AHWAHNEE—How do ministry and microgreens go together? They don’t, at least in the case of Adam and Kristen McLane. Actually they’ve embarked on a new kind of ministry now—that of providing our mountain communities ready access to locally-grown, affordable produce.
Adam and Kristen met on a blind date in 1994. Adam grew up in South Bend, Indiana. Kristen went to high school in Philadelphia, and they met in Bible College in Chicago. After nearly 25 years in Christian ministry, they moved to California, where they determined to get a fresh start.
Actively Growing since 2009
They’ve been actively growing since 2009, first as backyard gardeners, then as full-fledged urban homesteaders. They transformed their city lot in San Diego into a fruit tree and vegetable backyard garden. In the front with a native plant garden.
Adam says,
“We were ‘those people’ who kept chickens and sold vegetable starts off our driveway and took out our grass lawn to grow gardens.”
Moved to Mariposa County in 2022
When they moved to Mariposa County in the spring of 2022, they visited the farmers market. They asked the Master Gardeners there, “What’s missing? What does this area need?” Without missing a beat they recommended growing nursery starts.
What the gardeners didn’t know—during the COVID lockdown Adam and Kristen sold many nursery starts off their driveway since local nurseries were closed. A local non-profit then asked them to produce thousands more nursery starts to be given away at food distribution sites in the city.
So that conversation with the Master Gardeners planted the proverbial seed, which later grew into The Farm at Worman Mill.
Began with Nursery Starts
They began with nursery starts. They had no intention to move beyond that at first, but a combination of life events and hearing from customers led them into growing microgreens and a market garden.
Marketing Their Products
The Farm at Worman Mill sells to a number of restaurants and local shops in Mariposa and Eastern Madera County. They also offer their products through Rooted Farmers Market Collective in Coarsegold as well as the Coulter Cafe in Coulterville.
Further, they currently work with Yosemite Unified School District and are in discussion with a few others. They proclaim themselves big fans of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Farm to School program and hope to help make school lunches yummier with locally- grown food from their farm.
Farm Stand for 2024
Adam and Kristen have opened a farm stand on their property this year so that folks living in Ahwahnee or who might otherwise want to drive up this way might have that opportunity. Since the farm is also their home, they do not open to the public. They ask, even when the farm stand is open, that visitors not wander the property for reasons of privacy, liability, and biosecurity. Adam says that a big part of selling healthy, delicious food to the community is making sure these things are taken seriously.
Produce Availability for 2024 Season
The Farm at Worman Mill currently offers 22 varieties of microgreens. In addition, they grow a wide array of popular seasonal vegetables like salad greens, kale, chard, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini . . . and more. They also sell farm-fresh eggs via some farmers markets, their farm stand and at Rooted. According to their Facebook page Summer Boxes chock-full of fresh eats are about three weeks out.
Contact for More Information
Check out The Farm at Worman Mill’s website, Facebook page and Instagram for up-to-the-minute product offerings, availability and events. You can also email Adam at Adam@farmatwormanmill.com.
Photos courtesy of The Farm at Worman Mill.
