About Drift Farmstead

Welcome to Drift Farmstead!  

I’m Misse Axelrod, owner of Drift Farmstead and founder of Vermont Farm and Forest School.

My family and I are the engines of the family farm. Josh is the dreamer, doer, animal caretaker, builder and full-time photographer. Haven is the live wire that electrifies the farm. And Rowan is the giggle machine that keeps the motivation train driving forward. 

I believe that the best classrooms are farms and the best food comes from living soil.  Everything I do is grounded in helping you create a healthier, happier, and more connected and sustainable life, through growing sustainable communities rooted in the land.

I’ve been told I’m a synthesizer — I bring together organic farming, traditional schooling, nature-based and farm education, and community development.  What can feel like a sprawling endeavor is all connected through soil, the base of human and environmental health.  

 

Join Our Team – We Are Hiring

Position Filled–Administrative Assistant

As a farmer, I run Drift Farmstead, growing organic vegetables for our Farm Store, and raise grass-fed beef, sheep, goat, and pork.

As an educator, I run the Vermont Farm and Forest School.  I also serve as an Ag Engagement Partner for NOFA-VT, where I help create community events that bring Vermont’s farmers to the center of the table. 

There’s nothing more satisfying to me than working outside with the land, walking out the front door to harvest for three meals a day.

With more than 20 years of practicing sustainable agriculture and educating wondrous minds, I’ve seen how digging in the dirt and building relationships with nature grow joy and nourishment not only for me, but for students, teachers, parents, and community members alike.  

 

 

 

 

Stay With Us! Visit our newly built Raven Wood Cabin. Nestled in the woods in proximity to the farm fields and The Dog River, the cabin offers a space of solitude, relaxation, contemplation, and rejuvenation. To learn more and book visit: https://airbnb.com/h/ravenwood

 

 

 

HOw we farm

At Drift Farmstead, everything we do is rooted in healthy soil. 

Living soil is the foundation of human and environmental health.  That’s why we use regenerative organic practices to grow and raise your food. 

When you have a healthy natural system, you don’t need chemicals or pesticides to grow good food.  At Drift, we work with nature to create plant and animal health by using regenerative organic practices, including:

  • Interplanting crops — which means instead of monocultures, our fields are diversified with vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
  • Growing cover crops — aka “green manure”, these help naturally grow the soil.
  • No-till/Low-till — tilling destroys soil structure; our no/low till methods maintain soil integrity, which means plants get the nutrients they need without added inputs.
  • Intensive grazing for our livestock — this gives our animals constant access to fresh pasture.  Intensive grazing has been shown to not only build soil, but also sequester carbon into the soil.  

While conventional agriculture comes with a heavy carbon footprint and  often leads to depleted soil, erosion, and water pollution, Regenerative Organic Agriculture is based on natural systems and is one of the top ten ways to improve your carbon footprint. 

Regenerative Organic Agriculture helps:

  • Build topsoil 
  • Increase biodiversity
  • Improve the water cycle 
  • Enhance ecosystem services
  • Increase climate resiliency