New York City has pretty much everything a modern consumer could possibly want, and you can get almost all of delivered right to your apartment. However, you can’t get everything in the city. Fresh air, quiet, and nature are in short supply. Fortunately, you can get all of those things, plus delicious fruit and gorgeous produce only an hour and a half from New York City at Fishkill Farms in East Fishkill.
The farm offers pick your own apples, peaches, and berries. They also have pumpkins in September and October. What you can pick depends on the time of year; berries and peaches for the summer, and apples in the fall. There is also an excellent store with local vegetables, a bakery, and lots of great sweet treats. There farm also has a grill where you can buy tasty burgers, and in the fall you can buy fantastic doughnuts and apple cider.
The farm is a great place to take kids. They love hunting for their own fruit and there are picnic tables if you want to relax and have lunch. They also offer guided activities for kids that have both education and entertainment for the little future farmers. Leashed dogs are also welcome. My dog loves to come along, eat the apples that have fallen to the ground, and roll in the soft country grass.
The fruit is inexpensive and is amazingly fresh and tasty. I spent $14 on my last trip and got enough apples and yellow peaches to make a couple of pies and will have enough left over to snack on around the house and use for other recipes. Plus, I still have enough to throw a few zip lock bags in the freezer for later. For an extra $5 dollars I also got a 2 pint container of gorgeous fresh strawberries.
If you go it is also worth taking a little money to spend at the small store on the farm. The bakery is great and there is some really nice local produce. On my last trip I got a couple of pounds of heirloom tomatoes, some fresh eggs from the farm, a small watermelon, some local mozzarella, and some candy all for about $20. The store is more expensive than your local C-Town, but it is cheaper than Whole Foods and the food is fresher and tastes better.
The other thing that makes the farm so wonderful is the great staff of people who run the place. I have been to Fishkill Farms a few different times and I always really enjoy how friendly the crew there is. Everyone who works there seems to have a genuine passion for what they do, and they are all really knowledgeable. It’s a really nice change from the the pace of the city, which rarely allows time for conversation with most of the people you meet everyday, and the staff’s enthusiasm for their food is infectious.
If You Go
Check the farm website before you head out. The site has a list of events and a schedule of what is in picking season as well as information about the sustainable practices of the farm. It is easily accessible from the Taconic Parkway. The trip takes about an hour and a half, but leave a little extra time for the drive because the scenery is beautiful, especially in the fall. The farm is open 10 am to 6 pm, seven days a week from June through October.
