Kaitlyn Kimball
I co-founded Sunset Farm, a diversified vegetable and flower farm, with my husband in 2018. I am a first generation farmer that has built my business from the ground up. We purchased raw land that we’ve brought into production. Since 2018, our farm has grown to almost 4 acres in active production of over 50 different varieties of vegetables and 30 varieties of flowers. My farm became Certified Organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers in April of 2023. We have a 50 person CSA that we marketed and created, that now has sold out five years in a row. We have several wholesale accounts, attend 5 farmers markets, and have Farm to School orders. We’ve participated in several NRCS projects, received numerous agricultural grants from the state, as well as lead community programming in our town centered around seasonality and sustainability. We now grow year round in unheated high tunnels. The success of our farm has allowed my husband and I both to step away from our desk jobs and pursue farming full time. As I begin to exit out of the beginning farmer stage in year 6 of my farm, I would love to share some of my experiences to assist other farmers in their first years. I recently began working at CitySeed in New Haven as the Director of Agriculture. I oversee four farmers markets and lead our efforts in sustainability and longevity of local agriculture.