By Alicia Dewey
Listening to Nancy Robbins talk about the early beginnings of what has fondly become Old McDonald’s Farm, in Sackets Harbor, New York, you can not help but catch that glimmer in her eye and hear the excitement in her voice. Even after twenty-three years in business it is easy to tell that Nancy has not lost her passion for what she is doing.
Established as a petting zoo with pony rides back in 1986, Old McDonald’s Farm now is part of a working family farm and includes a 1,000-cow modern dairy and a 4,000-acre crop operation. And, it’s not just for kids anymore.
According to Nancy, the overall importance of what she offers at the Farm is the education that they are able to afford people about where their food and fiber comes from. She remarks, “We are so far removed from understanding what it takes to make the things that we eat and drink. We have no relatives left on the farm. Agriculture is only around 1% of the population now.”
An education is certainly what you will get at Old McDonald’s Farm, open May 1st to October 31st each year. Touring the Farm, you can travel along the educational, narrated Moo-Town Trolley, seeing almost 1,000 cows including newborns calves, teenage heifers, and mature milking cows. A stop at the milking parlor will teach you how about 600 cows are milked on the Farm. The chances of seeing a calf born are pretty high as the Farm sees over 600 babies a year. If you take the tour, you would find out that this is because a cow has to have a calf before it can produce milk—and then it only produces milk for about ten months. So, you need calves to have milk. The science and technology learning opportunities on this trip are abundant. Even more, the evidence of the comfort the Farm gives to its cows, the quality food, and the good people milking them and caring for them is undeniable.
There is also the opportunity to interact with the over 200 “hands-on” animals, including cows, reindeer, alpacas, goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, horses, and even a camel. You can ride the Wizard of Oz hayride to Cowville and feed the cows from the wagon, play some miniature golf, and visit Adventure Land. Treats for the animals and ice cream for the munchkins or just those with a sweet-tooth is available for purchase. And, there is even a Lazy Cow Café onsite, serving lunch foods and beverages.
The greatest thing that Old McDonald’s Farm offers, according to Nancy, is the ability for people to ask questions about agriculture and the processes on the farm. “We are a family farm, not a corporate farm…stopping and letting people ask questions helps give a real positive image of agriculture.”
Agriculture is often overlooked when it comes to the important factors contributing to our lives in Northern New York. However, according to the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, “Agriculture is an essential part of Northern New York’s economy and the quality of life in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties…Agriculture across Northern New York encompasses 4,500-plus farms and produce more than $53 million in agricultural products sold.” In fact, beyond Old McDonald’s Farm’s educational value, this Farm is the #2 farm in Jefferson County for milk production.
Some might say, after twenty-three years in business, that Nancy Robbins is the pioneer of “Agritourism” or destinations that allow visitors to experience farming at close hand. There is not much evidence of any of these types of destinations in the area before Old McDonald’s Farm, and there are not any of these ventures that have lasted longer. Other farms have opened their doors to visitors in the past, but many become discouraged. For most farmers, their happiness belongs to the land and their animals. For Nancy Robbins, her happiness also includes working with the people. She remarks, “I can see the farm through a city-girl’s eyes.” This might explain how she managed to take a petting zoo with pony rides and turn it into what is today Old McDonald’s Farm, attracting thousands of visitors each year.
But, Nancy affirms that it was not easy building her business from the “ground” up. “We are lucky, especially as this year has been the most devastating year we have had in the dairy industry, that we have positioned ourselves to do other things,” says Nancy. She continues, “It was eighteen or nineteen years before we ever made a profit. But I always loved doing it.” And those that have worked with the Robbins have obviously loved doing it as well. The same families that worked on the Farm twentythree years ago are still there. To Nancy, “the people who work here also make it special.”
When asked about the negative as-pects of running this type of agritourism business, Nancy cited liability costs, saying “When you open your farm to the public you increase your liability insurance, and your overall costs go up.” But, the Robbins’ have not increased admission prices of $7/ person—because they want families to be able to afford to visit and become educated about the farm. And, building this type of business is not cheap. Mrs. Robbins believes that it is necessary to build slowly, not going “hog wild”. In fact, the Robbins never borrowed any money to enhance the Farm—the improvements came from funds from their dairy farm. However, Nancy urges not to be afraid to spend money on advertising. “Like a good restaurant,” she says, “you need to remind them that you’re here—wet their appetite.”
“The largest proportion of the visitor market for agritourism in New York is local residents,” according to a publication entitled, Agritourism in New York: A Market Analysis. This is the case at Old McDonald’s Farm. A great example is the bus loads upon bus loads of children who visit the Farm each year on field trips from schools around the region to participate in hands-on learning. Students are able to ask questions about the relationship between farms and our food supply and how farms relate to our communities. The Farm also offers other group tours and private parties.
For Nancy, there is never a down-day on the Farm, it is always rewarding. Just the other day she had a little boy lean over to her in the milk parlor and say “This is the best day of my life.” “That was the best day of my life,” says Nancy.
