Philip is a free-range educator, author, farmer and off-grid homesteader with decades of experience in food systems, higher education, and environmental conservation. Based at UpTunket Farm in Pawlet, Vermont (USA), his current work is focused on models of food systems transformation at regional, national, and international scales. He has written three books, with another underway: including A Precautionary Tale: How One Small Town Banned Pesticides, Preserved its Food Heritage, and Inspired a Movement; Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable, and Secure Food Systems; and Up Tunket Road: The Education of a Modern Homesteader. Philip's hands-on experience in farming and food systems is supported and complemented by his graduate studies in Environmental Biology, along with other academic forays into philosophy, religion, and literature.

Philip enjoyed twenty-two years at Green Mountain College, where he was Professor of Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems. He established the college’s 23-acre organic farm, designed and launched the undergraduate program in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems, and founded and directed the nation’s first online graduate program in food systems. He then served as Dean of Professional Studies at Sterling College in Vermont, where he established the college’s first online educational initiatives and oversaw the School of the New American Farmstead.

He has spent nearly forty years exploring sustainable agricultural practices, generally in the company of students and family, framing his teaching and academic research with farming experiences in the Alps, North Carolina, and Vermont. Philip finds great joy and inspiration in working with people of all ages and cultures, while also appreciating the solace of working in approximately 150 acres of pasture and woodland with his family and their heritage-breed cattle on a remote, solar-powered farm in Vermont.

Rich has spent the last 27 years of his life dedicated to bringing agriculture into the lives of others. From managing and maintaining the botanical gardens at Old Sturbridge Village, to doing educational outreach and orchard design with the American Chestnut Foundation. His days are now spent playing in the edible forest and gardens he has built at All Hill Farm, and teaching others the skills they need to do the same.

Brian is a 4th generation homesteader who has been homesteading with his wife Bonnie and son Brian Jr. on a little over 2 acres in Washington County. He is an avid gardener and has raised rabbits, chickens, geese, turkeys, and American Guinea hogs. He enjoys preserving the harvest in various ways: freezing, dehydrating, canning, and fermenting. In 2019, he launched the Homestead Journey podcast to help others achieve self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and sustainability.

Micah Guenther is a homesteader and homemaker living in Washington County with her husband and their three daughters. As an artist doing freelance photography and embroidery, she strives to create a beautiful childhood for her children. She recently moved from a yardless duplex into a cottage she and her husband designed and built on 12 acres. She is enjoying her foray into dairy cattle husbandry, gardening, sourdough, and all that comes with running a small farm. Her shift from town to countryside has given her a perspective of immense gratitude for this way of life, and she hopes to pass on this appreciation to her children and teach them to find fulfillment in the labor that brings their food to the table.

Erin Perkins, her husband Jeremy, and their two sons own and operate Easton Station Farms in Greenwich, New York. They are a first-generation cow/calf operation raising Blonde d'Aquitaine and commercial cattle since 2010.

The land where Easton Station Farms currently sits today was originally a family dairy farm. Still, they’ve raised healthy, wholesome beef on limited acreage through hard work and sustainable farming techniques. They have grown to be a reputable breeder of Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle while marketing their beef directly to consumers- providing high-quality beef to the area in their modern, on-farm, self-service store.

The farm is BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) certified, NY Grown & Certified, Masters of Beef Advocacy certified & members of the National Cattleman's Beef Association & New York Beef Producers Association.

Dough Haven Farm LLC is located in Washington county, NY. A small homestead that has alpaca, LGDs, cashmere goats, chickens, ducks, geese and farms specialty mushrooms.

David together with his wife, Mary and brother, Don educate people about sustainable agroforestry and forest farming practices. Workshops, internships and farm tours are held to educate people on farming specialty mushrooms, animal husbandry, fiber goats, and sustainable forestry practices. David and Don are both Veteran farmers. We are supported by the Homegrown by Heroes program through Farmer Veteran Coalition federally and NY local chapter. We are grateful to have received support from Cornell Small Farms, Veteran Farm Ops programs. David and Mary are members of New York State Forest Owners Association (NYFOA), Southeastern Adirondack Chapter and are Master Forest Owners MFO through Cornell Cooperative Extension.

