Canandaigua, NY~
By ANUK Staff
As the Winter months loom on the horizon and gardens and farms across the Northeast are offering up the last of their crops, the pace has yet to slow at Wegmans Organic Farm. There is still plenty to be done on this 50-acre farm before it goes to bed in December, overlooking Canandaigua Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region, according to a press release.
“The warm weather crops are mostly done,” says Jamie Robinson, Farm Manager. “But as soon one crop is finished we plant another. We’ll have a fall crop of zucchini, and we’re planning on a Christmas harvest of rainbow carrots, leaf lettuces, spinach, and arugula, and some Easter-egg radishes in pink, purple, red and white and gorgeous greens.” The farm’s harvest supplies Wegmans’ Pittsford and Canandaigua stores, as well as Next Door Bar & Grill restaurant.
The employees are busy readying the fields before the snow covers the ground. Plots are either planted with a green manure which will add nutrients back into the soil before Spring or leaves and compost will be added as another means to enrich the soil. This Fall, a new technique will be tried. “We are going to pre-make some of our raised beds this year to get a jump on next season. If we have a wet spring like we had two years ago, this will help us stay on schedule,” Jamie Robinson, comments.
High tunnels allow for some growing year-round at the Organic Farm. The staff drops to around four people in the Winter, and they’re kept busy by working in the high tunnels and maintaining the farm. Seed selection will begin following the 90/10 rule – 90% of the harvest goes to the Pittsford and Canandaigua stores as well as Next Door Bar and Grill. The remaining 10% is devoted to experimental varieties to test flavor and how the plants perform, the release states. Wegmans’ culinary experts and chefs contribute to the selection process by making recommendations based on customer preference.
Wegmans
