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Farm Connections in the
Finger Lakes is the
NEW Regional U-Pick Guide,
brought to you by
Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance and
Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty |
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Download Farm Connections
in the Finger Lakes (855kb-PDF)
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Agriculture...an attraction? Hey, just look at what we have to offer!
While in the car, you give your kids a talk on why they need to only pick one pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. Later you smile as they dart back and forth, vine by vine. They pick five. You give in. At the apple orchard, same speech, just one bag of delicious Empire Apples. They pick three. You give in. On the wine tour, you promise your spouse that no matter how good the wine tastes you’ll only buy one bottle. You buy a case. You both give in.
Finger Lakes Farm Stand/Market Partners
Geneva - Red Jacket Orchards
Ithaca - Bakers' Acres of North Lansing
Ithaca - Ithaca Farmers Market
La Fayette - Beak & Skiff Apple Hill Farms
Macedon - Long Acre Farms
Moravia - Grisamore Farms
Naples - Joseph's Wayside Market
North Rose - Orchard View Country Market
Penfield - Freshwise Farms
Penn Yan - Tomion Farm Market
Penn Yan - Wager's Cider Mill
Penn Yan - Windmill Farm & Craft Market
In the Finger Lakes, agriculture is king, and there is a literal smorgasbord to experience. From spring to fall our sprawling working farms, orchards and vineyards burst with activity for the entire family. We make maple syrup in the spring and pick berries in summer. Our orchards are famous worldwide for apples, but you’ll love our peaches, apricots and cherries, too. Our fall harvest is second to none—the best corn, bar none, cabbage and produce of every kind. All this and the best “stuff” imaginable made from it fill our road-side stands and farm markets across the region.
You’ll feel at home here. Our farms invite visitors to come in, have some cider, pick yourself a pack of whatever you desire! You’ll find working farms where you can sign on as a hand. Amish and Mennonite farms are common, where the harvest is as big and pure as the people who raised it.
For the agricultural experience of a life time, visit the Amazing Maize Maze® at Long Acre Farms in Macedon, north of Canandaigua, where you’ll navigate a network of corn-lined paths, hunt for the maize map’s missing pieces and discover “kernels of knowledge.”
And as you’d expect, we celebrate each agricultural product with festivals dedicated to potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, apples, sauerkraut, maple syrup, grapes, and their end product, wine! Look for festivals in our calendar of events.
Agri-tours isn’t a top-of-mind word when you think of a vacation or a weekend trip, but when you think about it, it’s an activity most of us enjoy many times each year.
Roadsides lined with fields of pumpkins and squash, huge acreages of corn, apple orchards, vineyards, hayfields with gigantic bales, and meadows full of cows and sheep, and even goats and llamas, are common sights in the Finger Lakes. Many farms invite you to harvest their products—from asparagus and cabbage to strawberries, blueberries, apples and cherries.
Farm stands sell fruit, vegetables, flowers, honey, and fruit pies at roadside stands and groups of farmers set up co-operative farm markets. The largest is the Windmill Farm and Craft Market with over 250 vendors, located between Dundee and Penn Yan. Ithaca's Farmers Market, located at DeWitt Park and Steamboat Landing, is also a popular spot.
Red Jacket Orchards of Geneva has been in the national spotlight frequently. Better Homes & Gardens October 2003 issue featured Red Jacket cider in its "In Good Taste" section. Gourmet Magazine's July 2003 issue featured Red Jacket Orchards' apricots. Apricots can't be grown commercially in most of the US because the trees bloom so early they are susceptible to spring freezes. By growing specially adapted varieties, Red Jacket Orchards is able to produce an extraordinary crop of high quality apricots. Red Jacket's 20 acres of apricots are the largest planting east of the Rockies. Gourmet Magazine's June 2002 issue listed Red Jacket Orchards as one of only four sources for fresh, succulent apricots, and the only one outside California.
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