Stick and Stone Farm

Stick and Stone Farm was founded in 1995 by Chaw Chang and his friends. They started a small market garden in Newfield, New York at Thor Oechsner’s farmstead, which is now one of the larger organic grain farms in the region. Initially, they sold at a number of farmers’ markets in the area, but it was challenging to make enough sales at the local markets to warrant the time spent harvesting and preparing. By 1998, Chaw was the sole operator, and started selling to local restaurants and grocery stores. In 2000, Lucy Garrison joined the farm, and in 2003, they relocated to the Town of Ulysses. At that point, the farm began wholesaling to local food distributors. In 2005, Chaw and Lucy helped start the Full Plate Farm Collective CSA in partnership with Remembrance Farm and what is now the Youth Farm. The Full Plate is a multi-farm CSA that serves 700 members in the summer and 350 shares in the winter. Lucy also helped Cooperative Extension start the Healthy Food For All Program, which subsidizes CSA shares for lower income people in the Tompkins County region.