Spotlight on the Farm: Golden Earthworm Organic Farm in Jamesport, New York

Talk to the cooks in any upscale restaurant in New York City and you'll find that most fall into one of two categories: those that hope to own their own restaurant and those that long to become farmers. I belong to the group that fantasizes about life on a farm. Matthew Kurek—unlike the rest of us—didn't just dream about moving out of the city and learning to farm, he actually did it.

After attending the Natural Gourmet Cooking School in Manhattan, Matt cooked at several vegetarian and organic restaurants in New York. Soon, he found himself drawn to the farmers' market, where he'd spend hours at a time talking with farmers about produce. In 1996, his obsession with vegetables eventually led him to decide to leave the kitchen for the field.

Today, Matt, along with his wife Maggie and their partner James Russo, owns the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm on 40 beautiful acres in Jamesport, New York. Together, they grow over 50 different varieties of vegetables for three farmers' markets and a large Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA). Matt says that farming is more complex than imaginable, but also more incredible than he'd hoped. He has the pleasure of spending most of his time outdoors and at the end of each day knows that families all over Long Island and Queens are sitting down to dinner with his produce on their table.

Matt's culinary background shapes the choices he makes as a farmer. He doesn't just think about growing crops; he thinks about how the food he grows will be prepared and eaten. It's this duality that makes the Golden Earthworm CSA so successful.

Not every farmer is so savvy. Over the years, I've been a member of a few different CSA farms and, while most experiences have been great, a few have been far less than satisfying. I suspect that some CSA farms don't work well because farmers think too much like farmers and not enough like cooks. At the last CSA I joined, I got the sense that the farmer thought that the members were there just to take unwanted produce off his hands.

Matt and Maggie love growing food and they love cooking, so they work to provide their CSA members with three key things. First, they grow a diverse array of produce. Second, they focus on flavor-packed heirloom varietals. And last, but definitely not least, they write a weekly newsletter chock full of recipes and cooking tips to help ensure their members can successfully use all the items they receive.