Our story

In 2014, after many years of city dwelling (during which time I dug up more than a few gravelly urban gardens!), I took a leap of faith and moved from San Francisco to Bowdoinham, Maine to work full time at Six River Farm. This diversified, organic vegetable farm proved to me that small-scale, local agriculture could support the kind of community and lifestyle I had always imagined creating.

In 2015 I moved back to my childhood home in Southwest Virginia to start a new farming enterprise on an old, well loved piece of family farm land.

After a grueling first year grinding through the discovery that Virginia farming is nothing like Maine farming, I didn’t quit, but I did find that there was a need and a desire for more high-quality, local produce in the region.

I also called in reinforcements. My partner Alex joined the farm project in 2016 and we’ve been dancing through one crazy farm scheme after another every year since.

It is probably obvious, but in case it is not… we would be nothing without the support of our family and community. We are among the privileged few who were born with access to both land and capital. This is what has made it possible to throw over any idea of real money-making careers and devote ourselves to land, love, and food. We don’t take it for granted.

Community first

One of our greatest struggles is facing the reality that the food we spend our lifeblood creating is accessible to so few.

Despite the good work of many in our community, there continues to be incredible disparity in Roanoke between the communities that have access to healthy, local food and the communities that don’t even have an active grocery store.

It is a driving goal for our farm to be a part of changing this reality.

As such, we are committed to a deep partnership with LEAP (Local, Environmental, and Agricultural Project), a Roanoke based 501c3 nonprofit service organization who works to create equitable food and farming systems.

Weekly we donate as much produce as we can to various outlets in Roanoke including LEAP, and annually we contribute 20% of our total market sales to help support LEAP’s community engagement work; and, hopefully, we are going to bring each of you along with us. Check out our blo g to learn more about this project and get involved!

A family affair.

Our farm centers around the four families who call it home and the amazing crew who keeps it running.
That's me.

I run the business side of the farm and manage the team. I keep my hands dirty growing vegetables and exercise my creativity arranging flowers.
Our meat man.

This is my partner in life and business. A reformed city-slicker, Alex is an incredible artist, animal whisperer, and father. These days, he also runs most of our markets so you’ll probably see him more than me, and if he doesn’t make you laugh I’ll be shocked.
The Original farmer.

That’s my dad, John. He’s been farming this land one way or another since he was seventeen. His knowledge, history, and farming ingenuity are unparalleled. He may be a bit of a curmudgeon, but we would be nowhere without him.
The Farm Matriarch.

Our “abuela” as the kids affectionately call her, is as you might imagine, the true backbone of the farm. She’s played every role and done every job. These days, when she’s not running one or two businesses in town or tending grandkids she’s often with me, helping with the wedding flower business. She’s invaluable!
Our team.

Every year we hire between two and four people to help keep the wheels moving. In recent years we have been so lucky to keep more and more of them around year after year. We love these humans like our own family and are so grateful for their hardworking, cheerful presence on the farm.
The Next Generation

We do it all for these guys. Building this farm business has been a conscious choice to put family first. Living on the same land with my parents, siblings, and all of our children is not without its challenges, but the rewards far outweigh them. There is nothing sweeter than watching our passel of EIGHT cousins run wild through the farm.