Virtual Tour

Our Crops

We continue to experiment each year with different varieties of plants to determine which grow well in our mountain region and which can be grown effectively by our small farm operation. We strive to deliver a consistent supply of produce at competitive prices.

We have had success growing a variety of lettuces and greens, and prepare a Farm Greens Salad Mix that is available in the Farm Market from May through December. This mix is grown using natural agriculture techniques, is pre-washed, and is a delicious and easy-to-use salad. We are delighted that we have customers who drive 30 minutes or more just to buy our fresh, unique salad mix. Depending on the crop, four to five of the following ingredients make up the farm mix: black seeded simpson lettuce, red salad bowl lettuce, green salad bowl lettuce, loma lettuce, red fire lettuce, bronze arrowhead lettuce, slobolt lettuce, swiss chard, kale beet leaves and basil.

During the summer we also grow varieties of peas, cucumbers, summer squash, winter squash, green beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, radishes, beets, escarole, swiss chard, spearmint, cilantro, kale and peppers. Many of these are heirloom varieties that are rarely found anywhere else. We have recently added several Japanese greens, including komatsuna, bokchoi and shungiku (edible chrysanthemum).

From March through December we grow several varieties of sprouts in the greenhouse. These are grown in soil and then cleaned and packaged for ease-of-use. These are the freshest sprouts you'll find on the Mountain Top!

We grow wonderful heirloom vegetables on our farm. Many heirloom vegetables have delicious flavor but don't ship well. Often you can only buy these from a local farm. Vegetables that need to be shipped cross-country are often harvested before they reach their perfect ripeness. They continue to ripen as they are shipped, but are never as good as vegetables harvested for immediate sale to the local community. Produce eaten soon after harvesting maintains greater nutritional value and flavor.

Our Staff

Kenji Ban is our Farm Manager and has been sent to work with us by Shinji Shumekai. Kenji is trained in Natural Agriculture and before joining us spent three years running the farm at the John Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies in Pomona, California. Prior to that he spent just over four years working at a Shinji Shumekai farm in Japan. Kenji also has a BA in agriculture from Kochi University in Japan. His staff consists of Shigenobu Furuoka and Megumi Ban (Kenji's wife). Shigenobu learned Natural Agriculture on the island of Kishima for a half year, then worked on a natural agriculture farm in Hiroshima for five and a half years. Megumi works on the farm as a volunteer.

Our Goals

Our farm and our farm market are both owned by the Catskill Mountain Foundation, a 501c(3) not for profit organization. Our goals are simple:

• We want to grow the most healthful food we can for our community using no chemical pesticides or fertilizers.
• We operate in the New York City Watershed and we want our farm to be pollution free. We strive to use farming methods that protect our environment.
• We want to provide jobs for members of the community.
• We want to serve as an educational facility for school children and other members of the community who want to know more about how safe, healthful food is grown.
• We want to demonstrate the viability of farming on the Mountain Top using sustainable technologies such as renewable energy sources and experimenting with season-extending techniques to enable year-round production.
• We want our Farm Market to showcase local products from the many farms in the Catskill region.
• Our financial goal is to cover our costs of operation. Any surplus of revenues above our costs will be invested in expanding the farm and farm market offerings.
• As our farm production and our local customer base expand, our hope is that we will be able to sell the fresh food from our farm at affordable prices.

Our Plans for the Future

Over the next several years we expect to expand production on the farm. We hope to achieve year-round production through the addition of innovative greehouse and cold frame facilities. Each year we experiment with new techniques to improve the quantity, quality, and consistency of what we grow. We will continue to develop the demonstration aspects of our farming activities and are always glad to share our experiences with those who join our farm tours.

We hope to start producing our own free-range farm eggs within the near future. We are also planning to build a larger heated greenhouse with lighting so that we can produce our Farm Greens Salad Mix in plentiful quantities throughout the winter months. Over the next few years we plan to bring another 5 acres under cultivation, which will enable us to expand the varieties of vegetables we grow (such as fresh corn), as well as add various types of berries and fruit.