Experience the first Tioga Farm Trail event

The first Tioga Farm Trail event will take place on Oct. 8. Ten Tioga County Farms will open their doors to the public for a fun, family event.

“The Tioga Farm Trail offers so many fun, tasty and exciting experiences for people of all ages. It’s not your typical farm experience. We have incorporated farms with fall activities, farms in or near festivals, historic buildings, educational displays and some farms will be offering fantastic food,” said Rebecca Maffei, director, Tioga County Tourism.

Lisa Engelbert, owner of Engelbert Farm in Nichols, helped organize the farm trail and will host a local food festival at her farm on Saturday. She will have tastings of Engelbert’s organic meat and cheese, and will welcome other farm-to-table vendors.

Eve’s Cidery from Van Etten will offer cider tastings and sales, Joel Babcock from Owego will have local honey to sample and sell, Seneca Sunrise Coffee from Watkins Glen will have hot coffee to sell and sample, and The Food Apothecary from Ravenwood Gardens in Binghamton will offer hot food options using Engelbert Farm ingredients. Tours of the farm will be offered on the hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In Owego, Glen Park Vineyards will offer bottling demonstrations, free tastings, and winery and vineyard tours. Their purpose-built facility is a beautiful work of craftsmanship and worth a visit in itself.

The Farmhouse Brewery is well known for their delicious and creative brews made with the regional and local ingredients. They will be giving a flight discount for visitors from the Farm Trail.

Our Green Acres is well known as a u-pick farm and will have fall produce at their stand and u-pick potatoes. And if you have never been to Twin Brook Farm, now is a great opportunity to learn about a healthy diet, sample some meatballs, and visit sheep, goats and cows.

Candor will be an exciting place to visit on Farm Trail day. The Candor Fall Festival will be in full swing and Side Hill Acres Goat Farm will have tastings of local wine, cider, and Side Hill Acres Cheese, plus Ozzy’s Beef Barbecue, craft vendors, an ugly Halloween sweater contest and farm tours.

On the way to or from the festival, stop at Iron Kettle Farm. An afternoon at Iron Kettle Farm is a fall tradition with its Spooktacular Pumpkin Display, family activities, animals, homegrown pumpkins, squash, gourds, candy and caramel apples, fudge and gift shop.

One of the most unique stops along the trail is the Frost Hollow Schoolhouse in Barton. Tours will be offered and visitors can see what life in the schoolhouse looked like thanks to the artistic renderings of schoolchildren that have been recreated from old photographs. The schoolhouse is owned by the Hamley Family, and they will also offer tours of their sugar house, where they produce syrup, and their cow barn.

The Bement-Billings Farmstead in Newark Valley will also offer visitors a chance to experience the past first-hand. This living museum has been restored and will have guides in period dress giving tours and offering educational demonstrations.

Just up the road, Stoughton Farm has one of the most exceptional fall activities, the Corn Maze. This eight-acres Maze features a Mario Brother’s theme, and you can even enjoy solving it at night! Stoughton Farm will also have activities for kids, produce and food.

Brochures with maps can be picked up at any of the Farm Trail locations, at the Tioga County Tourism Office located at 80 North Ave. in Owego, or around the county at various locations. It is also online at www.visittioga.com and can be found on the Tioga Farm Trail Facebook page.

Please note, Applegate Orchards is listed on the brochure, but they will not be open due to a very short apple season. Check them out next year.

For more information, call Tioga County Tourism at (607) 687-7440.