About Us
Fat Rooster Farm is a small, diversified and ecologically sustainable family farm. The farm's rhubarb, blueberries, asparagus, hazelnuts, wild leeks, horseradish ,garlic, hay and pasture are all certified organic through Vermont Organic Farmers.
Families of crops are grown on three-year rotations to reduce insect and disease potential. The fertilizer used on the fields is from the animals raised here along with green manure cover crops and companion planting. All of these methods help build soil fertility and minimize plowing to maintain good soil structure.
Very little is fed to the animals that is not grown on the farm, with the exception of the poultry that is fed non-GMO grain, and the pigs, who eat non-GMO grain, vegetable scraps, milk waste from the neighboring farm, and compost. None of the animals are given hormones, de-wormers or antibiotics.
The sheep are rotationally grazed to reduce parasite loads in the environment, and non-resistant animals are culled from the flock.
Jennifer Megyesi grew up in East Middlebury, Vermont. Her parents had seen a picture in a calendar depicting Vermont in the fall, and had driven all the way from California to look for a place to live there. Her mother, Beverly, was pregnant with Jennifer at the time, so frequent stops along Vermont's Route 7 allowed them to see the state slowly. After a Master's Degree in Wildlife Biology, she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a decade. Discouraged with red tape and bureaucracy, she threw caution to the wind and began to learn about farming and sustainable living. From books, friends, neighbors and personal experience, Jennifer and her then-husband, Kyle Jones, entered the farming scene in 1998. Kyle moved on to pursue his passion for naturalist studies and forestry in 2014, but left a foundation for Jennifer to continue her love of heritage breeds, heirloom vegetables, and growing and providing food for the community.
Bradford Kipling Jones was a millenium baby. He currently attends the University of Vermont and studies Computer Science. He continues to be disinterested in farming, but mom holds out hope that he will someday reconsider, given his earlier love of everything soil and animal related.
Contact Jenn by email or phone 802-291-0543 with questions.
Fat Rooster Farm
354 Morse Road
South Royalton, VT 05068