The fields of Rushton Farm have been turned and cover crops are blanketing the soil as winter sets in. Looking out upon the slumbering fields I am reminded how much work and effort has gone into making Rushton Farm the success it is. It hard to believe it's been four years since a young couple arrived from California to help break the ground that would become Rushton Farm. Aaron and Ashley were the first farmers to work the ground, plant the crops and harvest the good food from the rich earth. In the years since it has been their sweat and toil that has left an indelible impact on the farm and the community around it.
Last year Aaron left for the colder confines of Vermont farming. He was greeted with one of the more difficult growing seasons in recent memory which probably serves him right for leaving (older brothers can be quite bitter). With his move up north it was understood that Ashley would stay on for a year to continue developing Rushton Farm.
Sadly the year is up and Ashley is headed back to New England where she was raised and her family lives. She still holds a deep affinity for the rich farming tradition of the area and will be putting her tremendous talents to work in New England soil.
In the four years that I have worked with Ashley I have seen many changes in her approach to the land and the community around it. The first year I remember a somewhat reserved young woman whose patience was tested at times as the brothers developed a working relationship. Her voice in those early days was strong and measured as she helped to define how the farm would evolve. Over the years that voice only become stronger as she developed the educational aspects of the farm while expanding the farm to meet the needs of our CSA community.
This past season Ashley became one of only two farmers I have ever fully trusted to run a farm independent of my input (Brother Aaron being the other). In farming there are so many variables that require knowledge and experience that it is difficult to fully trust someone with the proper care of the land, especially when you have put so much into it. With Ashley it was not difficult at all because she helped create Rushton Farm and her passion for the farm is as deep as my own. Ashley will be missed but her legacy will be the farm she leaves behind and the community that has formed around it.
-Fred
The lower south field in late October shows off cabbage, watermelon radish, broccoli, and romanesco.
