Staff

Daniel Holmes

Caroline Fanning

Born and raised in Bay Shore, NY, Dan has been farming since 1999. He graduated from SUNY Stony Brook in 1998 and spent the next year as a plumbing apprentice in Bay Shore. In 1999, he moved upstate and worked at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, a 7-acre organic farm on the property of Vassar College. In 2003, he returned to Long Island to become the head grower of Sophia Garden, a 1.5-acre organic farm in Amityville. During his four-year tenure, Sophia Garden doubled in size. Dan also tends bar once a week, working alongside family and friends at the Southside Hotel in Bay Shore. Now he is eager to develop efficient systems at Restoration Farm and to help revive the economic viability of small-scale agriculture.

Caroline grew up in Amityville, NY, and was introduced to organic farming in the Hudson Valley. While attending Vassar College, she interned at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project in Poughkeepsie, the Common Ground Farm in Wappingers Falls, and the Creed Ankony Farm in Rhinebeck. After graduating in 2004, she worked for World Hunger Year, a New York City nonprofit addressing food and hunger issues. She joined Dan Holmes at Sophia Garden in 2006. Caroline hopes to establish a food rescue/gleaning program at Restoration Farm so that no food is wasted and so nearby food pantries and soup kitchens can access local produce.