An Overdue Introduction to Folks You Already Know

Photos: Your Farm vegetables; Kevin Channell assists a customer at Your Farm's stand.


by Christopher Bartlett

You drop by to see them every week. And more often than not, you stop to chat. Nice people! And yet, although you know their faces well, you've never caught their names. We're talking about those friendly folks see every Wednesday afternoon at Woodstock's Market on the Green, and we thought you'd like to meet a couple of them.



Behind the mountains of freshly picked broccoli and piles of carrots bursting with flavor at Your Farm's market stand is Laura Channell who runs this 28 acre Fairlee farm with her husband Kevin. It's hard to believe that just six years ago Laura and Kevin were in office jobs in Indianapolis, dreaming about working together on their own farm.

But the traditional agricultural practices on the huge farms of the Midwest did not offer the experience of small-scale organic farming the Channells were seeking. So in 2004, they came to the northeast to apprentice on farms, take courses, and immerse themselves in the local agricultural movement that thrives in this region.

By 2006 they felt they were ready to start their own farm, and after many visits to Vermont, decided that this was the place to do it. Within a few weeks, they found the perfect location - a farmer's hay field in the fertile soil along the Connecticut River in Fairlee.

"After a year of bringing the farm into production, we began selling in 2007, just as the Market on the Green was starting," said Laura. "Having lived in Woodstock when we first came to Vermont, it seemed natural we should set up a stand here."

Today, Your Farm has a successful CSA program, operates in the farmers markets in Norwich and Woodstock, sells direct to several restaurants (including Allechante), and has recently opened its own farm store in Fairlee. Looks like a dream is coming true.

At the other end of the Market on the Green, the affable, bearded Jean Palthey sells vegetables from his Tunbridge Hill Farm where he and his wife Wendy grow "everything from artichokes to zucchini." They believe that if you operate a small-scale farm, a diversified crop provides security since "it's always a good year for something."

Jean came to Vermont in the mid-80s after college to work on ski patrol. But in the spring of 1987 as he was traveling around on his motorcycle, he saw a "Help Wanted" sign outside the farm and began a three-year apprenticeship that would change his life. In 1991, he established his farm on a hillside that had previously been part of a dairy. Jean believes this explains the richness of the soil that ensures the flavor of Tunbridge Hill Farm crops today.

In addition to the Woodstock market, the farm also sells at the Waitsfield Farmer's Market as well as to 60 CSA members, several of whom pick up their weekly delivery at the Market on the Green. And if they ask, Jean will gladly tell him about the time a "Help Wanted" sign changed his life.