Olsen Farm is a small business partnership located in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. The farm sits on 28 acres of mixed forest, meadow and orchard, co-owned by Chris Wheeler and Kristen Tool.
Our Mission + Vision
Our mission at Olsen Farm is to share knowledge and bounty with the community, helping create future generations of confident farmers and growers through education, hands-on experiences and community programming. We strive to farm sustainably using organic and permaculture gardening techniques as we create a teaching farm where community members can learn and grow alongside us.
Olsen Farm’s vision is to be part of creating a future where everyone has access to healthy, local foods and the knowledge, support and resources to grow their own.
Meet Our Farmers
Chris Wheeler
Co-owner
Chris grew up on the land at Olsen Farm, a Boy Scout for life, he still loves exploring caves in the neighboring Balance Rock State Park and bushwhacking his own trails. This land holds special meaning for Chris as it connects him with three generations of his family passed.
In 2015 Chris moved home to Olsen road and began restoration of his family’s four generation farmlands. Along with forest management, raising poultry and gardening Chris is a beekeeper and is the current President of Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association. Before he started reclamation of Olsen Farm, Chris was an International Society of Arborists Certified Arborist for ten years, working with Race Mountain Tree Care out of Sheffield MA.
When he is not farming you can find Chris restoring antique axes, Geocaching, foraging for wild edibles or training the farm’s wonderful Australian Shepherd, Aspen.
Chris Wheeler
CO-OWNER
Chris grew up on the land at Olsen Farm, a Boy Scout for life, he still loves exploring caves in the neighboring Balance Rock State Park and bushwhacking his own trails. This land holds special meaning for Chris as it connects him with three generations of his family passed.
In 2015 Chris moved home to Olsen road and began restoration of his family’s four generation farmlands. Along with forest management, raising poultry and gardening Chris is a beekeeper and is the current President of Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association. Before he started reclamation of Olsen Farm, Chris was an International Society of Arborists Certified Arborist for ten years, working with Race Mountain Tree Care out of Sheffield MA.
When he is not farming you can find Chris restoring antique axes, Geocaching, foraging for wild edibles or training the farm’s wonderful Australian Shepherd, Aspen.
Kristen Tool
Co-owner
Kristen grew up in the forests of Vermont, the daughter of two artists, she was encouraged at an early age to explore and create. She spent many childhood hours building forts in groves of ferns and rescuing red efts from the road. Caring for and stewarding land has been a lifelong dream of Kristen’s and her time working alongside husband, Chris, to restore his family farm has begun to bring those dreams to life.
Along with farming, Kristen has worked as an Early Education Studio Art Teacher and recently started writing for Mother Earth News Blog. While running an after school program, she hatched chicks in the classroom for multiple years, including the farm’s first clutch of chickens in 2016. Kristen has begun to create a teaching farm at Olsen Farm where children and adults can experience nature, learn about the plants and animals in their backyards, and have authentic hands-on experiences.
Kristen has her BFA in Textile Design and when she is not farming or teaching you will find her creating art using natural, found and recycled materials. She has designed jewelry using turkey tail mushrooms, sustainably foraged from the family lands and paints intricate mandalas on stones removed from the gardens at Olsen Farm.
Aspen
Farm Doggo
Aspen joined the team at Olsen Farm in 2018 as a guardian and companion dog. She loves snow, playing fetch, hikes with her humans and sticks of all shapes and sizes. Aspen has successfully chased foxes from her chicken flock multiple times, and has recently discovered how fun catching rodents can be.
When Aspen is not busy protecting her chickens and land, she spends time cuddling with her indoor cat-sisters, eating ice cubes, barking at cars and being a very, very good girl.
Aspen
Farm Doggo
Aspen joined the team at Olsen Farm in 2018 as a guardian and companion dog. She loves snow, playing fetch, hikes with her humans and sticks of all shapes and sizes. Aspen has successfully chased foxes from her chicken flock multiple times, and has recently discovered how fun catching rats and mice can be.
When Aspen is not busy protecting her chickens and land, she spends time cuddling with her indoor cat-sisters, eating ice cubes, barking at cars and being a very, very good girl.