Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to you! Happy Mother’s Day to you! Happy Mother’s Day dear Mom! Happy Mother’s Day to you! ok yes it’s a little late but this episode with Young’s Farm is definitely dedicated to my amazing Mom organic gardener, healthy eater and environmental advocate! 

Youngs Farm

was founded in 1892 as a result of a marriage between the Youngs and the Hegemans (the farm is located on Hegeman’s Lane).  Currently the 4th and 5th generation of the Youngs Family operate and manage the business.  Formerly a wholesale operation, we now sell nearly everything we produce out of our farm stand on site.  Our store specializes in selling both our own and local produce, as well as house made pies, breads, cookies, muffins and biscuits. Additionally we produce a variety of house made soups, savory pies and quiches and a series of jams and preserves.  Finally, we carry a series of carefully selected grocery, gift items and traditional candy.

Market

Our farm stand sells produce – both our own and from other Long Island farms.  We also sell our baked goods and prepared foods, soups, dips, quiches and pot pies.   The stand features a carefully chosen selection of groceries, gifts and housewares which rotate seasonally.

Tuesday to Saturday – 10am to 5pm ‧ Sunday – 11am to 4pm ‧ Closed Mondays

91 Hegemans Lane ‧ Old Brookville NY 11545

516-626-3955 ‧ info@youngs.farm

Aidan And Tim

I am so thrilled because my mom has been begging me to get them on the podcast because I have been there many times and it’s a place that’s near and dear to my heart.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Young’s farm is a family farm

it’s been in the same location since 1892. I work with my wife. 

My mother in law is the owner.

• gen 5 running the farm
• evolved
• dairy farm
• farmer wholesale in NYC
• Around the time my mother in law in mid 20s

they started selling things locally

community built locally

• full store on site

• bakery here

• a gift shop

• prepared food items with our produce in season

• open February to Christmas

• currently farming 15 acres altogether

3rd year farming organically

We are not certified organic

• 10 acres in production and 5 in cover crop
• wide variety of crops

Trying to simulate what you can get in a grocery

That’s kind of our current state

Aidan want to give your background?

• going on 3rd year as farm manager
• I’m new to Long Island but it’s where my finance is from
• excited for this opportunity
• well established such a fixture in the community

Part of the team as we transition to organic production

One of the things I don’t want to forget to ask is I saw on the website you bring in things from other farms and I think my listeners will be interested because a lot of my listeners are Green Future Growers. They are gardeners, but they have businesses,  they are very environmentally focused and they have a green business or they work for a green business or they are an educator in the sciences or botany or horticulture.

I think they will be interested in that cooperation piece, selling other farmer’s produce. nobody’s mentioned that and I saw that in there what a great idea because it enables you to have your market at your farm and you’re not having to deal with going to other farmer’s markets, you used to be a wholesaler and now your mostly a retailer.

Tell me about your first gardening experience?

My first garden memory is in my grandfather’s backyard was a garden effectively.

So that’s really my first memory as a small child, playing back there with over sized zucchini and throwing them in the pond for the fish, that was my first exposure to it. 

The vegetables that he grew right from the ground

I didn’t immediately go into gardening after that but that was my first experience

Aidan: My first experience 

• was definitely when I was really young
• my parents were avid gardeners my father had a little bit of a homestead where he raised animals

as an adult in agriculture

I got into landscaping and tree services and ended up going to college at Sterling College in Vermont

• Started working up there
• then in the Hudson Valley
• and now farming on Long Island

That’s interesting I just talked to Larry Tse from this restaurant they call Dig Inn in Boston and NYC who’s farm is in the Hudson Valley

So how did you start?

My first farm job

• was part of an internship
• every ag major was required to apprentice on a farm

That farm would focus on

• grass fed beef and raw milk
• vegeteables
• value added vegetable products
• kimchee and sauer kraut
• livestock oriented

garden variety vegetables

gradual but steady

focus more and more vegetables so now I don’t think about animals

Interesting that I didn’t think about animals till I started my podcast. And also we talk about lawns a lot because that’s where your pets are playing and your toddlers are learning to call and I didn’t think of it really because my mom never used chemicals but our neighbors sure did, we never used them at our house so I hadn’t really thougth about it.

