Mission: Feeding the healthiest food we can produce, to as many neighbors as possible.
Tree of Life Farm is in Monkton Vermont on Abenaki territory. The Hoag family worked this land with a dairy and other diversified enterprises. The Willowell Foundation is a (501)c3 nonprofit (willowell.org) that began stewarding this place in 2002. They host a variety of outdoor based education programs; summer camps, a sculpture park, community garden, community wood bank, and a community food forest trail.
My name is Cameron McMahon and I first spent time on this land during my last two years of high school when I was in the Walden Project 2002-2004. This was and remains a program helping high schoolers have an educational experience outdoors and inspired by Henry David Thoreau's philosophies. I helped start the community garden here in 2004 and have visited often over the years. I spent time working a variety of jobs in manufacturing, construction, hospitality, agriculture and the US Marine Corps. After leaving the military I used my education benefits to try to understand how to live a land based lifestyle. I studied at the Yestermorrow Design/ Build School in Waitsfield Vermont for a couple of years learning how to design and build houses and farms. I did my undergraduate studies at Columbia University and received a BA in sustainable development. I went straight into an MBA in sustainable innovation at the University of Vermont.
In 2017 when I was in undergrad in NYC, the director of Willowell Matt Schlein asked me if I would want to buy the land. We ended up doing a lease with the option to purchase and after I got my ducks in a row, I bought the land in 2020. Willowell got a 99 year lease on the part of the land where they run their programs. Since that time, I have been building my house and infrastructure on site and raising my kids. I have planted thousands of trees for windbreaks and tree crops, put in a road and several ponds. I started grazing a small flock of sheep in 2021 and they help me make compost and improve pasture health. Friends and family have helped me keep working toward the vision.
I am developing systems for managing my crops and livestock in the healthiest ways possible. Trees such as honey locust, mulberry, persimmon and chestnuts provide high value crops for the livestock and wildlife, as well as people. Wild rice and wapato are crops I am developing in my ponds. Basing the systems here on native species as much as possible helps ensure that they need the least amount of intervention and can thrive in our conditions. Field crops will be fenced in and grown in polycultures such as the milpa (three sisters). Livestock will be kept out during the growing season and brought in to clean up post harvest residue and incorporate the biomass while adding their fertility. We will be doing seedkeeping of all our staple crops and experimenting with novel polycultures to maximize the diversity and speed with which they adapt to our conditions.
Over time my hope is to have long term lease holding farmers on this land with me to each specialize in our complementary enterprises. My passion is integrating livestock with tree and field crops. The dream is to have a market garden/ seed farm (which could provide year round/ winter employment), a willow for basketry farm, seasonal micro dairy, wood products from my woodmizer sawmill, flower farm, tree nursery, dye/ fiber farm, and other potential enterprises. My intention is to have a farm stand and also to host a farmers market. We have a .5 acre gravel parking area on Bristol/ Monkton road and lots of traffic. I want to be able to offer a year round whole diet CSA and share the logistics and admin tasks between the farmers.
This land is a special and chaotic place to manage. My plans have changed and clarified a lot over the years as I have learned more. I will continue planting trees and building this dream because it is my life's work. When times get hard it only gets more important to have healthy local food and I hope to start selling some crops in the spring of 2026!
The adventure continues and hopefully in the coming years we can share a meal or some stories
My name is Cameron McMahon and I first spent time on this land during my last two years of high school when I was in the Walden Project 2002-2004. This was and remains a program helping high schoolers have an educational experience outdoors and inspired by Henry David Thoreau's philosophies. I helped start the community garden here in 2004 and have visited often over the years. I spent time working a variety of jobs in manufacturing, construction, hospitality, agriculture and the US Marine Corps. After leaving the military I used my education benefits to try to understand how to live a land based lifestyle. I studied at the Yestermorrow Design/ Build School in Waitsfield Vermont for a couple of years learning how to design and build houses and farms. I did my undergraduate studies at Columbia University and received a BA in sustainable development. I went straight into an MBA in sustainable innovation at the University of Vermont.
In 2017 when I was in undergrad in NYC, the director of Willowell Matt Schlein asked me if I would want to buy the land. We ended up doing a lease with the option to purchase and after I got my ducks in a row, I bought the land in 2020. Willowell got a 99 year lease on the part of the land where they run their programs. Since that time, I have been building my house and infrastructure on site and raising my kids. I have planted thousands of trees for windbreaks and tree crops, put in a road and several ponds. I started grazing a small flock of sheep in 2021 and they help me make compost and improve pasture health. Friends and family have helped me keep working toward the vision.
I am developing systems for managing my crops and livestock in the healthiest ways possible. Trees such as honey locust, mulberry, persimmon and chestnuts provide high value crops for the livestock and wildlife, as well as people. Wild rice and wapato are crops I am developing in my ponds. Basing the systems here on native species as much as possible helps ensure that they need the least amount of intervention and can thrive in our conditions. Field crops will be fenced in and grown in polycultures such as the milpa (three sisters). Livestock will be kept out during the growing season and brought in to clean up post harvest residue and incorporate the biomass while adding their fertility. We will be doing seedkeeping of all our staple crops and experimenting with novel polycultures to maximize the diversity and speed with which they adapt to our conditions.
Over time my hope is to have long term lease holding farmers on this land with me to each specialize in our complementary enterprises. My passion is integrating livestock with tree and field crops. The dream is to have a market garden/ seed farm (which could provide year round/ winter employment), a willow for basketry farm, seasonal micro dairy, wood products from my woodmizer sawmill, flower farm, tree nursery, dye/ fiber farm, and other potential enterprises. My intention is to have a farm stand and also to host a farmers market. We have a .5 acre gravel parking area on Bristol/ Monkton road and lots of traffic. I want to be able to offer a year round whole diet CSA and share the logistics and admin tasks between the farmers.
This land is a special and chaotic place to manage. My plans have changed and clarified a lot over the years as I have learned more. I will continue planting trees and building this dream because it is my life's work. When times get hard it only gets more important to have healthy local food and I hope to start selling some crops in the spring of 2026!
The adventure continues and hopefully in the coming years we can share a meal or some stories