We’ve had three farm managers since Serenbe Farms began. Daron Joffe, known as Farmer D, helped us get the foundation in, then went on to create an organic farming business in Atlanta that includes products, consulting and a retail store.

Paige Witherington came to work for Farmer D and took over as farm manager when he left. She spent 8 years literally growing Serenbe Farms from the ground up and recommended one person to take her place when she recently gave notice. That was Ashley Rodgers, who was Paige’s farm intern for a few years before working at nearby Planted Rock Farm.

Ashley may be 27 years old, 5’1 and weigh all of 90 pounds, but dear God she’s a powerhouse. She came in like a tornado—a really good tornado.

I love so many things about Ashley: She’s a Michigan native who didn’t grow up around farming, but fell in love with food while working in restaurants at the College of Charleston. She’s OCD, which I adore, especially in a farmer. She sees a project and gets it done in a day. In addition to her vast knowledge of farming, Ashley understands the aesthetics of farming, which is rare. She’s transforming the area where people pick up their CSA bundles because she wants them to be pretty. She covered an ugly walk-in cooler with palettes and now it’s gorgeous. She put a big beautiful painted sunflower sculpture I bought years ago at the Atlanta Botanical Garden years ago on a post in the farm.

Someone recently asked me what it takes to run a farm and I answered that I honestly have no idea. So I asked Ashley, and here’s what she said:

It takes a lot of energy, determination, organization, a strong back and a love of food to run a farm. When farming a few acres, things grow so quickly that managing and keeping everything alive and healthy takes a lot of time, patience and just pure hard physical work.  

I love farming because I get to learn and attain many different skills, from marketing and business to managing employees, plumbing/irrigation, botany, agriculture, fixing equipment, and building tables and other infrastructure. It keeps you on your toes, so you certainly need to be able to roll with the punches, and always be ready for the next challenge that awaits.

Most of all I love Ashley’s passion—it’s contagious. She recently told a friend of mine she couldn’t sleep because she was so excited about all the great things happening at the farm. Not because she was worried—a more traditional farmer trait—but because she was excited. I feel that excitement, and so do her interns, the CSA members and, I believe, every little seedling in the field.