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Home Grown: Golden Russet Farm

photo provided Will Stevens, owner of Golden Russet Farm, smiles throughout the hustle and bustle of the busy Middlebury Farmers Market Saturday, September 16th.

Tuesday September 26, 2006

By Julie Maheu

If you live in Middlebury and try to eat locally and organically, Golden Russet Farm is probably a name you are familiar with.

If you don't recognize it from the booth at the increasingly popular Middlebury Farmer's Market or have never visited the farm's vegetable stand in Shoreham, you've probably picked up some of Golden Russet's goods at the Middlebury Food Co-op.

And the reason for this familiarity could be that 90 percent of the vegetable and flower farm's products are sold within a 15-mile radius of its 1329 Lapham Bay Road location in Shoreham.

Will and Judy Stevens, owners of Golden Russet Farm, began their gardening venture in 1981.

“We got into it out of sense of service,” said Will.  “The economy wasn't really good at the time”.

The couple was given an opportunity to farm on a two-acre parcel in Monkton and sold mainly to the Burlington Farmer's Market. This small venture led the Stevens to purchase their own land three years later.

The pair bought 82 acres of land in Shoreham, 10 of which are used to grow vegetables. “Basically, we bought a rundown dairy farm,” explained Will. “We bought it because the soils were good. But the first couple years were tough. It took probably three to four years to really get going.”

The Stevens have gardened organically for their entire 25-year careers but didn't officially become certified until 1987.

(Growing organically) was a method of production we were comfortable with,” said Will. “We wanted to do no harm. We wanted food we could put out and feel good about, so it seemed like a fit for us to grow it that way. We let the quality of the produce speak for itself and promoted it as organic.”

However, “organic” was kind of a dirty word a couple decades ago. And the Stevens admitted to needing plenty of support from the Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA), a non-profit organization that helps promote organic farming practices.

To date, the organization has approximately 4,000 members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

“NOFA was just a wealth of information and a tremendous help to us when we first started out. The awareness surrounding organic practices was not what it is today. Things have really changed in the past several years. People are thinking not just in terms of eating locally but also organically,” said Will.

And these changes have proved good for the Stevens' business. Today, the thriving farm has four greenhouses, grows a huge variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs, and staff four fulltime employees during the summer months.

Golden Russet Farm also offers what they call the “Farm to Kitchen Connection,” where members can make weekly visits to the farm and fill up a bag with fresh seasonal produce. A summer, fall or full-season membership can be purchased in the spring.  In 2006, the farm had a total of 48 members.

In addition to its regular members, Golden Russet has offered a Senior Share Program for the past four years. The American Legion will pick up food from the farm once a week and distribute it to senior citizen homes in the Rutland County and Brandon areas. This past year, 53 seniors participated in the program.

A quarter of a century of hard work and a lot of patience has really paid off for the Stevens.

“There have been many lessons along the way--a very steep learning curve. And every year we tweak our practices a little bit,” said Will. “We've come such a long way since those early days of trial and error, and we're really proud of where we stand today.”

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