![John Lee is general manager of Allandale Farm in Brookline. “I want people to wonder what [the farm] is doing next. I’m looking for new crops, new varieties of crops,’’ he says.](http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/07/27/1248740848_5766/539w.jpg "John Lee is general manager of Allandale Farm in Brookline. “I want people to wonder what [the farm] is doing next. I’m looking for new crops, new varieties of crops,’’ he says.")
John Lee is general manager of Allandale Farm in Brookline. “I want people to wonder what [the farm] is doing next. I’m looking for new crops, new varieties of crops,’’ he says.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
G FORCE | JOHN LEE
Farm fresh
John Lee is general manager of Allandale Farm in Brookline. “I want people to wonder what [the farm] is doing next. I’m looking for new crops, new varieties of crops,’’ he says.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
For 25 years, John Lee has been the gregarious, customer-oriented general manager of Allandale Farm, which straddles 130 acres in Boston and Brookline (30 acres are cultivated). Lee has eight field workers; eight more work the farmstand. Before the cold rainy spring, Lee decided to put in raised beds. “It turns out to be a fortuitous decision,’’ he says. “We haven’t had a spring like this in 15 years.’’ Corn was on time this year, says Lee, tomatoes a little late. “If we had two weeks of sun and 90-degree heat, I’d be miserable, but everything else would be good.’’ Hard to forecast whether the tomatoes or the farmer will win this one.
Q. Did you always plan to farm?
A. I grew up on a dairy farm in Vermont. It still exists without the dairy. One of my brothers raises beef. It’s in North Bridgewater, north of Woodstock.
Q. Then what?
A. I did graduate work in hydrology and soil science, and my background is in resource economics. I thought I was going to be a land use planner. I had one baby and one on the way. I said, “I have to get a job.’’ I bought a small farm in Vermont, but I had a hard time making a go. I was offered a job in Lincoln at Codman Farm. Came down and started running that. Bought Lawson’s in Lincoln, it was a cider-making business. I ran that for a few years. When they put the Jersey barrier on Route 2, I said it was time to stop doing that. It was a killer [very good] business. It was time to move on. The family who owned Allandale Farm was looking for someone to take over and make it a go. We made a one-year agreement. We said if it’s fun, we’ll keep going. We’ve not talked about it since.
Q. You were the first farmer to send me an e-mail to tell me what’s going on at the farm. Are you a computer geek?
A. I worked on a personal approach to outreach and marketing. I am a techno troglodyte.
Q. What things do you do to keep the farm fresh?
A. I have a low boredom threshold. I want people to wonder what Allandale Farm is doing next. I’m looking for new crops, new varieties of crops.
Q. Tell me something that’s new this year.
A. CSA [community supported agriculture]. This is new for us. One of the things we looked at was our off-farm marketing. We sell a fair amount of produce to Tony Russo [of A. Russo & Sons] and Whole Foods Markets. It got to the point where I needed to buy another truck and I was on the road all the time. The CSA was a natural fit for us. I can’t grow my retail, but I want new customers. We decided to have a 150-share CSA. I put it out on the e-mail and filled it within two weeks. I got my $100,000 in by the 15th of March instead of dribbling it in all summer. And I don’t have to drive around.
Q. What’s your favorite summer meal?
A. Tomatoes, eggplant, sweet corn. In an ideal world, I’d make a stew - a shellfish stew with grilled eggplant on the side and corn roasted in the husks on a wood-fired grill. I soak them, put them on a hot fire, cook them until the tips blacken and the inside is well steamed. They have a grilled charcoal flavor. Add butter and pepper and use the husks as your handle.
Q. What variety of corn?
A. I like small kernels, just as the color develops. Nothing that gets in your teeth.
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