Dear Kimberton CSA community,
Last newsletter we divulged a little history surrounding the land that Kimberton CSA occupies. You can read that newsletter here on our website. This week we promised a little more info on the original farmers: Barbara and Kerry Sullivan.
Since taking over at Kimberton CSA, Frank and I have been told on numerous occasions that we have some "pretty big boots to fill." But it wasn't until we started going through the KCSA archives that we realized just how big those boots were.
Kimberton CSA was the first CSA in PA and the third in the country. Back in 1987 the onus was on the community to find the right farmers for the job. Lots of experience and training was necessary to start a farming business in a meadow off of West Seven Stars Road! So, the core group of members interested in starting KCSA, spearheaded by the Director of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association—Rod Shouldice—contacted Barbara and Kerry Sullivan.
The Sullivans were already known on the biodynamic farm scene. They both had apprenticed with Alan Chadwick in CA, who brought the Biodynamic French Intensive Method over to the US. Alan is quoted as being the "greatest horticulturalist of the 20th century" and a "gardener of souls." So, I’d imagine apprenticing with him was a pretty good place to start!
Barbara and Kerry also studied biodynamics at Emerson College in England. Emerson College offers immersive, full-time study in biodynamics and other Rudolf Steiner related disciplines. And to top it off, Barbara and Kerry had additional experience running the Mother Earth News magazine's demonstration garden in NC!
Now this is quite a resume. Add 15 years of starting, building and running KCSA, I’m in awe! Luckily, thirty years on, such esteemed training and biodynamic pedigree was not necessary to have the opportunity to take over the oldest CSA in PA! It was more about hard work, perseverance, and fortunate timing!
I believe this was true for the second generation of KCSA farmers, Birgit and Erik Landowne as well. If I remember correctly, Brigit and Erik met as interns on a farm before Birgit apprenticed under the Sullivans at KCSA. When the Sullivans decided to move back to NH, another couple were in line to take over. During their transition, however, they got cold feet, so the Sullivans called Birgit and offered her and her young family the opportunity to move to Kimberton and take over the farm.
It was a rushed transition for the Landownes at the end of the 2001 season, but with a good amount of support via phone calls with the Sullivans, they soon found their feet as they expanded and pushed KCSA forward another 15 years. In 2011, I turned up on the scene—with significantly less grey hair—and worked as an intern for three seasons. I met Frank during this time as he interned in the summer of 2012 and for the full season in 2013. The rest, as they say, is history!
Breathing life into that meadow plot on Seven Stars Road and nurturing the community that still supports us today is something for which we’ll always be grateful to Barbara and Kerry. Expanding and driving the CSA into the 21st century, plus all the knowledge and skills imparted to us by the Lansdownes, is something we’ll never forget. This is Frank and my fourth year running the farm. We look forward to continue to provide the KCSA community with the fresh, biodyanmic veggies they have been accustomed to for the last 33 years!
Cheers,
Andrew