Overall, the Old McDonald’s Farm agricultural enterprise is a great hands-on learning experience for all ages—exposing what the true agricultural lifestyle is really like, generating a greater appreciation for what it takes to produce the food we eat and drink, and providing deeper insight into our communities—as well as just giving people the opportunity to “get down on the farm”!
For more information on Old Mc- Donald’s Farm, visit www.oldmcdonaldhasafarm. com.
By Gordie Little
Even though it’s called the Lucki 7 Livestock Company, smart planning, good marketing and elbow grease probably outstrip luck in contributing to its tremendous success. If you were to drive out to 20562 Route 69 in Rodman and visit Lucki 7, you would get the instant impression that owner Stephen Winkler and his wife Lisa have poured their hearts and souls into the place. When you talk to them about their passions, you will soon learn that, for them, it is rapidly evolving into a dream come true.
Lucki 7 is different enough from most other farms in the region to command attention far and wide. It has been featured by prominent magazines, on a local National Public Radio affiliate and several times in newspaper features.
As a youngster, Steve Winkler spent a lot of time on his grandparents’ farm in Rensselaer County. His dad was in the oil business and they spent time on Long Island as well. He later paid his dues in the feed business for decades. When recruited to manage a feed mill in Watertown, he was at first hesitant about moving his wife and young family from their home in the Finger Lakes. All that changed once they got here. In his own words, “I just couldn’t believe how beautiful Lake Ontario and the surrounding area turned out to be.”
He and Lisa had dabbled in heifers and hay while living in Cortland, but always had an idea that they wanted to get out of town. At first, they intended to own just a small farm. A realtor put an ad in the paper that said simply, “Young couple looking for a family farm.” Call it luck or divine intervention, but the people owning the 100-acre farm near the Rodman Town Barn on Sandy Creek responded and, as Steve says, “The rest is history.” That was in June of 1997.
Winkler pointed out where a bit more luck came into play. They put their Cortland house up for sale on a Tuesday, sold it that Thursday and Lisa came home from a doctor’s appointment on Friday with news that she was going to have twins. They already had three children at the time.
Steve smiled and added that it all happened in the span of one week. Their twins weren’t born until October, after they moved up north, but they knew that they were going to have five children when they moved to the Rodman farm. They tossedaround many names, but settled on Lucki 7 for their seven family members and are delighted now that they did.
The Winklers began by planning to provide for their family. They started a little farmstead with a small flock of laying hens and a dozen hogs. They added 30 dairy heifers that first fall. They had a small flock of sheep, including two rams and ten ewes, for the children to show and to put lamb on their table. They hoped to feed themselves year-round off the land with their own vegetables, fruits and meat, but were not planning to go into farming full-time.
However, as things progressed, their neighbors watched what Lucki 7 was doing and put in their requests for products from the farm. Winkler added more crops and more animals and says, “The farm progressed very nicely until I finally left the feed company in 2002.” There are no sheep right now, but, he says, they are in his future plans.
Winkler explained, “With this whole green movement we’re experiencing these days, along with the widespread interest in organic and certified natural foods, we are on a wave right now and it’s truly exciting.”
All of the Lucki 7 Livestock Company’s products are “certified natural.” They now offer fresh vegetables, eggs, beef, pork and chicken.
In 2000, the Winklers were able to buy an adjacent 220-acre farm that had been in foreclosure. Lucki 7 now totals 320 acres.
Why go all natural? “Well,” Winker said, “My wife is a dietician by trade and education. She teaches biology and environmental science at Immaculate Heart Central in Watertown. She’s an expert on nutrition and was always fussy about what our family ate and how it was prepared. We decided together that natural is best. The animals are on an all-vegetarian diet. We don’t use drugs, hormones, chemicals of any kind, or animal proteins. Our gardens are also certified natural.”
He went on to say, “It involves a connection between the farm, the environment, our natural resources and our community. We work hard to tie it all together, treating our customers right and giving back to our community in many ways.”
Lucki 7 is bordered by two “cricks,” as Winkler calls them—“Fish Crick to the south and Sandy Crick to the north. I want to be able to fish in my own crick, which I can’t do right now for a lot of reasons and that’s my real pet peeve.”
Lisa Winkler has a biology degree and studies the bordering creeks twice a year. She is disappointed that they are still lacking in qualities she looks for to grow healthy fish for human consumption.
Steve Winkler loves the old dairy barn on the property which dates back to 1900 and a beautiful addition, added about 30 years ago. He said, “We like to keep the place up by painting and fixing things as necessary so that when we sit on the porch after work, it looks good.”
He says the hogs turned out to be Lucki 7’s bread and butter very early and, once that was established, people started asking him, “Where’s the beef?” They wanted high quality natural beef. Then they began looking for high quality natural eggs. He said, “We just kept adding these pieces as our customers wanted more good food. We added to our production until we arrived where we are today.”
