Our Team
Organic farms are built upon the labor of the people who work them. We believe that our goal-oriented yet fun workplace is what has built the strong team that plants, weeds, harvests, and brings to market all of our produce. Without these folks, New Morning Farm would not be the same.
Owner and Operator
Jennifer
Jenni is entering her third season as Operator of New Morning Farm. She is now in her 14th season at NMF, having started as an apprentice in 2009. She grew up on a family farm in New York’s Finger Lakes Region, and came to NMF from the University of Vermont with a biology degree. Snap peas are her most favorite crop, but as farm owner/operator, she oversees everything from the business and planning, to soil health and production of crops, all the way through the marketing. Jenni can be found at weekend markets. When she’s not growing veggies or running a business, Jenni spends time cooking, horseback riding, playing music, being out in the fields and forest, and she’s slowly finishing a tiny house.
Administrative Staff
Shirley
Shirley is our Produce Manager. She is the intermediary between the farm and any wholesale buyer or other vendors. During the summer, she patiently helps the apprentices manage the inevitable moments when the crops over- or under-produce their forecasted amounts, helping make sure that all produce moves to market in the right time frame.
Leslie
Leslie is our accountant, ensuring that the bills get paid, that our markets sales are accurate, and that all the records are in order. Absolutely indispensable!
Senior Crew Members
These crew members have over 17 years of combined experience at New Morning Farm. Their skills, plus their knowledge of and familiarity with our systems keep everything running smoothly. They provide management and oversight of the fields, the crew, irrigation and more, serving as advisers to the rest of the crew, as well as to each other, to create a team-led and co-operative work atmosphere.
Greenhouse Manager
Caitlan
This is Caitlan's 13th season at NMF, where she has learned everything she knows about vegetable farming. Her main gig at the farm is seeding and tending beautiful seedlings in the greenhouse, then sending them out for transplant into the fields. She also specializes in mechanical cultivation, market truck management, and managing several crops including green beans, chard, and a variety of herbs. In her free time, Caitlan loves to laugh, float on the creek, hike, read, do yoga, sample craft brews, and cuddle with her cats. She goes to Saturday's Sheridan market every other week!
Field Manager
Adam
Adam was raised in the southwest Missouri Ozarks. But this only partially explains his backwardness. One can list the ideological rationalities behind choosing farming as a vocation. He wishes to renegotiate his relationship to consumer society and service economy, has an interest in practical craft and problem solving, an ecological inclination, he likes to eat and eat well. And so on. But something changes intrinsically when a body farms hard enough long enough and this thing is difficult to deny. This may have happened to Adam. In any case he’s irredeemable. Adam spends a good deal of his time at New Morning in a seated position, but he takes his responsibilities seriously.
Apprentices
All apprentices, even (and especially!) those who are new to farming, immediately take on individual responsibilities. Ranging from the monitoring, harvest and post-harvest storage and marketing of crops, to driving a tractor for cultivation, to leading a team in the field, apprentices gain skills and learn the systems of New Morning Farm from the beginning of their stay. Check out our page about apprenticeships to learn more about our program and benefits.
Wren
After working our markets in DC for eight years while still living outside of Frederick, MD (and gardening by the seat of her pants), Wren decided she had to learn how it all worked on the farm end of things and chose to became an apprentice in 2019. Not your average midlife-crisis solution! Now entering her fifth season at NMF, Wren’s crops are garlic, rhubarb, parsley, perennial herbs, and fall radish/turnips. She also wrangles electronics, helping us process credit cards week after week, and is excited to manage our Tuesday summer market at Sheridan School again this year.
Erika
Erika is originally from Nebraska, where her family has been farming the same land since 1908. Erika is returning to the NMF team as a third year apprentice and taking on the Crew Leader role for the 2023 season. She spends a lot of time thinking about roots: beets, carrots, parsnips, and her hair, to name a few. She likes to dye her hair fun colors and often takes inspiration from the beautiful veggies grown here at New Morning. Erika’s interest in vegetable production began like she assumes everyone’s began: as a teenage rebellion. She became a vegetarian to annoy her meat-and-potatoes dad and began a Farmers’ Market in her tiny, population 741 town to get back at “the man” (mostly Earl Butz). The silly rebellion revealed a deep joy of getting her hands dirty and a true passion for growing food. Her rebellious and vegetarian days may be behind her, but her farming career is just beginning. She’s excited to continue to learn and grow at NMF.
Ian
Ian is returning to NMF for his second season. He is Chicken Boss and Chevy Chase Manager. His crops include spinach, Spring radish, Romanesco, brussels sprouts, and standard tomatoes.
Shea
Shea is thrilled to join New Morning Farm for his first year as an apprentice. He wore many hats before landing on a vocation in farming—he has been a musician, woodwind repairman, and aircraft machine shop worker, among other things. Shea is managing cabbage, kohlrabi, and winter greens, and is plotting to grow a serious amount of extracurricular dry beans. When not working in the fields or tunnels, he is usually busy in the kitchen making sourdough or some other zany ferment. His other hobbies include reading, playing the banjo, and avidly following professional Sumo.
Seasonal workers
From May-October, we need a lot of help planting, weeding and harvesting. We participate in the H-2A guest-worker program and each season, three men from Jamaica join our crew. We also have some part-time helpers from the local community. We're lucky to have such a great team and are grateful for our seasonal workers, who often come back year after year. We strongly believe in paying a fair wage and providing a fair work environment.
