Lant Hill Farm

Lant Hill Farm is a small organic farm on a scenic hilltop in Argyle, New York, not far from the Vermont border. On the farm, hosts Don Previtali and Sue Kowaleski raise and breed their own unique variety of beef cattle, along with chickens, vegetables like multicolored potatoes, and a diverse collection of fruits: there are blueberry, elderberry, black currant, and raspberry bushes, and plum, pear, and peach trees. Sue and Don also tap close to 150 maple trees and boil the sap to make maple syrup every spring. Don even aims to grow his own biodiesel.

Sue and Don offer a two-bedroom guesthouse B&B across the way from the farmhouse where they live. Don’s parents, both artists, built the guesthouse and designed the gardens in the 1970s. The guesthouse is lovely and very comfortable, with a large, open sitting room that features lots of wood and big windows that lead onto the deck and panoramic view down the hill to the east. Cozy chairs and couches offer families the chance to settle in for one of the games or puzzles they can choose out of the closet. There is also a dollhouse that’s great for kids. Lots of neat antiques hang on the walls -- a wooden shovel, a huge pan, and other tools for farming and cooking that have been in Don’s family for generations.

The Master Suite offers a king bed (or two twins), a full bath, and direct access to the large deck. The attached sitting room has a futon that can sleep two more guests when needed. On the lower level, the Cedar Room has a queen bed and a full bath with a tile shower. A rollaway bed is available for additional guests. Children are welcome.

 

Some guests, says Don, like to stay on the farm and help out, while others spend their days visiting nearby Lake George, Saratoga Springs, or Vermont. Within Washington County, there are covered bridges, and annual cheese, maple, and fiber tours. The Battenkill River also offers premier fly fishing. For those who prefer to stay on the farm, guests might have the opportunity to harvest fruits and vegetables, help with maple sugaring, or feed the animals, depending on the season. Croquet and horseshoes are options in the summer, and in the winter guests can ski and snowshoe right out the door of the guesthouse. At night, says Don, with no light pollution, it’s ideal for stargazing.

For breakfast, Don prides himself in using the best ingredients from Lant Hill and his neighbors’ farms. You might be treated to fresh berries, pancakes with Lant Hill maple syrup, smoked meats, yogurt from the Argyle Cheese Farmer down the road, and milk and cream from the Battenkill Valley Creamery. Says Don, “We’re pretty close to being on a 100-acre diet here. The main things we need to import are salt and vitamin D ... We like to support our neighbors. A lot of the county’s dairies are gone. The ones that are left are looking for a niche, like making cheese or bottling their own milk.” Some of Don’s breakfast treats are old Swiss recipes -- like yogurt with fresh fruit and grains -- that were passed down to him by his mother.

Farm History

Don bought Lant Hill Farm in 1971, after moving to the area to work as a farrier, a specialist in horse foot care and shoeing. Don had been working with horses since he was nine years old. When looking for a farm, Don wanted to find a place with a big spring, woods, and fields. He was also looking for land that was relatively free of chemicals, and since the Lant family had farmed the land for generations, using crop rotations and minimal chemical sprays, Lant Hill Farm seemed like the right place for him to settle down.

Don says he’s always farmed the same way, without synthetic chemicals. He also uses principles from biodynamic agriculture (a form of organic farming) and permaculture. Don’s aim is to find a natural balance between pests and their predators so that there’s no need to treat the vegetables and fruits.

When I ask Don what led him to farming, he recalls the first time he ate in his school cafeteria, in first grade. During his childhood in Southern Connecticut, Don was used to eating his mother’s fresh, biodynamically grown food (she had studied biodynamics in Switzerland). “The cafeteria food was so bad,” says Don, “that it made me sick.” Don realized then the importance of good fresh food to him. Further explaining his attraction to farming, says Don, “you are drawn to certain areas where you feel good. I wanted food I could trust. I didn’t want to work for a company.”

For 30 years, Don drove a school bus in Argyle in addition to farming and working as a farrier. He would get up, check on the animals, drive the bus for two hours, shoe horses, drive the bus for three more hours, then go back to the farm and feed the animals. Small towns would often draw their bus drivers from the farming community, as the farmers were the ones who could easily figure out how to work the buses. The dependable income from bus driving and the hours complemented farming well.

Beef

Don currently has 10 beef cattle, which he raises and finishes on grass. Most customers come to the farm to buy meat, and Don does some deliveries as well. One of his goals with the cattle has been to develop his own genetics to produce animals that are strong, healthy, and well-suited for his land. Don also aims to create a special flavor in his beef, which graze on Lant Hill's unique mix of grass, herbs, and other plants.

