2025 Root 5 Farm Crew

Danielle Allen
Farm Owner

Vivacious in heart,
she fearlessly leads the way
partially in French.

Benner Dana
Farm Owner

His love for what's odd
nurtures alongside the plants
abundant laughter.

Meg Deschamps
Field and Greenhouse Manager

With wit and humor,
she loves deeply all that's green
and covered in cheese.
​

Timothy Unger
Full-time Vegetable Production Crew

He bends metal and sparks,
chasing limits with each twist,
peppers fuel his fire.

Cindy Ross
Head Fermentista

She can take the heat
and with her own punk-rock flair,
shares her potent gifts.

Adam Gelroth
Full-time Vegetable Production Crew
​
​Hands plant, juggle, spin,
gardens bloom beneath his feet,
chickens cluck their song.

Holly Unger
CSA Coordinator & Office Assistant

Beets in every form,
harvested with care, she guides
each share to its home.​

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Ben and Danielle, Root 5 Farm owners, have both been farming organic vegetables since 2001. They found their separate ways to the University of Vermont in the late 90’s where Ben studied forestry and Danielle majored in political science. They didn’t meet until years later when they both independently came upon a love of farming.

Ben got his start on a blueberry farm in Maine and then returned to Burlington, Vermont, to help start Arethusa Farm at the Intervale in 2001. Eventually Ben and Danielle crossed paths when Danielle began working at the Intervale Community Farm in 2003, just down the road from Arethusa. Danielle was intrigued by Ben’s unusual hat collection, Ben thought Danielle had a nice smile, and the rest is history.

Danielle gained valuable experience working at four different organic vegetable farms in the Burlington area. In 2006 she took a year off from farming to study Landscape Design at the Conway School, and shortly after joined Ben and Thomas to help manage Arethusa Farm. Ben and Danielle were married in 2009. After working together to run Arethusa Farm for four years, they became interested in a longer-term investment in the land, and started a search for a farm to make their home.

A devastating flood at Arethusa Farm caused by Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011 intensified Ben and Danielle’s search for new farm land, and they were lucky to find and purchase Your Farm, from Kevin and Laura Channel, in March of 2013. They moved to Fairlee just in time to get started seeding in the greenhouse and working the land for the 2013 season. In 2015, Ben and Danielle re-named the farm to Root 5 Farm.

In 2018, Ben & Danielle welcomed a new member to their Root 5 Farm family, adopting Garhett when he was a wee 2 years old. Always eager to help out and learn to use tools, "G" has grown up digging in the vegetable fields and greenhouses, riding bikes under foot around the wash station, and fixing things in the workshop with his dad. Garhett always cracks up the farm crew when he chows down on freshly dug radishes and turnips, and eats kale right off the plant like he's a woodchuck.

Overall, Ben, Danielle, & Garhett are grateful to be farming the rich soil of the Connecticut River Valley and to be part of a community that supports organic farming. 

"Never before in my life have I felt that I'm truly supporting and supported by the community around me." 

M. Bookless, Root 5 Crew since 2021