Farming with Heart & Soil
Savanna Crossman and her husband, Torrey, run Heart & Soil Farm in Fairfield, Vermont.
Lifelong Vermonters Savanna and Torrey Crossman run a small farm in Fairfield, Vermont, where they primarily focus on cut flowers. They bought the 8-acre parcel in 2021, and decided they were going to start farming, with the aim of starting something that could be enjoyed and passed on to their children. Savanna has a background in farming as the eighth generation to grow up on a dairy farm in Sheldon, Vermont, and after completing her M.A. in Agronomy, hatched the plan with her husband Torrey. After his time in the Army was finished, they returned home and started Heart & Soil Farm.
Walking onto the farm, you can see a small collection of animals, some fruit trees, and a variety of gardens. One of the gardens is inside a large white high tunnel, which immediately grabs the attention as you walk onto the property. The high tunnel has been a huge boon to the farm and allows Savanna to expand the growing season of her flowers—and with it, her business—by several months each year.
At this point, the farm isn’t financially profitable, and Torrey works full time as a project manager for an industrial construction company. Savanna explains that his income is crucial to keeping the farm going and getting it on its feet. To them, the farm is a labor of love, and supports the goals of an outdoor lifestyle for the family, and a place for community events and collaboration.
“And without Lauren,” Torrey explains, “we wouldn’t have known where or how to get started.”
Lauren Gibson, the soil conservationist who has been working with the Crossman family since they started their farm in 2021, has helped them with a variety of projects. Her help has been instrumental in the Crossman family being able to grow from their modest beginnings. She knows how to determine what the farm might qualify for, among the long list of programs that NRCS offers.
“My job is to listen to their concerns, dreams, and goals for the farm. Then I help them make decisions based on the inventory I conduct to see which programs are a good fit and which practices will get them where they want to go. Torrey and Savanna have a great little operation going here, and I look forward to continuing to assist them in building their operation and improving their natural resources,” said Gibson.
“As new farmers, we didn’t know the potential of our farm,” says Savanna. “One of the best things NRCS did for us was to give us insight into planning our growth. Lauren helped us see potential growth that we couldn’t see.”
“NRCS makes it really easy,” Torrey adds. “They can tailor your assistance to what your goals are, which was huge for us. We knew what we wanted but didn’t know how to get there.”
The Crossmans installed a high tunnel, their first project with NRCS, in late 2021. Since then, they have also done a 4-acre patch cut on their nearby 60-acre forest, and worked on invasive plant management. They plan to install a pollinator patch soon, using technical and financial assistance from NRCS. They own about 60 acres of forest, which is separated from the farm, where they are working to grow maple trees that they hope will sugar someday, allowing their children to make maple syrup.
“For us, this farm isn’t about us,” Savanna says, with Torrey nodding. “It’s about setting up the land for future generations, including our children. We want this to be bigger than us, and NRCS has made it really easy for us to focus on that.”
