Green Meadows Farm

Joanne Patton is the widow of Green Meadows Farm’s founder, Major General George S. Patton. She assumed his role in recent years, overseeing the Farm Manager and the firewood operations, in conjunction with her family – all supporters of organic agriculture. Joanne’s travels as an Army wife made her an aventurous eater. All vegetables are her favorites – but eggplant (especially in her caviar recipe) is tops!

For those of you who are new members, we thought it would be appropriate to begin the CSA season giving you some background on who your farmer is. Andrew Rodgers is 34 years old and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He was an English major at UMass, Amherst (where he met his wife, Diana) then worked for The Gartner Group, conducting market research focus groups for the high tech industry. Not satisfied with an office job, Andrew tried to figure out how to incorporate his passion for the outdoors and environmental issues into a career. He visited a CSA and decided this would be a great way to save farmland from becoming developed, and to work outside instead of in an office. He decided to return to UMass, this time for their Master's Degree program in Soil Science through the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. At the same time, he took a job working on a small CSA farm in Sudbury, MA (now called Siena Farm). His next farm job was the assistant farmer at Sterns CSA in Framingham. Six years ago, he became the farm manager at Green Meadows Farm. Since then, the farm has grown. He's increased the crew, and the farmstand is now open six days a week to the public. He believes it's very important for people to know who grows their food, so feel free to say "hi" to Andrew when you see him at the farm. He welcomes questions and suggestions on how to make Green Meadows a better farm and community asset. He is also training his two young kids, Anson and Phoebe to become future farmers.

Diana oversees the farmstand , marketing and events for the farm. She
grew up in Southampton, NY worked at J.M. Pike Farm in Sagaponak, NY during high school and college summers, in the fields and at the roadside stand. She studied art education and photography at UMass, Amherst, then studied fine furniture making in Easthampton, MA. She worked for WBUR when she found out she had an intolerance to wheat gluten. After this, she decided to learn more about food and food issues. She spent several years in marketing for natural foods companies and Whole Foods Market before joining Green Meadows Farm. She is married to Farmer Andrew and has 2 children. Her favorite vegetable is asparagus, and she continues to learn more about food, every day.

Robin grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and currently lives in Salem, MA. She was as a special education teacher for grades 1 and 2 in Waltham and Salem for 35 years. Last spring, she began working on the farm as a work-for-share. When she retired in June of 2008, she became a valuable member of our farm crew and is now our farm educator. Her favorite part of working on the farm is to take care of the animals, especially the sheep. When she's not farming, Robin reads a lot (about five books at a time). She also quilts, does needlepoint and oil paints, and says there's never enough time to do it all. She's "waiting to find out" what she'll be when she "grows up". Her favorite vegetable is delicata squash.

Kiersten is 22 years old and joined the farm after graduating from Gordon College this spring with a major in Sociology. What really interested Kiersten in working at the farm was the idea of being part of something responsible and sustainable for our community and earth. She knew she could feel good about contributing to Green Meadows Farm's success. We quickly realized how responsible and organized she is, and Kiersten is now in charge of grocery ordering and the grocery co-op. Kiersten was raised in Santa Barbara, CA. When she "grows up" she'd like to be enjoying life. Her favorite vegetable is cucumber. When she's not "farmstanding", she likes to ride her bike, play soccer, play guitar, explore the North Shore and go to the beach.

Kim grew up in Hamilton and is 29 years old. Her mother, Joyce, has been a member at the farm for years and Kim would join her mother for CSA pick ups while home visiting from St. Louis, where she lived for five years. Green Meadows was her first exposure to a CSA, and she loves to watch the connection between people and their food source. She left St. Louis last summer and volunteered with the field crew. By the end of the summer, she was hired. She says she has a special place in her heart for sheep wrangling and rotten tomato baseball. Her favorite task on the farm is harvesting. Kim is also a freelance journalist and spends most of her free time writing, and lying on the beach thinking about story ideas. When asked what she'd like to do in the future, Kim says, "thinking about the future induces insomnia for me. I am practicing being present and trusting that as I evolve with my path". Her favorite vegetable is Eggplant (Nadia variety) cooked parmigiano style, with linguini and a glass of Chianti.

Sara is working in both the fields and in the farmstand. In 2008, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a dual major in both psychology and nutrition. She then worked for Shelburne Farms on their farm to school initiative before backpacking through Europe. In the future, Sara is hoping to get more involved with farm to school programs, and teaching kids how to eat better. Her favorite vegetables are peas and beets.

