OUR CREW

Don Zasada & Bridget Spann

Together we operate our family farm. We met as volunteers in Chile while working as community organizers in a rural village. We are living our dream. Dreams are a lot of work! 

After living in Boston for 7 years working with The Food Project as the Director of Agriculture (Don) and at Massachusetts General Hospital as a domestic violence advocate (Bridget), we were ready to move out of the city and find long-term security on some agricultural land in the Northeast. A long search ensued, culminating with finding Caretaker Farm. 

Our work and way of life at Caretaker Farm is our response to our life experience. We see connection to the land that grows our produce as vital to understanding our responsibility to each other and the earth. 

Our two spectacular children, Gabriela and Micah, call Caretaker Farm their home.

Gabriela Zasada

You will often spot Gabriela working alongside the crew during the summers. She enjoys trellising tomatoes, harvesting on distribution days, and playing word games while weeding in the river field. Apart from working with the crew, Gabriela loves hiking/backpacking, rowing, and experimenting with new meals in the kitchen. She loves spinach, sweet potatoes, and all varieties of tomatoes.

Micah Zasada

Micah has always had an affinity for roaming around the farm and assisting with a variety of tasks. Most often seen barefoot, he especially enjoys early harvest mornings.  The summer brings along some competing interests of hiking, fishing, and mountain bike riding but he always seems to find time to get his hands in the soil.  Micah’s favorite vegetables to harvest include sweet potatoes, garlic and onions and he loves to eat husk cherries and carrots.

Severin Beckwith

Severin grew up in South Carolina and attended Clemson University majoring in International Business Management. He worked with the Peace Corps in Zambia as a “Linking Income, Food and Environment” Volunteer. The COVID pandemic forced Severin to return to the US after a year in Zambia and he then studied for a masters from Cornell University in International Agriculture and Rural Development. For the past three years Severin has been our Assistant Farm manager during the summer and Winter CSA manager from November through March. This season he is also in charge of the greenhouse, animals and irrigation. Severin’s loves to hike, participate in trivia nights, attend live music events or cook up a special meal with local ingredients. His favorite vegetables are radishes, red cabbage and anaheim peppers.

Amelia Neiman

Amelia grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and attended college at Tufts University, majoring in Anthropology and Biomedical Sciences. After living, working and studying at a small rural farm during a summer in India, she sought the close-knit community of our small scale family farm. Amelia is drawn to farming as a form of grounded, relational work that nourishes people physically and spiritually, connecting them to food, one another, and the the more-than-human world. When not on the farm, Amelia can be found crafting, singing, cooking, playing Catan, birding or playing piano. Her favorite vegetables are Golden Beets, Arugula and Carrots..

Adrienne Mermin

Adrienne hails from Berkeley, California and attended Tufts University, majoring in Community Health. Her time studying food systems during study abroad in Ecuador, Malawi and Spain ignited her interest in pursuing agriculture professionally. Last summer she worked at Barrett’s Mill Farm in Concord, MA. Adrienne also has experience as an urban farm educator at Groundwork Somerville. After graduating from college, her travels took her to the John C Campbell Folk School in North Carolina where she both studied and worked. Adrienne’s interests off the farm include fiber arts, silversmithing, playing Rat-a-Tat Cat, all types of crafting, cooking and strumming the guitar. Nothing makes Adrienne happier than eating Bok Choy, Tomatillos or Snap Peas.

Molly Prom

Molly hails from Champaign, Illinois and recently graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, majoring in both Environmental Science and Environmental Studies. She spent her final semester in Washington D.C as an intern for her senator. Molly has a passion for food systems that began during a SIT International Honors program climate change justice semester in San Francisco, Morocco, Nepal and Ecuador. She was also a seasonal intern at an urban farm near her college. An expert pianist, her other interest include bouldering and cross stitching. Molly’s favorite treats from the farm include Wax Beans and Leeks.