Nate Detwiler
Farm Manager
Nate forged an agricultural vocation from childhood through his time at Ohio State University and 10 years of diverse farming experiences. Raised in Akron, his first experience of gardening was with a neighbor who grew vegetables in his double lot, using grass clippings as mulch. As he grew older, he worked at a truck farm near his childhood home and recalls harvesting cabbages and folding endless produce boxes. Through these formative experiences, he fell in love with growing food.
For Nate, regenerative agriculture goes beyond sustaining what is already present in an ecosystem. He strives to leave a place healthy and alive for all forms of life. He sees soil as not only the backbone of any operation or a medium for plants, but a relational living organism.
The vision that pulls him forward at Seminary Hill Farm and MTSO is “the openness and willingness to be contemplative about our values and to live by them.”
His favorite vegetable? Onions. “They’re ancient. Almost every culture has a form of onion, and in any place that people have lived, onions remained. And you can’t cook without them.”
Laura Ann Bergman
Coordinator of Volunteers, Interns and CSA
Laura Ann has spent much of her life with her hands in the soil, from childhood on a grain farm in Lorain County to farming with her husband in Delaware County for the last 20 years. Her fondest childhood memories revolve around food: from digging potatoes and learning how to pick sweet corn with her father to canning with her mother and siblings. Her two grown children also were also raised in the garden soil. She came to MTSO in 2021 as a Master of Divinity student and joined the Seminary Hill Farm staff in 2022 following a diverse career in agriculture, nonprofits and physical therapy.
For Laura, regenerative agriculture is stepping into relationship with the earth, cultivating awareness of the complex living system of which we are apart, and acting with deep respect and love: “The language of regeneration helps us to see with new eyes, to hold perpetual curiosity, and to honor the interconnections among all life. Seminary Hill Farm creates a space where we learn and practice this together, whether you are part of the farm team, a Community Supported Agriculture shareholder, a member of the MTSO community, or a volunteer.”
Her favorite vegetable? Spinach, specifically Bloomsdale, an heirloom variety. “My favorite meal is farm eggs on a bed of freshly steamed spinach – simple and nourishing.”