He explained that they’ll market 1,000 chickens this year for meat. They have a 200-bird flock for eggs and are hoping to butcher 1,000 pigs this year in three rotations of 300 each. “Right now,” he says, “we have about 30 beef cows and usually buy 20 to 40 a year. We sell 20 and over-winter 20, so my goal is to hold onto about 39 over the winter. That would make me very happy.”
The Winkler’s eldest of five offspring is now 18 and is working full-time on the farm this summer as he prepares to matriculate at Utica College in the fall. Steve said, “Things are really clicking this summer. Lisa works on the books and we’re building a replica 1870 vintage horse barn, complete with a cupola where customers can drive up to see our meat and vegetables on display. Lisa and the kids are really excited at the prospect of having a first-class farm stand to operate.”
Presently, the Winklers have multiple coolers and freezers in the old milk house where people can come and pick out what they want and it will be taken right to their car.
Winkler says he sells directly to some stores, but works closely with distributors who buy whole animals from Lucki 7, have the meats cut to their specifications and redistributes them to high-end restaurants in New England; Philadelphia; Washington, DC; New York City and elsewhere.
None of the butchering for commercial use is done there on the farm.Lucki 7 raises about 22 varieties of garden produce, including cantaloupes, Asian melons, peas, three types of beans, squash and pumpkins, to name a few. They do multi plantings each growing season and were into the second planting of lettuce, spinach, beets and carrots in early July.
Their kind of farming is labor intensive, so they hire some outside help for that purpose.
Lucki 7 was the first producer in Jefferson County to carry the Adirondack Harvest marketing label, which Winkler says is a good brand recognition device similar to Pride of New York. He says when people outside the area see the name “Adirondack” on his products it carries a real impact.
In the group called “Certified New York,” Winkler says there are 49 producers, but only 15 or so certified natural. The guidelines are strict and specific, thus their appeal to high-end restaurants and private consumers.
Winkler said, “Lucki 7 is the result of my belief and my passion. Call it good marketing, if you like, but it’s how my family lives and eats and we think that the more the public learns about us, the more they will want our products.”
He went on to say,” You can’t believe how many young moms ask how they can do this. My wife tells them about what we call the ‘pork cuby.’ It’s like a pork cutlet or pork cube steak. You pop it on the grill or in a pan, fry it for one minute on each side, put it in a bun and be on your way to a ball game or whatever. Take some fresh-picked strawberries or blueberries and you have a meal.”
W inkler expounded on his basic philosophy: “I didn’t want to be told what my paycheck was going to be. I wanted to earn what I made. We have a unique market here on the East Coast that few people have anywhere else. We can produce our food here and get it to some of the best disposable incomes in the world. With our system, anyone can enhance their living or run a farm while making a nice living.”
He went on to say, “If you live near a creek or lake or a beautiful field, take time to realize that what you’re practicing has an affect on your neighbors and your natural resources. It all goes hand-in-hand and we’re all tied together.”
The Tug Hill region of the state is a lake basin that is famous for wonderful, natural soils and excellent conditions for growing many things. Steve and Lisa Winkler discovered it in 1997 and were thrilled to start producing food for their own family. Their concept of certified natural pasture-raised pork, beef and chickens was quickly embraced by others and is growing every day.
Their animals are free from all antibiotics and animal proteins. They’re free to roam outside or bed down inside the barn. The Winklers decided early on to care for their land so that it ends up even better than it was in some former heyday. They also give back to the community. Steve manages a successful 500-member youth lacrosse program in Watertown, saying, “We’re lacrosse maniacs around here.”
Just ask an opinion about the seven Winklers from the private customerswho stop at their farm or the distributors breaking down the door to get in on their certified natural products, and you’ll get a universal thumbs up.
Lucki 7 Livestock Company in Rodman— a well-grounded way to be.
By: J.D. Rossi
Sweet History
In searching for a history of maple syrup, no actual account of how the process began or to whom credit should be given could be established. But an interesting legend that lends character to the process was found and seems to give the method of creating maple syrup a colorful and ‘sweet’ narration.
It seems that a Native American chief had stuck his tomahawk into a tree, never expecting a clear liquid sap to come oozing out. As the day got warmer the sap seeped into a cooking pot on the ground. The chief’s wife, after tasting it and discovering it tasted quite good, cooked his meat in it. The chief was so impressed with the sweet taste of the maple meat he named it Sinzibudkwud which means ‘drawn from trees.’ Native Americans still use this word when referring to maple syrup. For Marvin and Nancy Widrick of Lewis County, pulling out a jug of maple syrup to cook with is just one of many ways the sticky goodness is used to please their customers… and themselves!
“I use it every morning in my coffee!” said Marvin Widrick, who, with his wife Nancy, runs the successful Golden Maple Shanty in Lowville. The Shanty has been in place only since 2002, but the process of making and selling maple syrup is nothing new to the Widricks. “I can remember being in the shanty with my Dad when I was about three or four years old while he was boiling. We used to roast hot dogs by the doors,” Marvin recalled.
