Our First Season
In the fall of 2005, Dani discovered a course at Cornell Cooperative Extension called “Building Your Small Farm Dream” and suggested that she and David take the class to get some ideas for making the farm productive again. Here’s what happened next, according to David.
“Dani worked full time plus for the state and I have a full time business off the farm. When we started the class we thought that maybe we would plant a few cold hardy grape vines. Since taking the class (and still doing our full time gigs) we have done the following on our farm: made maple syrup for the first time (11 1/2 gallons) and sold it, planted 140 Christmas trees, had our first honey harvest from our bees and sold the honey, planted, grew, and sold 3500 square feet of vegetables, planted 36 cold hardy grapevines of 11 varieties, opened and operated our road side produce stand, planted raspberries, rhubarb, asparagus, cherries, and apricots for future years' harvest, and picked and sold pears and apples from trees already on our property. Oh, and we also got certified organic on August 1st. We also made piles of compost and prepared a new field for expansion in 2007. Our contact with Cornell Cooperative Extension has led us to attend numerous training sessions on production and marketing for most of the crops we now have."
