After a few years of full time farming on other people’s farms, I arrived at a question that some young farmers have to cross – Do I start my own farm or do I manage someone else’s? Watching first hand how hard the farm life can be when it is your own, I decided to manage someone else’s farm. I was starting to really like Maine and decided that I wanted to stay in this northern quiet state that was so far removed from my upbringing in Brooklyn, NY. I ended up becoming the head farmer for Primo Restaurant in Rockland, ME. Head chef and owner, Melissa Kelly, had been continuing a tradition of true farm-to-table since 2001, so I was walking into a very seasoned piece of land.

It was here that I began my passion for food. I know that might sound odd since I had been making a career of it for the last few years, but my days on the farm were so grueling that eating sometimes felt like a chore; the thing I had to do to get up the next day to do it all over again.

Also, the previous farms that I worked on were CSA (community supported agriculture) farms, which meant that we would spend all this time growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables only to see them carted off to be made into a plethora of recipes somewhere else. At Primo, I could see first hand what became of the food I harvested that day. Instead of taking a raise my first year, I decided to eat in the restaurant once a week. This was a true education on food and flavor. And it gave me, the farmer, an opportunity to understand how harvesting can affect the outcome of a dish.