Staff

Joshua J Trought (Executive Director) is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder. While at the University he participated in School Year Abroad in Spain studying Spanish & European Economics. The program provided not only an opportunity to perfect basic Spanish but also an opportunity to travel Europe and North Africa. In addition, he worked at Campus Recycling Center in Boulder, which provided an in-depth experience that illuminated the realities of large scale recycling. Josh worked at a Health Clinic for Marginalized Peoples in Boulder, where he served as a nurse’s aid to translate and record vital signs for predominantly Spanish speaking patients. He was an Intern for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder acting as a research assistant in a project that measured high atmospheric levels of Methyl Bromide and other greenhouse related gases. During the summer of 1992, he served as an intern at the National Park Tapanti in Costa Rica analyzing species diversity and assisting in day to day duties of park rangers.

After receiving his B.S. in environmental studies, Josh spent several years interning and volunteering in various environmental and agriculture projects. These included participating in the Solar Energy International summer intern training programs in Colorado, building a straw bale house in the Pacific Northwest, building a timber home with locally forested materials in Wyoming, post-hurricane reconstruction of homes on St John, USVI, and farming on several organic farms and experiencing sustainable communities in the US and South America. As a self-directed learner, Josh has acquired knowledge and skill in environmentally sensitive construction and agriculture.

Involved in many community service activities, Josh received the Dorchester Citizen of the Year award in 2003. Josh currently serves on the Dorchester Conservation Commission and as the Dorchester representative and Treasurer of the Pemi Valley Solid Waste Council. In 2006, Josh was recognized as a leader in his community by the Union Leader in their "40 under 40" award program.

Josh’s avocation is woodworking and he is a member of several NH Artists’ Groups including Artistic Roots, an Artists Cooperative in Campton, NH, and is the president of the Cardigan Mountain Art Association located in the Mascoma Valley. He is a juried member of the League of NH Crafters in woodworking.

Over the last ten years, he has developed and implemented the vision of D Acres of New Hampshire, committed to educating others in environmental stewardship of land and forests within a framework of community shared decision-making. Josh’s commitment to social justice and sustainable living has led to his ongoing efforts to share his knowledge and skill in underserved areas such as South America. He spent the winters of 2001 and 2002 volunteering with an NGO, "La Caravana Arcoiris Por La Paz," promoting the importance of peace and connection to the earth. In the summer of 2008, Josh worked as an intern for the Bread & Puppet Theater in Glover, VT.

Regina Rinaldo (Kitchen Manager & Fiber Arts Coordinator) Regina arrived at D Acres on a rainy day the second weekend of September 2008. It was the day before the 2008 Health and Wellness Conference—a celebration of living healthfully and with sustainability in mind. She jumped right into work, cooking the final meal for 70 or so conference participants. It was the best way to get to know the other residents and the layout of the kitchen.

Regina has always had a love for food, but it wasn’t until her junior year at Houghton College in western New York that she understood the joys of preparing food and sharing it with others. That year was spent living in Walldorf House, an all women humanities house. Living in this community with thirteen other women, cooking, studying, laughing, and making decisions together allowed Regina to develop a new sense of how to live in the world. This year impacted her life, subsequently effecting future life choices (living arrangements, job/work choices, eating lifestyle, consumer choices).

Regina graduated in 2003 with a B.A. after majoring in both Writing and English; she has a minor in Biblical Studies. These studies have given her the tools to think critically and express her self in various ways, specifically through writing. Regina keeps a daily journal of her life’s adventures, a practice she has developed since she was a teenager. She regards writing as a discipline, and uses it as a means of processing her thoughts and recording significant happenings. She has hopes of publishing other creative writing, but is currently happy to focus her writing energy on maintaining this daily diary.

