Brent Alderfer

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There are few things more exciting than being on a natural, lush farm especially when the mission is to produce good food and share the farm experience with our community.  My full-time work and career developing solar and wind energy as a climate-safe energy supply arose out of the same passion for a sustainable future that drives our goals for Spring Creek Farm.   We are a natural regenerative farm producing good local food with a farm experience that all can enjoy.  The desire to create community around farming comes from my memories of the Mennonite farmers where I grew up in Harleysville Montgomery County.  Although I didn’t grow up on a farm, as a kid I grew tomatoes and other favorites in my garden for sale at the family grocery store.  That experience and the family time that goes with it, putting up green beans, corn, and apple sauce in the fall and sharing great food in the winter is worth carrying into the next generation.

After high school I attended Northeastern University in Electrical Engineering and went on to get a law degree at Georgetown Law School.   Heading west after law school I practiced law in Colorado for twenty years representing entrepreneurs and start-up businesses and then served as a Commissioner on the Colorado Public Utility Commission.  I returned to the Delaware Valley in 1999 to cofound the renewable energy company I still lead and to pursue my passions for farming, family and community here in my home community.

Spring Creek Farm is the latest expansion of our regenerative farming operation with vegetables, cattle and chickens designed to lead the way on local farming that is both ecologically and economically sustainable.  We look forward to seeing it grow and take shape as a place where the community shares the experience and joys of traditional farming.

I’m excited to join the Spring Creek Farm team and apply my experience in the organic agriculture field to grow and support the operation.  I’ve enjoyed working with Brent as a freelance farmer since last year - consulting on cattle, seeding pastures and planting blueberries.  I’ve been working in the organic agriculture industry for 11 years and have a background in education.  I got into farming at Pennypack Farm in Horsham, PA in 2008 where I worked as the Farm Educator developing lesson plans, adult workshops, a YMCA farm camp and managed the “Children's Garden”, which is still thriving today.  I learned much about local food systems and the value it generates in the community.  

After Pennypack Farm, I moved to Hawaii to pursue an opportunity teaching Art  & Science in elementary schools.  This was a tremendous learning experience which eventually led me to numerous farming ventures throughout the islands.  I worked as the Agriculture Instructor and counselor for Hawaiian youth teaching about farming and food.  I had a great experience running an organic lettuce and tomato farm and also managed a permaculture farm on the North Shore of Oahu.  We built a large scale hydroponic lettuce farm, installed a greenhouse that produced beautiful tomatoes and had a small CSA operation with row crops and fruits from the land.  Over the years, I’ve enjoyed time working for a Vetiver grass farm doing slope stabilization and erosion control which is very beneficial for the environment.  Most recently, I’ve been studying Korean Natural Farming and have always been a student of the Biodynamic Farm model.   

After a brief stint on a winery helping to build a hops farm in upstate PA, we settled in New Hope.  I’ve been managing a beef cattle operation for the past 4 years and have been caring for cows, sheep, horses, chickens and my own litter of 3 young children!  I learned a lot about livestock and the role animals can play in a regenerative farming operation.  When Brent and I met, it was clear we shared a similar vision and goals for the community.  Brent has been a continual source of inspiration in farming and I’m excited to be taking on the role of Farm Operations Manager at Spring Creek Farm.  I look forward to growing the vision, restoring the land and producing fresh, local produce through regenerative farming practices. 

 Let’s get growing!!

My name is Mikhail, but I also go by Mike or Misha- my given name and colloquialism for ‘bear’ in my native country of Russia. I am CSA Manager of the regenerative organic diversified vegetable operation here at Spring Creek Farm. I have experience farming for last three years, both at our sister-farm, Sandbrook Meadow in Stockton, NJ, as well as Tamarack Hollow organic farm in Plainfield, VT. 

Before my first summer internship at Sandbrook in 2017, like many who find themselves in the agriculture field (no pun intended), I hadn’t even considered farming to be a career option. I was fortunate to come to appreciate the value of fresh produce first hand in my formative years, living on the land and filling up on the fruits of a small vegetable and perennial allotment for a few months out of the year near my home city of St. Petersburg. I grew up learning the value of hard work from my parents, as well as the empowerment coming from the ability to repair almost anything with one’s own intervention. I developed a knack and took pleasure in working with my hands through early work in construction. After high school, I pursued electrical engineering and went off to study at the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences in Germany before returning back to NJ. It wasn’t until nearly two decades after moving away from the home-grown vegetables at my dacha and then serendipitously arriving at the beautiful farm in Stockton, NJ that I started to understand our food system and the impact it was having on the health of our bodies, our ecosystem, and our economy. I knew then that I had found my calling. Something had to be done to regenerate the crumbling food system, and I wasn’t about to sit idle and hope for the best.  

I am thrilled for the opportunity to work with the landowner, Brent Alderfer, on our shared vision of restoring the soil and natural ecology while simultaneously expanding community through the production of nutrient-rich produce in Solebury Township. I look forward to developing systems together in the interest of increasing the much needed security and resilience in our local food system.