In June, Giant Journey Farm learned they would no longer have access to a significant portion of the land they steward for community sustenance. A small section of the upcoming Newfane Village Nature Preserve had been used by Giant Journey Farm for 14 years in a classic case of it being really hard to tell exactly where a property line is, and it not mattering to either side until fate brings in a surveyor.

This was shocking news as they thought everyone had reached agreement about the boundaries many years ago. Without access to their large greenhouse and about a third of their field space there will be no way to continue producing food for the local food shelves they service. Simply put: another family farm will cease to exist.

In the face of this devastating news, Seren and Morrigan rooted down in their vision. Their family farm would be finished OR what if this was an opportunity for living through their values, for meeting urgency with expansiveness, for doing more of the hard, future-building work they are known for? What if they could come up with a collective solution that met everyone's needs? What if, they bought a few acres of the land up for sale themselves?

With 2 more acres, they could double their food production to better serve their community and increase the viability of their farm. They could host more people on the land for learning, ritual, and collective decision making. What about a sauna? A pizza/bread oven? They started to see space for a collective of health and body workers to hold clinics, for storytellers and musicians to gather and co-create culture, for children to learn the way their bodies know best, for the community to reclaim their birthrights... As they continued to dream, Seren and Morrigan saw a tiny cabin on the new (to them) land where they could age-in-place with safety and dignity.

With 2 more acres, their farm would be more durably secure against regulatory pitfalls after the loss and partial reinstatement of the Municipal Exemption for farmers last year.

They had a small amount of money from their tax return and some off-farm work which was intended for winter living or perhaps even the start of savings for a long and badly needed new roof but they'd scraped by before so they made a proposal, gathered letters of support, generated a space for public comment, and sent it all out (all while full-time farming, working off-farm jobs, and parenting two young children).

After several months of communicating, Green Mountain Conservancy agreed to sell Giant Journey Farm 2 acres after they finalized the purchase of the Newfane Village Nature Preserve but as part of the agreement, Giant Journey Farm will pay ALL of the fees associated with the purchase (including a surveyor chosen by GMC, GMC's legal fees, closing costs, etc.) Seren and Morrigan recently found out the process would cost more than DOUBLE what they had squirreled away.

Community services require community support! Small farms are by default expected to bear the risks and responsibilities associated with a service that we all need. Let's make sure this community resource isn't lost in a time where we are already loosing too much. What can YOU imagine taking place on this land? Now's the time to SAVE Giant Journey Farm AND create something even better for us all!