About us

- About Kitchawan Farm-

Our great-grandfather bought our land in 1908, and members of our extended family have lived here ever since! In the 1950‘s when he died, he made it possible for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to purchase 280 of the total 300 acres of land, to become their field research station and to be preserved. In the mid-1980‘s the BBG sold the land to Westchester County, and it became Kitchawan Preserve, which we’re very fortunate to be surrounded by on two sides of our property, thanks to the foresight of our great-grandfather. Our fields were first cleared for farming in the 1700‘s, and our soil is relatively free of rocks and wonderfully fertile from an ancient glacial silt deposit. Some of the buildings on the farm were built before the Revolutionary War. The Kitchawank of the Mohican tribe lived in this area, which is now the southern part of the Town of Yorktown (though our address is Ossining).

In 1979, the Cochran family moved to the farm where our father, Van, had grown up spending summers with his grandparents and aunts. We came to live and help our great-aunts care for the property, and so we were very fortunate to grow up here. In 2008 we started a horse-boarding business to help keep the farm in our family, and currently three generations live and work here. We board up to 10 horses and have a wonderful community of horse boarders. In 2008, we decided to invest in solar power for our farm, and we now have a beautiful array of grid-tied solar panels that provide us with renewable, clean energy. We incorporate sustainable technologies when possible, like the composting toilet in the barn’s bathroom, efficient on-demand hot water heaters in all our buildings, and a cart powered by its own solar panel on top that we use for daily work around the farm. We’re blessed to steward this special and historic piece of land, receive its many gifts, and call it home.

At our farm home, we get our energy from the SUN xoxo

We are stardust

Billion year old carbon

We are golden

Caught in the devil’s bargain

And we’ve got to get ourselves

Back to the Garden.

-Joni Mitchell

Hello from Linsay & Pogo-

I’m a plant lover, stream-of-consciousness gardener & student of flowers & herbs. My mother tells me how when I was in her belly, all she craved was fresh spinach, just whole bunches of it. I reckon that’s got something to do with how I came up gravitating towards green things... might even help explain my love of kale:)

Pogo was born here at the farm on Halloween 2009 & she’s my constant companion, bird-herder, snoopervisor & beloved beastie.

A fellow gardener once said “plants are easier to be with than people”, and I knew what she meant immediately. Plants are easy to be with, I’ve always felt. They’re forgiving, they tune you in to the great spiral. Of course the same can be said for animals. Which is perhaps why I spend so much of my time with plants and animals. I love people, too! What invigorates, inspires, and keeps me *in hope* is CONNECTION; how there is no separation between all these brilliant realms of our sacred home- earth, sky, water, plant, animal (us!)- and how by fostering the connection in myriad ways, moment by moment, we can live wholly, consciously and well.

I’m a native New Yorker, born in NYC... but going way back before that, my dad’s side of our family were all from Brooklyn, the Dutch Van Brunts having settled in New Amsterdam in the 1600‘s! I moved to the farm with my family at age 4, and we were fortunate to grow up in the gardens, fields and woods here, with assorted dogs, sheep, chickens & other great teachers.

I studied Biology with a concentration in Environmental Science at Colby College in Maine, a liberal arts background which I can see now was a foundation for all the many things I’ve done since. I spent 6 years learning and growing in the Pacific Northwest, a part of the planet that’s indelibly imprinted in my psyche and spirit--- times, places and folks for whom I’ll ever be grateful. I returned home to NY in the fall of 2005, and have been learning from and delighting in my garden, family and community since. I’ve been blessed beyond words to have the wise, compassionate companionship of my pups, Wylie & Pogo, who through the past 13 years have shared their lives with me and taught me about grace. I’m full of Gratitude for this Journey.

These are a few of my favorite things-

nasturtiums, clay, lavender, sun salutations, garlic, balsam fir, ravens & crows, brassicas, wool, swimming in the sea, trees, comfrey, Linnaea borealis, Orion, dogs, seaweed, thrush song, the Solstices, jasmine tea, worn fabric, lentils, flower faeries, wild blueberries, enamelware, hemp, fireflies, moon’s rhythm, hoodies, planting seeds, watermelon, sandalwood, watercolors, autumn, listening, morning & evening light, heart stones, moss, change, ginger, water droplets, kindred spirits, public radio, almonds, ducks & chickens, tracks in fresh snow, trains, olive oil, wise woman wisdom, hula hooping, music that gets under my skin, lycopodiums, hammocks, food co-ops, coconut, loons, working hands, sleep, lupines, sun’s rays, bare feet grounding, all those I love who have lit the way, community, gratitude, grace, stillness, spirals, seeking...

Om Namah Shivaya

Back to the Garden @ Kitchawan Farm

716 Kitchawan Rd. (= Route 134)

Ossining, NY 10562

(914) 941-0096/backtothegarden@kitchawanfarm.com