While Schuyler County is famous for the majestic waterfalls at Watkins Glen State Park, the oft photographed pier found at the southern end of Seneca Lake, and iconic Watkins Glen International, the county is also rich in agricultural experiences.
Below are a few trip ideas around which you can build a fun farm adventure.
Muddy Fingers Fresh Produce courtesy Corning’s Gaffer District
Muddy Fingers Farm
This is what a farm tastes like!
Specializing in heirloom and unusual produce, Muddy Fingers grows lush organic vegetables year-round. You can buy their wonderful array of produce right at the farm in Hector or at local farm markets in Corning and Elmira. If you live locally, you can also take advantage of their hard work and knowhow by joining the CSA and getting your very own “share” of homegrown veggies throughout the year.
For updates on farm markets and CSA offerings, visit their blog.
Wixom Farm
Whether you’re firing up the grill for summertime fun or you simply have a hankering for a beautiful bacony breakfast, Wixom Farm raises flavorful quality meats free from hormones and steroids.
First started in the 1850s, Wixom Farm is located smack dab between Cayuga and Seneca lakes. On 123 beautiful acres outside of Mecklenburg, Wixom Farm raises dairy goats, Scottish highland cows, Tamworth pigs and other livestock. With an aim to “feed your family” like they feed their own, the farmers employ humane and kind practices.
You can visit the farm store to purchase quality meat products. Wixom Farm products can also be found at the Trumansburg Farmers’ Market and other locations. Check their website for more details.
Four Seasons Alpacas courtesy Watkins Glen Area Chamber
Four Seasons Alpacas & Rug Weaving
The Wicker family strives “to create new ways to use fleece seconds in rugs and pillows.”
Offering free farm tours throughout the day (please call ahead to arrange), visitors have a chance to meet with the Alpacas and other animal friends. The farm store can be opened for guests to purchase products made from Alpaca fiber – such as socks, scarves, reversible hats, baby blankets, throw rugs and wall hangings. Looking for something unique? How about your own handwoven rug made with Alpaca fiber (your choice of a few different sizes). Visit their website for more details.
Russell’s Alpaca Acres
Looking to get started in the Aplaca Lifestyle? Russell’s Alpaca Acres offers mentorship for aspiring alpaca farmers as well as a potential source of quality animals to start your own herd.
Award-winning alpacas make for great Herdsires and Breeding stock. Of course, if you’re looking for alpaca fiber products, Russell’s farm store has alpaca yarn and fleece, plus socks and boot insoles made from alpaca fiber.
Shtayburne Farm Creamery courtesy Watkins Glen Area Chamber
Shtayburne Farm Creamery
Here’s a farm that has spent years pleasing folks one tongue at a time. Going beyond the typical dairy farm, this family farm relies on generations of experience with the goal of producing “fresh and delicious food while allowing you to see where it comes from and how it’s made.”
Working with the land and cows for over four generations, the Hostetler family is widely known in the Finger Lakes for their delicious cheeses. And they offer tasty flights of cheese and ice cream. That’s right, ice cream flights!
Fresh cheese curds, Monterey Jack cheeses in a variety of flavors, aged and flavored cheddar, and fresh spreadable German Quark. Visit the creamery and farm store and indulge in cheese flights, ice cream flights, milkshakes, cold brews, and cow viewing. In addition to their own products, you can also shop for local meats, jams, honey, crackers, and nuts to build your own charcuterie board.
Apples and Moore courtesy Watkins Glen Area Chamber
Apples and Moore
Apples and Moore is proof positive that an agricultural adventure can provide memories that last a lifetime. Or maybe even become a family tradition.
With a reputation among locals and visitors as a go-to destination for apple picking, the orchard offers twenty different apple varieties. No ladders needed, as the trees offer easy picking from the ground. With wagons for toting, and row upon row of delicious fruit, you’ll find yourself taking photos for the digital scrapbook.
Pre-picked apples are also on hand to buy if that’s more your thing. Apples and More uses their fruit to make our jams, jellies and apple butter.
