Quail Hill Farm | Meet Your Farmer | Alex Kamper

Quail Hill Farm Apprentice

Hello, supporters of the Peconic Land Trust!  

My name is Alexander Kamper and I am just now rounding off my third and, for the foreseeable future, last summer working at Quail Hill Farm.  

This past June, I graduated from Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, and come August’s end I will matriculate into the class of 2021 at Brown University.  

Although its maverick to substitute a farewell for an introduction, I am happy to finally address the mass whose collaborative effort birthed and sustains the land trust. The existence of the Peconic Land Trust and Quail Hill Farm has afforded me an ongoing experience which throughout high school dramatically informed my personal ideology and provided me a deep acquaintance with the microcosm of organic farming.

I am fortunate not only for the knowledge pertinent to farming which has been imparted to me by Layton, Scott, and the crews of people I have worked with, but also for the unique opportunity to work deeply and diligently alongside a rotating cast of individuals. Since 2015, I have worked with three different groups of apprentices, all of whom have had varying goals, educational backgrounds, histories of doing farm work, and who inhabited their own personal worlds distinct from myself and each other.  

Working alongside them has always involved a process of introduction shaped, I imagine, by our collective efforts and the melting power of the July sun. To have met so many people united in their dedication to improving the world through ameliorating our socially and environmentally destructive food system not only bolstered my dedication to doing so, but has matured my evaluation of the approach.

I would like to thank Layton, Scott, and all of the apprentices I’ve been fortunate to work alongside for enriching me with your knowledge, care, and commitment to positive global change.

I would also like to thank Rye the Dog for his chicken-rallying capabilities and his eternal willingness to lend them, Dumpy the Dump Truck, Devandra Vanhart, and all the other farm vehicles for the blissful rides back to the shop for lunch, Rhubarb the Cat for his grating but lovable duplicity, Bella the Dog for finally warming up to me, and the Chickens, for your eggs, your beauty, and also one of the grossest jobs on the farm.

I also want to thank everyone at the Peconic Land Trust office, and all who support the Land Trust and Quail Hill Farm. Goodbye!

From all of us at Quail Hill Farm and Peconic Land Trust, we wish Alex the best of everything as he sets off on his next adventure!