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Tyler Pastorok, Land Steward & Programs Coordinator for Rock Point
Rock Point has been home to agriculture since the Vermont Episcopal community moved here in the early 1800s. Though the details have changed and much of it has reforested, we still retain pockets of vibrant gardens, hidden orchards, diverse graze-lands, maple sugarbushes, and rich soils waiting to be planted.
The patchwork homestead of Rock Point today is the result of years of fluctuating relationships to this land. Land stewards, friends, students, and others planted seeds here, gifts and responsibilities that we accept and build upon today. We envision these cultivated areas of Rock Point as a homestead for the community - where all are welcome to join in the work of tending the land and sharing in the harvests. This past year, we piloted this vision and invited a wider community onto the land to participate in these nourishing activities.
scenes from the maple sugaring process: tapping, collecting, boiling, and enjoying the syrup
In early Spring, we emerged from hibernation together to tap sugar maple trees and boil their sap into syrup. Collecting overflowing buckets in the sun, chopping wood, and tending the fire of the evaporator into early hours of the morning brought much needed joy to dark and cold days. As March brought eager buds to the orchard, we gathered to learn about the art of pruning fruit trees, and together we began taming the overgrown apples and pears, directing their energy toward abundant fruits.
We then said goodbye to freezing nights, and ephemeral wildflowers accompanied us on some of the busiest days of the year.
We welcomed a small flock of sheep as we prepared garden beds and sowed seeds for fall harvests. Through the hottest days of summer, we harvested sour cherries and blackberries and preserved them as jams for winter gifts. Cabbages, carrots, radishes, and chilies ripened in late summer. With many hands, we chopped and salted these plentiful veggies in buckets to preserve them as a delicious kraut. And now, as the wind ushers in frost and short days, we bring these harvests together and honor the lives of the sheep who’s lives make ours possible.
These sacred gifts of the land that we take part in are not for sale. We share them with each other and distribute them to the broader community with the help of mutual aid efforts like The People’s Farmstand and Food Not Bombs. As we look ahead to next year, we are eager to invite more neighbors to take part in the annual rituals of tending and harvesting from this land.
Feeling called to join? Keep your eye out– we’ll be putting together a calendar of homesteading events for next year soon. We will kick off our 2025 season with maple sugaring, we hope to see you then!
learning to prune fruit trees
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