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Rebecca
After harvesting veggies, Rebecca carts them to the washstand
to be prepared for CSA boxes and the farmer's market.
Growing up in Philadelphia, the 5th largest metro area in the nation, Rebecca's odds of becoming a farmer were slim. And that was just fine with her. She kept so busy playing sports like field hockey and softball that farming didn't even register on her radar.
Not until spending a semester of high school at a Maine boarding school did Rebecca's interest in farming bloom.
The experience introduced Rebecca to farming — which she pursued further after college, when she spent a year farming with Americorps in Maine. From there, she criss-crossed between the Midwest and the Eastern United States for a couple of seasons before giving in to the draw of the Midwest and UW Madison's Agroecology Graduate Program.
In addition to friends and volunteers,
Rebecca's cats Lucy and Kuro
make purr-fect companions in the field.
Today she continues to work for the university, pushing forward the project she worked on as a graduate student: the work to develop a tool that allows vegetable growers to better assess their cost of production.
And Rebecca uses the principles of that tool for her own CSA, Yellow Barn Farms.
With a membership of 40, this will be her CSA's second growing season. Because of the CSA's smaller size, Rebecca does a lot of her work solo but appreciates the company of those friends that volunteer on the farm.
She says it's their love of good and fresh food that keeps them coming back!
Why farming? Rebecca likes to feed people. She likes the spontaneous community that develops when volunteers come together around good work. She likes to plant a seed, watch it grow and take care of it along the way. And she loves going to the market to interact with her customers.
Rebecca's biggest strength? Her willingness
to prepare for what she can and to adapt
as she goes along.
She takes pride in seeing year-to-year improvement, and she takes pride in sharing it with so many people. Members love her food and they share with her how they are rediscovering their love for and connection to food.
And for Rebecca, that's the magic of farming.