After college, Regina embarked on a great trek across the country to explore the Northwestern United States for the first time. Her travels took her as far as Fairbanks, Alaska where she spent two months exploring the wild frontier. She almost stayed, but decided to return to the Northeast, closer to her family. Her brother Chris encouraged her to take a position as an Instructor for the School Program at Sargent Center for Outdoor Education in Hancock, NH where he had been working for those past three years. This position began her residency in New Hampshire. She spent a full academic year living and working at the camp: teaching various ecology lessons, wilderness skills, team-building, and just general fun to groups of young kids between grades 4-8.

It was wonderful living so closely to her brother, and learning outdoor living skills and community building techniques, but Regina was being pulled to another outdoor skill—organic farming. This building interest brought her to The Daloz Mill and Farm, a small CSA and market farm in Hancock, NH. She spent a summer as a farm intern, developing her weeding, harvesting, seed planting, and culinary skills. Regina perfected her Radish Salsa recipe and concluded that growing food organically and sustainably is vital to maintaining a local community.

As the season came to an end, Regina wanted more—more farming, more food, more homesteading skills, and more education. She was interested in combining education with farming, and was fortunate enough to find an immediate position at a small Quaker-based boarding school, The Meeting School (www.themeetingschool.org). This position allowed her to remain in the Monadnock Region, as well as develop teaching skills. During her three years at the school, she held many responsibilities: houseparent, kitchen coordinator, writing/fiber arts/literature teacher, milker, plus many other community tasks and duties. The school cared for their own flock of sheep, which they bred for the meat and the fleece. Regina learned to clean, card, and spin this fleece into yarn, which she then used in crochet projects. This experience began an involved interest in Fiber Arts, specifically weaving.

After leaving The Meeting School in June 2007, developing this Craft and Art skill became important to Regina’s next steps in life. She attended a weaving concentration course at Penland School of Crafts for two months in the Fall of 2007. This class solidified Regina’s love for weaving and gave her the confidence to continue this craft as a lifelong Art. Regina endured a mentally involved Winter and Spring of quiet and reflection, some farming and weaving, after which she joined The Bread and Puppet Theater (www.breadandpuppet.org) in June 2008 where she was an apprentice and volunteer. She continues to volunteer with the theater and hopes to return to help with as many performances as she can. This is where she met Josh Trought, who made a welcoming invitation to join the D Acres community.

Her journey to D Acres has been winding, but her cumulative experiences in farming, cooking, art, and community have prepared her mind, body, and spirit for the work she is now enjoying.

Bethann Weick (Farm Staff & Board Secretary) As the daughter of a farrier and a gardener who grew up in Kintnersville, PA, she learned that growing food and working hard was par for the course. Beth attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where she graduated salutatorian with a BA in Latin American Studies and Social Geography. Fluent in Spanish, she studied and worked in the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Mexico during her collegiate years. In the D.R., she spent six months studying social & political history, as well as community development while working for a small non-profit doing micro-credit/small business education. A year later Beth traveled to Peru, where she pursued themes of sustainable development, both taking university classes as well as working with highland communities installing irrigation systems. A month in Mexico was focused on archeoastronomy research and cultural history. These experiences enhanced Beth’s understanding of global social issues and the attendant economic inequities, and ultimately led her to focus on land-based, agricultural efforts of rural development within her own community.

Between her time abroad and semesters at college, Beth spent summers working for the Appalachian Mountain Club’s White Mountain Huts in northern New Hampshire. The work was lucrative in experiences and challenges, and she continued to pursue backcountry work post-graduation. It was rugged, involving search & rescues and the packing of hundreds of pounds of supplies each week to maintain the recreationists passing through the mountains. The fragile ecosystems and dramatic weather atop New England’s highest peaks further developed her love for the northcountry climate and landscape. These experiences influenced Beth’s concept of stewardship and land-based care, and imparted a love of simple living influenced by weather and seasonal changes. Ultimately she worked nine seasons for the AMC – five summers, one fall, two winters, and one spring. This grounded her in a northcountry community.

