Yesterday, someone asked me to name one thing that I was thankful for. The first thing that came to mind? My farm team. When I walk through the fields, I'm stunned at how things are just chugging along. There are beautiful rows of healthy crops growing, and the greenhouse is starting to fill up. All this growth - all this food - is at the hands of my amazing team. They are a talented and hardworking bunch of people, and I'm lucky to work with them.
Thanks to our friend Liz Moskowitz for the new photos. We love them dearly.
GIANA
Giana is the farm's head grower. She is in charge of plants from seed up until they're ready for harvest. No pressure, Giana :) This includes all greenhouse duties - seeding, tending to transplants, and extends to fieldwork. Giana is responsible for all of our bed prep - a catchall term we use to describe the necessary steps that happen before seeds or transplants get planted in the field including tillage, bed shaping, spreading compost, laying irrigation, and flame weeding. Needless to say, Giana is an excellent tractor operator. After bed prep, Giana plants all of our crops. Once the plants are in the ground, Giana's work isn't done - she's responsible for making sure the plants actually mature into your CSA veggies. This next phase of farm work includes tasks like weeding, irrigating, fertilizing, and spraying. Giana always has one eye on pests, the other on the weather. Giana is our master plant whisperer. She's attentive and methodical, and crops thrive under her care.
MEGHAN
Meghan is the farm's Wash and Pack Manager. As soon as the crops have reached maturity and are ready for harvest, the baton of care moves from Giana to Meghan's hands. Like the title implies, Meghan oversees all of our farm's harvesting. This includes keeping track of the week's demands (how many, of what vegetable does CSA and Wholesale need?), as well as the delivery schedules (when do these orders need to be packed up and ready to leave the farm?). Once vegetables are harvested, Megan is responsible for what we call post-harvest handling - washing vegetables, getting them cooled, and storing them properly. She's got an eye on our cooler inventory and is our quality-control department. Last but not least, Meghan oversees the CSA scheduling and customer communications. If you're a CSA member with a question about your account, chances are Meghan will answer your email.
ERIN
Erin has worked at Vrdnt for over 2 years as our Wash and Pack Manager. This summer, Erin is moving to the East Coast where she will continue to apprentice on farms. She's been my right-hand woman, and to say I'll miss her is an understatement.
As you can see, the farm crew is very small (but extremely mighty!). I'm involved to help crop plan, keep supplies in order, and in general, steer the ship...though it's usually already pointed in the right direction. The folks not pictured are Rebecca - our delivery driver extraordinaire who also helps Giana and Meghan with daily farm tasks, as well as Ada who helps with all things marketing.
And last, there's you - our community! You're a part of our farm family. Without folks to eat the food we grow, we wouldn't have a reason to do this. So, thank you! And be well.
-Farmer Becky