Maple Sugaring

When tapping trees, Don is careful to treat them well. He makes his taps 2-4 inches away from the scar of the old holes. The first step is to drill into where the sapwood sits. He has close to 200 taps on 150 trees -- most trees have two taps. Don uses plastic tubing and gravity to draw the sap downhill to his wood-fired evaporator. To boil down the sap, he says, you bring it to 7 degrees above the boiling point. It’s time to start boiling when you have 300-400 gallons of sap, which sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t take long to collect that much from his 200 taps.

Don is finishing work on his sugarhouse, which he recycled from a building that had been torn down. He’s still planning to add a room for canning, finishing work, and for socializing. Don admits to being something of a hermit. “But,” he says, paraphrasing the old Adirondack hermit Noah John, “what’s the sense of being a hermit if you can’t meet anyone?”

If you go:

The Master Suite (king bed) starts at $125/night, for bed and breakfast, and the Cedar Room (queen bed) starts at $95/night. Children are welcome.

www.lanthill.com

(518) 638-8003 / lanthill@localnet.com
Hosts: Don Previtali & Sue Kowaleski
RD 1, Lant Hill Farm
687 McEachron Argyle, NY 12809 Hill

Photos 1 and 4 courtesy Lant Hill Farm.

KZN MIDLANDS MEANDER AGRI-TOURISM

South Africa agritourism + funny guy in knee socks = :-) Watch for the scapegoat!

Today Show features Berry Fields Farm

At Berry Fields Farm in Northeastern PA, Barbara and Charlie Gerlach raise Tamworth hogs, Boer goats, pastured poultry, and grass fed Hereford cattle. They offer a guest house that sleeps 2-10 and a farm to table dining room serving Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch. www.berryfieldsfarm.net

Canter Berry Tails Apple Ranch

Canter Berry Tails Apple Ranch is an 1820s, four-bedroom vacation home rental on a 51-acre apple and vegetable farm near Gettysburg, PA. The house is decorated with incredible care and detail, and owners Ted and Sandy take great pride in all they’ve done to restore the house. Each of the bedrooms has a theme: there is the garden room, the hunting and fishing room, the North room, and the South room. “Each mattress,” says Ted, “will fit different people. Some are firmer; some are softer … and with the decorating, we try to give everybody something they can relate to.”

Much of the house is furnished with auction purchases and yard sale finds: there’s a kitchen wall covered with cast iron trivets, a glass-door cabinet full of whimsical antique food containers, and an antique desk that holds old postcards that guests can use for sending notes to friends. Sandy intricately hand stenciled many of the rooms, and hand stitched dresses worn by wire mannequins in two of the bedrooms. Additionally, the house has a laundry room, and a stocked kitchen with a dishwasher.

Ted and Sandy have also added cable tv, phones, games, and videotapes for guests. They tell guests not to bring anything so as to take advantage of all the games they have there. “I know you want to entertain yourselves,” Ted tells guests, “but we give you all the games in the world.” Ted and Sandy also have made sure everything is secure and safe for children who visit. They tell guests: “It’s ok if something breaks, just let us know so we can replace it. If you can’t live here, and eat here, and entertain here, there’s something wrong. It’s your house as long as you are here!”

Ted and Sandy say they are happy to invite guests into their own home to share a meal, at no extra cost. Guests can pick whatever they like in the orchard, and Sandy welcomes everyone to u-pick the vegetables in her garden. There are also chickens on the farm, and guests can help gather eggs. Ted says he always invites help on the farm, and for guests who want to stay and pick, he says, “We’ll put you on the payroll!”

Ted has spent 21 years farming at Canter Berry Tails Apple Ranch. He is now retired from working as a welder in the steel mills in New Jersey, but for years he would travel back and forth between the mills in New Jersey and his farm in Pennsylvania. Before buying the Apple Ranch, Ted helped his father run a truck farm in New Jersey. He lost the New Jersey farm when his father died, and though he tried to get it back, the farm was too expensive.

When he couldn’t afford farmland in New Jersey, Ted ended up looking for a farm in South Central Pennsylvania where the land was more affordable. Now, says Ted, he would no longer be able to afford farmland in the Gettysburg area, either. Due to farm economics and development pressure, he says, many of the farms in the area have gone out of business and/or been sold to developers.

On the farm’s 36-acre orchard, Ted grows Asian pears and seven varieties of apples. On 15 more acres, he grows sweet corn, pumpkins, and tomatoes. He direct markets the harvest through u-pick, an onsite farm stand, and local campgrounds. Musselman’s, an apple processing company down the road, buys the rest of the apple crop.

For guests who’d like to venture away from the Apple Ranch, there is a dairy farm next door, and the farmer lets guests come over and tour his farm. Sandy’s daughter, whose farm is five minutes away by car, has alpacas, and also welcomes guests to visit. Sandy and her daughter are both avid spinners.

