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 cooperative work atmosphere.
Greenhouse Manager
Caitlan
This is Caitlan's 17th 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
Michael Driskell
Michael is entering his third growing season at New Morning Farm, coming from an additional six years of dirt under his fingernails at a harvest-your-own fruit, vegetable, and Christmas tree farm in Connecticut. As an exclusively plant-based eater for more than eight years, he's got serious skin in the game when it comes to growing the tastiest veggies around. When he's not out in the fields, he's often in the kitchen testing out vegan versions of a variety of multi-cultural culinary concoctions. Michael, who is also an Eagle Scout, spends a lot of his free time trekking through the wilderness on a hiking trail or lying flat on his back identifying constellations. Whether watching plants grow by day or stars shimmer by night, Michael is all about connecting with the natural world, preferably as far from city light pollution as possible.
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.
Sophie
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Sophie (Pia) has spent the last several years moving around working various jobs related to community and agriculture. Her experiences--including working as a refugee resettlement caseworker in Chicago and as a 4-H teacher for middle schoolers in Central Mexico--have cultivated her passion for advocating for migrant and farmworking communities, ultimately leading her to her apprenticeship here at NMF. She loves to create art, obsess over music, and go on roadtrips to visit her loved ones spread across the country. You can often find her at our Saturday Chevy Chase market.
Ava
Ava ventured over a couple ridges from her hometown of Needmore, PA to New Morning Farm in January 2026. She has quickly fallen in love with the muddy and magical hills of Hustontown, especially enjoying the color palettes of red clays, orange sunrises and the green creek. She is excited to deepen her knowledge of farm cycles: living, growing, dying and all the liminal spaces in between.
Kat
Kat was drawn to the farm in Jan ‘26 from a lifelong love of nature, and a newfound interest in communal and personal self-sufficiency. Her previous jobs span from Japanese translation to programming. In her spare time she enjoys many hobbies such as playing video games to attain Spanish fluency (recently Cyberpunk 2077), learning to draw well, writing a magical realism novel, fixing her gaping pockets of ignorance in areas like world history and sciences, and Netflix and chilling with her autumn-colored pitbull. She is excited to learn all about organic farming and grow in the nurturing environment of New Morning Farm.
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.
