Meet Maplewood!

This is probably about two months too late, but I’ve decided to introduce you to the people I spend practically all hours of the day with! You have briefly been introduced to throughout this blog, so why not go a little deeper.

We’ll start with the one and only, Hannah Noel, who runs Maplewood with her husband, Eric. I don’t know how she always has energy and a smile on her face after all the work she does, but it never fails. An expert in gardening, she teaches us the ways of the land, and the delicious food it helps produce. Her dinners from scratch that she whips up after hours of farm and child duties, continue to amaze us. She’s been such a wonderful mentor to us all this summer, loves her sauerkraut, feeds her family a completely organic diet, and makes the most amazing chicken and biscuit meal any of us interns have ever had, sorry mom…. Eric Noel, or Eric the farmer, grew up on the farm, and tends to the cows of Maplewood, rotating them to different pastures on a daily basis. Along with being a cowboy, he operates his own auto shop right here on the farm. Eric knows cows, but he probably knows cars even better. When he’s not doing the odd and end jobs that farming inevitably entails, he enjoys watching Indie car racing.

Richard and Maggie Noel, Eric’s parents, live next door and own the property, which they ran it as a dairy farm until 1999. Richard owns an impressive amount of farm equipment and trucks, loves mowing the lawn, and is never short on words, giving us interesting historical facts about the farm, his life, Vermont, French culture and so much more! Maggie quietly weeds away during her spare hours of the day, when she’s not working in St. Albans. After dreading the weeding ahead of us as we enter the field, we always appreciate finding rows completed by her!

Maddy and Calvin Noel. Oh so much to say. Most of the time these cuties are a delight to have around, others… ha ha well, they’re little and love to scream. One of the friendliest five year olds I’ve ever met, Maddy loves asking questions, ballet and identifying weeds. Calvin, Maplewood’s youngest member, is two and a half. I don’t know any other two year old farm boys, but I’d be surprised if they knew more about tractors and farm equipment than this one! He loves taking rides with Richard, his “Pepe”, on the 4wheeler, and always reminds his parents that he wants his own. :)

The other Eric Noel, or Eric the Intern, comes from Connecticut. A recent graduate of Colgate University, he plans on going into the Peace Corps when he leaves Maplewood in December. Eric amuses us with his country slang, “Shoot, dang, nab!”, whatever that means…. And is hell bent on killing Stewy and eating her before he leaves. Probably the hardest working intern, no offence Ellyn ;) … Eric helps Eric move the cattle every day along with the vegetable gardening. Ellyn Gaydos, my trailormate and banjo pickin’ buddy, is a Vermonter from Essex Junction. Although she’s not always thrilled about it, she’ll be heading off to her first year at Hampshire College next fall. Ellyn loves traditional folk life, and reading more than five obscure books at a time. She’s the one intern most likely to remember to feed the calf, and like a true Vermonter, rides a Subaru. Brian Herbst, Maplewood’s newest addition, started today! A fellow New Yorker, he graduated from Cornell in ’08 and like Eric, plans to attend the Peace Corps after his life here on the farm. Since were tight for space at the moment, he’s ruffin’ it out in a tent next to the greenhouse, until Ellyn and I have left our warm and welcoming home of a trailor to him, when we head to school in August.

For an honorable mention, Susie. Susie’s a CSA member who works for her share, from St. Albans. She’s hardworking and a pleasure to have around on our crazy harvesting days. :) I enjoy talking to her about why we both love Under the Tuscan Sun, while cleaning her favorite vegetable, Kale together. :) She’ll be joining us when we head to Massachusetts for the NOFA (Northeastern Organic Farming Association) conference in two weeks!

Some of you might not know me, but hopefully through this blog you’ve gotten a sense of who I am! But for technical information, I’ll be a senior at SUNY ESF (college of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University) next year, and am interested in environmental protection, advocacy and sustainable agriculture. Hopefully I’ll be able to tie them into an awesome job next year, so if you have any ideas, let me know! ;)

Hopefully this helps give you a little inside scoop to the people that make this place what it is! :)