Welcome to Hawthorne Valley Farm

What we’re trying to instill in the young people that come to Hawthorne Valley to learn about agriculture is that being a farmer is about relationships. Managing relationships with the land, with the soil biology, with people, with your wider community.

I think agriculture is the foundation of culture and society. And so in order to have a healthy society, and healthy culture and a healthy future, we need to have a healthy agriculture to support that. That’s the type of future that I envision and I think that’s the type of future we’re trying to create at Hawthorne Valley.

A truly regenerative agriculture is one in which all the natural resources we use to produce food get renewed in the process of using them.

Food access and food security are two of the most important issues of our time and Hawthorne Valley is working in a number of ways to try and help people who don’t currently have access to high-quality food get that…We’re working together to try and make the system more fair and equitable for everybody.

Agriculture has a significant role to play to address the needs of our time. I mean if I had to sum it up all in one word, I’d have to say it’s all about health. I think people that work in food and agriculture, going forward we almost have to look at them as primary healthcare practitioners.

The thing that has inspired me over the years here at Hawthorne Valley, is that I have been privileged to work with scores of young folks that come through the farm. We’ve tried to work with them training on the job, to really inspire them and help them either find their path in agriculture, or their path in life.

What’s most exciting to me is when the kids come, and they choose the lettuce head that they want, and they get really excited, and they’re like, ‘Yay carrots again!’ That’s what excites me, because you can see that it’s going forward into the future.