As part of their program to encourage beginning farmers in New Hampshire, NOFA-NH has announced its first two journeypersons — Todd Horner of Nubanusit Farm Project and Glenn Preston of Willow Pond Community Farm. Horner will be mentored by Andy Pressman, a Sustainable Agriculture Specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology, and Preston by our very own Kate Donald of Stout Oak Farm. Thank-you to all involved for helping to ensure the future of farming in New Hampshire! Via the NH Department of Agriculture:
NOFA-NH (Northeast Organic Farming Association-NH) has announced the selection of its first two journeypersons—part of the Northeast regional Beginning Farmer grant from USDA discussed in a recent Bulletin. Todd Horner of Nubanusit Farm Project operates a CSA at the Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm co-housing community in Peterborough. This year he will distribute CSA shares and sell vegetables, flowers, and herbs from a mobile farm stand, which will likely make cameo appearances at events in the area.
Horner will be mentored by Andy Pressman, a Sustainable Agriculture Specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), a non-profit organization whose mission is to help people find small-scale, local, and sustainable solutions to energy and agriculture. Through NCAT’s Agriculture Project, known as ATTRA Sustainable, Andy provides technical assistance to farmers and educators in organic crop production, market farming, season extension, urban agriculture, and farm energy. He farms with his family farm near Peterborough, and is an associate supervisor of the Hillsborough County Conservation District.
Journeyperson Glenn Preston is the new farm manger at Willow Pond Community Farm in Brentwood. Preston has experience working on livestock and vegetable farms in Virginia and Vermont, and has interned with MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association). Kate Donald, co-owner of Stout Oak Farm in Brentwood and the first manager at Willow Pond, will be Preston’s mentor. With 12 years experience as an organic vegetable grower, she and husband Jeff recently purchased an easement-protected farm and have moved their operation from a rented property. A former board member of the Seacoast Growers Association, Donald is on the board of Seacoast Eat Local and coordinates their winter farmers markets.
The NOFA journeypersons, in their early year of independent farm management, will benefit from close mentoring, access to NOFA-NH events and workshops, and stipends specific to education and business planning.