~August 8, 2025

Summer is a great time to be out in the field tending to the trees. Aside from the occasional scorcher, the season brings vibrant blooms, frequent wildlife sightings, and the classic farmer’s tan. Before we know it, fall will be here and things will ramp up again as we race to finish the season before winter sets in. But before our summer winds down, we want to take a moment to highlight the amazing college interns who’ve been working alongside us these past few months. We’ve had a fantastic crew this year—let’s get to know them a little better!

Carter Thomas

Favorite Tree: Tulip Tree

Favorite Nursery Task: Delivering & Planting local trees

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Watering 

School & Major: Sophomore at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Agriculture Engineering

Carter is Jamie and Becky’s nephew and we’ve loved having him working with us on the farm! This is his second summer working at the nursery, and he enjoys working on equipment and taking field trips to local spots to help deliver and plant trees for all types of projects! Have fun back on campus, and I-L-L!

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A.J. Baker

Favorite Tree: Kentucky Coffeetree

Favorite Nursery Task: Pruning – he likes to zen out!

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Staking – very monotonous and you have to carry all of the stakes around

School & Major: Student teaching high school physics and chemistry at Streator Township High School! 

We go way back – A.J. and Joey have been good friends since Kindergarten at M.V.K. and grew up playing sports and doing school activities together! We’ve enjoyed having A.J. work on the farm this summer – maybe he can take some of his tree lessons back to his students! A.J. is finishing up his education degree at Illinois State and student teaching this fall semester. Maybe we can expand our Arbor Day plantings to your future science classroom!

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Colin Collet

Favorite Tree: Honeylocust

Favorite Nursery Task: Delivering & Planting local trees

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Watering

School & Major: Junior UW-Plattville, Civil Engineering

Colin is another local college intern whose brother, Christopher, has worked at the nursery before. Much like the rest of his family, Colin is also a runner. He enjoys taking field trips and delivering and planting local trees, and spending time working with his friends. It’s been so fun to watch him grow up and come to work on the farm this summer! 

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Athen Zingre

Favorite Tree: Redpointe Red Maple, especially in the fall!

Favorite Nursery Task: Harvesting/Digging – He likes getting into a good rhythm and seeing the visual progress being made

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Hoeing

School & Major: Junior at Providence Baptist College in Elgin studying Missions. Athen has been with Spring Grove Nursery for many growing seasons! He started working here full-time when he was in high school and we have loved having him as a member of the SGN Team. Athen has also been learning Spanish to communicate better with our Spanish-speaking employees, his skills are ¡muy bueno! We love having you working with us, Athen! 

This is just a snapshot of some of the amazing individuals we have working on the farm with us this summer. We’re grateful for all of our employees and find joy in supporting their endeavors. We hope that anyone who comes to work with us, if it’s for a summer, a few growing seasons, or a life-long career, is able to learn and grow in ways that are fulfilling to them. Whether that’s going to college, learning a trade, in the mission field, doing independent study, or hands-on learning, we are happy to have crossed paths here on the farm!

~ Maggie Thomas Harper