Farmer Spotlight: Meet some WAgN Participants

Thriving through Change: Four Springs Farm's Jinny Cleland

Jinny Cleland

There doesn't seem to be anything that can stop Jinny Cleland. Throughout her 30 years as a farmer, Jinny Cleland has fused hard work and innovative ideas to respond to changes in her family circumstances and shifts in consumer demand and market conditions.

(Photo of Jinny by Orah Moore, courtesy of Four Springs Farm.)

Bread and Roses Farm Grows Vegetables, Builds Community

Bread and Roses Farm, in Westford, Vt., produces superb vegetables – and a lot of them. But for farm owner Chris Siegriest, farming is about much more than growing produce. “My passion in farming is primarily to build community around food," she explains.



Growing a Farm Business in Rutland County

At Alchemy Gardens in Rutland, beginning farmers Lindsay Arbuckle and Scott Courcelle grow organic vegetables and herbs, part of the burgeoning food and farming movement taking root in Rutland County, VT. Learn about the alternative approaches to access to land and capital that have helped with their start-up success.



Growing Places Grad Now Farming in Maine

Four years ago, farming was a dream to Rebecca Sylvester and her husband, Brian. Now, thanks to patience and hard work, they will start the new year with a farm operation of their own. Rebecca was living in Montgomery Center, VT, working as a music teacher in Highgate. “We wanted to farm and so we bought a couple of goats, and we built a barn,” she said, “but I had no idea where to go or what to do next.” In the fall of 2004, Rebecca enrolled in Growing Places.

Wellspring Farm CSA's Mimi Arnstein

Mimi Arnstein has been growing organic vegetables and flowers at Wellspring Farm CSA in Marshfield since 2003. Her five-acre operation has blossomed from a 40-member community supported farm to this year’s 125 members, and now employs several apprentices and part-time staff. In starting her farm, Mimi carefully researched market opportunities in the Montpelier area to determine her niche. “I very specifically thought I want to do one thing and one thing well, and that is the CSA,” she says.