Winter is indeed the dormant season for farms, but lots of important things happen during this time. Maintenance and repairs, care for animals that dwell on the land, and planning — lots and lots of planning. That’s what new farm manager Matt Celona is digging into at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm.
Celona started his position as farm manager, replacing Arielle Gardner, on January 17, and has spent decades learning all aspects of the agricultural world, from Iowa to upstate New York.
“I first got into farming as a graduate student. I was studying English Literature at the University of Iowa, but I was really interested and concerned about the environment and the state of the land,” says Celona. “I wound up volunteering for a CSA outside Iowa City — a goat dairy farm — and it was life changing.”
Up until recently, Celona — a native of Shrewesbury, Mass. — has been working as the farm manager for the D’Artaganan Farms Foundation in Goshen, NY, overseeing and managing the gardens, orchards, sheep and chickens.
But this is not his first farm foray on eastern Long Island. In the early aughts, Celona worked the storied Quail Hill Farm for five seasons under one of its founding farm managers, Scott Chaskey. While here, he met Bennett Konesni, a volunteer at Quail Hill who was taking time to work on an archeological dig at his distant family’s estate in Shelter Island: Sylvester Manor. It was the first Celona had heard of the historical island property, and it was around the same time that Konesni’s idea to turn it into an educational farm began to percolate, although it would take until 2010 for the farm to finally get its official footing.
Sixteen years later, and those small talk chats with Kosnesni about Sylvester Manor have become part of his big life plans.
“I was really attracted by the CSA program and by what is a sense of shared values. I‘m new to the organization and have a lot to learn, but I really like that there’s a real emphasis on sustainability here — that’s my passion and something I hope to bring.”
In addition to his 25 years of farming know-how, Celona also has valuable experience working with solar panels and geothermal energy that he can bring to the farm table, too.
Meanwhile, he’s mulling over crops and the different kinds of veggies he’ll grow, the chickens, pigs and other animals that are part of the farm, and thinking ahead to warmer days, while getting to know his new island home.
“I’m just getting into past crop plans and thinking about the 21-week season,” he says, “and how to get as much variety into those weeks as I can and what tweaks I can and should make.”
Registration for Sylvester Manor’s yearly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) opened January 30, and costs $785 for the 21-week farm share of vegetables, berries, flowers and herbs, or for the Farmstand Credit program ($500). The 2026 season runs from June 13 to Oct. 31. Click here for more information.
