CHICOPEE, Mass. — He's only 21 years old, but Chicopee resident Evan Nawrocki has already put years of work into providing local produce for Western Massachusetts as founder and owner of Nightjar Farm.

"I came here probably three years ago just to build a garden, just to grow some pumpkins and stuff," Nawrocki said. "But I kept clearing it out and clearing it out and I was like, 'oh man I can really grow a lot here.' So then last year, I started doing markets and I really enjoyed it. I grew out even more and now we're doing an acre right now, hopefully more next year."

Nawrocki said he's been doing garden work for around a decade.

He said the farmland which he manages by himself is owned by his grandmother.

This summer has brought a great harvest for the young farmer, who says he grew a lot more cucumbers than expected.

"Last week, the week before we had two markets cancelled right when peak cucumber harvest was going on," he said. "So next week, we come out here and we just see like 20 cucumbers per plant. So I brought my brother and we spent like four hours picking them all, basically loaded up the whole truck."

The Chicopee farm also grows other vegetables including tomatoes, eggplants and squash.

Nawrocki said he's been setting up shop at several farmers markets lately and hopes the Pioneer Valley can take advantage of having locally-grown produce.

"With the cucumbers or mainly everything here, even the tomatoes, I'm just really trying to grow for the market so whenever I have a big harvest like that," he said. "I'll try to give it back the community. Not for free obviously but a good deal for everyone, and yeah I just love seeing people enjoy what I grow."

Nawrocki said he loves the field work and said it's difficult to see farmlands across the commonwealth shut down.

He said he hopes to continue farming for a long time.

"It's super enjoyable to me, even just the process of growing it, and seeing people pick it up and enjoy it for themselves," he said. "I love going to the markets and meeting everyone and showing them all my hard work, basically"