GARETH STACKE

Farm Manager, Brooklyn Navy Yard | he/him

Gareth is an experienced vegetable farmer with a passion for community organizing. Born in Santa Cruz, California, he was raised in the Bay Area before moving to Portland, Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark College, where he studied how the Black Power and Civil Rights movements shaped American History. From there, he dove straight into farming, beginning as an apprentice at Portland’s Zenger Farm, a 2.3 acre, sustainable vegetable farm. A quick and eager student, Gareth knew he would do well to farm at and learn from as many operations as he could, so he spent the next several years moving from Sauvie Island Organics, a 20-acre CSA farm to Our Table Cooperative, a 7-acre cooperatively owned and managed vegetable operation, ultimately returning to Zenger as co-manager in 2016. Between farming seasons, Gareth planted community orchards across the city through an organization called Portland Fruit Tree Project. All of this thoroughly amused his mother, given that Gareth vehemently hated vegetables as a child.

In April 2018, Gareth moved to NYC, drawn to the fast pace and diversity of the city. He spent his first year running a gardening program at Wyckoff House Museum, the oldest building in New York. Located in the primarily Caribbean neighborhood of East Flatbush, he loved the opportunity to grow crops like Pigeon Peas and Callaloo for the community. Gareth unwinds from his physically demanding job with more activity: hiking, riding his bike, playing soccer, and the rare still moment playing guitar or reading.