Meet the Team
Aaron Abitz (he/him)
Originally from Missouri, Aaron has been living in the Monadnock region for 25 years.With a background in Horticulture and more recently a certification in Permaculture Design, Aaron brings years of knowledge and experience to the Fassett Farm Nursery team. He has a passion to promote the use of native and edible plants in home landscapes. He understands that each different plant plays a role in the ecosystem and he encourages creating dense gardens that will thrive during any given condition.
Doug Clayton (he/him)
Doug has had a lifetime of experience that was a great preparation for this late-in-life enterprise. Early life in rural Ohio bordered on idyllic. On the edge of the Appalachian plateau, on a hobby farm in a family that grew much of their food. Gardens, orchard, chickens, a fishing pond, a rainwater cistern, heating with wood; his father even tried growing mushrooms in the 1950’s.
Doug got his B.S. in Natural Resources with a minor in design from Ohio State University (75) and went on to work in the “Whole Life Systems” program at the Farallones Institute in Occidental California for two years (76-78). Solar construction, gray water systems, composting toilets, organic gardening, etc. were all being pursued there.
Upon moving to New Hampshire in 1978 he worked for a solar builder for a few years and went on to design/build a few houses of his own. In 1981 he took a Permaculture Design course with Bill Mollison. There he met some like-minded folks and with them (and some others!) helped established two non-profits: Land Trust at Gap Mountain and Gap Mountain Permaculture. He has spent the past 40 years homesteading at Gap Mountain, pretending to be competent at the Design, Construction, Consultation and Stewardship of Food, Shelter, Energy, and Water Systems.
Peg Castle (she/her)
Originally from Michigan, Peg has been living and gardening in the Monadnock region since 1997. Although she gardens with a wide variety of plants, Peg especially enjoys incorporating the incredibly diverse and vibrant plant life of New England into home gardens.
She also enjoys growing and foraging plants that can be used for natural dyeing. Peg is Fassett Farm Nursery's resident plant expert, design consultant and procures any plants that we don't propogate or grow on site. She is here every Wednesday and Saturday during our open hours to answer any questions and help make your design ideas come to life!
Courtney Cotner (she/her)
Courtney has been in HR, specifically recruiting, for 20 years and brings a strong background of systems implementation, operations, and organizational development to Fassett Farm Nursery. She moved to Jaffrey from Denver four years ago following a reconnection with Aaron whom she had known since they were kids. Being born and raised in rural Missouri, she has a great appreciation for locally-grown food accessibility and is enjoying learning more about the area's native plants and gardening.