Teena's Pride Matriarch Stepping Away to Focus on Health

The past year has been rough for Teena’s Pride. First, Teena Borek, the matriarch of the decades-old Homestead farm, suffered a stroke. Later, the farm’s website was hacked, forcing an overhaul. Meanwhile, Borek's plans to recuperate and get back to running the community-supported agriculture program have been delayed.

“My doctors have told me I have to take time away from farm work and instead work on my health,” she wrote in a recent email to Teena's Pride CSA members.

The CSA work will be handed off to her son, Michael Borek, who has renamed it Nana’s Greene CSA and is accepting memberships through November 1 for the upcoming 30-week growing season. Small boxes feed one or two people and cost $25 per week, while a family-size box, good for three or more people, costs $50. Discounts are available for those willing to pay for part or all of the season upfront.

The program was renamed for Michael Borek grandmother, who farmed in Newfoundland, Canada, where Teena Borek was born and raised before relocating to Homestead in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, the farm seems positioned to move fully into Michael’s hands. The 36-year-old has been working on it since he was 23 and has long managed the 500-acre property’s commercial operation, which supplies many of Miami's top restaurants.

At the moment, they’re getting the final pieces in place for the upcoming growing season, and Michael promises this year will be the first that followers will be able to find play-by-play pictures of the farm’s progress on social media. Teena, meanwhile, won’t be kept out of the loop completely and will still do events here and there.

“The stress of the farm is getting to her a little bit,” Michael Borek says. “We all want her to be healthy so she can spend time with her grandbabies.”

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