Honey Field Farm is a 35-acre family farm located in Norwich, Vermont at the former home of legendary Killdeer Farm.
We, Valerie and Eli, grow 15 acres of certified organic vegetables to distribute to over 25 local and regional partners, as well as our farm stand, CSA, and farmers market. All of our produce is certified organic through Vermont Organic Farmers, and audited by the Community Accreditation Produce Safety Plus program.
You can visit our farm stand and greenhouses from April – October. In spring and early summer, our array of greenhouses offer vibrant annual and perennial flower starts ready to fill your garden. You can find certified organic fresh produce, plus loads of other yummy treats at the farm stand all season long.
We employ 12–15 full and part-time seasonal employees from March through November each year, and enjoy learning and growing with our team.
Read about our Farm Philosophies & Practices and our Commitment to Community.
Read our more about Valerie and Eli.
We Love Hot Peppers!
We have a special spicy place in our heart for growing and enjoying hot peppers, which has become a fun niche here on the farm. Hot peppers have always been our largest crop, and we’re honored to supply some of Vermont’s best hot sauce makers.
We grow 2 acres and over 50 varieties of peppers ranging from sweet bells to Carolina Reapers.
You can find fresh hot peppers at our farm stand, farmers market, and through our retail partners. Or you can grow your own! We offer a wide range of fiery and unique varieties of pepper plant starts for your home garden.
Meet Valerie and Eli, your new neighborhood farmers
We are excited to establish roots in the thriving community of the Upper Valley.
After 5 years of searching for our forever farm, we worked with Dirt Capital Partners who invested in this property through a lease-to-own contract. With their support and faith in us, we launched Honey Field Farm in the spring of 2020. We’re honored to carry on the tradition of organic farming on Butternut Road, at the former home of Killdeer Farm and Greenhouses.
We spent one of our first dates together planting cabbage and giving pig belly rubs, and we’ve never looked back. We started farming together in 2013 at River Berry Farm in Fairfax, VT where we began our part-time incubator business, Shadow Creek Farm. For 5 seasons we worked day jobs and farmed on our nights and weekends, focusing on certified organic wholesale vegetables like hot peppers and cucumbers. We always had a dream of starting our own farm to share with the community.
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Eli began farming in 2009 and spent years seeking out farm internships and experiences to diversify his skills and knowledge in vegetables, dairy, and livestock. His passion for healthy soils and cooking great meals for his friends and family fuels his dedication towards growing wholesome, local vegetables. His love for hot peppers has only grown over the years, though he loves experimenting with new crops and varieties both in the field and the kitchen. Eli serves on the board of Deep Root Organic Growers Cooperative, and has been a proud grower member since 2015.
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Some of Valerie’s most treasured memories are playing in her great grandfather’s garden, shelling peas with the family, and finding worms in the compost bin. She found her way back to farming after college, and quickly grew devoted to greenhouse production. While the couple started their part-time farm, she pursued a masters in social work and spent four years working in community mental health. She hopes to someday unify her two passions by launching a farm-based therapy program. In the meantime, she’s committed to growing vibrant flowers and sharing carrots and green beans with Molly, their farm dog. Valerie serves on the farmer advisory board of the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network - North East, as well as Farm First’s Farmer Peer Network Advisory Board to bring awareness about and support farmers’ mental health. She also helps to coordinate Vermont’s farm and food racial equity study group.
Farm Philosophies and Practices
We are committed to clean, sustainable, soil-building practices that prioritize health. You can trust our business to:
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All of our produce, as well as the vegetable and herb plants we sell, are certified organic through VOF
This means you can count on us to organically manage our fields, keeping harmful chemicals out of your food, soils, and waterways.
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We work closely with UVM extension to ensure our practices are promoting the health of our soil and the important microbial communities contained within it
We irrigate responsibly to avoid nutrient run-off in our watershed
We test our fields and water annually to ensure that we are meeting our land stewardship goals
We rotate crops each season and rest our fields between plantings
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We grow only neonicotinoid-free plants, meaning all of the live plants we sell are free from this insecticide that is harmful to bees
All edible plants we sell are certified organic through VOF
We offer a wide range of native pollinator plants to diversify your garden and support these important insect populations
We utilize integrated pest management to naturally control unwanted pests.
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We are certified through the VT CAPS+ food safety program to ensure that all veggies coming out of our field and wash station are clean and safe for your family
Our production system and facility is audited annually by the VT Agency of Agriculture, and our wash water is tested regularly for contaminants
Our production crew is trained in practices to reduce potential contamination in the field and barn
We use a food-grade sanitizer in our wash water, which also helps improve the shelf life of our veggies
Our fields, vegetables, and herbs are certified organic. Although our flower starts are not certified, we take care to source our materials responsibly and provide transparency about our growing practices. We are always happy to answer questions about how we grow!
Commitment to Community
We want to give everyone the chance to enjoy fresh, nutritious produce. We aim to increase regional food security with efficient practices to make high-quality produce affordable and accessible, and by collaborating with the local organizations doing this important work.
We are passionate about working with agencies and organizations that address food insecurity and make sure that all Vermonters have access to healthy, delicious food.
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Each week Willing Hands’ volunteers come to the farm to glean excess veggies from our fields. Visit the Willing Hands website to learn more about volunteering.
We also participate in Willing Hands’ Share a Share program and raise money for Willing Hands to directly purchase certified organic produce for their participants. Since 2020 we’ve raised over $5000 in donations for Willing Hands to ensure fresh, local food is making it to those who need it most. You can donate a share to Willing Hands through our online store or make a tax deductible donation directly to Willing Hands.
Additionally, we donate any extra or funny-shaped produce to Willing Hands and other local and regional partners any time we have it. In 2020 we donated over 10,000 pounds of produce to Willing Hands, and we hope to break that record each season moving forward.
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We donate lots of flowers, veggie, and herb starts to family centers, community gardens, schools, and food banks.
If you are an agency or group interested in partnering with us, please contact info@honeyfieldfarmvt.com or call (802) 649-1500.
The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.
— The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry