A Turnip Worth Celebrating in Wardsboro
October 11, 2025

Along a rugged dirt road in the southern Vermont town of Wardsboro is the old Gilfeather farm, where the famous Gilfeather turnip first sprouted in the early 1900s.

The turnip, cultivated by farmer John Gilfeather, became the official Vermont State Vegetable in 2016. It’s celebrated every fall at the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in October. This year’s festival will be Oct. 25, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

-Farmer John Gilfeather of Wardsboro. Courtesy of Friends of the Wardsboro Library. 

The Early Days of the Gilfeather Turnip

Wardsboro resident Anita Rafael, a writer—and Gilfeather turnip enthusiast—describes the vegetable as part rutabaga and part turnip.

“It’s sweet, and it’s creamy, and it’s not like that turnip that gives you that little choke in the back of your throat,” she says. “What made the turnip famous in John Gilfeather’s day was that he hybridized it. We don’t know if it was a happy accident of nature or if he was truly some little hybridizing genius and figured out how to come up with a turnip that wasn’t a turnip.”

-Anita Rafael at the old Gilfeather farm in Wardsboro in 2021.

Subscribe to Happy Vermont

As the story goes, John Gilfeather wasn’t quite the sharing kind with his turnip technique.

“One of the things we know about John Gilfeather is that he really was possessive of not just the seeds, but the plant itself,” Rafael says.

“If you have a turnip, you can actually grow another turnip because of the hairy roots and all that,” she adds. “To protect his turnip, John Gilfeather used to cut the tops off and shave off all the root hairs.”

Fortunately, the turnip didn’t disappear after his death in the 1940s. A few local farmers continued to grow the turnips, and in the 1970s, Bill and Mary Lou Schmidt, of Dummerston, trademarked the Gilfeather name and had the turnip government-certified as an “heirloom botanical.”

All these years later, Rafael says the turnip continues to serve Wardsboro well.

“We are the official town of the official Vermont state vegetable. There’s a tremendous amount of community pride, and it puts Wardsboro on the map,” Rafael says. “It makes us famous for something.”

Find Vermont Events

-The festival in Wardsboro started in the early 2000s. Image courtesy of Friends of the Wardsboro Library.

The 2025 Gilfeather Turnip Festival

This year’s festival features Gilfeather turnip soup, turnip fries, a raffle, a turnip patch merchandise store, and the indoor turnip cafe featuring over 10 different turnip-based dishes to sample.

Don’t miss the turnip contest in the town hall with Howard Weiss-Tisman of Vermont Public radio as the turnip judge, plus a talk by Rafael in the church across from the town hall.

Proceeds from the Gilfeather Turnip Festival are used by the Wardsboro Library trustees to provide various library programs throughout the year.

Make plans to go to the Gilfeather Turnip Festival

-A turnip that’s not exactly a turnip. Courtesy of Friends of the Wardsboro Library.

-This story was first published in 2021 and updated for 2025.

-King Arthur Baking is an affiliate partner. By clicking on the ad above, we may receive a commission from a sale. 

Happy Vermont Podcast

Learn about the history of the Gilfeather turnip and the local festival on this 2021 Happy Vermont podcast episode.

—

Support Happy Vermont

Think you know Vermont?

Here’s another weekly crossword puzzle with Vermont trivia. Try it out and let me know what you think! (My email is [email protected])

Play This Week’s Crossword Puzzle

Last week’s answers

—

Where in Vermont? Test Your Knowledge of Vermont Geography

Can you name the town in the photo below? Share your answer by commenting below (be sure to give your name) or email me at [email protected].

The answer to last week’s quiz was Tinmouth.

Last week’s winners!
Gail Wood
George Glover
Suzie Reider
Brian Lucas
Steve Williams
Jenny Humphrey