Rise & Root Farm is a five-acre farm, run cooperatively by four owners who are women, intergenerational, multi-racial, and LGBTQ. We’re located in the Black Dirt region of Orange County, NY, in the lower Hudson Valley. The farm is rooted in social justice, and through the healing power of food and farming we work to build a more equitable food system.

We are blessed to steward the land we grow on and to have the opportunity to support our communities through farming. We invite people, especially from the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, to come to the farm through a variety of events, and find a welcoming agricultural space.

We are strongly rooted in New York City and committed to engaging rural and urban communities through food and farming. We have worked with community gardens and urban farms in NYC and beyond, and we have dedicated our lives to increasing the number of people growing and eating good food.

We came together with a common dream, to continue our food justice work by growing food and community beyond the city boundaries.  We believe we can accomplish more together than any one of us could do on our own.   

Karen Washington has lived in New York City all her life, and has spent decades promoting urban farming as a way for all New Yorkers to access to fresh, locally grown food. 

Karen has been a resident of the Bronx for over 26 years, although in 2015 she began living part time in Orange County, NY near the farm. Since 1985 Karen has been a community activist, striving to make New York City a better place to live. As a community gardener and board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, Karen worked with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens. As an advocate, she stood up and spoken out for garden protection and preservation. As a member of the La Familia Verde Community Garden Coalition, she helped launched a City Farms Market, bringing garden fresh vegetables to her neighbors. She also co-founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization of volunteers committed to building networks and community support for growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012 Ebony magazine voted her one of their 100 most influential African Americans in the country, and in 2014 she was awarded with the James Beard Leadership Award.

Professionally Karen was a Physical Therapist for over 30 years, and she "retired" in April 2014 to start Rise & Root Farm. 

“To grow your own food gives you power and dignity. You know exactly what you’re eating because you grew it.  It’s good, it’s nourishing and you did this for yourself, your family and your community.” Karen Washington

Karen Washington in the media: 

Bright Spots in the Food System, Annette Nielsen, Edible Bronx. April 29, 2016

Bronx Urban Farmer Receives Earth Day Award for her Years of Work, Advocacy, Metro. April 19, 2016.

Women in Food: Karen Washington Forges Path for Black Farmers, Laura Hurst, SeedStock. April 11, 2016

Ten Questions with Karen Washington, Co-Owner of Rise & Root Farm. FoodTank. April 9, 2016

Karen Washington, Queen of Urban Gardening, Adrien Schless-Meier, Civileats.com. August 20, 2014.

EBONY Reveals 2012 Power 100! Ebony Magazine. November 1, 2012.

Karen Washington at TEDxBarnardCollegeWomen

Food Hero: Karen Washington

Contact Karen directly:  karen(at)riseandrootfarm.com

Lorrie has a rich career in farming, community gardening, community organizing and food & farm education. In 2014, Lorrie returned to the east coast after two years farming in Santa Cruz at the University of California Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS). Lorrie was a second year apprentice, serving as an assistant garden manager and educator/mentor for more than 30 first-year apprentices. 

Previously, Lorrie was a community gardener at Taqwa Community Farm in the Bronx for several seasons.  She is a founding member of Black Urban Growers (BUGs), an organization committed to building networks and community support for black growers, and she served as the Volunteer General Coordinator for their first annual Black Farmers & Urban Gardeners Conference in 2010.  Lorrie is a founding member of Farm School NYC and has remained part of the  Executive Board since its inception in 2008, helping to develop curriculum and programming around innovative urban farming education. Her career in food sovereignty work began in 2007 with Just Food, where she supported the work of diverse NYC communities through CSAs, community-based farmers markets, and advocacy around local food and community gardens. Her relationship to Just Food spanned a range of roles including Board member, Brooklyn's Bounty Market Coordinator, Administrative Assistant and Website Manager.  She also was the first Capacity Building Coordinator for WhyHunger's Grassroots Action Network Program.  At WhyHunger, Lorrie provided resources, information and networking opportunities to strengthen and support thousands of community based organizations across the country. She also managed the development and implementation of the Community Learning Project for Food Justice (CLP), a nationwide peer-to-peer mentoring service.  

