STORIES WE LOVE
A vegetable farm handed to the man who started as a strawberry picker
By Sam Marwood
Story from Land For Good, 4 November 2022
Every now and then I find a story that shows exactly what we're about at Cultivate Farms: real people finding a way to keep a farm working and bring someone new onto it. I share them here because seeing it done by others makes it real. Here's one I love.
From Land For Good, 4 November 2022: "Intentional long-term transition leads to seamless farm transfer", by Lisa Luciani. Read the full story at landforgood.org.
Why I love it
A couple in Vermont started their vegetable farm on one acre in 1980 and grew it to 56 acres and 18 greenhouses. Nearing sixty, they chose not to wait for age or health to decide for them: ease back at 65, hand over by 70. The man who took it on had worked there more than ten years, starting as a strawberry picker and rising to crew manager. He bought in as a partner, and after twelve years of planning took ownership in July 2022.
What I love is what came after. The couple built a small home next to the farm. He still helps manage and plan, and does the books. She works the greenhouses in the off season and spends summers with the grandkids. He admits it's hard to picture walking away from a farm that's no longer yours.
Why it matters for towns like ours
A lot of farmers getting ready to step back don't want to be pushed off the place. A slow handover lets them keep a hand in, lets the new farmer learn while being mentored, and keeps a farm built over forty years whole.
One step you could take
Write two lists: the jobs you'd happily hand on, and the ones you'd love to keep doing for years yet. Do it before you talk to anyone. Read about staying part of the farm once the work's handed on in our Your Farm, Your Legacy guide.
I share these stories because each one shows it can be done, by ordinary farming families, in places like yours. If you know a story like this, or you're living one, I'd love to hear it.