Fishkill Farms is a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in East Fishkill, New York.

We grow apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums and cherries, several acres of berries, and a whole garden full of vegetables. We also have a flock of hens, who live on pasture and oblige us by laying some truly delicious brown eggs. The newest addition to the farm is a small (but growing) flock of sheep who will eat right from your hand.

Our goal is to produce high-quality food for local customers, while practicing good stewardship of the land so that it will nurture us for generations to come.

We believe food should have as direct a route as possible between field and table. Vegetables picked with your hands or the hands of a farmer you know are simply better. We invite you to come to our farm, where you can pick fresh fruits in season, try an assortment of local foods in the farm store, and make a day of it with a hayride, picnic and visit with the animals. You can also find our produce at several farmer’s markets locally and in New York City.

As the sun comes out and we shed our winter jackets, we’re giving fishkillfarms.com a spring cleaning. In a few weeks, we’ll have more information up, such as a pick-your-own calendar, information on visiting and events, and a regularly updated blog. In the meantime, here’s what we’re up to this spring.

Our biggest project is planting a brand new 5-acre vegetable garden. Fox and Julia, two new members of the team with a background in organic farming, are in charge, and have already put their expert skills to good use, setting up irrigation, designing a rotational plan for the garden, and planting thousands of seedlings in the greenhouse.

We’re also excited to announce the arrival of five ewes to the farm, who have recently given birth to lambs. They are hair sheep, and sport an elegant covering of soft white fur instead of a conventional wool coat.

Finally, for the first time in years, we are putting in hundreds of new fruit trees, from apples to peaches and apricots. Some of them are heirloom apples—old-fashioned varieties you won’t find at a grocery store. It will take a few years, but soon you’ll be able to try the Cox’s Orange Pippins (a tart, crispy apple regarded as one of the world’s tastiest) and Esopus Spitzenbergs (Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple) from our farm.

We’d like to encourage you to come out and visit us this season. Many factors go into making the farm run smoothly, but nothing is as important as your support!