Jason Chausse - Cape Abilities Farm Team Member

Jason Chausse's working life has undergone a sea change recently. A couple of years ago he was struggling to succeed in a small landscaping business with all the vagaries that odd jobs work entails. Then the 34-year-old East Falmouth resident came to work at Cape Abilities Farm in Marstons Mills.
"He's really grown on the job," says Buzz Friend (shown in photo with Jason), one of the farm's supervisors. "We've got a team out here and he's a leader, an example to the other workers."
Jason's performance has been so outstanding that he and Buzz were recently each given a Recognition Award for Individual Achievement by the Cape and Islands Citizens Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services.
 They aren't the only people who've recognized a change in Jason. His father, Bob Chausse, says he's seen "a whole attitude change" in his son, which he attributes to working with the team at the farm.
"He's a real farmer now," according to Friend.
At the Marstons Mills property, which is part of the larger Cape Abilities Farm that includes our main site on Route 6A in Dennis, Jason is in charge of small machinery. "He runs and maintains the rototiller, the cultivator, the weed whacker and the lawnmowers," Friend says. "He loves working with machinery. He takes great pride in keeping things clean and working."
"I enjoy doing what I've been trained to work on," Jason says.
Jason lives in East Falmouth with his parents. When he's not working, his favorite leisure time activity is fishing.
Friend says at Marstons Mills, he, Jason, two other workers have formed a core group to do the work.
"Jason's done a fantastic job out here," he says.

Cape Abilities Farm: State Agriculture Commissioner Tour

Mike Rhodes - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Mike helps tend tomatoes, waters plants and does general assignment work at the farm. Mike has been very involved with the farm fields at our new farm in Marstons Mills. He took part in our first fall harvest. Mike also represented Cape Abilities Farm at Farm Aid  2008.

A member of Cape Abilities since 2006, he likes swimming and drawing to relax. His favorite activity is swimming in his pool. Mike says he enjoys working at the farm because "I make good money."

Gigi Gaulin - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Gigi's favorite job is helping to plant seeds in seed beds early in the growing cycle, but she says she also enjoys bagging lettuce for the Salad Club and watering plants. A California native, Gigi has been at Cape Abilities since 1988. Her favorite vegetable is corn -on the cob, of course, with a little butter and salt. Gigi is a gifted artist who draws and paints. She says her favorite Cape Cod place is the Nauset Middle School where she takes regular art classes. In 2007, one of her designs was selected by Rockland Trust for their annual holiday greeting card.

Ann Marie Campbell - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Ann Marie helps to cultivate the lettuce and the tomato plants in the greenhouses. Ann Marie also plants the lettuce seeds and helped to plant many of the annuals and hanging baskets.  She was born in Needham.

In addition to her work at Cape Abilities Farm, Ann Marie is employed at Cape Abilities work center in Hyannis.

The Cape Cod Times selected a photo of Ann Marie as one of the best photos of 2008, to learn more click here.

In her spare time, Ann Marie like to watch movies and play with her cat, Cutie.

Nick Anderson- Cape Abilities Farm Team

Nick had some experience doing vegetable and flower gardening at home before he came to work on the farm. At Cape Abilities Farm he helps prepare vegetable packages for the weekly Salad Club orders. Asked what he likes  most about the work, he laughs and says its easy and he likes the salary.  Nick came to Cape Cod in 1983 .In his spare time, Nick likes to go on visits and to fish. Nick was featured in an article about our farm in The New York Times (read more)

Tom Zurn - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Tom Zurn launched Cape Abilities Farm in the summer of 2006. He grew up on a farm and is dedicated to producing top quality produce and plants. In addition to supervising the growth of Cape Abilities Farm, Tom serves as the Director of Business Development at Cape Abilities.

Jim Knieriem- Cape Abilities Farm Team

Jim is a fifth generation farmer who was born in Mokena, Illinois and moved to Cape Cod in 1992, where he also farmed. He joined Cape Abilities in 2000. Jim is the farm manager. He likes working for Cape Abilities because "it's a strong organization for individuals with disabilities."  Jim's favorite place on the Cape is Cape Abilities farm in Marstons Mills. He enjoys camping on Cape Cod with his family. His hobbies are raising show poultry and heirloom tomatoes.

Kyle Kratschman - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Kyle’s favorite activity is picking lettuce. “It’s easy,” he explains, with a smile. He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Kyle moved to the Cape in 2004 and came to Cape Abilities in 2005. Kyle is pretty much a jack-of-all-trades at the farm. His favorite hobbies are fishing and watching movies and his favorite place on Cape Cod is the beach.

Andrew Janiak - Cape Abilities Farm Team

Andrew describes his farm job as “a little bit of everything.” He joined the Cape Abilities Farm team in the spring of 2008. A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts,  Andrew said his favorite job is selling to customers at the farm stand.  His favorite hobby is playing cards.

Andrew enjoys grilled corn on the cob - a favorite Janiak Family recipe.