For four generations, the Widrick family has tapped countless maple trees from the Adirondacks to Lowville, where they are now located. In 1968, Marvin bought his father’s dairy farm and a nearby tree lot known as ‘Sugarbush.’ The lot, which is about four miles from the farm, is essentially 15 acres of maple trees that have been tapped to make maple syrupsince the early 1900’s. To Nancy, the prospect of tree-tapping was brand new when she married her husband 41 years ago. And the fact that maple syrup was so plentiful surprised her.
“It was really hard to get used to,” said Nancy. “When you have lots of something, you tend to use lots of it. When I was young and my family had maple syrup, we used it very sparingly because it was a luxury. But when Marvin used it, he would put it on his pancakes and still have plenty of it left on his plate! In my family, that never would have happened!” said Nancy.
Continuing Tradition
For Marvin, making maple syrup is second nature. “Number one, it’s a great product. Number two, I enjoy doing it. Number three, when you’ve done it this long, it gets in your blood so it’s something you just keep doing each year. You look forward to it,” he said.
Surprisingly, the sugaring season is quite short for maple producers. It generally begins March 1 and ends sometime in mid-April. If the weather cooperates, Marvin says he can produce half a gallon of syrup per tap, sometimes a bit more. And if this doesn’t seem like much, Marvin says it’s really quite good, considering the state average is a quart per tap. “Maple syrup is all weather related,” he explained. “What the weather is like when the trees are tapped determines how good a season we’ll have. If it’s below freezing, the sap isn’t going to run.”
“I didn’t know a thing!” Nancy says of her early days as a maple producer. “But it was interesting getting to know the ins and outs by helping in the woods and watching how it was produced.”
Today Nancy handles the retail side of the business while Marvin handles the production side. And while many of their customers buy their products at the Widrick’s front door, 75 percent of their sales come from the Internet – a fairly new concept for Nancy.
“In 2002,” she said, “we built the shanty we have now on our property. The next year, we went online. Our son-in-law talked us into it and we decided to try it. And it has really taken off! It’s been a real learning curve trying to keep everything straight and deal with the public electronically.”
No longer are they selling just the traditional syrup. Online at their website http://shop.mapleshanty.com, customers will find maple-coated almonds, walnuts and peanuts, maple jelly, maple butter, maple cream, maple cakes, granulated maple sugar, maple walnut fudge, gift baskets of these products and more!
“We make a lot more products with the maple than we did in the early years,” Nancy explained. “In the early years, we sold it all bulk. But since 2002 we’ve been retailing all of these different products.”
Moving Forward
Technology has really spurred the maple industry for producers like the Widricks, and not just through the evergrowing Internet. Today vacuums and hoses are used to suck the sap from the trees, thus increasing the yield. A gas pump poised on the back of a trailer is then used to pump the fresh sap from a tank in the woods to a second tank on a trailer.
“For the most part these changes have benefited the industry,” Marvin said. “There’s much more marketing of maple products today then when I was a boy. Back when my father was producing, he would take the syrup to neighbors and whatever was left over was put it in a drum and shipped to wherever it was needed. But now there’s a lot of experimental work going on with new technology. I would say in the last 25 years there have been more changes than in the past 100 years.”
With that has come changes in how the product is used. Not only are more and more people using it to cook with, it’s also being touted as a cleansing agent for the body.
“If there is such a thing as healthy sugar, it’s syrup!” Marvin said with a chuckle. “Your body can break down this sugar easier than any other form.”
Today Lewis County is recognized as the leading maple-producing county in New York State and the third largest maple- producing county in the nation—big numbers for area producers like the little Golden Maple Shanty on Sharp Road in Lowville. From its small beginning decades ago, the Shanty has seen changes that have grown their business from small barrel used by the family to the endless electronic opportunities of the World Wide Web—a concept that the Widrick’s would say is “pretty darn sweet.”
By Tom Williams
Coming home for the Marshes, Daryl and Gail, had been a dream for years. Daryl and Gail had moved from Jefferson County to start their careers, 30 some years earlier. On September 11, 2001, Daryl Marsh was sitting in his office in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from New York City and saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center. “We believe that that was the final thing to push us to get out” said Daryl. “The trick now was to find a way to support ourselves”.
The Marshes had a great interest in farming, but not dairy farming. Gail’s parents owned a former dairy farm and she grew up as part of the sixth generation to be raised on that farm in Theresa. Daryl grew up in Antwerp, but spent every summer with his grand-father on a farm.
After checking with her siblings, Gail found no one else was interested in farming. The couple had read about a new industry, alpaca farming, and found one near where they lived in New Jersey. They fell in love with the animals and mentored with the farm’s owner, learning all they could about the care of the alpacas. They were also concerned about the environment and found that raising alpacas was a clean and environmentally friendly way to farm. In addition, Gail’s medical technology background would be a plus in the care and understanding of the animals.
