Our two farm families have a long history of both friendship and shared work projects, and a complementary set of skills.

The Barker Plotkin Family

Jeremy and Audrey Barker Plotkin met at The Land Institute, a sustainable agriculture nonprofit in central Kansas. They share a love of growing great food and learning to be good stewards of the land. Jeremy is originally from central New York state, and has been working in organic vegetable production for 15 years. He has a MS in Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Maine, and has owned and operated Simple Gifts Farm since 1999. From 1999-2005, Simple Gifts Farm was located at the site of the New England Small Farm Institute in Belchertown, Specialties include heirloom tomatoes, garlic, and salad greens for sale to local markets. Jeremy has won several USDA SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) grants for on-farm research projects.

Audrey has been a forest ecologist at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA since earning her MS in Forestry from the University of Maine in 1998. She is originally from Rochester, New York. Audrey and Jeremy have two small boys.

Our vegetable operation is Jeremy's full-time job. Audrey manages the people side of the CSA and hopes to expand her farm involvement over the next several years.

The Tepfer/Lowy Family

David Tepfer grew up on a fourth-generation family farm in southern Minnesota. His family raised corn, soybeans and alfalfa and he helped to care for the family's beef and swine herd. After earning a BS in Animal Science from South Dakota State University he worked in the swine industry in Iowa for four years. He left the corporate agriculture world to do graduate work in Agricultural Economics at Colorado State University (where he met Marci, who was in veterinary school). After three years in the program, he went to The Land Institute in central Kansas where he met Jeremy and Audrey, and initiated and managed a grass-based beef production system. Dave went back to Massachusetts with Marci where he worked on a large vegetable farm, managed the livestock at Brookfield Farm in Amherst and most recently worked as a carpenter. Along with his expertise in animal husbandry and pasture management, Dave would bring strong skills in carpentry and renovation of old buildings. He also has a good deal of experience with infrastructure construction and maintenance, and is a skilled equipment operator.

Marci Lowy is a Massachusetts native, born and raised in Peabody. She is a veterinarian and has worked at Adams Animal Hospital in Athol for most of the last six years.

Dave and Marci have three young children. Dave has many great memories and stories of growing up on a working farm and sharing in the day-to-day existence of his parents and the greater community. He and Marci want to provide a similar environment for their children. Dave is in charge of the livestock and also of site maintenance.