Cider Hill Management

Gail Farmer
Grigore Chitas
Pieter Frick
Marin Chitas
Matt Dustin
Nicolae Chitas

Gail Farmer

Gail took over Karen’s position as store manager over 15 years ago, and has done a fabulous job. She is in complete control of all the buying for the farm store and seems to have a sixth sense for what customers are looking for. Gail also manages all in-store labor, which, believe me, is quite a challenge when we get to those hectic days in September and October when we need all hands on deck. Gail always sets the example on what a great worker looks like through her own work ethic, and has the respect of everyone who is fortunate enough to be around her.

Grigore Chitas

Grigore came to us from a small village in Romania 18 years ago as an intern and could barely speak a word of English. Through his hard work and instinctive knowledge for growing plants, Grigore has earned his position as Farm Manager. This is no small task as Cider Hill Farm is well known to be one of the most diverse farms in our state. He is serious and fun loving at the same time, and like Gail, has earned high regards from his crew. At peak season, his crew grows to about 12 workers who must plant, manage, harvest and pack just about every fruit and vegetable you can imagine while sending teams out to 2 farm markets a week as well as making sure our farm store and CSA are covered.

Pieter Frick

Pieter comes from South Africa, and like Ioan, interned with us a couple seasons before becoming a regular employee using an H2a visa to return seasonally. Pieter now lives here with his sweetheart Marianna and daughter Nina.  Pieter manages small fruit production, peach harvest, and farm store fruit and vegetable stocking. Pieter has trained and worked in England on farms which specialize in season extension for small fruits. We have begun to experiment with this idea with our vertigro strawberries, high tunnel tomatoes, and container grown raspberries.

Marin Chitas

Yes, Marin has the same last name as Grigore, and yes, he is actually his younger brother. Marin came to us 2 seasons ago, and has frankly left us in awe with his vitually tireless work ethic. He is a machine who loves to work, and sings and laughs and talks his way through each day as if it was the best day of his life. Love this guy! He is head crew leader, and runs our Marblehead Farmers Market as well.

Matt Dustin

Matt has just joined us in 2011 and brings many years experience working for numerous other farms as well as a John Deere technician for Pedula Brothers and Rosencrantz. Matt runs our shop and fixes things we break, which we do quite often in the harsh world of stones and clay. He also does much of our tractor operating and fills in on any job where he is needed.

Nick Chitas

Nick is one more awesome brother from the Chitas dynasty and has returned to work with us after being away for almost 20 years. He is a picking machine. He especially loves to pick strawberries, tomatoes and apples. Nick loves the farm and works with all his heart and inspires all those who work beside him.