SUNDERLAND — As farmers know, seasonal changes often bring many other changes, but at Kitchen Garden Farm, this spring brings the biggest change.
The farm will soon change hands for the first time since it was established in Hadley in 2006. Longtime employees Lily Israel, 31, and Max Traunstein, 31, plan to purchase the farm, buildings and equipment from current owner Caroline Pam. And Tim Wilcox.
The deal transfers ownership of the 65-acre farm, known for its peppers, salsa and sriracha, to Traunstein and Israel, who each have 10 and eight years of experience at Kitchen Garden Farm. With this sale, Pam and Wilcox aim to ensure that their “life’s work” continues to be a success.
“I have always wanted to have the opportunity to enable people who want to do more to do more. I believe that you are the ones who will make the decisions that will keep this farm alive and lead it into the future.” ” he told Israel and Traunstein during an interview at the farm. “And I wanted to give you that opportunity when you were ready.”
The new owners are certainly nervous about taking over the farm they've grown (Kitchen Garden Farm was Traunstein's first job out of college), but this is a once-in-a-lifetime project. He said it was an opportunity.
“I feel like this farm really humanizes me and has the structure of a farm that I want,” Israel said. “The way the community works here, the size of the farm, the way we create value-added businesses that support the farm economy…I couldn't imagine ever leaving this place.”
“When you go to college to study agriculture, you think that someday you're going to own a farm. … After working on a farm for a long time and seeing it grow, you think, “Oh, I'm going to own a farm.'' I could start something new, but having to start from scratch all over again would be a big deal.'' This fear grew in me. ” Traunstein added. “Over the past few years, I have grown as a manager, much like Lily, and gained a very good understanding of how this farm is run, and the idea of starting over was scary and daunting. I started. That’s beside the point.”
After starting a farm in Hadley, Pam and Wilcox purchased a location on South Silver Lane in 2007 and began farming the property in 2008. From there, the two continued to expand the farm, building a new kitchen, adding new products, and eventually building a farm. As he increased his staff to 25 people, a mini-community was born.
“Caroline and I are good at spotting opportunities and imagining what new and ambitious goals can be set. And every step of the way, we have people supporting us in responsible roles. It was necessary,” Wilcox said. “We realized that by about 2020, we had actually built an organization here and it became as important as the work that we were actually doing physically. It became important.”
Now, 18 years later, Wilcox and Pam hope to remain in farming in some capacity, but are exploring some new opportunities. Pam expressed interest in doing consulting work with other valley farms, but Wilcox said she wouldn't be opposed to returning to the fields someday.
“We're offering turnkey services to help us get up and running at a scale that's viable,” Pam said, adding that she and Wilcox “don't want to rush into anything.” Ta.
Israel said that with her personal experience and the support of Pam and Wilcox, she and Traunstein are well-positioned to ensure the farm's future success.
“It's a proven model. We've looked at all the financials and we know that unless something big bad happens, at least theoretically we can make a profit. That's because Tim and Caroline It's not about what I did, which is to jump into a completely unknown world and build something from scratch,'' Israel said.
Part of this positioning is the unique purchase terms, which include a “large owner's donation'' donated by Pam and Wilcox as “thank you'' for the new owner's contributions over the years, along with farm equipment and buildings. Contains 'capital'. , Farm Service Agency, Farm Credit East, Carrot Project, and Lotta Agricultural Fund.
Another aspect of the deal, which allows Israel and Traunstein to avoid putting personal capital into the sale, is available on the community GoFundMe for closing costs (bit.ly/49E8CnE ).
Traunstein and Israel are preparing to take over the farm, but said the only thing that will change is the owner's name.
“The change is just that we now run the farm and our roles change,” Israel said. “What we do on the farm is a proven model, and we will be taking on a completely new role.” [with] I have a lot of new responsibilities that I haven't done before and I don't want to mess it up. ”
For more information about Kitchen Garden Farm, visit its website (kitchengardenfarm.com) or Instagram page (@kitchengarden.farm).
