by Christine Stebbins
First-generation farmer Jessica Davies and owner of Adama Farm, a local Food Shed supplier, believes the essential ingredient to growing healthy, delicious vegetables is caring for the soil.
She founded Adama three years ago as a no-till, regenerative fruit and vegetable farm with a mission to offer the community a diverse mix of produce, grown without chemical sprays while restoring the soil. Those practices help lessen soil compaction, increase water holding capacity and enhance crop resistance to drought.
“We prioritize soil health first,” Jessica says. “That’s what’s going to give you such nutrient dense, delicious produce—essentially the flavor. It all comes from the soil.”
Adama’s carrots, garlic, green onions, pickling cucumbers, purple potatoes have been featured on the Food Shed’s produce shelves all summer and fall. Jessica is also one of a handful of woman-led farm owners featured at the Food Shed Co-op, a Woodstock grocery store founded two years ago to support local farmers and businesses and promote healthy food options.
“When the Food Shed opened, I knew immediately I had to sell my products there,” Jessica says. “I appreciate co-ops and what they do for the community. They are little hubs and they can offer so much local variety. I feel when you support your local farmer or local business you’re creating a stronger community.”
Jessica and her team at Adama also supply produce to farmer markets in Crystal Lake and Park Ridge and have a thriving Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) business, a subscription-based pick-up for customers who pre-pay for a season of food.
Jessica did not grow up farming.
She was raised in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, always drawn to fashion and the arts. After high school Jessica headed to the New School in New York City to pursue her interest in fashion.
While there she took a life-changing course on food and agriculture that ignited her
passion for agriculture that led to her ultimately graduating with a degree in environmental science. Jessica participated in several work exchange programs, first on a woman-run produce farm in Oregon where she managed the greenhouse, seeding and berry picking.
“There was something about being outside and working with my hands, getting outside my comfort zone that made me feel so alive and at peace,” she says. “I just felt this deep calling to continue farming, especially with this shortage of next generation of farmers. It’s important to encourage the next generation of farmers and create opportunities for young people to enter agriculture.”
Following graduation, she apprenticed at farms in New York, Oregon, Maine and Puerto Rico.
“I walked out of those experiences feeling really confident in my ability to grow my own farm business,” Jessica says.
She wrote and presented a business plan to her parents who saw the value in farming and Jessica’s passion for it. They decided to invest in Jessica and helped her in 2023 start what is now Adama Farm, a 73-acre property in Marengo. It was originally owned by another woman entrepreneur, Trudi Temple, the founder of Market Day, a local food initiative to support missionary and school fundraising.
Jessica says that one of the most difficult steps in founding the farm was coming up with a name. She recalled her strong faith and the biblical creation story of God picking up the soil and breathing life into Adam or “Adama” the Hebrew translation.
“I think it’s a reminder that as humans we are called to be stewards of the earth. We are not separate from nature but a part of it—both spiritually and physically.”
Article by Food Shed Co-op Staff Member and Owner # 2,632
Christine Stebbins
October 2026