Bunker Farm

Location Dummerston, VT
Acreage 169
Protected Since 2014

A destination for local syrup, meat, and plants

Less than two miles from the Connecticut River and New Hampshire border, Bunker Farm is nestled in a hollow between hills of oaks, basswood, white pine, and sugar maples. Those maples play a big role in the farm’s production. Every year, the sap runs and the steam rises from the sugarhouse.

A family farm run by two couples, Bunker Farm also sells pasture-raised meat and annual and perennial flower starts. Community neighbors can visit the sugarhouse for the sweet stuff during maple season, stock up on gardening needs in the spring and early summer, and buy local meat year-round.

The farm’s story began years ago.

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One farm, two love stories

When two sisters from Maine moved to the Green Mountain State, they met and wed two Vermonters who were just as passionate about farming. Helen O’Donnell married Noah Hoskins, and her sister Jen O’Donnell married Mike Euphrat.

But finding a permanent home base in the southeastern corner of the state wasn’t so simple. As is so often the case in Vermont, property values were much higher than the farmers could afford.

They decided to pool their resources to purchase a farm together. Still, the price of farmland was far beyond their means.

When Bunker Farm in Dummerston came up for sale, everyone held a collective breath: The 170-year-old farm was an ideal spot to support both families and their broad farming interests.

Finding a way

Fortunately, the farmers were in contact with us and brainstorming for solutions was already underway.

In 2013, a spirited fundraising campaign garnered contributions from VLT supporters and the local community. Donations in support of beginning farmers and the local food system added to conservation funding from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the Town of Dummerston.

In 2014, we were able to buy the 169-acre farm and sell it to Jen, Mike, Helen, and Noah who began farming and stewarding the land.

As the families have grown, so has their business. Today, Bunker Farm has something to offer nearly every season of the year.

(Photo: Jen O’Donnell, Mike Euphrat, Noah Hoskins, and Helen O’Donnell at the farm in 2014.)

Born and raised at Bunker Farm

The land had formerly supported a dairy operation, but had lain fallow since 1985. Noah, Jane, Helen, and Mike renovated the farm to sustain free-range chickens, a passel of hogs, and a beef cattle herd.

The hogs and their piglets rotationally graze on the farm’s pastures and in its old apple orchard. The free-range chicken graze a bit closer to the barn.

Visitors may catch a glimpse of Patches the cow, the no-nonsense elder matriarch, who directs the cattle through lush, rotationally grazed pastures and keeps any misbehaving calves in line.

All the animals are born and raised on the farm. The meat is sold through the farm’s meat CSA, on their website, at their farmstand, and at local farm stands and restaurants.

The sweet stuff

The farm is also home to a 100-acre sugarbush, which supports a robust maple syrup operation. Each January, the crew walks the hilly forest to tap 7,200 maple trees by hand, then boils sap through March or April, depending on weather conditions.

At the height of the season, the sugar house is open all day, every day for tasting and buying, and sometimes for live music and dancing.

The syrup—available in delicate, rich, or robust flavors, or bourbon barrel aged—is sold on Bunker Farm’s website, at their farmstand, and wholesale to Bascom Maple Farms.

A promise of summer gardens

Later in spring, Bunker Farm is suffused with the promise of flowers and lush summer gardens.

The farm sells more than 300 varieties of annuals and perennials, from tried-and-true favorites to rare specialty plants.

Gardeners can pre-order their starts on the farm’s website and the nursery is open for self-serve plant shopping seven days a week. Check their website for details.

Photos of spring time at Bunker Farm

Visiting the farm

The self-serve sugarhouse, visible from the road, is open to the public 8 am to 6 pm during sugaring season (usually January through April). Helen says “If you see steam rising from the sugarhouse that means we are boiling—feel free to pop in and say hello!”

Bunker Farm’s meat farmstand is open every day, year-round for scheduled meat CSA and a la carte order pickups. In the spring, annual and perennial starts can be pre-ordered for pick up, and the nursery is open for self-serve plant shopping. Check their website for the latest details.

Farm website