If you go:

Canter Berry Tails Apple Ranch is open year round. A state park nine miles away offers swimming, hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. In the winter, guests can also ski at nearby Round Top. Year round, nearby Gettysburg offers lots of activities, particular for people interested in the Civil War. Rates for the four-bedroom vacation rental start at $275/night, weekdays, and decrease with longer stays. Children are welcome.

Contact:

Ted Abahazy

989 Center Mills Road
Aspers, PA 17304  

Phone: (717) 677-8900

Web: www.farmstay.us

Email: canterberry@farmstay.us

Farm Stay U.S. Launch

I'm excited to announce the launch of a beautiful new website called Farm Stay U.S. It's the brainchild of farm stay owner Scottie Jones of Leaping Lamb Farm Stay in Alsea, Oregon. The site is funded in part by a USDA SARE grant.

Scottie has loads of farm stays already on the map, but she's looking for more. If you know of any she should add, let her know.

Scottie and I will be collaborating in a few ways. I'll be guest blogging for her site, and we're co-presenting at the TIES Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference in Portland, OR from September 8-10, 2010. Very exciting!

6 Family Friendly Farm Vacations in PA

When my sister and I were growing up in rural Western Pennsylvania, our best friends lived just down the hill and across the field from us. Their father had a great big garden that captured our imaginations and encouraged us to dream. We kids would feast on strawberries and scheme to get rich selling the extras from the end of their driveway. Nobody ever stopped to buy our strawberries, but we weren't too discouraged; the strawberries tasted too good for us to be sad about it, and besides the cornstalks were starting to grow. I really couldn't believe that something as incredible as an ear of corn could have such humble beginnings, starting out as one single shriveled kernel pushed into the soil of a little cup.

Like many lucky kids, exploring nearby fields and watching a garden grow were essential parts of my childhood. Children gain so much from having the opportunity to roam and explore a chunk of land, and to see and eat their food at its source. A hundred years ago, Americans often took vacations to farms simply because many people in those days had relatives who farmed. Over the years, the percentage of farmers has dropped to below 2% of the population, and most of us have lost our connections with farms. But losing that connection has meant missing out on what was once a key part of life - exploring the countryside, and learning about and tasting the freshest possible food.

To honor the place I grew up, here are six hands-on, family-friendly farm vacations in PA. Pennsylvania has one of the oldest and most active Farm Vacation Associations; check out their website to find more PA farm stays.

1. Weatherbury Farm, a 102-acre, organic grass-fed cattle and sheep farm 45 minutes southwest of Pittsburgh, draws many of the same guests back year after year. Owners Dale and Marcy Tudor pride themselves in offering guests a fully interactive farm stay experience, with many opportunities for kids, especially, to get involved in farming. Families staying for two or more nights are given a packet filled with coloring & activity books. Regardless of age, kids are invited to earn an official "Weatherbury Farm Kid" certificate and cow wristband, which are awarded after helping with farm chores and completing a workbook.

The main Weatherbury guesthouse, called the Livery, is an area barn that the Tudors transported from a nearby farmstead, rebuilt, and renovated. The rough barn exterior belies surprising elegance on the inside, with 20-ft loft ceilings, a deeply-lacquered original hayloft wood floor, and lovely antiques. Farm breakfasts are served in a large dining and common room in the lower level of the Livery.

Rates start at $127/night for a two night stay. www.weatherburyfarm.com

2. The Farm of Peace sits on 150 rolling acres of field and forest in South Central Pennsylvania, at the end of a long dirt road. Renata Parrino, animal caretaker, farm stay host, and head cook for retreats, is one of five farm owners. The owners are all part of a Sufi spiritual community who bought the farm in 2003. After focusing for years on offering a Sufi retreat, they have opened their beautiful and secluded farm to non-denominational visitors, and all are careful to make guests of any background feel welcome.

Twenty Tunis sheep with copper-colored faces graze the land in rotation, with two donkeys serving as protection for the herd. The farm also supports a flock of laying hens, and roughly 200 pastured broiling hens during the summer. Children are excited - and welcome -- to pet and feed the animals, and to collect eggs. A large vegetable garden and small orchard produce organic vegetables and fruit for guests and for a CSA that's offered to nearby communities.

Families are welcome to stay in the farm's original, 1900 farmhouse. Occasionally, the new retreat center is also available (but only for guests ages 16 and up). It's a remarkable straw bale, passive solar building designed by Philadelphia-based green architect Sigi Koko. The old farmhouse is cozy, providing simple though comfortable accommodations in two rooms. The upstairs guest room is set up specifically to welcome families with young children, with play mats lining the floor and plenty of toys.

