Nestled in the rolling hills of Pawlet, Vermont, Laughing Child Farm is a family-run, certified organic farm devoted entirely to growing one crop: sweet potatoes. What began as a small, diversified homestead gradually evolved into a focused, thriving farm built on the belief that doing one thing with care, curiosity, and integrity can make a big impact.

Tim and Brooke Hughes-Muse and their family started farming in the early 2000s, raising a mix of vegetables, eggs, and chickens. Over time, they discovered that sweet potatoes, with their deep sweetness and connection to healthy soil, were at the heart of what they wanted to do. With a lot of trial and error, and more than a few muddy knees, they learned how to grow this southern crop successfully in Vermont’s short, unpredictable season. Today, Laughing Child Farm supplies co-ops, farmstands, and restaurants across the Northeast, proving that local sweet potatoes can hold their own against anything grown farther south.

The name comes from the sound that once filled the farm when the Hughes-Muse children were small: laughter drifting through the walls of their yurt home. That spirit still shapes their work. Farming is serious business, but they meet it with humor, resilience, and a sense of wonder.

At the core of their philosophy is stewardship: care for the soil, fair wages for their team, honesty in their practices, and the belief that small farms can be both environmentally and economically sustainable. Every step of the process, from planting slips to harvesting, curing, and grading, is done with intention. Much of the farm runs on solar energy, and the team continues to refine their systems to use less fossil fuel, less waste, and more local resources.

Like most small farms, they face challenges such as unpredictable weather, rising costs, and the ongoing puzzle of balancing production with family life. Yet the rewards are immense. There is nothing like pulling a bin of perfect, glowing sweet potatoes from the curing room or watching a customer taste one for the first time and say, “I didn’t know they could taste like this.”

Laughing Child Farm is now experimenting with new ways to make their sweet potatoes more accessible, including offering peeled and diced versions for quick weeknight meals, while keeping their focus on growing the highest-quality, freshest, and most flavorful roots possible.

Sweet potatoes are endlessly versatile. They can be roasted with olive oil and salt, mashed with butter and herbs, blended into soups, or baked into fries and muffins. However they are prepared, the goal is simple: that they bring warmth, nourishment, and a bit of joy to the table.

Laughing Child Farm is not only about farming. It is about the possibility of local food done right, where care, craft, and community come together in something as humble and extraordinary as a sweet potato.

“Our favorite thing about what we do is feeding people. We really get a kick out of knowing that every night people are feeding their families or themselves with our sweet potatoes. That is just a very fulfilling thought.”

Here are a few great ways to prepare your sweet potatoes from the farm:

“My favorite way to prepare the sweet potatoes is whole roasted with cinnamon and peanut butter. Brooke prefers salsa and black beans on hers. The kids prefer butter and brown sugar. But there are so many great ways to prepare them—cubed and then roasted with beets and onions, or smashed with cranberries and walnuts, or used in muffins, pancakes, and waffles. Of course, the kids make sweet potato pie and now that I think about it, that is my favorite way to eat them!”