Meet Your Farmers: Haley and Aina

We’ve got quite the crew here at Red Fire Farm: at peak season there are between 60-100 people in total working at our Granby and Montague locations on any given day.

We’ve created this ongoing series of Meet the Farmer posts as a way to share a little bit about some of our crew who help sow, grow, and harvest the food that goes out to our farmers’ markets, grocery stores, and CSA sites around Massachusetts. These folks do a great job and are keeping local farming alive!

Haley Norris

Crew Leader

Haley does some heavy lifting around the farm. This time of year we are putting away the protective row covers that kept bugs like flea beetles from devouring new brassica transplants this spring.

On the Farm:
Haley first started farming eight years ago in New Hampshire, and has now worked at Red Fire Farm for three seasons. She is currently a crew leader, which means that she manages a small group of crew members as they all harvest produce, control weeds, and make sure that fields are in good condition.

Here’s one of her favorite times on the farm:
“I just remembered my favorite farm memory! We were picking beets in the Mitchell field and some neighboring corn farmers who were all Hispanic and barely speaking English started whistling and tossing us corn. The Somali women got so excited that they ran over with a bunch of beets and we all traded. It was a really beautiful moment to see so much culture in one spot all together because of farming.”

Favorite Vegetable:
Her favorite vegetable to harvest and to eat is eggplant. Their shiny purple color brightens up the harvest. Haley likes to eat it roasted it with tomatoes, Turkish style.

Try these other recipes when they come in season for Thai Eggplant Stir Fry, Ginger Garlic Eggplant, or Garlic and Herb Ratatouille.

Off the Farm:
When she’s not out in the fields, Haley enjoys a well-deserved rest and a cold craft beer. Since she’s from eastern New Hampshire, she’s likely as not to be drinking Smuttynose Finestkind IPA.

Aina Sullivan

Field Crew

This is Aina’s first season on the farm.

On the Farm:
Aina started farming because of her experience WWOOFing in Iceland last year. She also wants to homestead her own land one day.

As a field crew member in Montague, most of her day is spent harvesting produce, loading crates, weeding, hoeing, and performing crop-specific tasks like staking tomato plants.

Vegetable Favorites:
Her favorite vegetable is asparagus, which she likes to eat baked in the oven.

Off the Farm:
Aina also goes to massage school and makes art in her spare time.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to hear from more folks about their time on and off the farm.