Rates start at $50/night, with a DIY breakfast included. www.farmofpeace.com

3. Mountain Dale Farm

Ken and Sally Hassinger have created a little cottage village for guests on their farm in Central Pennsylvania. The cottages have been fully recycled, after serving a range of functions in their previous lives. All of the cottages have kitchens and bathrooms. In addition to the eight recycled cottages - which sleep 2 to 14 - there are also three rustic forest cabins. The Hassingers offer four more rooms in their farmhouse. The Hassingers grow mostly field crops on their 175 acres, including corn, grain, and hay. Most of the field crops go towards making feed for the animals, the rest are sold to guests and locals. Mountain Dale Farm also has a herd of 60 beef cattle, chickens, ducks, sheep, and fainting goats (a special breed that actually falls over when startled). Guests (especially kids) are welcome to gather eggs and help feed the animals. Near the guest cottages, a pond offers opportunities for fishing and skating.

Rates start at $30/night for rustic forest cabins, and $70/night for efficiency cottages. www.mountaindale.net

4. Stone Haus Farm is a three story, 200-year-old stone farmhouse B&B situated on 100 acres of Lancaster County farmland. The farm grows the best celery you might ever try, so sweet and tender that it could win over even the celery adverse. Merv and Angie Shenk, along with their three children, are friendly and helpful hosts. Accommodations are family-oriented: each room sleeps four, and a playground, yard games, and barn rope swing await adventurous kids. Guests are welcome to feed the goats, gather eggs from the hens, and tour the fields. Breakfast is served family-style at the farmhouse's long dining room table, and features Lancaster classics like baked oatmeal and shoofly cake, along with fruit, sausage, and scrambled eggs.

Rates start at $69/night. www.stonehausfarmbnb.com

5. Schantz Haus Farm, historic homestead of Swiss Amishman Josef Schantz, the founder of the nearby city of Johnstown, is notable for its big, old barn, rich family history, and present-day dairy farm. Although friendly host Jeanette Hunsberger, with typical modesty, says that the three farmhouse B&B rooms are not romantic or fancy, they are in fact lovely, comfortable and simply, beautifully decorated with antiques. The guest common room has a separate entrance, plus a TV, microwave, and fridge, along with a photo album where Jeanette records all of the guests who stay here.

The Hunsbergers sell the milk from their 80-Holstein herd to the Maryland-Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative. In the farm's large garden, the Hunsbergers grow vegetables, berries, and grapes. They've also got peach and apple trees scattered about the property. Jeanette cooks seasonal breakfasts with her garden's bounty when possible, and she is happy to oblige requests for the farm's delicious fresh milk. Jeanette also has a few sheep, which she keeps for their wool. Guests are welcome to tour the farm, help to bottle feed a calf or milk a cow, or to simply observe fieldwork and milking. In addition to the dairy operation, the farm also grows field crops -- feed corn, hay, beans, and wheat. The original farm comprised 118 acres of woods; now the Hunsbergers farm on 800 acres.

Rates start at $50/night. www.schantzhaus.com

6. Stepping Stone Farm is a hobby farm owned by Larry and Vicki Rempel. Located in the southwestern corner of the state, the farm sits on 31 acres of fields and woods, with a large 1939 farmhouse. Guests are welcome to collect the farm's fresh eggs from the laying hens, and to feed the goats and rabbits. Guests also enjoy picking the raspberries as they ripen. Larry, who has the green thumb of the couple, grows a large vegetable garden. The Rempels' fruit crops include pears, blueberries, apples, and grapes, which they use to make jam.

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), a 150-mile trail open to cyclists and hikers, stretches from Cumberland, MD to near Pittsburgh, PA, passes only one mile from Stepping Stone Farm. Many cyclists, some of whom are "thru-bicycling" the GAP, stay at the B&B, as the trail passes only one mile from the farm. The Rempels offer a courtesy shuttle for cyclists arriving in the little town of Confluence. Train lovers will also enjoy seeing the train passing literally along the edge of the Rempels' backyard, hauling coal or passengers across Western Pennsylvania. A short walk from the farmhouse is a swimming hole in Casselman Creek where a beaver can sometimes be spotted. For nighttime entertainment, the Rempels offer a campfire, featuring a glittering show of fireflies, satellites, and stars.

Rates start at $80/night. www.steppingstonefarmbnb.com

Farmstays in Europe - Agriturismo and farmhouses

Farmstays in Europe - Agriturismo and farmhouses is an article by Anouk van den Eijnde of the Green Traveler UK blog highlighting the author's top five farm stay picks in Europe. How about a renewable energy-powered cattle and sheep farm in England, or an organic wheat, fruit, and vegetable farm on the Italian coast? They sound incredible.
 
The rustic Agriturismo La Cerra on the island of Sardinia. Photo credit: www.greentraveller.co.uk