Huguenot Street Farm
The Farm Today
Huguenot Street Farm is managed by head farmer Gavin Rinkor. Gavin grew up in New Paltz, lives on farm and has been working on the farm since he was 16! Over the years, he assumed more and more responsibility for the farm's operations. Since 2011, Gavin has run the farm and its staff on his own. During hurricane Irene, faced with the most difficult growing conditions in memory, Gavin developed a reputation as the "Houdini" of the Hudson Valley, as one local writer said, for his extraordinary ingenuity, energy, and skill in "producing amazing food through hurricanes, freak snow storms, lashing winds, and weirdly freezing temperatures." In the relatively quiet, although always eventful, years since, he has solidified his status as a grower with a deep connection to the community.
The farm is devoted to producing delicious, healthy food in an environmentally friendly way. We are also committed to developing (and sharing!) new technologies to help small farms survive and thrive. The farm is structured as a for-profit corporation rather than a non-profit because we hope to show that it is possible to run a relatively small scale farm profitably. But any income the farm generates will be distributed to our employees and reinvested in the farm and its research projects.
The Farm's History
Huguenot Street Farm exists only because of the Herculean effort by its founders Ron and Kate Khosla, who purchased the land in 1999. Largely self-taught (as far as farming is concerned), they created and refined incredibly innovative and effective low-cost systems that have brought the farm international recognition. From easy to build hoop houses to solar-charged tractors (visit the Innovations page), they literally built the farm (and even the farmhouse!) by hand. More importantly, they infused the place with a remarkable spirit of love and community.
In 2011, Ron and Kate sold their financial interest in the farm so that they could travel, explore, and experiment with new ideas. They are still actively involved with the farm. Kate helped us design the new distribution barn and kitchen. We hope and expect that they will continue to be involved, in some shape or form, with the farm forever, wherever their wanderlust leads them. They know they are ALWAYS welcome.
The new “owners” of the farm, Jeremy Mindich and Amy Smith see themselves more as stewards than owners. They have a long connection to the area and to environmental conservation and agricultural development. Jeremy is on the board of directors for an organization called Root Capital, which finances agricultural cooperatives around the world. He is particularly interested in ideas for cooperative processing and distribution of locally grown food. But their main mission for the farm is to give Gavin a chance to continue the tradition that Ron and Kate began.