Lorrie in the media

Dirt Magazine:

The Coming of Age of a Black Woman Farmer

Nothing could make Jane Hayes-Hodge happier than working outside, being physically active, and feeding people. That's why she loves farming - it's a combination of all of those things. Her favorite farming moments involve working beside someone who is farming for the first time and discovering a genuine love for growing food. That's what it's all about for her.

Jane believes that farming & food is the center of everything - it's where families unite, communities celebrate culture, it's where social justice meets environmental rights. Food is a basic human right, and she sees farming as the tool that helps us feed ourselves and our communities. She has committed her professional life to supporting others who grow food, especially in New York City, where fresh produce is much more difficult to find than a pack of cigarettes or a candy bar. We have so much work to do to help ourselves and our communities return to good health, and she is happy to be part of the solution. 

Before starting Rise & Root Farm, Jane farmed with some incredible local farms, including Obercreek Farm in Wappingers Falls (where she reaffirmed her love of growing tomatoes), Snug Harbor Heritage Farm in Staten Island (where she fell in love with selling to restaurants), and Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook, NY (where she learned from the best about farming efficiently). She completed a six month apprenticeship with the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) in Santa Cruz, CA, and received their Certificate in Ecological Horticulture.  She looks forward to continuing to learn from other local farmers.

In addition to farming rurally, Jane spent nine years supporting urban farming and urban farming education. Up until May 2014, she was the founding Farm School NYC Program Director. Jane also worked with Just Food for nine years, starting out as an Americorps* VISTA working with La Familia Verde's and Bissel's farmers markets. She then served as the City Farms Market Coordinator, helping to build a strong network of community-based farmers markets run by city farmers.  Before becoming Director of Farm School NYC, she worked as the City Farms Program Manager, working with a great network of Just Food trainers, chicken keepers, and market managers.

She was part of the Grow NYC Farm Beginnings program with the rest of Rise & Root Farm's team in 2012.

Jane received a BA at University of Richmond in Leadership Studies with a concentration in Environmental Leadership and Social Movements and a minor in Women's Studies. Her previous experience includes working with community allotment projects in northern England.

Jane in the media: 

Edible Manhattan

Food Talks: Just Food Conference 2013 (video)

Michaela Hayes-Hodge is a farmer, a teacher, food stylist, experienced chef and value added producer.

Michaela grew into farming through cooking and food preservation. She founded her former food preservation business, Crock & Jar, as a step to value-added production on the farm. Using classic preservation methods, like fermentation and canning, Michaela created bold new flavor combinations in her products, including two Good Food Award finalists. Crock & Jar is now closed and Rise & Root Farm is the new home of all of Michaela’s value added production.

She also came to the farm as a teacher. She believes that talking about and working to uproot underlying systems of oppression are vital to liberating ourselves. Food preservation is a tool of food security and sovereignty. Michaela has taught preservation methods and product creation for organizations and conferences such as Farm School NYC, NOFA-NY, The Natural Gourmet Institute, and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. Michaela was classically trained at the French Culinary Institute. She cooked for years in NYC restaurants including Gramercy Tavern, where she developed the pickling station. She was a co-founder of the NYC Ferments Meetup group.

When Michaela isn't on the farm or in the kitchen preserving food, she's in the kitchen making it beautiful as a food stylist. Before she worked in food, she worked in commercial photography, traveling the country and the world as a photo assistant and studio manager. Food styling let's Michaela get back on the set, with pots and pans instead of lights and gaff tape. You can see her food styling work on her website: www.michaela-hayes.com.

Michaela in the media:

Huffington Post:

These Lesbian Farmers Aren’t Here to Take Over America. They Want to Grow It.

Heritage Radio:

   Just Food Stories: Episode 11 - Food Preservation with Michaela Hayes

   Fuhmentaboudit! Episode 37 - Talkin 'bout kraut with Michaela Hayes 

   Know Your Source

Preserving the Seasons, Clean Plates

Sweet Paul Magazine

   My Happy Dish