Hours

Weekend of 8/28

taproom

3-8 Thursday

3-8 Friday

12-7 Saturday

12-6 Sunday

12-5 Monday

Farmstand / PYO

3-7 Thursday

3-7 Friday

9-5 Saturday

9-5 Sunday

9-5 Monday

*Please refer to Events Calendar or Google listings (Farm / Cidery) for private event closures or special holiday openings which may occasionally affect these hours.

What’s Pickin’?

Weekend of 8/28

Blueberries

One variety (Elliott) is still available for pick-your-own. There are some Darrow left but the best picking, by far, is in the Elliott. The time to stock up for winter is upon us. This may be our last week and weekend of blueberry picking for the season.

Plums

Limited quantities of six varieties of plums will be available pre-picked in the farm stand beginning Thursday at 3 pm:

● Toka: This special plum was released in 1911 and is a product of N.E. Hansen's breeding work in South Dakota. They are relatively small in size, a beauriful dark red/purple, color, clingstone, meaty yellow sweet flesh, and highly fragrant. This plum is also known as "Bubblegum" plum. Why? Taste it and find out. It has a unique fruity bubblegum flavor. A really nice summer's day treat!

● Rosy Gage: One of the richest and sweetest plums around. It is a real mind blow! This plum came through some unique breeding work done by three plum gurus up in Geneva, NY in the 1980s using an open pollinated seedling of Imperial Epineuse (another fantastic gage-type plum). Oblong in shape, rich and sweet if left on the tree to ripen. We will harvest later this week and early next week.  

● Superior: Released in 1933 by the University of Minnesota. A beautiful clingstone fruit which has reddish skin and a beautiful golden yellow flesh. Sweet flavor. Great for fresh eating, desserts, jellies, jams, and juices. We will harvest later this week and early next week. Available this weekend.

● Jefferson: As U.P. Hedrick wrote in his large edition of The Plums of New York, published in 1910, Jefferson is one of the most "handsomest" and "choicest" plums, as well as "one of the best dessert plums". It had quite a history in New York, but fell out of favor because it wasn't a great market plum, meaning that it didn't travel so well, and would end up at its destination bruised up. Jefferson was originally raised by Judge Buel, Albany, NY around 1825. Anyways, it is a larger, oval, oblong shaped yellow skin, yellow fleshed, clingstone plum. Flavor is sweet and mild. A rare and very special plum indeed.

● Green Gage (Bavay's): Get a toothbrush and a glass of water handy. These small greenish/yellowish round plums are super sweet with tender flesh. As with Rosy Gage, the sweetness is very reminiscent of honey. This is another rare and old plum that has a rich yet not fully understood history. Green Gage is often known as Reine Claude. This plum could have originated in Armenia and then to Italy and Greece. It is believed to have gone to France during the reign of Francis I (1494-1597), and Francis named this plum in honor of his wife. Anyway you put it, this is a plum connoisseur’s plum. In Plums of New York, U.P. Hedrick writes, "For qualities that gratify or assist in gratifying the sense of taste–richness of flavor, consistency, and texture of flesh, abundance of juice and pleasant aroma–the Reine Claude is unsurpassed." Extremely limited quantities available.

Waneta: Developed in 1913 by Niels Hansen in South Dakota, this is a large, dark reddish colored plum with sweet and juicy amber flesh. It is a little bitter under the skin, but the sweet overrides the bitterness for a tasty and unique experience.

Apples

Our pick-your-own apple season begins this week! We expect to be picking apples through the first weekend in November. Our first apple of the season is Ginger Gold. This is a wonderful early apple to kick off the apple season with!

● Ginger Gold: A seedling apple variety that appeared in the orchard of Clyde and Ginger Harvey in Nelson County, Virginia in 1980. It is a medium to large apple (there are some real whoppers hanging out there now!), round to oblate, with green to yellow colored skin. When the skin turns yellowish, it is ripe, crisp, and juicy with a pleasantly sweet flavor. The cream-colored flesh is slow to oxidize making it great for salads and desserts as it holds its shape when cooked. What more is there to say? We have one row of Ginger Gold located on the path to the blueberries. It is the first row by the pond in the Lower Center Hill Block. We will also have these available pre-picked in the farm stand.

We will have three more varieties of apples pre-picked at the farm stand:

● Chestnut Crab: (Melba x open-pollinated) This gem of a fruit was released by the University of Minnesota in 1946. Larger than your typical crab apple, averaging 1.5"-2" in diameter. Mostly sweet, well-balanced acidity, and a unique nutty flavor. Great for fresh eating (the kids go wild for these treats), sauce, and pickles. 

● Paula Red: The apple that stole farmer Kevin’s heart and brought him into the game. Some call it a mediocre apple, and they may be right—but for mid-August, this apple really shines. Discovered in 1960 in Sparta, Michigan, and introduced in 1967. White flesh, firm, crisp, juicy, and nice subacid flavor. 

● Kerry Irish Pippin: First recorded in County Kilkinney in Ireland in the early 19th century, we are lucky, blessed, and fortunate to have this INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS apple fruiting here for the first time at RHF this season. They are truly a mind-blow. Sweet, tart, fruity—the whole package all in a small roughly 2.5" apple. *Very limited quantities*

Flowers

We planted a small field of zinnias again this year and they are really popping up and blooming now! They are located in the Center Hill and Pines Blocks. If going up the main orchard road, take a right as soon as you cross over the culvert pipe before you get to the first row of apple trees. Continue walking towards the right and look left. If going from the blueberries, walk up the secondary orchard road and they will be on your left and right after you've passed a few rows of apples trees.

Our sunflower field is now open for picking as well! They are located up the main orchard road, directly on the left after passing the Farm Stand Block. 

On the Radar

More plums and apples on the horizon!

Join us in the taproom Thursday through Sunday through the harvest season for locally-crafted drinks and food pop-ups. Keep an eye on our events calendar for upcoming live music, featured ferments (tastings by other NYS makers), classes, festivals, ticketed dinners, and more. See you soon!

Browse our Food Vendor and Events Calendar.

See Rajiv Surendra’s recent visit to the farm for HGTV Handmade!

Follow Our Adventures:

Find Out More:

Address:  14 Rose Hill Farm, Red Hook, NY 12571

Conveniently accessible from I-87 and the TSP yet peacefully tucked away off the beaten track.

Directions from NYC: Take Taconic State Parkway N to exit 67 (toward Pine Plains/Red Hook). Turn left at NY-199 W. Enter Village of Red Hook, NY-199 becomes Market St. Turn right onto Route 9. Turn right at Fraleigh Lane. Make left into Rose Hill Farm.