Meet the 2020 Hoosier Beginning Farmer Fellows
These are some of the best and brightest beginning farmers in Indiana. Scroll down for a little bit about each Fellow, or check out their videos (where each Fellow shares what they tackled with the Fellowship year):
Click here to see what Anne Massie accomplished in 2020, thanks (in part!) to the Fellowship.
Click here for a video from Mike Record, showing how the Fellowship funds helped him grow his family's farm.
Click here for a video from Jonas Carpenter, with highlights from his year as a Beginning Farmer Fellow.
Click here to see what Anne Massie accomplished in 2020, thanks (in part!) to the Fellowship.
Click here for a video from Mike Record, showing how the Fellowship funds helped him grow his family's farm.
Click here for a video from Jonas Carpenter, with highlights from his year as a Beginning Farmer Fellow.
Jonas Carpenter, Mavourneen Farm
My wife Rachel and I started Mavourneen Farm in 2015. Our certified organic operation specializes in spring plant sales and fall vegetable production, primarily for the Bloomington Farmers’ Market. We lease 3 acres of ground from family and two years ago we purchased another 3 acres directly across the road to build a house and permanent infrastructure.
Since the beginning, our farm has been a part-time project, as we have both worked off-farm jobs and slowly saved enough money to expand the business to full time. Our production ethics are rooted in a concern for preserving the Earth, appropriately valuing food and farmers, and the creation of greater health & beauty. We are deeply invested in our community and have contributed to food system work here for many years. I own a landscaping company that creates edible & ecological ecosystems and have been involved with the Local Grower’s Guild and Hilltop Nature Center at IU. Rachel has worked for Purdue Extension, taught sustainable agriculture at IU, and currently serves as Local Food Coordinator for the City of Bloomington.
Since the beginning, our farm has been a part-time project, as we have both worked off-farm jobs and slowly saved enough money to expand the business to full time. Our production ethics are rooted in a concern for preserving the Earth, appropriately valuing food and farmers, and the creation of greater health & beauty. We are deeply invested in our community and have contributed to food system work here for many years. I own a landscaping company that creates edible & ecological ecosystems and have been involved with the Local Grower’s Guild and Hilltop Nature Center at IU. Rachel has worked for Purdue Extension, taught sustainable agriculture at IU, and currently serves as Local Food Coordinator for the City of Bloomington.
Emma Hawk, Arnold Farms
Our farm includes myself, my husband, and my brother. Together, we are Arnold Farms. We operate on our family farm that was settled in 1820. I am proud that the farm has stayed in my family for all of these years and we are grateful for the opportunity to create a future for our farm.
We raise popcorn, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and also manage family woods for wild products like pawpaws and ramps. We market through farmers’ markets in our immediate area and Indianapolis. We also sell some products into a regional food hub and local restaurants.
We strive to be a source of positivity in our rural farming community by honoring our heritage while working to forge a more sustainable path for the future. The Arnold family has a history of community leadership, stewardship of the land, and honoring justice. As our generation is presented with the opportunity and challenge to revitalize that role on our farm, we want to develop a farm business that will continue that legacy into a sustainable future that is ecologically sound, financially secure, and serves as a gathering and rallying point for our community.
We raise popcorn, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and also manage family woods for wild products like pawpaws and ramps. We market through farmers’ markets in our immediate area and Indianapolis. We also sell some products into a regional food hub and local restaurants.
We strive to be a source of positivity in our rural farming community by honoring our heritage while working to forge a more sustainable path for the future. The Arnold family has a history of community leadership, stewardship of the land, and honoring justice. As our generation is presented with the opportunity and challenge to revitalize that role on our farm, we want to develop a farm business that will continue that legacy into a sustainable future that is ecologically sound, financially secure, and serves as a gathering and rallying point for our community.
Anne Massie, Grounded Earth Farm
Since we started Grounded Earth Farm in 2017, we've had to do the tough work of converting turf grass into productive land without machinery--lots of sweat, wheelbarrow trips with truckloads of compost, and hours broadforking.
