Tri Gable-Lea Farm

A long-term goal is to provide a 4-season educational farm with an uninterrupted growing season. In 2018, we started offering on-site workshops in organic gardening, 4 season gardening, seed starting, beekeeping, and growing shiitake and oyster mushrooms. We'd like to grow healthy, nutritious, local food year-round on lands that are managed responsibly and ethically for future generations of farmers and consumers. ABOUT US Tri Gable Lea Farm is a family owned farm off the homestead of Mark Gostkiewicz & Naomi Niemann, located next to the Wasnewski family farm on Marvin Road. It's an honor to help manage sacred family land. Mark's grandfather Stephan fled German occupied Poland and met his future wife Stella on the Wasnewski farm. Over the years, Mark's father, Ron had acquired a building lot from his uncle Ira Wasnewski. The lot remained a hayfield for decades until Mark and Naomi decided to build their home there. Mark's first real job was working for Donald Henry or Highland Thistle Farm in Canterbury, CT. This is a certified organic farm where Mark learned many details a philosophies about sustainable practices and caring for farmland through wholistic management. Later, Mark worked in the greenhouses and fields of Hart's Greenhouses in Canterbury, CT. Dave and Joyce Hart were role models of running an successful farm business; and their success remain with Mark as inspiration to this day. Mark and Naomi have have been together since high school. They both pursued careers as middle school educators in special education and mathematics, respectively. We started working the land for our own garden back in 2008, when we moved to Marvin Road. In the spring of 2013, Mark's cousin David Wasnewski tilled up the first market garden, and in the fall we started our first trial CSA. We made enough money to cover our expenses for the year, and were encouraged to keep at it. Since then, we've offered CSA shares for the spring, summer, and fall seasons. In the spring of 2014, Mark and his friend and co-worker John Woitovich started a school farm/garden program where they work. They are motivated to teach their students about natural processes, organic and sustainable practices, homesteading, and how to care for a plant from seed to plate. In 2016, we diversified our business into three new areas. Plant propagation, mushroom farming, and beekeeping as part of our goal to establish a robust homestead that supports it's community in diverse ways. This was also a year for us to start using this site as a way to improve the marketing of our products and services. We are keeping our future open. However, we'd like to start offering classes and start to transform this homestead into an agricultural education center for home gardeners, homesteaders, children/families, and market gardeners. NEW in 2018: This is the year of education! We are not offering a CSA, instead we're offering workshops!