Our Staff

 

Joanne Patton is the widow of Green Meadows Farm’s founder, Major General George S. Patton. She assumed his role in recent years, overseeing the Farm in conjunction with her family – all supporters of organic agriculture. Joanne’s travels as an Army wife made her an aventurous eater. All vegetables are her favorites – but eggplant (especially in her caviar recipe) is tops!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Rodgers grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He was an English major at UMass, Amherst (where he met his wife, Diana) then worked for The Gartner Group, conducting market research focus groups for the high tech industry. Not satisfied with an office job, Andrew tried to figure out how to incorporate his passion for the outdoors and environmental issues into a career. While living in Portland, Oregon, he visited a CSA and decided this would be a great way to save farmland from becoming developed, and to work outside instead of in an office.

He decided to return to UMass, this time for their Master's Degree program in Soil Science through the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. At the same time, he took a job working on a small CSA farm in Sudbury, MA (now called Siena Farm). His next farm job was the assistant farmer at Sterns CSA in Framingham. In 2003, he became the farm manager at Green Meadows Farm. Since then, the farm has grown. He believes it's very important for people to know who grows their food, so feel free to say "hi" to Andrew when you see him at the farm. He welcomes questions and suggestions on how to make Green Meadows a better farm and community asset. He is also training his two young kids, Anson and Phoebe to become future farmers.

 

 

 

Diana oversees the office, marketing and events for the farm. She grew up in Southampton, NY worked at J.M. Pike Farm in Sagaponak, NY during high school and college summers, in the fields and at the roadside stand. She studied art education and photography at UMass, Amherst, then studied fine furniture making in Easthampton, MA.

When she was working as the Marketing Manager for WBUR (Boston's NPR News Station), she found out she had an intolerance to wheat gluten. After this, she decided to learn more about food and food issues. She changed career paths and spent several years in marketing for natural foods companies and Whole Foods Market before joining Green Meadows Farm. She has spoken about agricultural marketing and food trends for the Harvest New England Conference.

She also has a private business called Radiance Nutritional Therapy, helping people improve their health through unprocessed, natural foods. She teaches cooking classes, conducts workshops at companies and at CrossFit gyms, and sees people individually to develop diet plans. Diana is also a contributing writer to Paleo Magazine and has writen for Edible Boston. She is married to Farmer Andrew and has 2 children. Her favorite vegetable is asparagus. 

 

 

 

Sarah is the Assistant Manager at the Farmstand. She grew up on a dairy farm in Turlock, California. As a child, her job on the farm was to feed the cats for her mother. During college, she would wake up early and milk the cows. She holds two bachelors degrees in both History and Art History from California State University Stanislaws, and is currently working on a Masters Degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythological Studies with an emphasis on Depth Psychology.

 

When she's not working at the farm, Sarah likes going for hikes with her husband and dog and reading. Her favorite vegetable is squash - all kinds.

 

 

 

 

 

Megan is the Assistant Manager of the Field Crew. She grew up on Cape Cod and has worked both in the boating world and on farms. She went to Marist College and majored in Spanish. After college, she traveled through Spain and did the El Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage. She participated in Outward Bound and has also lived in Costa Rica. She spent four years working on boats out of Newport, Rhode Island and then decided to become a farmer. Her favorite vegetables are winter squash and leeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robin grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and currently lives in Salem, MA. She was as a special education teacher for grades 1 and 2 in Waltham and Salem for 35 years.  She began working on the farm as a work-for-share. When she retired in June of 2008, she became a valuable member of our farm crew and is now our farm educator and livestock manager. Her favorite part of working on the farm is to take care of the animals, especially the sheep. When she's not farming, Robin reads a lot (about five books at a time). She also quilts, does needlepoint and oil paints, and says there's never enough time to do it all. She's "waiting to find out" what she'll be when she "grows up". Her favorite vegetable is delicata squash.

 

 

 

 

 

Heidi is our Greenhouse Manager. She is the one responsible for all of the plants in our seedling sale, the beautiful hanging baskets, and more. She is a mom of two and lives in Methuen. Prior to coming to Green Meadows Farm, Heidi worked on both dairy farms and CSAs. She started as a volunteer at our farm and last year was a field worker. Heidi says that she loves her job and is excited to be at Green Meadows Farm because of all the integrated growing practices we do here. When she's not farming, Heidi loves to knit, knows Japanese, and is also a La Leche League Leader. Her favorite vegetables are bitter greens cooked with a little garlic and soy sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Todd is 33 years old, grew up in Columbus, Ohio and was an economics major at Dennison University. After college, he was a Financial Services Advisor for Fidelity, Raymond James, and John Hancock. While working at John Hancock, he saw a wellness presentation by The Full Yield and Todd decided to change gears. He quit his job and started working part time for The Full Yield and for Green Meadows Farm. Three days a week, he helps people feel and eat better, and the other two days, he grows and harvests organic food. He has been married for eight years to his lovely wife, Courtney who works for The Landmark School and together they have two beautiful children, Addison and Cooper. His favorite vegetable is Brussels Sprouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karen grew up in North Myrtle Beach, SC and was a Geology major at Colorado College. After college, she had many adventures including driving to Alaska with a friend in a VW bus, only to break down in Anchorage where she then got a job at a fish plant. She studied graphic design in Rhode Island and then got married and moved to Gloucester a few years ago with her husband Jon. Together, they made lots of art and sold it through Art Haven. She wanted to work at Green Meadows Farm because she thought it would be fun to be outside and to learn more about where her food comes from. She's learned many aspects of farming while here, and learning to drive the tractor was a highlight of her summer, along with strawberry season. Karen is going to focus her energy now on her gym, which she owns with her husband called Cape Ann CrossFit. Her favorite vegetable is delicata squash.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan grew up in Wheaton Illinois and majored in Spanish and German at Gordon College. She joined Green Meadows Farm to supplement her income as a caretaker in a special needs home for adults in Peabody. She says the best part of working here is the nice staff and customers. In the future, Morgan would like to be an interpreter, which requires more school. This is something she says that she's not ready to take on at the moment, so we're happy to have her help. Her favorite vegetable is winter squash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunter is a Sophomore at Ipswich High School and started working at Green Meadows as a volunteer alongside her mother, Shannon. She quickly proved her value to the farmstand and was a crew member by April. She says her favorite thing about working at the farm is the customer interaction. She loves hearing about recipes that people come up with based on the produce in the share. Her favorite subject in school is History and one day she hopes to be a History teacher. When she's not working or in school, Hunter likes to hang out with her friends and go to the movies. Her favorite vegetable is the carrot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shannon has been working in the farmstand for about one year now. She is originally from Iowa and moved to Manchester to be a Nanny. There she met her husband. They live in Ipswich with their three children, Trevor, Hunter (featured above) and Keegan. In fact, two of her kids also work at the farm, one in the farmstand and one with the field crew. When she's not working, Shannon loves to cook, bake, bike and run. Her flower garden is also very important to her. Her favorite vegetable is arugula.