Beth first came to D Acres as an intern in April 2008, ready to entwine her agricultural convictions with her love of the northcountry. After two seasonal stints at the farm, and a summer spent hiking the Appalachian Trail with her mother, she returned to D Acres as a full time resident in August 2009. While she engages in a variety of farm operations, her focuses include gardening, animal husbandry, educational & community outreach, and writing. Beth is invigorated and enthused to be a part of the process towards local food, vibrant community, and thriving small-scale agriculture.

Scott Codey is the D Acres bread baker and the one principally responsible for flour being absolutely everywhere on Wednesday nights.

Prior to arriving at D Acres, Scott was Director of Advocacy at Citizens Committee for New York City, an organization that supports community organizing and activism in New York City. He was also a co-founder of the New York City Fair Trade Coalition, an all-volunteer grassroots organization dedicated to raising public awareness and increasing demand for Fair Trade products. Scott also worked at the International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights) in Washington DC and ran a public education campaign for TransFair USA (now Fair Trade USA). Scott currently serves as board chair of the Fair Trade Resource Network.

Ronda began working for Malone, Dirubbo & Company, P.C. in September 1989. She has been working in the public accounting profession since 1984. Since she was certified by the New Hampshire Board of Accountancy in February 1989, she has concentrated her professional growth and technical proficiency in areas that are beneficial to small and medium size businesses. Ronda currently serves on the Grafton County Economic Development Council as well as the New England Peer Review Board.

Robert "Bob" Richer Bob has spent all his adult life as a teacher. In the early 1970s he taught field communications as a lieutenant in the Army and did drug and alcohol counseling in Vietnam with the Signal Corps. During the 1980s he accepted a position as an organizational development consultant for the Army creating courses in Leadership Transition Management, Stress and Crisis Management, and Career Development. From the early 1990s until his retirement in 2006 he managed the careers of over 600 scientists and engineers in an Army research and development organization.

Although he has been a vegetable grower most of his life and is a UNH certified Master Gardener, his current focus is on Forest Gardening. Bob and wife, Celine, have been members of D Acres since 2004. Following Bob's retirement they moved to Groton in July 2006.

Kayla Dauphine Kayla Dauphine has been folk/circle dancing since 1995. She has attended numerous dance workshops and week long dance camps to study with teachers from Europe, South America, and the United States. She has led dance circles in Plymouth, Wentworth and Franconia, and presented circle dance programs to senior centers, women’s groups and schools. Her passion is gypsy dancing and teaching beginners. She is currently Program Director for Neskaya Movement Arts Center in Franconia, NH.

Mark Fulford Mark Fulford is a well-known, independent farm consultant and educator whose range of topics and expertise encompasses transitioning from conventional to organic and biological agriculture, soil, crop, and forage nutrition, and preparing agriculture for peak oil, climate change and economic drift. He also teaches non-electric water technologies, hands-on skills in organic orcharding, organic no-till crop production, commercial and small scale composting, and fundamental rural skills and small farm food preservation.
Mark Fulford addresses audiences from a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies embracing common sense, science, and cultural wisdom for the times we live in. His lifelong study of the natural world and immersion in agriculture on his own farm and abroad grounds his practices in experience. Mark and Paula Fulford operate Teltane Farm in Monroe, Maine.

Gayle Hannan Gayle Hannan is a Reiki Master and graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. In 2005 she attended The Energy Touch School where she learned advanced holographic energy healing techniques. Gayle has a B.S. from Northeastern University and has worked in the Real Estate industry in various capacities for the better part of 25 years. Since 2000 she has developed Hannan Healing Arts, an energy healing practice in Campton, New Hampshire. She works with people, animals and the earth. Much of her interest includes raising consciousness awareness of energy medicine, as well as teaching and helping others to experience the healing effects of Energy Medicine, which integrates the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual components of Human Energy Field (aura).

Terry Anya Hayes Terry-Anya is a Maine-based writer, herbalist and educator, whose past lives have included lengthy sidebars in New York City, Morocco and the American Southwest. She raised her three daughters as a single parent and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1984 with a fistful of honors and a degree in Film. She is an award-winning poet and writes frequently on health issues. Terry-Anya’s core herbal teachers remain Rosemary Gladstar and Peeka Trenkle; she studies whenever possible with other luminaries of contemporary herbalism.

