Urban agriculture was one of the earliest inspirations and passions that helped to steer Dorothy from a career in architecture and design to a career in food. We never cease to be excited about the establishment of another resource for growing food (and thereby restoring the planet) no matter how small the plot. Ben's company, HomeHarvest designs, builds and maintains high-yielding and beautiful edible gardens in and around Boston. As usual, we're jealous of his neighbors, and anyone else who has the opportunity to benefit from his skills.

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

Growing up, I worked on a local vegetable farm and loved the challenging physical labor. My boss at the time, Dennis Busa, was a great mentor to me and taught me how to run his farm. After finishing high school, I didn't know what I wanted to study so I took four years off and decided to travel the world. I worked on over 30 organic farms in Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. Inspired by meeting so many awesome people and working on a wide variety of projects, I thought about starting an edible gardening company back in Boston. My first summer back from traveling I started HomeHarvest and immediately noticed the demand. Something clicked in me and I knew what I wanted to do.

I put up one flier and got my first client that first day. I only had a bike and hauled around tools and plants on a trailer. Now we have five employees, a dump truck and hundreds of edible gardens to proudly stand behind. I feel grateful for everyone who has helped me realize my dreams and I can't wait to see what exciting projects come next.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

During the first four years of being in business, I traveled in the off-season and managed the growth of HomeHarvest during the growing season. While traveling, everyone I met was like a teacher to me and I'm so grateful that people were willing to share their farming wisdom. It seemed like everyone wanted to see HomeHarvest succeed. I tested out ideas on various farms in New Zealand and Australia and applied everything I was learning to my growing company back in Boston.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?

Being only 23, I'm really fortunate to know exactly what I want to do with my life and achieving my goals can be challenging at times. I don't have a business or marketing background and currently employing four people is difficult, as I'm also finishing my degree in Sustainable Food and Farming. I keep reminding myself that if it were easy to run a successful company, everybody would do it. If being an entrepreneur and figuring out all the logistics were easy, everyone would do it. It's always easier to work for someone else and I sometimes miss the simplicity of working on a farm and being responsible for completing just one task. When managing HomeHarvest, I'm responsible for many tasks all the time and the work never feels done. I have an awesome, professional, knowledgeable and positive team of helpers and we are so motivated and ready to tackle any job. With Adam, Cody, Abigail and Ileana by my side I feel ready for anything and our enthusiasm and positivity is contagious.

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

Maybe I'm a little biased because I run an organic edible gardening company, but I really think the greatest opportunities in food right now have to do with localized, bio-diverse edible gardens in cities.  I think it's important to be in touch with where our food comes from and when you're growing it on your own property, a crucial connection to nature is revitalized every time you harvest your own dinner. So much organic and nutrient-dense food can be grown in a relatively small space. When you have your own edible garden, everything you harvest replaces energy spent in unsustainable ways, and this is absolutely something to be proud of.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

This is an interesting question. Bartering seems to be a reemerging phenomena and this trading of services can create a wonderful sense of community. Growing food is one of the most essential things that we need to live and as long as I have shelter, clean water and access to quality food, I think I can be happy anywhere.

Seeing our customers and their children smiling while harvesting cherry tomatoes and strawberries is a form of payment in itself. My team and I get such immense satisfaction transforming lawns into edible gardens.