The co-owners and founders of Green Mountain Girls Farm in Northfield say they farm relationships. To Mari Omland, 50, and Laura Olsen, 46, the concept of "relational farming" underscores the sprawling network of interconnecting systems on their land: a small, diverse hill farm nestled between the mountains off Interstate 89. It also describes the crux of the operation; Green Mountain Girls is among the better-known and more-lauded farm-stay programs in Vermont. Overnight guests may hail from as near as Burlington or as far as Australia. Agritourism is a broad, burgeoning industry that brings visitors to farms and other agricultural operations. Its farm-stay sector gives guests an intimate glimpse into a farm's ways of producing food. Farm-stay participants are invited to sleep on-site and immerse themselves in the culture of a given farmland. At Green Mountain Girls, temporary workers and guests factor into Omland and Olsen's idea of relational farming along with the chickens, pigs and fields of summer squash. A farm stay makes visitors temporary cogs in the machinery of a functioning farm. Sort of. "We have full-time professional staff to keep the farm running," said Omland outside the farm stand on a balmy August weekday. "We're a small farm, but not that small." During a farm stay at Green Mountain Girls, newbie farmers — aka the guests — can pick veggies for their own dinner, help harvest tomatoes and chat face-to-face with Amelia, a mammoth but gentle Thomaston pig. Each stay starts with a guided, deep-dive farm tour courtesy of Omland or Olsen, which kicks off with a "latte on the hoof" made with Green Mountain Girls' goat's milk. The essence of Green Mountain Girls' farm stay is to offer guests interaction, room and board on a working farm, at rates generally ranging from $300 to $475 per night. Visitors might learn how elderberries look and taste, hike or snowshoe the farm's woodland trails, or take classes on how to make their own sausage and render lard for biscuits. They do not, however, have to hay the fields, work 12-hour days or manage 400 chickens. It's not about labor as much as it is about familiarity. "The point is for guests to have a multisensory experience within this ecosystem of food, animal and agriculture," said Olsen. "We use agritourism as a means to protect and support the farm's biodiversity. Tourism allows people to have that connection firsthand —…
The co-owners and founders of Green Mountain Girls Farm in Northfield say they farm relationships. To Mari Omland, 50, and Laura Olsen, 46, the concept of "relational farming" underscores the sprawling network of interconnecting systems on their land: a small, diverse hill farm nestled between the mountains off Interstate 89. It also describes the crux of the operation; Green Mountain Girls is among the better-known and more-lauded farm-stay programs in Vermont. Overnight guests may hail from as near as Burlington or as far as Australia. Agritourism is a broad, burgeoning industry that brings visitors to farms and other agricultural operations. Its farm-stay sector gives guests an intimate glimpse into a farm's ways of producing food. Farm-stay participants are invited to sleep on-site and immerse themselves in the culture of a given farmland. At Green Mountain Girls, temporary workers and guests factor into Omland and Olsen's idea of relational farming along with the chickens, pigs and fields of summer squash. A farm stay makes visitors temporary cogs in the machinery of a functioning farm. Sort of. "We have full-time professional staff to keep the farm running," said Omland outside the farm stand on a balmy August weekday. "We're a small farm, but not that small." During a farm stay at Green Mountain Girls, newbie farmers — aka the guests — can pick veggies for their own dinner, help harvest tomatoes and chat face-to-face with Amelia, a mammoth but gentle Thomaston pig. Each stay starts with a guided, deep-dive farm tour courtesy of Omland or Olsen, which kicks off with a "latte on the hoof" made with Green Mountain Girls' goat's milk. The essence of Green Mountain Girls' farm stay is to offer guests interaction, room and board on a working farm, at rates generally ranging from $300 to $475 per night. Visitors might learn how elderberries look and taste, hike or snowshoe the farm's woodland trails, or take classes on how to make their own sausage and render lard for biscuits. They do not, however, have to hay the fields, work 12-hour days or manage 400 chickens. It's not about labor as much as it is about familiarity. "The point is for guests to have a multisensory experience within this ecosystem of food, animal and agriculture," said Olsen. "We use agritourism as a means to protect and support the farm's biodiversity. Tourism allows people to have that connection firsthand —…