OUR STORY

Started in 2007 by Heidi Secord and her husband Gary Bloss, Josie Porter Farm focuses on the legacy of Josephine Porter, who made biodynamic agriculture preparations in this country for almost three decades on this land. The farm operates on a portion of the former Snyder Farm, which is owned by Stroud Township and was acquired as part of its open space initiative. Biodynamic growers recognize the soil itself to be alive and that human health and vitality depend on the health and vitality of the soil.

Shop Online

Meet Your Farmers

  • Farmer Gary

    Gary David Bloss has co-managed the Josie Porter Farm with his wife Heidi Secord since 2006. Gary is native to the Poconos, literally born on Main Street, Stroudsburg in his Grandmothers apartment. He graduated from Pocono Mountain High School, holds a BSLA in Landscape Architecture from Penn State University, and a Masters from Harvard University.

  • Farmer Heidi

    Heidi Secord is the general manager and co-owner of the Josie Porter Farm in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (PA). Heidi was born and raised in Connecticut and earned her BS degree in Business Management from The University of Rhode Island. She spent 3 years in Peace Corps, Mali, West Africa and Lesotho in Southern Africa, learning about subsistence farming in developing worlds and working with women’s cooperatives.

  • Gary has over 30 years of experience in the field of community planning and landscape architecture and has been responsible for the administration and technical leadership of designers, planners, and scientists in a wide variety of planning, environmental, and design projects for both the public and the private development sector. In September of 2006, he was appointed as the first Executive Director for the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership and helped lead that organization through many critical and early organization and development milestones. Prior to that position, he ran his own consulting firm specializing in community planning, watershed conservation, greenways, open space, and trails. He is a licensed Landscape Architect in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and a licensed Professional Planner in the state of New Jersey. In May 2010 he was honored as the individual recipient of the Karl Mason Award by the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals (PAEP).

    Currently, he serves as the operations manager at the Josie Porter Farm, former board member of the Brodhead Watershed Association, member of the Steering Committee for the North East Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG, and a member of the Chesapeake Foodshed Network Working Group). He is also a Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) trainer and coordinator for Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) grant through the Local Food Safety Collaborative lead by National Farmers Union..

  • Heidi has over 30 years of agricultural experience in regenerative agriculture in Pennsylvania, including a year-long internship at Rodale Experimental Farm. She worked for Eckerton Hill Farm in Berks County, PA that sold heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers at Union Square Greenmarket and 5-star chefs in New York and managed the vegetable gardens at the Glasbern Inn, a high-end Country Inn in Fogelsville, PA. She moved up to the Pocono’s in 2001 to manage Rolling Hills Farm in Saylorsburg. She is currently co-managing a 6-acre vegetable farm in Stroudsburg, PA on a 48-acre parcel of municipally owned open space land. Heidi managed and operated a Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) operation at the Josie Porter Farm, and specialized in garlic production and value-added products. The farm offered special educational events like the Cherry Valley Festival. She continues to offer tours of the farm. The vision for the farm is an Agricultural Learning Center with place based farm education, learning and incubator for future generations of farmers.

    Heidi is the Deputy Secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. She is the former State President of PA Farmers Union, board member of the PA State Council of Farm Organizations (PSCFO) and was actively engaged in policy committee work with All Together Now PA, an organization led by community organizer and restauranteur Judy Wicks. Heidi also retired from Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) board of directors after serving for 9 years.