, how do you do that?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
In terms of transplanting, how much corn can you actually grow?
It sounds like a gargantua. I mean I plant forty
acres of corn. Granted it's cow corn, but I can't
imagine starting forty acres worth of seeds and then transplanting
them into the fields.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Well, sweet corn is a whole different story. If you
if you had forty acres of sweet corn, you probably
have a millionaires of corns. No, we don't do that.
We're on a much smaller, much smaller scale. Our our
organic sweet corn sells for a buck twenty five an
year here and it's well sought out all over the country.
(18:12):
Because of the glif astate problems.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah right, Yeah, well I don't have, and that's the
thing we tend to. I don't know if you ever
talk to your fellow farmers up there about this issue.
And some of them are so adamant because it gives
them more product to sell because they, you know, have
more fertilizers and things like that, and they don't pay
attention and they don't want to hear often the story
(18:38):
of what it does to the soil. Do you have
Is that an issue with your fellow farmers up there
or do you not.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Get into it?
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Yes, we have that problem right across the street.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
So I actually have to have to sequence my corn
so that it doesn't pollinate with their corn. Otherwise I
have to throw mine away.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Yeah, because they grow GMO corn and sprague life essayed
in this past season. They did it twice. And you know,
if you can smell it, you know it's drifting over
towards you.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Well, it's insurance GMOs, the genetic material that comes over
in the pollen right and not two hundred feet away,
And if the prevailing wind is right, it's going to
come over. So I have to time it just right
so that mine pollinates first.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I'm sure there are a lot of things that
we can learn. What's the website where can people go
to see what's going on on your farm?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Heartshornfarm dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
That's pretty easy, right, I could spell.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It heartshorn farm and that's a h A r T
s h o r n heartshornfarm dot com. What a
great experience. And I love the breath of fresh air
that you are and how you enjoy it and love it.
That's the key to making these things happen. Family farming
is still number one in the Erica for sure. Alive
(20:01):
and well looks like in waits Fiel, Vermont. Thanks very
much to Dave and Amy Hartshoran for telling us their
stories and explaining their experience here on this week's American
Family Farmer.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
Thank you all right, take care.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
This program was produced at bob k Sound and Recording.
Please visit bobksound dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
which is the safe way for you to lose weight
and keep it off.
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