Indian Creek Farm

Farmies, won’t you help us celebrate the USA’s 236th?

We have gathered 236 of her finest strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for the party. It’s a free country, so you are free to count them for yourself.

Alas, Lady Liberty could not be here; she is stuck in New York Harbor. But “Laddy Liberty” is attending in her honor, hoisting high the Strawberry of the States.

He insists that you dive right into The Melting Pot — berries of all shapes, sizes, and colors. No berry left behind, no second-class fruitizens.

And we are loading the bestest berries onto the wagon in the farm parking lot. Everything is pre-picked and ready to roll to your extended weekend soirees.

Uncle Sam wants U! As in U-pick. The raspberry field is the only picking spot open right now — so help us out by picking a nice haul.

Plus, a nice little surprise — PEACHES on the wagon!

These early peaches aren’t for U-pick. They’ll be packaged on the wagon for you. Remember, everything is self-serve til the farm stand opens later in the season, so you can be pay-triotic and use the cash box for now.

Oh, and one other thing. Found this cool rock in the tomato field. Stay tuned for veggies, won’t be long now! Happy holidays and see you at The ‘Creek!

Howdy, Farm Fans. Happy almost July.

It’s wonderful that everyone got so giddy picking strawberries this year.

We are doing everything we can to keep them around a little longer — like piping in soft music at spa time.

Nonetheless, they have mostly skipped town til next summer. We now direct your attention to the raspberry field, right next to the parking lot.

They are in full production and we are seeing pickers get several quarts at a time.

It’s a modest field, so get here early each day to beat your neighbors to the ripe ones. Up to you if you want to share. (Come on, share!)

So things will be a little quiet for a couple weeks while the next wave of produce ripens. But you are welcome to come out and enjoy the day, have a picnic, do yoga, read banned books, whatever.

Stay tuned and hope to see you at The ‘Creek. Woof.

There’s a berry nut in every bunch.

Are you one?

If so, you’ll heed the clarion call — come pick strawberries and raspberries while they are all here together.

See, there’s a little thing called the INEXORABLE MARCH OF TIME which makes strawberries go from GREEN to RED to GONE in a few short weeks.

And the summer solstice has already happened. Those solstices aren’t just for druids anymore — they’re a sciency thing. Like, facts and stuff.

The salient fact being, the strawberries will soon go poof! So bring your party out to picking country, and leave with a mess of magical orbs.

Don’t forget to include fresh raspberries in your haul.

We’re seeing the Juicy Reds, Sunny Goldens, and Purple Poppers. Rapidly ripening and ready to serve you.

And the Black Cappers. Mysterious, delirious.

We have also been working on a new breed of Cow-Lamb-Dog. Just a side project. This model is almost perfect, only a tad too much cow in the mix.

Speaking of novel creations, whoever in your group can summarize this sign first — well, they’re probably the nuttiest. Hope to see you soon at The ‘Creek!

Y’all! It’s that dope time of year when the strawberries and raspberries are hanging on the farm together.

Strawberries are entering their second week of heavy action, while the raspberries are just getting started.

There are some real juicy giants to be picked.

Our signage department is up to their usual tricks — just follow the “Orchard” sign to find the strawberry patch.

Then turn left where it says “Tomatoes, Eggplant, Peppers.”

Keep your eyes peeled for the “Strawberries” arrow.

Finally you’ll see the Strawberry Fields — but they’re not forever, just for this year. There is a new patch in the works for 2013, way up on the hilltop.

People have been going nuts this week, picking 8, 12, 16 quarts at a time!

Big Max let his pet human off the leash to pick berries, while he practiced his yogic tongue poses.

Meanwhile, up in raspberry land — heading north on foot from the parking lot — you’ll discover the early season Preludes in the top row.

Each one is like a l’il burst of sunshine. Come pick yours!

Last stop is the wagon by the road — you can use the self-serve pay box and supplement your haul with some of our premium pre-picked berries.

Cheers to you all, and see you at The ‘Creek!

Friends, fans, foodies, and farmies… Strawberry u-picking begins now!

The first berries are ripe and ready for picking. (And eating.)

You’ll find reds mixed in with greens.

Just turn into the lot on Route 96. Can’t miss the sign.

You’ll find details under the front porch. Prices and maps and whatnot.

Plus a few inside tips from the strawberry watchers.

So get out here and pick! It’s all self-serve for now, and just strawberries. Stay tuned for more crop alerts — and more fun to come!

Farm fans, we live in a winner-take-all society.

Luckily there are many ways to win. You don’t have to plant a 1,600 tree orchard that showcases 60 varieties of apple. We got that covered.

A single tree for your yard will do. And right now, you can pick out your dream tree with expert consultation from our fruit men, all trained at Har-Var.

Yes, now is the time because the peach buds are popping and our 14th Annual Fruit Tree Sale won’t last long. Come weekends 10 AM to 4 PM, and weekdays 10 AM to 5 PM. Get years worth of family fun and fresh fruit for only 20 bucks a tree — and $15 if you order 10 or more!

You’ll see our humble, jumbled sign on Route 96 — just pull into the parking lot as if you were coming to the farmstand.

Thing is, don’t actually go to the stand…

The sign there will just redirect you to the new barn, built before the winter.

At the north end of the parking lot, you’ll find a forlorn little stone wall and a half-finished driveway.

Like we always say, if you can follow our signs, you are winning the game of life. If you plant an apple tree — or peach or plum or pear — well, that will just be extra credit. The Joneses will go green with envy.

Take the gravelly road up to our loading dock, homemade from local locust posts.

Pop inside and you’ll find about 20,000 baby fruit trees — down from 35,000 a few weeks back and dropping fast. They’ll be gone lickety-split. Seriously, we’re shipping trees all over the country ’til the barn is empty.