In June of 2002, it was time to put the plan into motion. They purchased six alpacas and kept them at the farm in New Jersey. In May of 2005, they moved back home into the homestead with Gail’s parents. They immediately set about building an extension on the farm house, cleaning out and fixing up the barn and installing fences to protect their recently purchased alpacas. They decided to name their farm ‘Home Again Farm.’ At last, in February of2006, the alpacas were brought to their new home in Theresa.
In the last few years, it seems that everyone has heard the term ‘Going Green.’ This idea was also in the Marshes thoughts when they decided to raise alpacas. “Basically everything goes back into the environment,” Daryl said.
The animals are very intelligent and clean. They eat approximately one-and-ahalf to two percent of their body weight in hay a day. Much of the hay comes from the Marshes 50-acre farm. The manure is shoveled up and used for fertilizer in the pastures, garden and in their vineyard. The Marshes are also growing cold-hearty grapes to sell to the fledging wine industry. They also purchased Guinea hens. The Guinea hens get along well with the alpacas and eat insects, snails, larvae, and parasites that could be detrimental to the alpacas’ health.
Alpacas are related to llamas and camels, but are much more friendly. They rarely spit, which is a habit of the species. Their fiber is extremely soft and is sought after for sweaters, gloves, hats, and many other clothing accessories. They are shorn once a year when they have about six inches of ‘staple length’ fiber. In the spring, before Memorial Day, Daryl and Gail will strap each alpaca to a table, then rotate the table so the animal is lying on its side. They shear one side of the animal, then repeat the process for the other side. The shearing yields five to ten pounds of fiber per animal, depending on its size. The alpacas are fenced in to protect them from their predators, which include domestic dogs and coyotes. Several of the females in the Marshes herd are bred once a year. A female should be two years old before being bred. The gestation period is eleven months. The male and female are brought together for a short time, then separated again. After a week, they are paired up again. If the female is pregnant, she will spit at the male, confirming the pregnancy, and they will be separated.
A baby alpaca is known as a cria, which is Spanish for baby. Crias are separated from their mothers when they are six to seven months old or weigh approximately 70 pounds, then are segregated by sex and size until fully grown.
Alpacas are herd animals and do not do well alone. The young ones jump around and run and are very curious. Daryl said, “One thing all the alpacas love is to be sprayed with water. We cannot put a sprinkler in the pen because one will lay down on top of it, so we spray them with the garden hose. They love getting their bellies sprayed. That is where their cooling system is located.”
The Marshes’ alpaca herd has grown from six to 25. with six crias born last year. Their goal is to have approximately 30 of the animals. Herd health is done monthly. Each alpaca is brought into the barn and weighed, given a shot which kills parasites, and, if needed, they get a toenail trim. Some of the alpacas have participated in shows, and one, Dawn’s Early Light, placed sixth in the Northeast Alpaca Expo in Syracuse. Alpacas from more than 170 farms participated. If an animal places, it becomes more valuable.
The Marshes have the fiber from their own alpacas made into yarn for clothing. They have opened a store at Home Again Farm, where their own products and imports from Peru can be purchased.
Alpaca are not the only plans the Marsh’s have for Home Again Farm. They have planted 300 Frontenac and 300 LaCrescent cold-hearty grape vines and plan to sell the grapes to local wineries for wine-making. It takes three to four years for the grapes vines to produce and the Marshes expect to see their first crop of grapes in 2010.
Ultimately, Daryl and Gail Marsh would like to see Home Again Farm become a destination vacation place where people can have weddings, reunions, or spend a week vacationing. There is a house for vacationers to stay and 50 acres with paths to walk. Vacationers can have the experience of being around alpacas and help around the farm it they wish.
Home Again Farm is on the Jefferson County Ag-Tour, number 41. For a personal tour call 315-221-5104 or visit the internet at http://www.agvisit.com/
By Tom Wiliams
Nick Surdo is at the top of the curve when it comes to the emerging cold climate viticulture industry. Nick could be considered the industry’s pioneer in the North Country, becoming involved in the industry ten years ago. Today Nick owns and operates the Yellow Barn Winery in Sackets Harbor.
Nick and his wife, Marie, bought their 425-acre farm with 45 head of cattle in 1971. When they decided to retire ten years later, Nick was looking for something that he could grow in this cold climate besides barley, corn and oats. After reading an article about growing grapes in Minnesota he thought “why not in Upstate New York?” And so it started.
Nick, a dedicated experimenter, decided that when he retired, one of the first things he was going to do was to plant some of the Minnesota grapes (known as cold hardy grapes) to see if they could survive in the –40 degree temperatures we occasionally get in the North Country. If they could, then the grapes could survive anywhere. He picked the worst place he could think of on his farm and, in 1999, began planting a variety of vines from Minnesota: Frontenac, St. Croix, Kay Gray and Swenson Red. The area he chose was on bedrock with only six inches of soil. He also planted the grapes so that they would get the cold northwest winds. In 2002, the temperature dropped to –40. The Frontenac vines survived, as did the Kay Gray. During this time, Nick also decided to “go green” with his operation. The term had not even been coined yet.
