BIOs

Simon is the CEO of Morning Glory Farm, working alongside his parents and his brother Daniel. He lives in West Tisbury in his great-grandparents’ farmhouse, with his wife Robyn and their children Rose, Ignatius and Alden—the 12^th generation of Athearns on the Martha’s Vineyard.

Schooled first as a pastry chef and then as a businessman, Simon returned home to work on the family farm. He is an aspiring English tea rose gardener, a vegetable fanatic and a trumpet player, and enjoys spending time on the Tisbury Great Pond with his family.

Daniel returned to the Vineyard and Morning Glory Farm after receiving a degree in aquaculture from the University of Maine. He quickly became indispensable on the farm as a skilled machine operator and irrigation specialist. Although he spends many hours in the tractor seat working the soil and tending the crops, Daniel still maintains his presence on the water with recreational fishing, lobstering, gathering and sailing.

Daniel’s wife, works on the farm as a field leader and tractor operator and at the Morning Glory Stand at the West Tisbury Farmers Market. The couple have three children, Clara, Zeb and Penelope Louise. They live on family land in Chilmark, where the Morning Glory Farm cattle graze in water-view pastures.

Robyn Hosey Athearn grew up in rural Pennsylvania with young, enthusiastic “do-it-yourself” parents. Together they built their family home, a project that spanned several years and to this day is still considered a work in progress. They had a large vegetable patch where her father and Mother produced a mainstay of their diet. Her mother Rosemary was a Penn State ‘Red Phone’ Master Gardener who helped aspiring gardeners with their gardening questions.  Robyn met her now husband Simon while fishing off of east beach in Edgartown.

Jim and Debbie raised three children on the farm. Their daughter Prudence, and her husband Josh Levy, both Registered Dietitians, and their two boys Kyle and Judah returned to the Island in 2012, after many years in Boulder, CO. and Portland, ME.

Prudence & Josh are the owners of Vineyard Nutrition, a private practice that offers individualized nutrition counseling. They each have over 20 years of nutrition counseling experience, specializing in helping people make diet and lifestyle changes, including providing weight loss and meal planning guidance, and incorporating science-backed Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for a wide variety of nutrition-related health issues, which are detailed on their website at vineyardnutrition.com. Prudence had previously worked on the farm for many years. She had become a specialist in the flower field and was the farmstand manager.

Born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard,  much of Dalila’s family  had worked at Morning Glory before them. During high school, they lived in western Massachusetts, and worked at their first farm, fell in love with art, and played lots of ultimate Frisbee.  Trained as a Marble carver in Vermont, and after graduating from Boston University in 2017, Dalila became a talented part of the farm flower team where they shine as the flower CSA designer.

Hailing from Uganda, Martin joined Morning Glory in March 2021. With a passion for farming and a curiosity for optimizing the greenhouse process, Martin is responsible for over 300 varieties of seeds. On a typical day Martin manages the environmental controls of the greenhouses, monitoring and adjusting ventilation and temperature, and mitigating pests. Besides Morning Glory’s commitment to organic, environmentally-responsible farming, Martin says he appreciates the sheer variety of crops on the farm.

Serving as our Store Manager since 2015, Suzy hails from Marshfield, MA, and holds a degree from Plymouth State University. No stranger to family-run businesses, Suzy grew up working for her grandparents’ restaurant on the South Shore. With tremendous management experience in corporate-level retail – throughout New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts, and even Colorado – she arrived at Morning Glory eager to learn about produce. Impressed with the way Debbie Athearn had grown the business so quickly, Suzy implemented POS and PLU systems in the store. Collaborating with a strong team, interacting with customers, and keeping an eye on the details are just some of the many aspects Suzy enjoys about her role. In her free time she enjoys bicycling, swimming at the beach in the summer, and polar plunging in the winter.

Our Executive Chef since February 2021, Gus spent much of his career in the fine dining realm. A father of two, card game aficionado, and Vineyard kid, his culinary philosophy can be best summed up in three parts: be intentional about ingredients, waste as little as possible, and mentor those who are eager to learn. When it comes to kitchen culture, Gus considers the Farm to be a breath of fresh air. Lacking in the hostility associated with traditional fine dining establishments, his kitchen is equipped to provide a nurturing environment for those who want to learn.