Depending on when you come, you might also want to pick raspberries or zinnias. Pears and Plums are available seasonally in the farm store. Oh, and you’ll definitely want to bring your appetite, not just to sample the fruit you pick, but to sink your teeth into the fresh, homemade Apple Cider Donuts made every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Other products sold in the store include apples, jams & jellies, apple sauce, locally-made products, donuts and seasonally available pears, plums, peaches, and apple cider. Mark your calendars.
Sunset View Creamery courtesy Watkins Glen Area Chamber
Sunset View Creamery
Some farms are built for doing their thing and maybe allowing you a chance to buy their products in a small outbuilding or farm stand. And, to be honest, that’s still pretty special to be able to visit the actual place where your food comes from. In addition to doing their thing exceptionally well, Sunset View also encourages visitors to embrace farm life quite literally with experiences such as cow-cuddling, as well as farm tours, milking classes (yep, you read that right, you can learn how to milk a cow in an hour-long class), and even your very own Spring Calf Mini photoshoot (talk about a great way to get unforgettable snapshots of the kids).
But let’s not forget what put Sunset View Creamery on the map in the first place and that’s the exceptional artisan cheese that’s the result of five generations of dedicated family dairy farming on the same 348-acre farm that has been in the Hoffman family since 1905. For over 110 years, Hoffman Farm has nourished Finger Lakes families with top-quality milk and cheese.
The farm store – open daily includes: Cheese, Curds, Raw Milk, Craft gifts, Gift Boxes and So Much More!
Farm Fresh Foods courtesy Yesterday’s Roots
Yesterdays Roots
Yesterday’s Roots is a seasonal farm market and café/coffee shop, open spring to late fall selling plants, produce, locally-raised meats, eggs, and dairy, as well as unique pantry items.
The café offers breakfast and lunch sandwiches, soup, and salad and features a complete coffee bar with a large variety of coffee, espresso, tea, and energy drinks. Keep a lookout for special beeswax candle-making workshops.
Ort Family Farm Jams courtesy Explore Steuben
Ort Family Farm
A fixture at local farm markets, the Ort family’s roots are in horticulture (an apt pun for sure) and their passion for growing and producing unusual fruits and herbs has turned a former 60-acre dairy farm into “an orchard of over 600 heritage fruit trees, 3-acres of unusual small fruiting plants, a high tunnel with figs and specialty fruits and many raised beds of herbs.”
They create over 100 delicious flavors of jams, more than 20 herbal tea blends, as well as “herbal seasonings, dip mixes and catnip items for sale using crops grown on the farm.”
They also love sharing their knowledge with others eager to learn. Take a workshop on grafting, or on growing figs or growing herbs indoors. You can even enjoy a private tea party, tea garden tour, and tea-making experience.
Crosswinds Farm and Creamery courtesy Delaney Moore
Crosswinds Farm & Creamery
Home to Brown Swiss cows raised for dairy & beef, an Angus/Murray Gray beef herd, crossbred pigs, and a flock of several breeds of egg laying chickens, the animals at Crosswinds Farm & Creamery are raised with compassion.
During pre-planned farm tour weekends, you can enjoy a pasture walk on the farm. Stop by the farm store for 100% grass-fed artisan cheeses, milk, yogurt, and gelato, as well as pasture-raised pork and grass-fed beef. Between their fresh products and a selection of items from local partners (like honey, maple syrup, jams, dilly beans, dill pickles), this might become your one-stop-shop for delicious local foods.
Enjoy farm-to-table breakfast and lunch selections and keep your eye out for their cheesecake. You can thank us later. Visit the website to learn about farm events throughout the year.
Four Seasons Alpacas courtesy Watkins Glen Area Chamber
Annual “Growing Around the Glen” Schuyler County Farm Tour Day
A highlight of the year, this popular annual fall event showcases a number of local farms which open their doors to the public, offering tours, tastings, hayrides, demonstrations, apple picking, shopping, opportunities to meet the farm animals, and more. The event is organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County in collaboration with the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce.
Learn more about the “Growing Around the Glen” event at Schuyler Cornell Cooperative Extension.
