Meet the Friedlands: CCF Farmstand and Greenhouse Managers

Many of you have met Keith Friedland, our farmstand manager, and his wife Kathy, one of our greenhouse managers. Both feel strongly about living a sustainable lifestyle. Keith:

Working on an organic farm gives us a chance to pursue our environmental interests and, at the same time, have a little time in the winter to take care of our land and our maple trees. I like working at the farmstand and interacting with the customers. We have lots of interesting chats about eating locally and seasonally and I think our farm and CSA help people to do that.

Flower buyers may have gotten garden advice from Kathy as she has been working at the farm for three years now. She started as a field crew member and joined the greenhouse crew in 2006. Kathy’s passion for flowers is reflected in the beauty of our bedding plants and cut-flower garden.

Keith started at CCF in 2006, and worked with Will on several major projects. He managed the blueberry patch and helped plant a small fruit orchard in the field near the river, and trees along the bank of the river to enhance the riparian area. Keith works closely with Luke Joanis, our field manager, to coordinate the abundance of beautiful organic produce that has been coming in over the last few months.

After growing up in Connecticut, Keith left the urban fringe for Unity College in Maine where he majored in Outdoor Education. After college, he worked with the Youth Conservation Corps for ten years -- from the Pacific Northwest to Montana and back to New Hampshire. Keith also has a long-time interest in music, having taught himself to play harmonica at age 16. In 1999, he traveled around the country playing with the Cold Mountain Rhythm Band. Since moving back to New England, he has played with several bands including the Sofa Kings, the Winsor-Friedland Blues Duet, and his current band, Woodchuck Hollow. Many of you may have seen their lively performance at the 5th Annual Strawberry Festival. The band regularly plays at “The Twig” in Warren, New Hampshire, and has played at Middle Earth in Bradford, Vermont.

Kathy grew up in southeast Pennsylvania and attended college at Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire where she majored in Environmental Science. After graduating in 1997, Kathy joined the Peace Corps where she served at a public high school in Kingston, Jamaica, helping the faculty integrate environmental science into the science, history, and English curriculums. She worked with the students to create projects that illustrated some of the environmental challenges the citizens of Jamaica faced. “This was hugely rewarding work,” Kathy explains. “The kids even won awards for these projects and it helped instill a sense of pride in what they were learning about the environment.” She also plays the accordion and sings for Woodchuck Hollow.

Keith and Kathy, married in 2002, bought land in Corinth, Vermont, and built their own solar-powered house that is completely off the grid. They planted an orchard, tapped maple trees (their syrup is available in the farmstand), and planted a garden. They have two beloved dogs named Daisy and Bear.