Staff

I am currently a student of Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. I have been working at the farm for five years now, beginning in the summer after my high school graduation. My parents farmed in Hadley during my childhood, where I developed my love for agriculture and farm life. I attended Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, where I worked with my life-long friend and mentor at the school farm. During high school, I was fortunate to meet a lot of great teachers and friends, who inspired me to find my best purpose and happiness in my life's work. After high school, I worked with City Year Boston, an Americorps program, running an after-school program in Roxbury and organizing corporate service events. While in Boston, I reflected on my work on the farm and became inspired to work for the cause of sustainable agriculture. I was given the book "The Fate of Family Farming" by Ronald Jager, which really opened my eyes to a lot of realities facing American farmers and consumers today. I continued to explore the world of agriculture through literature, reading books such as Victor Davis Hanson's "Fields Without Dreams," a rough account of farming in California's Central Valley, and "The Art of the Commonplace," a collection of essays by Wendell Berry, who offers both a beautiful picture of a healthy agriculture and a criticism of industrialization. Coming out of high school, I was undecided on college. My newfound inspiration to pursue agriculture while I was living in Boston inspired me to apply to the Stockbridge School at UMass, a two year agricultural program. I graduated Cum Laude from Stockbridge in May 2008, and am now pursuing my Bachelor's in the Plant and Soil Sciences department, focusing on Sustainable Agriculture. I hope to continue my education and life's work in sustainable agriculture through further studies, my work with the CSA and the farm, and hopefully along the way get to teach young people some of the valuable lessons I have learned.

 Mike has been living and working at the farm since his high school days. He began working with Charles Warner while he was studying at Northfield Mount Hermon School. He graduated from UMass in with a degree in Plant and Soil Sciences. Mike quickly engaged his farming dreams, buying the farm and running the Millstone Farm Store across the street in his early twenties. In his lifetime, he has seen Warner Farm transition from production of primarily potatoes and onion plants to a diversified model of vegetable and fruit production, a transition he takes great pride in. Today, he is encouraged by the increasing youthful interest in agriculture as a way of life, and is excited by new opportunities at the farm.