When you meet our tree specialists, try not to be too cheerful or chipper. They have not been outside the barn in over a month, so a subdued attitude is probably best.

But do ask questions. It’s a rare opportunity to geek out about Esopus Spitzenburg, Cox’s Orange Pippin, or Summer Rambo. Or Red Delicious if you must. Then we’ll wrap your babies in swaddling clothes for the trip home from the nursery.

We’ll even weigh them on our Detecto scale. Write it down in your baby book.

Call the gang at 607-227-1799 and find us online at CumminsNursery.com — that’s the sister business to Indian Creek Farm. Also check out our ad in the Pennysaver. Happy planting and stay tuned for this season’s crop alerts! Won’t be long now!

Friends, the cold times are here in Finger Lakes apple country.

Wintry evenings are descending on the farm.

During the short days, we are loading Wood Wagon One with fuel for the stove.

And just in time, we’ve turned the corner on construction of the barn. A long winter’s work remains, but most of that will be inside the building — what a notion!

We second that emotion! After 15 years of being a barnless farm, we’re dizzy with ideas about how we’ll be able to offer you better crops and funner visits.

Anyway, here we are, it’s December 20th, and we’re pressing cider TODAY! Our latest date ever. That’s just one of the things we gain by adding the barn.

So just because the farm stand looks windblown and forlorn…

And the strawberries are hunkered down beneath the first snows…

And the sandwich board says apocalyptic things…

Don’t think we’re hibernating! Sign says “OPEN” and it’s true.

(Actually this furry farmer and her cohort do appear to be on winter break, but it’s not like we have any say in the matter…)

Just come in the double doors. We’re open self-serve 7 days a week, and the Orchard Ambrosia will flow all winter! We will be working in the cider room every Saturday starting January 7 — bring your jugs and get bulk rates on the gnarly gnectar.

You can contact The Cidermeister directly with any questions at 607-793-3560. He’ll entertain your thoughts about cider and/or The New York Yankees.

Aside from cider you’ll find lovely apples, only a BUCK A POUND. Jonagold, Ida Red, Northern Spy, Spygold — all #1 eatin’ apples. Plus pie apples a-plenty.

And cooking squash for 50 CENTS A POUND! Decorative gourds, too!

Finally, let’s not forget the u-pick sprouts. Bring Grandma’s old garden saw or some other way to hack these hardy stalks. And if Grandma isn’t sharing her legendary recipes, there’s this thing called The Google that will give you “about 183,000 pages” of sprout recipes in “.17 seconds.” Take that, Grandma!

More news in the new year. Til then — be well, safe travels, happy apple sauce.

Don’t do it! Don’t pull a Linus van Pelt! If you wait for your dream pumpkin to appear on Halloween night… they’ll all be gone!

Pumpkins are moving like crazy — come get yours.

Pie, pie, pie. Never too much pie.

And cider! We’re prepping the tractors for fall field work, fueled by fresh-pressed Orchard Ambrosia.

“Good enough for machine, good enough for you!”

Down at the stand, you can still find famous New York State apples.

If you are following our daily updates on Facebook and Twitter, you’ve seen a barny miracle unfolding. Here’s the first nail.

We engineered this rig to take construction photos every hour, to document what is surely one of the most momentous moments in Indian Creek Farm history.

By the time the rig was ready, the crew had blown through half the project! The roof was up just hours before the first snow of the year.

More news on the barn in the coming weeks… Gotta run! Time to muck around in the barn slop and prepare to build the floor. See you at the ‘Creek.

Testing, testing, 1…2…3! Time to fire up your Jacks-o-Lantern! Got to make sure things are just right for Fright Night – only one week away.

What? You haven’t secured your pumpkins yet? Okay, Tardy McTardyson. You don’t have to be the neighbor with all the fun flags and lawn gnomes and garden balls. But at some point your pumpkin procrastination will border on downright impertinence. Like, now!

Luckily we can tell you where to get pumpkins and other fall goodies – including raspberries, squash, plums, peppers, onions, garlic, and even duck eggs!

Same place you can get a NINE POUND jug of cider. Aww haw. Nine pounds, fresh-pressed, pure fruit. Here on the farm, of course.

There aren’t many apples on the trees any more – but we’ve picked bushels and bushels, meaning the cider will keep on flowing.

You can still get apples at the farm stand, and have a free taste of Orchard Ambrosia. The presses are getting crisper and tastier as the late-season varieties are blended in.

What else is fresh this week? We let the farmhands out of the coop! They are playing a show at Da Westy in downtown Ithaca tonight. You can listen to real farmers play original “Americoustic” tunes at 7 PM under the name Riputa Pirjelli. (We’re not sure what it means, either, but these fellers can sing!)

Anything else? Oh yeah, there’s the small matter of us BUILDING A BARN! A farm without a barn is like a horseman without a head. Just plain WRONG!

We’re fixing to fix that. Over the next few weeks you’ll see us playing in the dirt like a bunch of yahoos with overgrown Tonka Toys. Next spring you’ll see a barn.

The big idea is to create a place to store equipment and vehicles out of the harsh elements. A place to repair machines and work through the winter. A place to store 30,000 baby fruit trees!

We were most thankful and humbled to receive offers of volunteer help from fans on our Facebook page. Just like an old-time barnraising. As you can see from the photo, we have everything under control, nothing to worry about!

Back to the Crop Alert. This week we have even MORE dead flowers than we did last week! Perfect for your costume if you’re some kind of wicked gnarly evil undead zombie. Pumpkins and costumes, all in one visit.

See you at the ‘Creep, er, Creek!