Now that Nick knew what vines could survive in the area, he wanted to determine if customers might enjoy the wines he could produce: sweet, semi-sweet and dry. To get a consensus, he checked with his neighborsand their taste buds. The neighbors loved the wines, with the sweet and semi-sweet wines being the most popular.
Nick was now committed but he needed a theme. His daughter-in-law Mary believed, and rightfully so, that wine and books go together. So that would be the theme of their Yellow Barn Winery. They would open what is called a cottage winery, which has a small area for the showroom, for wine tasting and for the books that Nick and Mary believe go along with that wine. But Nick also wanted the winery to be environmentally friendly.
Nick had decided, when he planted his first vines, to stay away from pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. So he looks for cold hardy disease-resistant grapes. As much as a viticulturist tries, pests and disease still try to invade the vineyards. Nick uses other ways to inhibit disease and critters from his small vineyard. As an example, he uses traps to catch Japanese beetles instead of spraying. He also decided that he would not grow all of the grapes, but would buy grapes from other sources. As more people grew grapes in the North Country, he would purchase and press their grapes to get the juice to make his wines. He also looked at other ways to go green. Solar and wind energy sources were investigated, but rejected as cost prohibitive. It is estimated that it would cost over $100,000 to heat a winery through either solar energy or wind power.
Nick was now fully committed to building an environmentally friendly winery. To accomplish this, he incorporated help from a group of experts from the wine industry, the architect that helped design the Thousand Islands Winery, and the resources of the Cornell Co-operative Extension. The plan was to convert his 6,000 square-foot barn into the winery. This involved a work area, storage tank area and a show room with a wine tasting area. A heating unit with a 98 percent efficiency rating was installed. The juice storage area walls were double insulated and designed to remain at between 50 and 60 degree farenheight. Since that area is not heated, the temperature drops to about 45 degree in the winter.
The Yellow Barn Winery opened in June 2004. They produce 8,000 bottles of wine a year. In the future Nick might decide to increase his output, but he is very particular and dedicated to taking the time to produce high quality wines.
“It takes time to make a great tasting and good quality wine and the formula is not simple, Nick said. As an example, oak is used in the wine-making process to bring out the flavor, but oak may work better with one variety of grapes than with another.
Time also plays a role in making a great wine. Many experts believe that wine tastes better with age. But that aging process means you don’t know if you’ve gotten it right for a while!
The Yellow Barn Winery is trying to make wine with as many cold-hardy variety grapes as possible. Nick believes that these grapes provide a distinctive wine, unique to the North Country.
Making wine in the North Country is in its infancy. Nick thinks that, so far, efforts have been successful, but growers in this area still have a lot. This past year many of the growers were hurt by the early snow and late frost.
The grape-growing and winery industry became a viable industry in this region because of Nick and several other citizens who were interested. In 1999, only Nick and one other person were growing a few grape vines. The industry has blossomed in the last five years. There are now well over 26,000 grape vines planted in the threecounty area and most of those are in Jefferson County. In addition to the Yellow Barn Winery, three other wineries were open last year. This year, two more opened and at least five members of the Seaway Valley and Viticulture Association, of which Nick was a founding father, are looking at getting into the business.
The Yellow Barn Winery’s busiest time is the summer months of July and August, because that’s when tourism is heaviest. Last year over 4,000 customers visited the Yellow Barn Winery. What is the their most popular wine? Passion Red, a semisweet red wine.
The Yellow Barn Winery is now on the local Ag-Tour. For a personal tour call 315- 221-5104.
By Diane Rutherford
Gary Rhodes is a self-described history nut who loves growing things and giving back to his community. The 58-year-old Henderson man is able to integrate all of those passions at his business, Rhodes Greenhouses, located on scenic Route 3 in the southeastern part of Jefferson County.
Rhodes’ business operation sits on 8.5 acres of land, which includes his family’s 1820s homestead, 16 greenhouses, display gardens and a general store. Rhodes Greenhouses is northern New York’s largest grower of spring plants. The business today is a far cry from the early days when his parents purchased the historic home and a few acres of property in 1962.
Back then, Rhodes father, Leland, worked for the Jefferson County Probation Department and made the trek from Henderson to Watertown every day. His mother, Gerene, was home with Gary and his three sisters. Leland and Gerene had operated Triangle Gardens, a greenhouse and florist business in Adams for many years. In 1962, they decided to start a new greenhouse in Henderson “basically for my mother to have something to do,” Gary Rhodes said.
“We just kept adding greenhouses,” said Rhodes. “It’s fun. I think we wanted to make it a fun place to be.”
