GVOCSA - Meet the farmers

Genesee Valley Organic Community Supported Agriculture

Meet the Farmers - Greg Palmer

I became a farmer to help satisfy certain personal needs and wants that were crystalizing in my mind back in the 1980's and early '90's. First and foremost, while living in NYC, I realized that I like to eat, and I like to eat food that is very good and fresh. I have never been (and probably never will be) a fast eater, and the thought of "fast food" has never held great appeal for me.

I also realized that living in a city, or densely populated suburbs was not something I wished to continue doing for the rest of my life. But rather than jumping "cold turkey" from city to country, I moved to central Massachusetts, to the hills of Worcester, second largest city in New England, where I lived and worked for a year and a half. That is where I met my future (and present) wife, Ammie Chickering. Ammie had been considering farming as a way of life for a while, and had been involved in agriculture in various ways for years. Farming was brand new and a very different direction for me. I did understand that farming, and making some income doing it, was not quite the same as growing some veggies in a 20 by 30 plot.

Land in central Massachusets was spiraling beyond our ability to pay for it, so we thought of other places we would like to live. Upstate New York made the list. We made some trips out west to narrow down the where. Upstate New York is a big place. Water had something to do with our choice. I am a fan of big water having grown up near the Long Island Sound and the Ocean. The Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario felt very comfortable to be around, so we focused on this area. After that, it was easy (sarcasm, much sarcasm!)

I needed to learn to farm. Ammie know Elizabeth from years together on the NOFA-MA Certification Committee. Elizabeth was then farming with David Stern at Rose Valley Farm, a small commercial organic farm. Liz and David had both had years of farming experience by then, so it sounded like an ideal place to learn. Rose Valley wasn't far from our home, and they needed apprentices for the '92 season. I stayed for 5 years (with a year at a different farm). In 1998, Elizabeth and I became farm partners and started Peacework Organic Farm. Of great historical significance is the addition of our daughter Helen, now a full 7 years old. We are home/farm schooling her, the farm' s unofficial social director.

Greg,