Routes 5 & 20 – your destination for farms, food and fun
By Marjory Allen Perez
The 135-mile stretch of Routes 5 & 20 is all about farm, food and fun in 2008! Farm markets, wineries, food festivals, farm tours, corn mazes, u-pick operations, restaurants featuring local produce and wine ... it’s where agriculture and tourism meet.
Savor the Bounty
The Beak & Skiff Apple Farms, located on Route 20 in LaFayette, grow lots of apples and has become famous for its apple wine. The farm market is located in a restored 19th century barn and features a cider mill, apple pie bakery, a variety of apples, specialty foods, gifts and crafts. If you want to pick your own apples, this is the place for you. Apples, more apples and then some is the only way to describe Red Jacket Orchards Market, located on Routes 5 and 20 just west of Geneva. There are also strawberries, raspberries, apricots, plums, peaches and cherries. Red Jacket is also known for its line of juice blends.
The Elderberry Pond Country Store, just outside Auburn, features organic vegetables as well as heirloom fruits, smoked meats and cheeses, organic soups, salads, baked goods and gourmet preserves made with their own fresh produce. Or you can sit down and enjoy a meal in their restaurant.
Another way to get the flavor of farming is to visit one of the many farmers’ markets. On Saturdays you can visit the Canandaigua Farmers’ Market. Farmers’ markets are held Thursdays in Geneva and Skaneateles. The Farmers Co-op Market of Cayuga County meets in Auburn on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Farmers gather at Sauder’s Farmers Market on Fridays in Seneca Falls.
For those of you that feel that the only way to get the freshest of the freshest is to pick it yourself, there are plenty of farms that welcome you to do just that.
Farming History on Display
Old farm equipment takes center stage at four unusual museums in the Routes 5 & 20 Corridor. The Ward W. O’Hara Agricultural Museum, located on Route 38A in Auburn, tells the story of the life of farm families in upstate New York between 1850 and 1940. Annual special events provide opportunities to see the antique equipment in operation.
Jeff and Eileen Huff, of Bloomfield, are the collectors behind The Vintage Tracks Museum. No it is not a railroad museum. It is a museum that tells the story of equipment that travels on “tracks,” like a tank. These “crawlers of yesteryear” include tractors, bull dozers, graders and antique construction machinery.
Probably one of the most unique agricultural exhibits is found at the Johnston House, located on Route 96A in Geneva. The collection of over 500 drain tiles, ranging in date from 500 B.C. to modern times, is displayed in the home built by John Johnston, known as the “father of tile drainage.” The Johnston House is just down the road from the Rose Hill Mansion, another house worthy of a visit. Both sites are managed by the Geneva Historical Society.
The story of farming in the Routes 5 & 20 corridor is also part of many exhibits at the local historical museums located along the route. The Skaneateles Historical Society’s museum is housed in a building that once functioned as a creamery, serving dairy farmers in the region. The Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum in Canandaigua displays over 70 horse-drawn vehicles, many used on the farm.
Agricultural Fairs and Festivals
Agricultural fairs have been on the agendas of farmers since the early 1800s. County agricultural fairs are held in July and August in Waterloo and Canandaigua. One of the largest agricultural events in the Nor theast takes place each August just outside of Seneca Falls. Empire Farm Days is a three-day outdoor extravaganza that brings together 600 exhibitors and 75,000 farmers from the U.S. and Canada. The event may be aimed at farmers, but there is much the non-farmer can learn from this “day on the farm.”
The list of agricultural-themed festivals held in communities along Routes 5 & 20 is a long one. Almost every community can boast an old fashioned Strawberry Social sometime in late June. In September there is TomatoFest in Auburn and in October the LaFayette Apple Festival always draws a crowd.
Not Your Ordinary Farm
The diversity of farm operations in the Routes 5 & 20 corridor is evident, but there are also some not-so-traditional “crops” that flourish here. Carpenters Brook Fish Hatchery in Elbridge is one of only four county-run hatcheries in the state, producing over 70,000 Brook, Brown and Rainbow trout annually. Alpacas have also found a home on farms in the area. These exotic animals from South America produce a fine and highly prized fiber. Get a look at these interesting animals at Lazy Acre Alpacas Farm in Bloomfield.
For a complete list farm related activities and events within the Routes 5 & 20 Corridor visit www.routes5and20.com.