Rhodes grew up working at the greenhouses and later went on to serve in the U.S. Army. He also earned a master’s degree in education in hopes of becoming a teacher. But his plans for a career in the classroom were derailed after his father became ill. Rhodes helped care for him and keep the family business going. He eventually took over the business in 1982 and, with his wife and three children, built Rhodes Greenhouses into the success it is today.
As motorists drive into the large gravel parking lot, they’re greeted by a sea of vibrant colors. There are annual and perennial flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs and so much more. Geraniums of white, pink, salmon, red and fuchsia are featured prominently in the greenhouse near the entrance.
Rhodes raises 13,000 of them every year. “We grow some scented geraniums, which a lot of people like. My wife yells at me because I tend to grow geraniums that I like and sometimes people don’t buy them, but I still like them. So we wind up with quite a lot of those, but geraniums are just wonderful. Geraniums are a big crop across the nation,” said Rhodes.
In addition to geraniums, visitors will find 100 varieties of annuals, 280 assortments of potted plants, 30 varieties of tomatoes and 36 types of herbs. There are also fruit trees and virtually every kind of vegetable plant.
Rhodes says his business is unique in that he grows a single crop per year and that he “kind of babies it.” Meanwhile, wholesalers produce multiple crops and grow them fast for export in order to make room to start another crop. He says many wholesalers “flash grow” their plants, essentially zapping seedlings with “a lot of heat, a lot of fertilizer, a lot of sun.” Rhodes prefers to nurture his plants slowly and naturally to ensure good quality.
“I think that what makes our plants a little sturdier when you transplant them is because they’ve got more nutrition in them. They haven’t been pushed along and forced quite so much,” he said. “You can take a nice piece of steak and you can cook it slow and have a nice steak, which tastes good, or you can sock the heat to it and end up with something unrecognizable. I like to slow grow our plants.
It takes months to do it and I think it’s where the quality comes from.” It’s that quality that attracts customers from all over northern and central New York. Rhodes says it’s not unusual for people to drive more than 100 miles to his greenhouses.
James McCormick doesn’t mind the half-hour drive from New Haven in Oswego County. He visits Rhodes Greenhouses to buy perennials. “I come up here quite often…They have a great variety of flowers and plants and they’re all in good shape. They last,” said McCormick.
“We have the ability to pick and choose what we grow. We’re not tied into what wholesalers have to offer us, so we grow what grows up here,” said Rhodes.
However, he occasionally grows what he likes to call “oddball” plants, which include exotic and tropical varieties. “We do Sensitive Plants (Mimosa pudica) for the kids and I like to have a bench full of them because you can go along and hit the benchand all the plants’ leaves will fall down,” he said.
The determination to be unique in the greenhouse industry requires a great deal of research. Rhodes is currently investigating the demand for hard-to-find varieties of tomatoes.
“Moreton Hybrid is a great example. What’s happened over time is a lot of the older varieties have been discontinued. Now we’re finding out that, while they may be disease resistant, a lot of the newer varieties may have a trade-off in taste or quality. So we’ve actually found Moreton Hybrid seeds and we’re going to be selling them again,” said Rhodes. “We’re going back into a lot of the heirloom varieties, which are old traditional Amish varieties— different colored peppers, different colored tomatoes. We’re lucky, since we grow our own stuff, that we can grow these things once we find the seed.”
Rhodes has also worked to turn the areas around the greenhouses into peaceful sanctuaries. He calls them “display gardens,” and they are designed to showcaseRhodes’ plants, trees, shrubs and flowers. The benches that are mixed in invite customers to “take a load off” during their visit to the greenhouses. Rhodes often offers the display gardens as locales for community and charitable events.
“It’s a lot of work, but it gives us a lot of satisfaction,” he said.
Rhodes also takes a great deal of pleasure in honoring the history of his land. He enthusiastically explains that his 189-yearold home was built by Oliver Bates, a Revolutionary War veteran who was born in Massachusetts in 1763. Crafted from local limestone, the house was an early Mormon meeting area and possibly an Underground Railroad site. Rhodes’s home is on the State and National Register of Historic Places. He has done painstaking research on the many people who have called the Oliver Bates House “home” over the years.
“Everybody that’s lived here pretty much has been involved in agriculture…I think they would be impressed with whatwe’ve done here. It takes a lot of work, but I think they would enjoy that we’ve kept agriculture growing here—going and growing,” said Rhodes. “We’ve just tried to combine our love of history and love of growing and try to incorporate it all with little displays here and there. I think what we’ve tried to do is make it more than just a business, but a fun to place to come and just visit.”
Rhodes takes pride in doing his part to help the local economy. He employs 15 full and part-time workers during the business’s peak season. Other years, he has hired as many as 23 people to work at the greenhouses.
“We’ve always employed a lot of high school students and some college students, so we help them earn money. It’s fun because I needed money when I went to college,” he said.
