As the sun rose early Monday morning, a lazy-moving tractor drew its sharp blades gently across the land, coaxing open the soft soil, awakening it after a long winter’s rest. A few hours later, a team of men inched their way along perfectly straight parallel lines, tucking tiny tufts of lettuce into their new outdoor homes.
Field Operations Supervisor, and now an American, Sergey Shapovalov celebrated his new status as a U.S. Citizen earlier this month after first coming to work on the farm as a college student in 1997.
Yes. The team at The Chef’s Garden is as diverse as our plants, coming from numerous walks of life, from different parts of this community, the country, and the world. Many of the members of our team return to us each year, through good times and bad, enriching our small family farm – and becoming part of our extended family.
The team here at the Chef’s Garden is as diverse as our plants. Our Team Members come from many walks of life, different parts of this community, this country, and from other countries around the globe. Many return each year - through good times and bad. They all enrich our small family farm, and become part of our extended family.
At the heart of every successful harvest is quality seed, so planting the appropriate seed is crucial in farming. That information is hard to dispute and it gives you a sense of the pivotal role Leslie G. Bott plays at The Chef’s Garden. She is the farm’s seed purchasing manager, which means she orders all of the seeds planted and plugs transplanted on the farm.
Imagine slithering through a plastic tunnel – outdoors, mind you – that’s eight feet tall and six feet wide. You’re slithering because it’s full of beets and carrots, and there is ice hanging from the top of the tunnel. If the ice breaks off, it could damage the crops you’ve worked so hard to grow. The truth is, even if you didn’t bump into the icicles and break them off, the blustery winter winds could do it for you. And, here’s one more catch. While in the tunnel, you also needed to figure out to oh-so-delicately harvest the crops.