Brayden Nadeau started following his grandfather around a Maine farm basically at birth, and working it for real at just NINE years old. By sixteen he was running his own vegetable stand, farming 10 to 15 acres, raising 18 head of cattle, and turning a Facebook page into national attention from Rachael Ray and Lester Holt.
On this episode of Speak Up, Laurel speaks with Brayden, his grandfather Dan, his mom, and his grandmother at the farm on Hatch Road in Auburn to trace how a nine-year-old’s fascination with a seed turned into a business. Dan opens the episode talking about what has actually changed in Maine farming: shrinking land, rising costs, and a market that keeps getting harder to hold onto. Brayden picks up from there: the garage full of vegetables that became his first stand, the honor-system box that got broken into, and the $10,000 donation that came out of nowhere on live TV.
This episode covers:
- How a nine-year-old talked local landowners into letting him farm their land
- The break-in at his farm stand and how the community rallied around him
- The Rachael Ray donation and how a local Facebook page turned into national news
- What his grandmother had to navigate protecting a kid from sudden media attention
- His advice to any young person who thinks they are too young to start something
Find Brayden’s Vegetable Stand at 470 Hatch Road, Auburn, Maine, or on Facebook at Brayden’s Vegetable Stand.
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Show Resources:
Facebook Page (primary): https://www.facebook.com/braydensvegetablestand/
Rachael Ray segment: https://www.rachaelrayshow.com/video/12-year-old-farmer-has-goal-to-make-100k-with-his-veggie-stand-by-high-school-graduation
Lester Holt / NBC: https://wjbq.com/auburn-12-year-old-makes-national-news-for-his-incredible-vegetable-stand/
Good Food Council: https://goodfoodcouncil.org/2023-youth-food-champion-brayden-nadeau/
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/08/19/farmer-brayden-nadeau-maine/
Sun Journal: https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/07/20/auburn-boy-sowing-a-career-on-grandfathers-farm/