Rhodes expanded his business in 2002 by opening the Alexander Corners General Store on his property. Customers often go there to purchase ice cream and then enjoy eating it in the display gardens, which are sandwiched between the store and the greenhouses. While the greenhouses are open from May 1 through Labor Day, the store is a year-round operation.
“When we started the store, I wanted it to be an old-fashioned store where you can sit down and just talk with people andjust hang out. It helps with the cash flow during the year,” he said. “People go from the store to the greenhouse through the gardens and vice versa.”
During the winter months, Rhodes and his family tend to the store and perform maintenance work in the greenhouses. There‘s plenty of paperwork and research to be done during the cold, snowy season. Of course, that’s when Rhodes begins purchasing seeds for the coming growing period.
“We have a lot of greenhouses that are empty most of the year, so we’d like to find some other crop, maybe greenhouse vegetables… We’re always looking to improve.”
Rhodes does his job the old-fashioned way and he says it is labor intensive. He says he hopes to mechanize much of the work someday because “we’re all getting older and tired, I think.” And he is keeping his fingers crossed that one or all of his three children will eventually take over the business.
“They need to know what I know, so I find myself telling them, whether they like it or not, how to do things, or at least suggesting,” Rhodes said, smiling.
By Andrea C. Pedrick
Feel like your job is a daily grind? Kevin L. Richardson does too; but he really likes it that way. Richardson is president of North Country Farms, LLC; a local mill that stone grinds wheat into flour. When the wheat is delivered to the mill, it is transported into a 30-ton silo. From the silo, the wheat is cleaned and moved to the stone ground mill. Eventually it is packaged into twopound bags of pancake mix, muffin mix, and pastry flour.
Located in the former Brown Bag Bakery on Route 37 in Watertown, North Country Farms seems to be the answer local wheat farmers are looking for, all the while providing what consumers want in whole foods.
“Our product is unique because of the milling style we use,” said Richardson. “All of our wheat is stone ground. It’s a cool temperature milling process. So you don’t lose any of the nutrition in the wheat itself. We don’t add any preservatives to our flour. You’ll get the full taste. So when you are eating your pancakes, which everyone loves, you are eating an all natural food.”
Richardson says the organic quality of North Country Farms products is what sets them apart from the larger competition like Kellogg’s or Pillsbury. “It’s all in the taste. When people buy North Country Farms pancake mix, it’s the same mix every time. With the others, you are not sure what you are going to get,” he said.
The organic quality and consistenttaste of the food is also why Richardson was able to strike a deal with Sharp’s Amish Store in Belleville, the Jefferson Bulk Milk Co-op in Watertown and nearly two dozen Hannaford Supermarkets as far away as Herkimer, Utica, Watertown and Massena. Products are also distributed to The Mustard Seed in Watertown, as well as the Big M and P&C grocery stores. All of these outlets have a mission to provide the consumer with organic products or locally grown products.
“We’ve built a business from nothing into a positive food business that’s heading in the right direction,” said Richardson. “With us being a fairly new business establishing that brand awareness is going to get the people to buy it. The best way to get the products out there is to have the consumer taste it.”
Richardson can be found reaching out to the public and promoting North Country Farms at regional food shows and farmers’ markets. He noted that, at a recent food demonstration, he was able to obtain the contacts necessary to secure a spot in the commissaries at both Fort Drum and West Point, as well as the commissary at a small naval facility in Saratoga. He says the red, white and blue packaging of North Country Farms pastry flour, muffin mix and pancake mix certainly helped seal the deal with the commissaries. “It is the perfect niche for a military base. Everything we do we tie into making the consumer feel good. It’s all natural. It’s a red, white and blue package of wholesome food.”
Richardson is looking to also land accounts with several regional supermarket chains and warehouse stores.
The idea for a flour mill in the North Country was developed by Richardson and his business partners, which include Ron Robbins, a Sackets Harbor farmer. It is about this time in the season that Robbins is harvesting his wheat. Now, instead of having to truck it 300 miles to southern Pennsylvania or 180 miles to Buffalo, he delivers 25 tons of his wheat every six weeks just 18 miles up the road to the mill on Route 37. “We are cutting down on transportations costs and giving back to the community,” said Richardson. Robbins said that his former routine would be to truck the wheat to southern Pennsylvania for processing, only to have it return to the Watertown area to be placed on lolocal grocery store shelves. Now it’s a much simpler process. He is confident that other farmers would benefit from doing business with the mill and having their raw materials stay local. “This is what North Country farming is about,” said Robbins.
North Country Farms opened in July of 2008. In that brief time, the company has developed partnerships with not only Robbins, but with others who hold the same vision for local foods.
Richardson has expanded the food line to include jams from Sillmans Jam in Dickinson Center; honey from Many Flowers Honey in Alexandria Bay; and syrup from the Morse Family Farms in Mannsville.
The next time you see the red, white and blue label on any of these items know that you can trust the homegrown success story that started from the ground up.
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