My husband works an off-farm job 50-90 hours a week so I manage the farm operations almost entirely on my own with two small children. I grow around 50 varieties of vegetables from seed & have some fruit & nut production (red currants, concord grapes, pears, blackberries, walnuts and hickory nuts.) I have been farming for 3 years on my own land. I spent over a decade apprenticing with various Indiana farm businesses, many of whom I still work with in some capacity today like Seven Sons Farm or Pasture's Delights.
Community involvement is extremely important to me. I've been involved in local food initiatives for over 12 years and currently run a non-profit food council working to address food access and farm viability issues in my community. Regenerative agriculture has profound potential to heal our earth, our bodies and our community -- it's why I farm!
My husband works an off-farm job 50-90 hours a week so I manage the farm operations almost entirely on my own with two small children. I grow around 50 varieties of vegetables from seed & have some fruit & nut production (red currants, concord grapes, pears, blackberries, walnuts and hickory nuts.) I have been farming for 3 years on my own land. I spent over a decade apprenticing with various Indiana farm businesses, many of whom I still work with in some capacity today like Seven Sons Farm or Pasture's Delights.
Community involvement is extremely important to me. I've been involved in local food initiatives for over 12 years and currently run a non-profit food council working to address food access and farm viability issues in my community. Regenerative agriculture has profound potential to heal our earth, our bodies and our community -- it's why I farm!
Vivian Muhammad, Elephant Gardens
The Elephant Gardens is a family-owned urban farm, led by the Mother/daughter duo Joyce Randolph and Vivian Muhammad. Our urban farm lots -located in one of Indy’s many food deserts- were purchased in 2013 and 2014 with actual vegetable production beginning in the Spring of 2015. We grow vegetables, some fruits, and a large variety of herbs, in ways that nurture and cultivate the earth, creating sustainable methods of farming, using all organic compost, soil amendments, seeds, etc..
The Elephant Gardens has established a 4-H club called Tomorrowland's Children wherein the Junior Master Gardner curriculum is taught. In addition to our onsite sales and to widen our reach within our community, the Elephant Gardens, in partnership with the Black Independent Growers, the Indianapolis Urban League, and two local churches, sponsored two monthly Farmers' Markets. The Elephant Gardens also provided fresh produce to the Community Health Network pantry, staged a weekly farmers market inside the Community East Hospital and conducted food demos and indoors farmers markets for Oak Street health.
The Elephant Gardens has established a 4-H club called Tomorrowland's Children wherein the Junior Master Gardner curriculum is taught. In addition to our onsite sales and to widen our reach within our community, the Elephant Gardens, in partnership with the Black Independent Growers, the Indianapolis Urban League, and two local churches, sponsored two monthly Farmers' Markets. The Elephant Gardens also provided fresh produce to the Community Health Network pantry, staged a weekly farmers market inside the Community East Hospital and conducted food demos and indoors farmers markets for Oak Street health.
Mike Record, New Ground Farm
ew Ground Farm is a small, USDA certified organic vegetable operation located on the east side of Bloomington, Indiana. New Ground grows a variety of vegetables, flowers, and plant starts, with a focus on tomatoes and salad mix. The farm sells direct to consumers at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market and to local grocery stores. Produced is washed and packed in a renovated goat barn, which also houses a farm stand stocked with produce and pumpkins grown on site as well as beef, chicken, eggs, milk, and other products from nearby small-scale farms.
We have sold our products in a variety of ways, from email lists to farmers’ markets to grocery stores. One constant from the beginning, though, has been the retail space in our renovated goat barn. It’s operated on a self-serve, honor-based system. We call it the Bethel Lane Farm Stop. In 2019 we formed a collaboration with 3 other neighboring farms to make the Farm Stop a sales conduit for multiple small farms, and to provide a more robust shopping experience for customers.
We have sold our products in a variety of ways, from email lists to farmers’ markets to grocery stores. One constant from the beginning, though, has been the retail space in our renovated goat barn. It’s operated on a self-serve, honor-based system. We call it the Bethel Lane Farm Stop. In 2019 we formed a collaboration with 3 other neighboring farms to make the Farm Stop a sales conduit for multiple small farms, and to provide a more robust shopping experience for customers.
