Our farmstead is situated in the Southern Lake Champlain Valley in Benson, Vermont. It was one of the first farmsteads to be built (somewhere in the early 1800's) in this once thriving agrarian community of Benson. The original owners of the farm were involved in the merino sheep industry. The hilsides were much more grazed than they are now and there was a small farmyard for sheep where our packaging room now sits. Over the years, the farmstead saw additions to some buildings  and the inevitable disappearing of others. After the sheep industry dwindled, the critters were soon replaced with dairy cows and milking became the way of like on this land for the different families that owned this property.  Jared's family continued to milk cows here until the late 80's.

Vermont Herb and Salad Company began in 1999 when Jared and his brothers, Noah, Grady and Grady's wife Jennifer (all in their 20's), moved back to the family farm to renovate the homestead. Jared and Heather met later that year while she was finishing up at Green Mountain College and soon moved up to the farm.  As Heather was engrossed in her studies (about Sustainable Agriculture), the brothers, with their combined interests in gardening and savvy salesmanship, created a beautiful lettuce greens mix and packaged it up to sell to grocery strores and restaurants in the area.  They also grew springtime potted herbs for garden centers borrowing some of Jared's experience working at other farms in the Northeast and in Colorado.

In an effort to produce the salad greens year round and feeling the need to have a year round income, they built a grand passive solar building complete with a straw bale northern wall and a wall of water for thermal mass.  In the spring of 2001 Jared's brothers decided to pursue other ventures. After college, Heather joined Jared in the business and took some of their product to the Farmers Makert in Rutland, Vermont. Soon, their focused shifted from growing the potted herbs to growing culinary herbs. They wanted to produce food. With a growing number of restaurants and a weekly delivery route, they decided to focus their energy on selling to restaurants and retailers, figuring this would get their food on to the plates of as many people as possible. They began working with some of Vermont's largest customers and with some investments in production like new greenhouses (Sadly, the passive solar bilding didnt last long in with Vermonts extreme weather events) and equipment, it has been easier to keep up with demand. These days, their Organic Microgreens and other tiny greens are sold all over the country hitting the plates of consumers year round. Their Salad Greens and Herbs are more seasonally available.

The business grew out of a passion for sustainable agriculture and good food. Vermont Herb & Salad company is ever evolving and learning about how to make the farm more sustainable over the long run. Since the beginning, there has been a strong foundation of sustainability.  The business has developed on the notion that Vermont needs strong viable farms to utilize Vermont's land resources and to enhance and strengthen the rural community at large.Vermont is endowed with amazing agricultural potential. Our challenge, as with many young agrarians around the country, is to take the old infrastructure of a farmstead and bring it back to life in a way that is best suited for our family and the modern world.