hi Oliver! I'm fairly new to the VT area as well and I've been doing research on gardening resources in the NRV.
I've found a couple promising leads in the area: the Hahn Horticulture Garden has volunteer opportunities (I've volunteered at Botanical Gardens before and found it informational). There's also an organization, Share the Spare, who has a booth at the farmer's market (Wednesdays and Fridays in Market Square downtown) that collects extra produce from gardeners to give to food to people who are food insecure, and they have at least a few master gardeners that are happy to chat. I believe they're part of the NRV Master Gardener Association (www.nrvmastergardeners.com).
Bit late to the replies, but I hope this helps!
