Rob grew up the farm when it was a dairy farm. He milked the cows before and after school. He studied Animal Science at UConn where he met Jodi. After college, he turned the diary farm into a produce farm. He loves sweet corn and fishing is his second favorite hobby.
Rob
Jodi, the Head of Administration for the farm, studied Business at UConn, where she first met Rob. Now, she and Samantha manage all the sales at the farmers markets. She handles all the administration tasks, payroll, and customer support. She enjoys reading and going on daily walks.
Jodi
Samantha has been farming since high school. She works full-time as the Head of Produce. During the winter, she helps with the firewood and hay orders. She is a true crime podcast lover and she loves planting produce that people haven't tried before.
Samantha
Meet The Mitchells
Dennis is in charge of mowing the hay, delivering corn and firewood, and is the go-to tractor operator. Like Samantha, he has been working on the farm since high school. His favorite hobbies are discovering new music and watching documentaries.
DENNIS
John is the handyman around the farm. He helps with tractor maintenance and running the chainsaw. He loves caring for the chickens. This year he starting taking responsibility for planting the sweet corn. When he isn't working, he likes to watch old movies and go fishing.
JOHN
Matt started working here during his college summer breaks. He shares responsibility for deliveries with Dennis. He is learning how to bale the hay from Rob. His favorite hobby is watching the Eagles play football. He loves farming because everyday is different.
MATT
GROWING FAMILY
September, 1991 saw the birth of Rob and Jodi's first child, Samantha. Jodi brought her baby daughter with her to the farm stand every day the following year. By that time, Samantha was walking. It would be the last summer Jodi worked the farm stand. As the family continued to grow, Jodi took on the farmer market sales position (with the kids in tow, when necessary), the bookkeeping responsibilities and managed the business.
Samantha, 30, graduated UCONN with a double major, is a licensed elementary school teacher, and has worked full-time on the farm since 2018. “She's a grower, she loves planting and harvesting the vegetables," Jodi beamed. She also manages the social media for Mitchell Farm. She taught at St. Joseph's in Brookfield but moved on a year before the school permanently closed. As a teacher, Samantha had summer's "free" to work with her mom and during the winters started a project which she's turned into a "side. hustle," an online clothing business where she sells vintage clothing.
Allison, 27, also graduated from UCONN with a B.S. in Biology and went on to earn her Master's degree in Epidemiology. She is currently a Research Project Manager at Drexel University in Philadelphia. A gymnast since her youth, Allison continued gymnastics with UCONN Club team for enjoyment. She enjoys the city life in Philly where she resides, “love the energy." Every couple of months she'll come home to the farm to visit or family members will make the road trip to visit her.
Dennis, 24, after attending Central CT State University, made the decision farming is his career and works full-time on the farm with Rob. He played sports all through his youth including, baseball, basketball, and soccer on various town teams. Plus, he was a member of the PHS Soccer team his senior year. Dennis was also on the State Championship team that went to the Babe Ruth World Series in 2014 in Utah.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
We enjoyed raising our family in Southbury. We spent many years shuffling the kids around to soccer, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, tennis, Girl Scouts, Sunday School and church events. We walked together in Hunger Walks, marched in the Memorial Day parade, met our friends at Ballantine, and Settlers Park to play. Jodi had what seemed like a random thought but felt it was important not to share. "Samantha posted on Facebook for Father's Day one year that Rob works 364 days a year, (minus Christmas) and that's pretty accurate." He's kind of an unsung hero. "When he does take time-off he likes to fish and hunt.” What only some may know about Rob is he was also an accomplished athlete in his hay day, successfully competing for Pomperaug High School on their football, baseball and wrestling teams.
The Mitchells take pride in everything they do, every endeavor they undertake. For them, it isn't just about the final outcome but about the hard work that goes into pursuing the goal. As a family, they are always looking to the horizon, to expand the vision. They proudly grow everything they sell at their farm stand and bring to farmers' markets (Southbury, Danbury, and Brookfield). And they are equally passionate about the community they have long been a part of. It may not always be easy being farmers but they wouldn't have it any other way.
(Source: D.Noel Southbury Neighbors September 2021 Issue)
Growing up on the 500-acre family farm, established in 1759, Rob Mitchell is an 8th generation owner/operator, along with his wife, Jodi, originally from Stamford. Two of their four children, Dennis and Samantha, work full-time alongside their parents, as does Rob's nephew (his brother's son), Emmett, extending the family legacy to nine generations.
COLLEGE SWEETHEARTS
Jodi and Rob met on campus in 1982 while attending UCONN. She was a freshman pursuing her degree in Marketing and Rob was a junior studying Animal Science. Rob completed his degree and graduated in 1984 and immediately invested in a huge white barn. In it he constructed a state-of- the-art dairy barn, carrying on the tradition of his father and grandfather. Rob sold milk to at the time well-known regional distributor, Marcus Dairy. Jodi went on to earn her BS in Marketing, later returning to school to become a preschool teacher, and is currently a substitute paraprofessional in Region 15, providing the necessary flexibility to work around her farm duties.
