Thistle Pass Farm is a local, woman-owned endeavor that has grown from passion and collaboration in Millerton.
In a quiet corner of Millerton, Thistle Pass Farm is a small but mighty affair. Led by owner Ellie Brown, who has been farming since 2017, the farm offers a variety of flowers, herbs, and vegetables, with a focus on growth and innovation.
Introduction to Farming
Brown did not always dream of pursuing agriculture. While she was aware of it during her childhood, she didn’t get a real taste for it until she was in college and felt the need for something different than the indoor environment she found in her arts degree.
Her first experience with farming came on a trip to Germany, during which time she worked on a farm. She was involved in a lot of labor at the farm, which she found motivating. She shares that her “brain lit up at these things, similarly to how it does when making art, and so I pursued outdoor labor.”
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It was in 2016, when Brown met Albany-based multidisciplinary artist Phoebe Rotter in Vermont, that her journey with farming really began to take off. The next year, Rotter helped Brown secure a position at Common Thread Farm in Madison, NY, and introduced her to family who helped support Brown that year.
As Brown describes it, that was the year that changed everything.
“While farming my first full season there in 2017, I felt like I had finally found what I loved to do,” she says.
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The Making of Thistle Pass Farm
With a new purpose in mind, Brown knew it was time to launch a venture of her own. In 2023, she debuted Thistle Pass Farm in the Hudson Valley. Thistle Pass got its name with help from Brown’s mom, who “sent me a card that reassured me that ‘this too shall pass.’”
The message was influential because “I really heard it. And it always stuck with me. Thistle Pass comes from that idea that all things will come and go,” she shares.
And, in a full-circle moment, it was Rotter who designed the logo for Thistle Pass Farm.
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Farm Operations
Working on a farm means that no two days look the same. Brown finds that “a typical day on the farm is a hard one to pin down. I still find myself ping-ponging around, watering this and weeding that, squishing bugs, or fixing a broken thing. If it’s a harvest day, that tends to be more structured: harvest, wash, pack, clean up, deliver, prep for market.”
Even seasonally, things will vary depending on whether she’s planning over the winter, greenhouse seeding in February for the annual plant sale, growing crops, or winding the land down in the fall.
On the farm, Brown and her team tend to grow a lot of greens and keep a flavor focus in mind. On top of that, Thistle Pass Farm will “keep in mind that it is important to select crops and make farm decisions based on being resilient and adaptable during climate change.”
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Thistle Pass sets itself apart in the way it approaches farming. Brown shares that the farm does hand-scaling with the intention of “keeping the soil structure intact, covers cropping to promote soil health, plants insectary rows to promote beneficial insects, and grows intentionally in order to keep the diversity thriving in our little ecosystem.”
The farm also receives input from Brown’s partner, Daniel Meissner. As the chef at Willa in Millerton, he collaborates on crop decisions and provides expertise on crops to help determine their culinary value.
At the end of the day, Thistle Pass Farm is all about trying new things. Whether Brown and Meissner are experimenting with crops or adapting with environmental changes, Brown notes that each day is filled with innovation — especially when it comes to lessons learned in the past.
“Each year I play around with the crop plan and I try not to make the same mistake two seasons in a row!” she shares.
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Supporting the Farm
In the future, Brown and Meissner have plans to expand the farm, with additional business ventures in mind.
In the meantime, Thistle Pass Farm can be found every Saturday in May through October from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Millerton Farmers Market.
Thistle Pass Farm
Millerton
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