About the Farm:
Red Hawk Rise Organics was founded in 2017 by Katie Brownell and Mike Herbst. Located halfway between Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown on the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, we grow USDA Certified Organic mixed vegetables on our 3-acre property. Check out these links to learn more about our growing methods and what we grow.
About Katie:
Katie has been involved in local food and farming since 2009. She started off managing farmers markets for The Food Trust in Philadelphia. For the next several years, she worked on an heirloom farm in Delaware and educational and production farms in Philadelphia and also helped run the farm stand for an orchard, nursery, and mixed vegetable farm.
From there, she moved to Michigan to complete the Organic Farmer Training Program at Michigan State University. This graduate certificate program provides participants with the background and working knowledge of farm production, management, marketing, and business skills necessary to operate a diversified small farm. Here, Katie co-managed the farm’s Farmstand Garden and engaged in all aspects of work on the 5-acre farm, which included mixed vegetables and fruit, cutting flowers, high tunnels, and pigs, chickens, and turkeys. She helped run the farm’s weekly farm market and its year-round CSA as well as taking part in classroom instruction on both the science behind farming and business planning.
After graduating, Katie returned to Philadelphia, where she worked for three years as the farm manager at Wyck House, a historic house and property and one of the city’s original urban farms. Here, Katie successfully supplied a weekly farmers market with a wide variety of high quality vegetables and fruit grown using organic methods. She also developed educational programming around farming, food, and the environment for the surrounding community.
Through her work on many different farms with differing sizes and methods, Katie has grown to love the niche of small-scale, organic farming. She enjoys the challenge of sustainably growing on small spaces and loves the problem solving that comes with every day on the farm. Katie also finds particular joy in selling at farmers markets. Getting to interact directly with customers every week truly makes all of the hard work worth it!
Get in touch with Katie at katie@redhawkriseorganics.com
About Mike:
Mike’s love for food began with a volunteer position in 2008 at the Fair Food Farmstand in Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market. Mike was amazed by the breadth and variety that was grown in his local foodshed and wanted to try everything. That same year, Mike took a position at a local co-operative grocery store where he became the Produce Department Manager.
Mike has a passion for the outdoors and hard work, but also enjoys exploring new skills and recipes in the kitchen. If you see him at a market, he will happily discuss his favorite ways of cooking (and eating!) all of our vegetables.
Mike attended Oberlin College and has a Master’s Degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Get in touch with Mike at mike@redhawkriseorganics.com