Exceptional vegetables,
Grown with care for the land
About Our Farm
Pencil Hill Farm is a market garden in Wassaic, New York, producing vegetables, herbs, and wool products on beautiful farmland at the foothills of the Berkshires.
The farm includes our market garden, pasture for a small flock of fiber sheep, extensive habitat for wildlife and pollinators, and a mature five-acre black walnut grove. We are establishing the farm in fall 2026, with our first full growing season beginning in spring 2027.
How We Farm
We believe a productive farm can also be a place where plants, pollinators, wildlife, and people thrive together.
In the market garden, we grow in permanent beds and disturb the soil as little as practical. A handful of healthy soil contains billions of living organisms that work together to create the conditions in which plants can thrive. Frequent tillage can disrupt that living community and the soil structure it helps create. That’s why we use permanent beds and disturb the soil only when truly necessary.
Recognizing the importance of soil brimming with life, we use compost and cover crops to feed and protect the soil that feeds us. We rotate crops and grow a wide variety of vegetables throughout the season, as diversity in crops feeds diversity in the soil. These practices help us build fertile soil rather than simply replacing what each crop takes from it.
This approach extends beyond the vegetable beds. Our sheep graze the farm’s pastures, where they help return nutrients to the land. We also maintain areas of the farm as habitat for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.
For us, ecological farming is not a particular label or a single growing technique. It means paying attention to how all of these pieces fit together and trying, year by year, to grow good food while making the farm healthier and more resilient. We are grateful to care for this land, and to share its abundance with you.
What We Grow
We grow a diverse mix of vegetables and herbs throughout the season, with an emphasis on exceptional flavor, freshness, and nutritional quality.
Our harvest changes with the seasons. Spring brings tender greens, lettuces, radishes, peas, herbs, and other cool-weather crops. Summer adds tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, beans, summer squash, carrots, beets, and other favorites. As the weather cools, we return to abundant greens alongside roots, brassicas, winter squash, and other fall crops.
We grow some crops intensively throughout the season, while others appear for just a few weeks each year. The result is a changing harvest that reflects both the season and the diversity of the farm.
Where to Find Our Produce
Beginning with our first full season in 2027, Pencil Hill vegetables will be available through our CSA, at select farmers markets, and through a small number of restaurant and wholesale partners.
Our CSA will offer members a regular share of the farm’s harvest throughout the growing season. We are developing pickup options in New York City and the Hudson Valley, with more information about membership, pricing, and locations coming this winter.
Sign up for farm updates to be the first to know when CSA enrollment opens and where to find us at market.
About the Farmer
Pencil Hill Farm was founded by William Ahee, whose prior farming experience ranges from large-scale vegetable production in the Hudson Valley to urban agriculture projects in Detroit, along with shorter periods growing tea in Hawaiʻi and grains and fruit in Tamil Nadu, India.
William also works as an appellate public defender. He designed Pencil Hill Farm as an intensive, ecologically focused operation built to produce high-quality food and fiber efficiently on a modest footprint. He sees the farm as an extension of a broader commitment to supporting his local community and helping create the conditions for healthy, joyful lives.
The farm also benefits from the volunteered labor of William’s partner, Ming, along with a generous group of friends and family. William and Ming’s three cats — Toothless, Katya, and Lucy — contribute less to farm labor, but provide a reliable supply of love and chaos.