From childhood, poetry, plants, reverence for the earth, and the desire to heal have been central to Terry-Anya’s life. In addition to annual workshops at D Acres, she teaches ethical wildcrafting and plant and mushroom identification wherever the herbs and fungi beckon, leads popular classes on herbal medicine making and managing health with medicinal mushrooms at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan, and since 1988 has taught for a week each summer at the International Women’s Writing Guild conference at Skidmore College. She was co-director of Poets Union in Brooklyn, New York for over a decade and is a past president of the New York Mycological Society.

Ivy Page is a poet whose poetry has been described by Ross Gay as, "passionate, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious poems, (which) always have a deep and generous intelligence." She lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her husband and two daughters. Her love of poetry stemmed from listening to her Grandmother reading poetry aloud to her as a child. She graduated from Plymouth State University with a BA in English, and graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing in 2009.

Her work has appeared in journals nationally, and her first book Any Other Branch, will be available through Salmon Poetry of Ireland in March 2012. Her second book, Elemental, will be out with Salmon Poetry in 2014. She is the editor and founder of Organs of Vision and Speech Magazine. Ivy believes that poetry needs to be heard, so she runs two open mics for poets in New Hampshire.

Darcie Shedd has been a popular Yoga and Fitness Instructor in New England for over 12 Years. Darcie is currently pursuing the intense certification of Anusara Yoga with Sara Rose in Northamption Massachusetts. Darcie is also a Massage Therapist, Thai Yoga Body Worker, Reiki Master, AEA Certified Aquatic Personal Trainer and Excercise Instructor. Darcies' classes have variety but, stick to the principles of Anusara Yoga.

Louise Turner Louise Turner has a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy with over 30 years of experience in hospital, home care, transitional care, and nursing home settings. With her medical background she has a deep understanding of current medical and health issues that our society is experiencing. Her interests in nutrition and herbal medicine complement and broaden her medical background. She is a Chapter Leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation, which supports the restoration of nutrient-dense whole foods to the American diet along with the necessary food preparation and preservation techniques.

Louise has shared her knowledge about food preservation techniques at D Acres and recently led a workshop on Sauerkraut-Making. In the future she plans on contributing additional workshops that incorporate preparation of fermented fruits and vegetables, raw milk and dairy products, meat stock and broth, and nuts and grains.

Beverly Walker Beverly Walker is a member of the NH Artists Association. Having studied with numerous teachers over the years, Walker’s most recent studies have been at The Studio School in Nashua in master classes with painter James Aponovich. She received her AA degree in Studio Art from Rivier College in Nashua. She has also participated in studies at the Art Institute of NH and the Currier School in Manchester. For over two years she was a juried member of Artistic Roots Gallery and Teaching Center in Campton, NH, and has also exhibited at galleries in the lakes region, and in juried shows throughout the state including the League of NH Craftsmen/NHAA joint show in Concord in 2004.

At present she is teaching at D Acres focusing on the fundamentals of drawing, to help students gain a strong foundation for all art work-realistic to imaginative and abstract.

Beverly lives with her husband Gary in Wentworth where she maintains her studio, “Fox Haven,” and continues to explore line, color and space, as well as collage and making books.

David Wichland, Wichland Woods Wichland Woods is a unique local myco-business located in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. By educating the public about mycology, we strive to promote people’s awareness about the health and ecological benefits of mushrooms. Through various workshops, Wichland Woods encourages people to expand their gardening realm into a mycological-friendly landscape. We educate the public on the techniques of “backyard mushrooming” and how everyday resources can be used to cultivate their own mycelia network. We create over a dozen local strains of mushrooms, which are carefully expanded using sterile techniques. We have trained under Paul Stamets of Fungi Perfecti and have spent 8 years studying and experimenting with growing mushroom in a plethora of different indoor and outdoor mediums.