Each year, we welcome a new group of apprentices to Horton Road Organics. In April of 2019, Erika, Amanda, Matthew, Chloey and Lily arrived at the farm. We hope that you’ll get the chance to meet our new crew members this season. Cheers to 2019!
Erika Vu
Erika’s love and connection to the Earth was developed in her home town Bend, Oregon. As she grew, so did the desire to become involved in working with the land. In an effort to do so, she ventured outside of her home state and found herself in the midst a new desert where the ground is red and the mountains are made of sandstone. Erika worked as a Parks Service crew member with Utah Conservation Corps but quickly realized that the majority of land management neglected to look at the land as a whole organism. Determined to find a new avenue of touching the Earth, she turned to farming. Erika finally feels that her devotion to the earth is truly emulated in her daily life through learning to grow organic produce on Horton Road.
Amanda Lemen
After a decade in New York City, working in theater and television doing lighting, I started wanting something different. I had gotten an introduction to farming through WWOOF. I first heard of wwoof when I was in college, and in 2012, I was looking for a way to get out of the city and have a relatively inexpensive vacation. I ended up on a small farm in southern Washington, where i got a chance to get hands dirty, and experience truly fresh produce for the first time. It was my first time having kale, swiss chard, and lemon cucumbers.
It’s safe to say that a seed was planted. In late 2017, when I started planning my exit from New York, farming felt like the right direction to go. I spent about half of 2018 wwoofing again, trying different kinds of farms to figure out what I was interested in. I decided that what I wanted most was a chance to learn how to grow organic vegetables from experienced farmers, which is how I found Horton. I am enjoying the experience of learning the life cycle of the plants we grow, and of the farm itself. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.
(Pic: me with my brother’s dog Winston)
Matthew Mollenkopf
Born and raised in North Carolina, Matthew studied acting in NYC, and has lived the past four years as a wilderness guide and ancestral skills instructor in Utah. An ethic of place, community, and ecological responsibility, inspired in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and edified through his work in Utah with the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, is what led him to embrace farming as a vital contribution to our time. He’s deeply thankful to have this opportunity at Horton Road Organics to learn what it means to farm on a human scale.
Chloey Cavanaugh
Chloey Cavanaugh
From: Juneau, Alaska
Growing up in small town Juneau, Alaska where all our food is barged in I had yet to experience what fresh produce was like until I started my apprenticeship with Horton Organics. Since starting my apprenticeship in April it has ignited a deep appreciation and love for what goes onto my plate and the joy it brings when it ends up being placed onto yours. The entire process is done with a labor of love that always manages to shine through. I feel incredibly lucky to be apart of it all.
Lily Hanson
Lily was born and raised in Bend, Oregon. Her love for the earth and the people who share this planet with her have lead her to many places and through many transformations. Lately, she finds herself on Horton Road, learning to farm, living simply and quietly, and tuning into the natural rhythms of the earth. Farming for Lily is a process of discovery~ of self, source, sustenance and sweetness.