Madison, our Assistant Field Crew Manager has been with Morning Glory seasonally since 2019. Madison now joins us year-round, helping to supply our Farmstand, CSA, Wholesale, and Farmers Market departments with an abundance of produce. With a degree in environmental studies and experience with agricultural instruction, Madison is an avid researcher of indigenous and organic farming techniques. Madison says she truly enjoys harvesting in the field alongside her team of “great people who care about the work they’re doing.” When she’s not in the field, Madison enjoys playing ice hockey, guitar, and exploring the Island’s many hiking trails.

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Teresa has served as our Head Baker since 2021. However, her Moglo story actually began almost a decade ago. While taking a bread course at the (then) French Culinary Institute, Teresa met Kerry Hanney, Morning Glory’s head baker at the time. Kerry recruited Teresa to work in the yeast bread program for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In 2020, Teresa returned to Morning Glory as it transitioned into year-round operation. Along with her core team of production bakers, Teresa has revamped the bread program by incorporating more local, organic grains, collaborating with the field crew to showcase Morning Glory produce, and ensuring our scratch-made baked goods stay true to the Farm’s ethos: simple yet exceptional.

Our Field Crew Manager has been with us since 2018 and followed a rather unique path to the Farm. Before getting out in the fields, Ryan spent a decade working in Los Angeles in the entertainment industry. In early 2017, Ryan had moved back with his wife to the east coast and was in search of work on the Vineyard. One of Ryan’s Island-based in-laws had come across a Morning Glory job listing for a Farm Hand/Photographer/Videographer in what Ryan describes as “super lucky” circumstances. The farming aspect of the job was also appealing, he explains, because agriculture runs in his family. Several years later, Ryan still captures quite a bit of Moglo farming life via his Go-Pro, Drone, and other video equipment. Now, however, he spends most of his job in the growing realm.

After six years of teaching English in independent schools, Martha decided to make a career pivot and moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 2021 with her wife, Teresa. Beginning as a production baker that summer, she learned the ropes of the back of house, eventually assisting the kitchen and cheesemonger as well. By the spring of 2022 she began running the Farm’s social media accounts and took on the newly-created role of Marketing Manager. She loves the opportunity to connect with nearly every department on the farm on a daily basis, as well as represent Morning Glory across several forms of media. Outside of Morning Glory, Martha is an avid writer whose work has been featured in Island publications.

Born and raised on the Island, Amber started her Moglo career in the hen house, then soon took on night shifts in the produce wash/pack department, which eventually switched into day shifts. By June of 2022, Amber was working full time at the farm and promoted to the wholesale role. On any given day Amber is coordinating with nearly every department of the farm – as well as restaurants and caterers – to ensure a smooth-sailing process with the freshly-harvested produce. She also oversees the CSA program, and can often be found helping the field crew with some of their larger harvest tasks in the fall/winter months. Amber enjoys working in an environment where people are genuinely “good” to one another and “work together well.” And, she emphasizes, seeing people delighted over a basket of veggies. Outside of Moglo, Amber enjoys walking with her redbone coonhound/beagle mix, as well as hanging out with friends who routinely recruit her to sing karaoke.

Our Human Resources Manager is an Island girl, graduate of the Edgartown School and MVRHS, and has been with Morning Glory since 2022. Amy loves being outside – especially the beach – and spending time with her family. Her son, Jameson, who had been working in the farmstand since 2021, helped convince her to apply to Moglo. Initially hired as the Office Manager, Amy instead immediately transitioned into the HR role when her predecessor retired. After a period of intensive training, that she gained tremendous confidence in the position and was thrilled by the daily engaging work. She is constantly interacting with various Moglo teams and loves getting to know the Farm’s employees.

He’s been with Moglo since 2021 as Chef de Cuisine and mastermind behind the Food Truck Popup nights. An obvious prerequisite for the role is a love for all things culinary, which Doug does not lack. In fact, Doug says it was a formative part of his upbringing. Always opting for an immersive experience over a touristy one, Doug grew up exploring the Asian cuisine of the Queens/Greater New York area. He’s taken cooking classes in Italy and at one point he ran a New York-based eating club, choosing various restaurants and setting a menu for 15-20 of friends every month. So many interesting opportunities present themselves when you’re curious, he notes. The Food Wagon popups have been Doug’s creative haven. Beginning with the July 4th pulled pork trial run. Doug says he enjoyed the experience of working on the line with a convivial group of people, prompting him to keep the popups going.