Alyssa Sherburn from Franconia, New Hampshire is the owner/operator of Pinestead Farm, one of Yankee's most recent FarmStart investments. Alyssa is the fifth generation at Pinestead
Farm where she grows vegetables and raises beef, pigs, and chickens that are
sold at local co-ops, farmers’ markets, and restaurants. She is in her second year of ownership of the
farm, although she has been involved in management for the past 10 years with
her father. Alyssa was looking to expand
her markets and growing season, but was limited by her 10 acre land base and
the winter weather.
Alyssa used her FarmStart
investment to purchase a Leafy Green Machine from
Freight Farms, Inc. Freight Farms takes old shipping containers with
all of the insulation and converts them to hydroponic farming units that can
grow up to 2 acres of vegetables. These units are intuitively
climate controlled and can be remotely overseen with a mobile app,
Farmhand. This app monitors everything happening inside the unit,
tracks two weeks of historical data, and prompts the farmer when it is time to
harvest and plant. The unit takes 20 hours per week of labor and it
is 6 weeks from planting to harvest. The
initial purchase of the Leafy Green Machine comes with two months’ supply of
nutrients and seeds.
The Leafy Green Machine will
allow Alyssa to grow vegetables 365 days a year no matter the weather,
increasing her summer production and permitting for winter production. Alyssa has contracts with the
Littleton Co-op,
North Country Farmer’s Coop, and a couple restaurants for her first winter of
growing. These buyers will be working
with her on what to grow. As she gets
comfortable with the process, she will begin to add more customers and grow her
markets. She is very excited about this
new venture and to be working with
FarmStart.
What Alyssa wants you to know about Pinestead:
Our farm in Franconia, NH has been family owned and operated
since 1793. It has remained a working farm throughout the centuries. There have
always been large vegetable gardens, from which the family sold and consumed
fresh produce all spring, summer and fall, while drying, canning, pickling, and
storing the bounty for the long winters. We have always kept a variety of
livestock including beef cattle, chickens, pigs and horses. There is a working
maple sugar house, sawmill and shingle mill on the property. We recently added
a hydroponic system from Freight Farms in Boston, MA. We are now able to
grow lettuce year round in a re-purposed shipping container! The closed system
uses 90% less water than traditional agriculture. We sell all of our products in
our farm stand on the property and at weekly Farmer’s Markets, Spring through
Fall. We also work closely with local restaurants, the Littleton Food
Co-op and North Country Farmer’s Co-op. All of our vegetables are grown
without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We strive to improve the
health of our soils and pastures which, in turn, nurtures the vegetables,
fruits, animals and ourselves. We practice crop rotation, cover cropping,
active composting, companion planting and rotational grazing. Guests are
welcome to rent rooms in our Farmhouse and to explore Pinestead Farm!
The goal of FarmStart is to provide working capital to help start-up farmers establish a positive business and credit history during the early phases of their business careers. Within five years recipients should be positioned to graduate to a conventional line of credit from Yankee or another lender.
