Exciting “Farmstand” Updates!
By Closter Farmer
We don’t even know what to call our Farmstand anymore because over the last few years, we’ve partnered with a select number of small-scale local farmers to bring you so many exciting, new products.
Seriously. Farmers Market? Farmhub? FieldtoFork Market? One day this past March, Jared, Phoebe, Yadys, AJ, Grace, and Jon spent 20 minutes cultivating scallion rows and discussing whether the name Farmstand had to change. We even asked ChatGPT. We’ll stick with Farmstand for now but let us know what you think.
Here we’d like to share a bit about the products we are gathering from other farmers and the process, care and values that go into selecting those products - even as the heart of our market will always be the beautiful Organic produce and chicken we grow on our own 7 acres at Closter Farm.
Our goal is to make our Farmstand your first or even one-stop shop to buy the freshest, most beautiful produce that supports local agriculture as well as the health of yourself, your family, our soil and our environment.
Here’s a sample of the products we’ve “gathered” for you at our Farmstand:
• Dairy: You will see 100% grass fed, certified organic, certified regenerative A2 milk and kefir from Family Farmstead in Worcester NY. And small batch, artisanal cheeses from the multi-generational Chaseholm Farm from Pine Plains NY which produces cow’s milk cheese from the farm’s own herd.
• Fruit: We have fruit from the 270 acre-apple orchard in East Fishkill NY that’s been in the Morgenthau family for over 100 years.
• Eggs: Free range brown eggs from a computer programmer turned family farmer at Hazleman farms in West Milford, NJ.
• Meat: We sell pork, turkey, eggs and more from Double Brook Farm, a pasture based, sustainable livestock farm in Hopewell NJ, which has one of only 2 on-farm USDA-inspected slaughter facilities in the country. And pasture raised lamb from Exile Farms in Andes NY.
• Specialty Mushrooms: We carry more beautiful specialty mushrooms than you can name from New Jersey Mushrooms and dried mushrooms & powders from certified organic mushroom grower Hodgins Harvest from Rockland County, NY.
• Crackers and Organic Grains from Middle Brook Mill which sources locally grown heritage grains from in and around Jefferson NY.
Our process for vetting and including gathered products is several-fold. First, we need to understand how the product is made and respect the process, quality, flavor and the farm operation. Clearly we favor other small-scale local producers. Not only are we farmers here at Closter Farm, we’re all finicky foodies and cooks too and we care a lot about every single ingredient.
Second, the gathered product needs sit on your table as a beautiful compliment to what we grow at Closter Farm but is generally product we can’t or don’t choose to focus on due to logistical, space or time priorities.
Finally, it needs to fit! We like our small-scale boutiquey Farmstand, even as word spreads and we grow at a healthy pace. Limited shelf space forces us to make hard choices and to curate only the products we feel most passionate about. We hope you will feel the same.
As we change and grow please let us know what you think. Not just about the name Farmstand but about the range of products you’d like to see next time you stop by Closter Farm. Like our products, our hours are expanding, and we hope to see you soon.