Windy Ridge Farm was founded in 2004.  Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project is now entering into it’s sixth year.  We began in Worthington, MA on family land.  Our first several years saw rapid expansion to 15 acres of leased fields.  We attended Farmer’s Markets 5 days a week in Pittsfield, Greenfield and Shelburne Falls.  We also worked with many wholesale customers in the Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires.
With our expanding enterprise came the need for more labor.  In 2008 and 2009 we operated a 5 person internship program during the summer months which gave young adults the opportunity to live on a working farm and learn valuable sustainable crop production skills.
In 2010 we made the decision to scale back our operation in order to start a family of our own.  We relocated our farm base to Hawley and maintained field leases in Worthington.  We also continued to act as stewards of the land on the original farm property.  In 2011 we installed an orchard on the family farmland in Worthington, putting the tillage to rest on the property.  We continue to work on transforming these fields from our childhood into a working fruit tree orchard.
Our scale back also allowed us to realize what it is that we truly enjoy about vegetable farming.  We care deeply about our children’s lifestyle and what we offer them as an example of positive methods of living in today’s globalized culture.  We do not expect to change the world, but have found that the most effective way we can improve the outcome for future generations is to teach others the skills that we possess to grow our own food.  Regardless of economic, political and social climates, people need to eat.  Being able to provide this basic necessity for one’s self is, we feel, one of the most important skills a young person can learn.