Who's Who Around The Farm
In 2021, Brookfield Farm is undergoing a management transition on the farm. After 27 years with Dan Kaplan and Karen Romanowski at the helm, they have decided to step back and turn the farm over to the next generation of farmers. After an extensive hiring process, the Biodynamic Farmland Conservation Trust Board of Directors selected Kerry and Max Taylor to carry Brookfield Farm into the future.
Kerry and Max come to Brookfield from Salem, CT where they founded and ran their own farm Provider Farm for 9 years. Their roots runs deep in the Pioneer Valley and they were married in the west field at Brookfield Farm. They have a spunky five year old son Shepard who currently wants to be a ninja when he grows up.
kerry taylor, General manager
Kerry caught the farming bug when she worked on a Vermont farm after graduating from Mount Holyoke College. She left the farm to get a “real job” in Washington D.C. where she worked for the city in natural resources.
The farm didn’t leave her however and after she completed a four year term in the Peace Corps in Togo where she swore off cubicles forever, she returned to the valley as an apprentice at Brookfield Farm with the goal of running her own farm. In her fourth year at Brookfield Farm, she met Max and after marrying here at Brookfield, they began pursuing their farm dream together.
In 2011, Max and Kerry started Provider Farm in Salem, CT. They sold their business in 2021 to take over the reigns here at Brookfield Farm, a place that always has felt like home.
Kerry views farming as a public service and as faith in action. She is passionate about food access and believes everyone, no matter who they are deserves to have access to healthy vegetables.
Max taylor, general manager
Born and raised within sight of the Chicago skyline, it is easy to say that growing up, Max never considered farming as a possible future.
Max moved to the Pioneer Valley in 2004 to attend Umass Amherst. It was during classes where he toured local valley farms that Max first became acquainted with CSAs and farm apprenticeships. Max went all in and changed his major to sustainable agriculture, started apprenticing on farms and never looked back.
Max apprenticed at Seeds of Solidarity in Orange, MA for two seasons. In the middle of his second season at Seeds of Solidarity, he started working at Riverland Farm in Sunderland MA. Max was completely captivated by working on a CSA farm and worked his way up to management at Riverland over the next few years before meeting Kerry, getting married and moving to Connecticut to start his own farm.
Bonnie lathrop, aSSISTANT MANAGER
Bonnie was born and raised in Bozrah, CT and grew up on her family’s farm stacking hay, feeding cows, and chasing chickens. She’s got good farm sense and takes on whatever farm task is thrown at her with determination.
After completing her conservation biology degree in Michigan, she spent a season studying chipmunk biology in Yosemite before returning to Connecticut to work in natural resources and invasive plant management for the state.
She was called back to farming and joined Max and Kerry on their farm in Salem, CT where she quickly proved herself to be a competent and steady tractor operator and fell in love with the world of vegetable production. She came to Brookfield Farm with Kerry and Max excited to develop her management skills and to continue on the farming path.
She’s too humble to tell you, but she is an elite trail runner. Like runs 50 K up mountains and wins. She also climbs rocks for fun. Did we mention she is tough as nails?
Abbe vredenburg, administrator and bookkeeper
Abbe loves counting money. She keeps herself very busy around the valley, counting and depositing money in a lot of places. She was the first person in the valley to figure out how to accept SNAP/EBT for CSA shares, and she continues to be very involved in implementing food access projects at farms and farmers markets. She has worked at Brookfield since 1995 (!!!) and she is responsible for keeping track of all our shareholders, and paying all the people and all the bills.
Abbe also loves digging in the dirt. At home, she grows all kinds of things, like garlic and horseradish. You can find Abbe and her partner, Jim, at any cool music event in the valley. Her daughter, Ona has followed in her footsteps working in Boston, and her son Nash is busily experimenting with fermentation of many kinds!
Our Apprentices in 2023 Are
danielle desir and ryan dinger
Dan Kaplan and Karen romanowski, General Managers Emeritus
After serving as Managers of Brookfield Farm for 27 years, Dan and Karen stepped down in 2021 to pass the torch to the next generation of Brookfield Farmers.
Looking for a past apprentice? See what they're up to now!
Our Weeder And Harvest Crews Are ....
Just awesome. From Late May - August, our full season crew is joined by a boisterous and hard working collection of people we call the "weeder crew" and the "harvest crew." Some of them are folks with flexible schedules who like to do some outdoor work in the mornings. For others, it's their first job ever. They make this farm hum. We couldn't do it without their energy and their efforts!
