Brooksby Farm manager loving new job

PEABODY-It?s only been a week and Brooksby Farm?s new manager already loves his job.?It?s really a dynamic and exciting experience,” said Pat Kriksceonaitis, the farm?s former assistant manager. “It?s great to be a part of producing food. It?s not the everyday job that most people dream of, but it?s a dream of mine, so we?ll see how well that dream ends up.”Prior to his yearlong stint as the Farm?s assistant manager, Kriksceonaitis spent about 25 years in the golf industry. However, he decided to make the career switch and put his degree in Soil Science and his love of farming to good use.?It?s a lot of work,” he said of the sunup to sundown lifestyle. “If you keep track of the hours, you?d say it?s crazy, but it?s also very rewarding.”For $56,000 a year, Kriksceonaitis sees the benefit of his job not entirely in his paycheck, but in the crops he produces.?To start with a small seed or tree and watch it battle the elements and nature?it really is a challenge,” he said. “At the end, you really see the benefit of your work as opposed to many jobs that are strictly about money and pushing papers.”Kriksceonaitis said he?s most looking forward to laying his personal stake in the farm. He enjoyed being an assistant, but is eager to be the one actually guiding the farm.For the first year, he said he hopes to be productive and get crops growing, but he also wants to become more intimate with the 200-plus acre farm. He wants to know all there is to know, and let the public in on his knowledge.?People are becoming more aware of the importance of locally grown foods,” he said, adding that he?d like to “create more community involvement, more outreach, and become more valuable to the citizens of Peabody and surrounding towns.”?If I can make a stronger connection between people and the food they eat, I?ll be a happy guy.”The self-proclaimed “new guy” admits to being a tad nervous, and perhaps even scared, as agriculture isn?t always the most successful career choice. Crops don?t always grow when you want them to.?I sure hope Mother Nature likes me this year,” he said.Kriksceonaitis lives with his wife and two children in Ipswich. He is replacing long-time Brooksby Farm manager James O?Brien, who will now serve as the General Manager for the Topsfield Fair.