Local Food Posts

February 27, 2023Laurel Balog

5 Takeaways for Building an Agritourism Experience

The second course in the 2023 Ag and Food Producers Academy, Building an Agritourism Experience on Your Farm, concluded on February 18th, with a wonderful day of field trips after three online evening sessions.

The online sessions offered an opportunity for the 10 participating agriculture businesses to dig into the nitty gritty of creating and running an agritourism activity. Instructor Mary Godnick, Communication Coordinator for Adirondack Harvest, and guest instructor Lindsey Pashow, CCE Agriculture Business Development and Marketing Specialist, guided us through goal setting, insurance and liability considerations, and how to effectively market to your desired audience.

Two women standing in front of a window and nature exhibit. — Course Instructor Mary Godnick and Local Foods Team Leader Flip Filippi enjoying the lunch break at Nicandri Nature Center.

Our field trip time got us out into the community seeing the course materials applied by local businesses. In mid-February, we visited Kaneb Orchards in Massena, had lunch at the Nicandri Nature Centure with a special guest speaker Dillon Klepetar of Farmstead Catering at Echo Farm, and ended the day at Martins Farmstand in Potsdam.

We covered a tremendous amount of information over the past few weeks and want to share some takeaways with farm and food business owners or new entrepreneurs who’d like to create an agritourism experience, or further develop their current one. Find several great resources at the close of this post to help with your agritourism planning.

1. Determining Goals and Boundaries

Whether you’re an existing farm or are in the planning stages of your business, consider your goals, how an agritourism enterprise might help you achieve your goals, and your boundaries.

As important as it is to determine what your goals are for an agritourism venture, it’s equally important to determine what boundaries you have regarding your time, effort, and facility capacity. Essentially, what do you not want to do? In our first class, Mary discussed her experience with hosting on-farm meals because she knew it would be a popular option for consumers. But in practice, to run these experiences she was in the kitchen for long periods of time on those beautiful summer days, so she decided not to offer these anymore.

December 20, 2022Kathryn Puleo

Growing Local Farmers Markets

When I first started as GardenShare’s Farmers Market Manager, I was initially surprised it could be a full-time job, but after just one season, I can certainly say that there is a lot more that goes into running a market than one might realize! Prior to 2022 each farmers market in St. Lawrence County was managed independently from one another, but in 2022 GardenShare took on a new role that provided shared management services to the Canton, Gouverneur and Potsdam markets. I was excited to take on the challenge of developing the new program!

GardenShare provided direct management and advisory support, which created stability between a complex network of vendors, nonprofits and community partners. In addition to the dozens of vendors, there’s a lot of behind the scenes planning and collaboration involved with each market, including advisory boards, property owners, and voting market memberships.

Two people stand under tent behind display of diverse vegetables at market — The Hargraves of Brandy View Farms with their abundant array of vegetables at the Potsdam Farmers Market.

St. Lawrence County is rich with extensive resources, and at the markets you can find an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables along with local goods and crafts, with something new to discover every month. Partnerships also contributed to the success and diversity week to week, which enhanced the customer’s experience and created a community destination for different types of shoppers. Whether it was an activity for the kiddos, a free fitness class, or musical entertainment, there were extra events to enjoy throughout the season. It was very rewarding to see members of the community explore the market for their first time, and watch vendors expand their operations as the markets grew and evolved each month. There was certainly a buzz surrounding the Gouverneur Farmers Market, as customer traffic more than tripled from June to September. Vendors quickly adjusted to keep up with the higher demand and increased the quantity of products they brought in for sale.

Group of people standing outside in town center during the fall. — Gouverneur Farmers Market vendors on a sunny fall day in the 2022 season.

Between the three markets, there were 57 vendors and 33 nonprofits that showcased their items and services this year, with 13 vendors testing out other markets for their first time. Vendors who participated in more than one market, as a guest or applying for full-membership, expressed that having one contact was easier for their onboarding process, and communication was more efficient for their business practices.

Storytelling about Farming

Have you ever experienced something so nice, you wish everyone you knew could experience it too? That was my takeaway from the In Season: Story Slam last weekend. We gathered together in the gallery of the Our Rural Food System in Photos Exhibit, surrounded by hundreds of images of farmers and food producers of the region. The table was laden with goodies, all of which included ingredients from businesses in St. Lawrence County. There were around 40 attendees, and folks were relaxed and enjoying the sunny day in a beautiful space. On top of all that, we were regaled with 10 tales, each with a different take on the complicated, strenuous, and at times hilarious work of cultivating the land and producing food.

appetizers at event — The snacks and drinks at the event were sourced from 8 local businesses.

The format for the event was simple; any community member could opt to tell a 5-minute true story that related in any way to farming or food. As it turned out, every storyteller was a food producer, some growing produce and/or livestock for their own families and many as a business. Despite the differences in production scale, each person spoke with passion about their experiences tending the land or raising food products.

The audience was entertained by 10 community storytellers

The People’s Choice award went to Kathy Montan, hear her full story in the video below where a morning of beekeeping on her remote homestead took an unexpected turn.