Kasia Deuel joined the farmstand staff in the beginning of August. She is 29 years old and grew up in Beverly where she recently returned after seven years in California. While living in the San Francisco Bay area she joined a CSA, shopped at farmer's markets and became interested in the local food movement. She loves learning more about organic farming at Green Meadows. Working in the fields and the stand has given her a new appreciation for how much effort goes into producing the harvest! In her free time she enjoys hiking with her husband, experimenting in the kitchen and following the Red Sox. Her favorite vegetable is string beans with fresh pesto.

Scott joined the farm this past May as our new prepared foods manager. He grew up in North Andover and has a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. After college, he held "crazy and random artist-type jobs" such as car repair and picture framing. His love of food and fermentation led him to be the head brewer at Salem Beer Works for twelve years. He also did lots of catering specializing in barbeque and pig roasts. Scott has a consulting business called Brewer Republic, helping people open brew pubs and recently got back from a consulting job in the Czech Republic. At Green Meadows, he is responsible for all the cookies, sandwiches, soups, granola and other fresh goods produced here. Look in our cooler for Scott's all new sandwiches including all natural roast beef with horseraddish, and roasted turkey with pesto. His delicious gazpacho and creamy organic hummus will be regular additions to our fridge all summer. His favorite part of working at Green Meadows Farm is using our great produce and eggs harvested that morning in his recipes. Scott's favorite vegetables are asparagus and beets.

Sarah Grimes began working in the farmstand in April of 2010. She is a recent graduate of Gordon College where she studdied Sociology and English. She grew up in Terryville, Conneticut. When she's not working at the farmstand, she loves running, hiking, and reading. Sara said the reason she loves working at Green Meadows is to be part of something "good in the world". She loves the CSA model of producing and buying food, and didn't want to be part of "factory food production". Sara also really loves how social working in the farmstand is, and is looking forward to getting to know all of our regular customers better. Her favorite vegetable is Swiss Chard.

Aoife was born in Ireland and moved to the United States at age four. She just started working at Green Meadows this summer and has been helping with both the farmstand and with the farmer's market. In a few weeks, she is going to Nicaragua with some classmates to volunteer in an orphanage. Children in Nicaragua are not allowed to attend school if they don't have shoes, so Aoife and her friends are each packing a seperate suitcase with children's shoes to bring to the children. If you happen to have extra new or gently worn children's black or brown shoes, please bring them in within the next two weeks and we'll collect them at the farmstand. Any extras that don't make it to Nicaragua will be donated to a local charity. After her trip to South America, Aoife will be moving with her family back to Ireland. She's looking forward to the change, but also is excited to come back next summer to see her friends and work at Green Meadows. Her favorite vegetable is tomatoes.

Lindsay Quella is 24 years old and grew up in Manhattan, New York. She attended Claremont McKena College in Southern California with a dual major Philosophy and Literature. Her interest in farming began as a summer job working on a farm in Bourne, MA. After a few internships at publishing companies in New York and San Francisco and an attempt as a freelance editor/writer, she decided that farming was her true passion. She believes understanding food at its source is fundamental to all aspects of life, especially the environment and community. In the future, she would like to start a small farm raising animals and vegetables with an integrated education program. Her favorite vegetables are carrots and beets.

Lily grew up in Madison, New Jersey and went to Waren Wilson College in Ashville, North Carolina. She studied biology and Agriculture. In college, she managed a 25 sow pig farm where she discovered her love for farming. From there she went to work on a variety of different farms and apprenticed for a veterinarian. She then worked outside of Bellingham, Washington on a vineyard and also as a Vet Technician. Most recently, she was in Soldiers Groove, Wisconsin where she started a market garden with her sister and raised hogs in the woods.

She was excited to work at Green Meadows because of our diverse vegetable production where she hopes to take her skills back to her farm in Wisconsin. Her favorite vegetable is carrots.

Adam grew up in Hamilton and is currently a student at Salem State College. His major is 3D Art, and Adam is the creator of the wolf sculpture that was in front of the farmstand two years ago. He since sold that piece to Salem State, but we're hoping there's more that may make it's way to the farm. Adam is influenced by Chris Williams and also musical artists like Dream Theater and David Bowie. His hobbies include playing music (guitar, bass, piano, drums) and making chainmail jewelry. In the future, Adam would like to be a professional musician. He works at Green Meadows because he says he finds the work enjoyable and he likes being outside. His favorite vegetable is the purple potato.