By Sasha Vaut

A mile and a half from the Woodstock Green is a property that tells a story about Vermont’s past that’s also helping shape its future.

Vermont Land Trust

King Farm has been a working landscape for more than 230 years. Its historic barns reflect generations of farming and stewardship. But with plenty of regular visitors from the high school and town, the farm isn’t a place that feels frozen in time. Since Vermont Land Trust became the property’s steward in 1986, King Farm has continued to evolve to meet the changing needs of the community.

Today, the 154-acre property remains a working landscape. But we also maintain public trails that showcase its beautiful fields, forests, and stunning views of the Ottauquechee Valley. In partnership with local schools the farm provides opportunities for students of all ages to learn by doing. Each season at King Farm brings new projects that demonstrate what thoughtful land stewardship looks like in practice, from restoring native species to improving flood resilience.

Caring for protected land is an ongoing responsibility. At King Farm, that means managing forests for long-term ecological health, maintaining wildlife habitat, improving trails, supporting sustainable agriculture, and adapting the landscape to meet the challenges of a changing climate.

Sometimes those efforts are highly visible. Earlier this year, Vermont Land Trust foresters oversaw a carefully planned harvest of non-regenerating trees to help the Connecticut River Conservancy shore up the banks of the nearby Ottauquechee River. The trees’ roots and trunks will help stabilize eroding riverbanks, improve fish habitat, and strengthen the river’s resilience during future floods. It’s one example of how active forest management can benefit both the land and the surrounding community.

King Farm is also an outdoor classroom. Throughout the year, students from Woodstock Union High School’s Community and Climate Resilience through Agriculture, Forestry, and Technology (CRAFT) program visit the property. Instead of learning solely from textbooks, they gain hands-on experience in forestry, maple sugaring, trail building, agriculture, and conservation. Other local school groups visit throughout the year to complete stewardship projects, explore Vermont’s ecosystems, and discover how healthy forests and farms support healthy communities.

These experiences help students develop practical skills while fostering something equally important: a connection to the land. When young people spend time caring for forests, maintaining trails, or observing wildlife firsthand, they begin to understand that conservation isn’t something that happens somewhere else. It’s something they can participate in themselves.

That spirit of connection extends beyond students. Nonprofit Sustainable Woodstock’s King Farm Community Garden provides space for community members to grow food.  Community Garden Coordinator Amy Wheeler also manages food security plots that grow vegetables for the local food shelf. Hiking trails, educational events, art installations, and partnerships with local organizations make King Farm a place where people can experience conservation in many different ways. The property continues to grow as a hub for learning, collaboration, and community, with plans to thoughtfully rehabilitate portions of the historic buildings so they can better serve public programming and local partners for years to come.

If you’d like to see this work firsthand, join the Vermont Land Trust and Sustainable Woodstock along with the Woodstock History Center and CRAFT for Green Drinks at King Farm on August 15. The event will include conversations about current stewardship projects, light refreshments, and a look at how this remarkable landscape continues to balance its agricultural heritage with the needs of today’s community.

King Farm reminds us that conserved land is never static. It grows, changes, and teaches us alongside the people who care for it. By protecting places like this and by inviting people to experience them we’re helping ensure that Vermont’s working lands remain healthy, productive, and inspiring for generations to come.