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Many Hands Make Light(er) Work

Our Team

Willow-Witt Ranch team members share a love of the outdoors, farming, caring for the animals, off-grid living and environmental education.

Suzanne Willow, owner

Suzanne Willow

Owner

Suzanne is a third generation Californian and a chosen Oregonian. Born in Santa Cruz, she spent her younger years in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains and near Yosemite National Park, later moving to Eureka/Arcata near the Pacific Ocean. Open vistas with mountains and forests call to her.

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Suzanne’s wife and partner, Lanita Witt (August 26, 1950 to December 15, 2022), was born in the Texas High Plains with the vast horizon in all directions, a dark star-filled sky, and a vegetable garden. Her family roots were in German homestead farms in South Texas. Higher education included undergraduate at Texas Woman’s University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, UCLA Hospitals and Clinics Residency in OB and Gyn, and a house building course in Bath, Maine.

Suzanne and Lanita met in 1979 and in 1984 searched out a place in a rural environment – not too deep in the woods, with a good school for their daughter Brooke. The 445 acres that is the land of Willow-Witt Ranch, and now the home of educational non-profit The Crest and The Forest Conservation Burial Ground, met those needs and more. Suzanne and Lanita learned about forest health and resilience through the Master Forest Manager course at OSU Extension in their first years on the ranch. Since 1985, they focused on restoring balanced working forests and wetlands, and improving wildlife habitat. Willow-Witt Ranch is committed to land conservation, restoration, and regenerative organic agriculture.

Larry Lacerte, Ranch Hand

Larry Lacerte

Operations Manager

Larry Lacerte moved to Oregon from Colorado. He was drawn to working at Willow-Witt Ranch by a desire to learn more about off-grid living, working with animals and market gardening. He enjoys hiking, biking, skiing and making music.

Esther Petrocine

Esther Petrocine

Animal Care Lead & Farm Hand

Esther has a diverse background as a woman of many trades. She feels most in alignment with the flow of life when connected to the cycles of life, death, and transformation. She is a mother of two young children, shepherd of hair sheep and goats, and a farmhand at Willow-Witt ranch. She is passionate about growing food and raising animals in a way that mimics nature’s intelligence and believes that observation is an important skill in helping humans feel connected to life on earth, each other, and ourselves. 

Garrett Bessette

Garrett Bessette

Farm Hand

Garrett is very energetic and LOVES being outdoors! He is a father and enjoys working out at the YMCA. He is also a wildland firefighter in the summer time.  

NiX Frost

Farm Hand

NiX comes to Willow-Witt Ranch from Saint Augustine, Florida. They bring with them a long time animal husbandry background specializing in herpetology. NiX has a deep love for gardening and permaculture and has spearheaded projects from community gardens to urban food forests. They are passionate about community building as well as natural building and look forward to a future where they can combine the two. 

Tiana Jacobs

Caroline Nettleton

Farm Hand

Caroline is a Salem local and graduated from Oregon State University, Go Beavs! She loves wilderness areas, trees, and human power. After working for wilderness trail crews, equine barns, and doing odd jobs in the Pacific Northwest, she’s happy to be back in Oregon where it all started. Her philosophy is that life is better with animals and even better when you get to work alongside them. Best coworkers ever! 

Tiana Jacobs

Tiana Jacobs

Farm Hand

Tiana was raised on a small family farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. While working to get her BA in Environmental Science at Western Washington University, she found a passion in finding a sustainable balance between people and nature in agriculture. She moved down to Ashland in a trailer with the goal of pursuing this notion, as well as transitioning to a lifestyle that encourages one to become comfortable with discomfort.