David is a retired electrician and chef, caters the Agritourism events and other farm gatherings, he is a certified cashmere judge and caretaker of the homestead. Mary recently retired from NYS and is a PT licensed massage therapist.

Their complete story and pictures can be found at DoughHavenFarm.com

Dr. Peck is the Director of Research and Education at Betterbee in Greenwich, NY, where he assists in product development and research, and also teaches classes and develops scientifically-sound educational materials. His doctoral work in Cornell University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior was supervised by Professor Tom Seeley. His dissertation research focused on the transmission of mites between bee colonies, as well as the mite-resistance traits of the untreated honey bees living in Cornell's Arnot Forest.

After earning his degree, he has continued to research varroa/bee interactions, including fieldwork in Newfoundland, Canada (where varroa still have not arrived) and Anosy Madagascar (where varroa arrived only in 2010 or 2011). He has served as a teaching postdoctoral fellow in Cornell's Department of Entomology, and is still affiliated with Cornell through the Honey Bee Health program in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Peck has kept bees for more than a decade, though his home apiary is often full of mite-riddled research colonies so he doesn't usually produce much honey.

I grew up on a 5th Generation Dairy Farm in Hartford, NY and have always had a passion for the agriculture industry. After completing my Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Business at SUNY Cobleskill, I worked in the agriculture retail industry for almost ten years, first at Walker’s Farm, Home & Tack and then at Betterbee Inc. I started in the training program to become a County Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in the summer of 2010 where I trained all over New York State and was introduced to the variety of agriculture we have in our state along with the programs FSA offers to support the producers. I am now in my 14th year with the agency, having worked in Vermont for the last 9 and coming home to Washington County in January 2023. The Farm Service Agency consists of a program side and a loan side. The program side, which I am responsible for, administers farm commodity, disaster and conservation programs for farmers. The Farm Loan side provides credit to agricultural producers who are unable to receive private, commercial credit, including special emphasis on beginning, minority and women farmers.

As a partner at Grazin' Acres Farm since 2012, I have been involved in the raising of cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, and turkeys. Our focus extends beyond animal husbandry, as we also cultivate all-natural produce. Since 2012, we have primarily distributed our products through farmers' markets.

Matt Wilkinson, along with his wife, own and operate Hard Cider Homestead, a small farm in rural Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Just retired from over 30 years teaching high school, Matt now travels the country inspiring people through lectures and workshops, empowering them to become their own backyard butchers.

Hard Cider Homestead offers custom meat processing, and specializes in poultry using a mobile processing unit. Noted for his easy-to-understand explanations of all-things butchering, Matt entertains as well as educates. He’s truly overjoyed at the end of a class from hearing a participant state, “I now feel confident that I can do that!” Please join Matt to become your own backyard poultry processor!

Brian Ducharme Is the owner of Wild Hill Maple in Salem, NY

established in 2002. His commitment to produce traditional

maple syrup began with sap gathered from buckets boiled over an outdoor fireplace, to a home made arch out of blocks, stone and a flat pan, to the construction of his own sugar shack in 2006, using trees cut from his property.

He went from collecting sap in buckets to the use of tubing, pumps and tanks. Due to his increase in producing, he currently uses an RO and boils on a large

Evaporator.

He has approximately 5500 taps and has converted his arch from being wood fired to oil fired. In all his years as a sugar maker, he has never compromised his commitment to making the best maple syrup possible and enjoys sharing his passion with others.

Lant Hill Farm in Argyle is home to Sue and her many garlic varieties. She enjoys being outdoors in the garden, trying to grow many types of foods that come in different colors, shapes, and flavors. A typical garlic year sees around 50 distinct varieties ranging from very mild to quite hot, leading many to ask, "Who Knew? I thought garlic was just garlic." Besides growing food for the family and markets, Lant Hill Farm also offers a farm-to-table bed and breakfast.

Harold Thornbro is a homesteading and permaculture advocate, he is a co-host of The Modern Homesteading Podcast, author of the book “From Home To Small Town Homestead” and blogger at RedemptionPermaculture.com.

Harold converted his urban home and property into a fully functioning holistic permaculture homestead after a cancer diagnosis in 2012 in order to radically change his lifestyle and diet.

He has a passion for helping people get started homesteading (no matter if they live in the city or country) to grow their own food, live healthier lives, become more self-sufficient, and escape the common food system that is laden with problems.