Do you want to speak about what made you choose to go organic?

Tim: I can speak to that a bit, prior to Aidan being here, prior to my being here

farm manger Charlie who had worked her for 40 years

system was established as a conventional farm.

ended up getting cancer and passed away didn’t expect him to pass away when he did. What we did learn in that process. As his health was declining he was the 

• primary applicator of pesticides
• etc it wasn’t getting applied and he wasn’t up to it
• We didn’t see a dramatic change in yield in what we were getting
• after he passed away
• many customers asked if we were getting
• not getting any benefit
• conventional farming

what’s the point of it? He passed away in late March 3 years ago

exactly

After that we began looking for a farm manager

we didn’t bring on Aidan right away

• transitional period
• weren’t really spraying for the balance of that year
• treated seeds
• seed order had already occurred

As for the transition since then. I think there has been a learning curve

We haven’t seen antyning fall off the cliff in terms of production

• increased quality
• neglected
• soil it self
• quality and maintenance

Applying appropriate cover crops

manures

not typically applied

Now we are much more conscious

rotating

focusing on our soil.

This is so interesting! You have been dropping Golden Seeds like crazy! I had no idea you were going to talk about any of this?! 

We weren’t necessarily a place

most farms to sclae are quite small so even if the farmi s conventional

unless its really mechanize

only spraying when absolutely necessary

not an every week application, systematically, mostly for economics

Most famers that grow on the island, the scale people are at

money they are making it is not financially feasible to spray with regularity

as we mentioned earlier we do buy from other farms. We are considerate of that as well

We buy form conventional farms, know the other farmer’s personally and know their general farming practices!

Do you want to tell us about something that grew well this year.

Aidan: Well, let’s see

Tomatoes are a huge crop for us

It’s hard to imagine this farm without tomatoes

We will continue to change the way we grow tomatoes

nice secession

stable supply of tomatoes

people when peak season hits you have tons of them and tomatoes go to waste

we couldn’t turn all of our surplus into sauce if we

FOCUS: increasing

• quality
• stable supply instead of that bell curve peak in August where you are 

drowning in tomatoes

couple different ways

• using caterpillar tunnels

mobile greenhouses or mobile high tunnels

relatively simple to set up

according to your crop rotation

plant different

• varieites
• growing indeterminent heirloom tomatoes in a traditional methods

single or double stem

I have a couple of questions. You said you’re spreading things out so you have a steady supply? Do you have them in February or march?

training them up

we don’t have tomatoes now

Most people the idea is the planting of tomatoes once 

if we were to do that  we would have a huge surplus of tomatoes in just august

starting just a few weeks ago starting on the greenhouse – Those will be planting in April in like 3 weeks or so

the idea would be hopefully will be right in time for fourth of July

we don’t want to be harvesting things that end up in the compost

finding that balance of having enough and not too much

• constant supply
• instead of a huge amount at once
• quality wise
• fertility

fertilizer regimen

better quality fruit and that can be said for all the crops

you can really hone in on that fertility regimen

What do you do for a fertility reginmen?

• it’s compost based
• in addition to that we use
• kelp meal
• transplant
• plant with kelp meal and feather meal
• source of nitrogen to them
• foliar spray at first flowering
• seaweed based at flowering
• once fruit set occurs we increase potassium is important to fruiting crops
• do that with an organic sulfate of pot ash

a lot of tomatoes growers can do is over fertilize nitrogen where you get get these beautiful tropical looking green plants

nitrogen

typically feeds the greens chlorophyll

lighter feeding contrary to what people think 

• have bigger crops or squash
• lettuce

IDK if anyone has gotten into how to get tomatoes to get more fruit, or I forgot. Is the caterpillar tunnel to keep out those caterpillar worms?

No, I mean, it’s picture

• a high tunnel green house
• it ends up looking like a caterpillar
• greenhouse plastics
• holds on with a rope. The plastic looks like a caterpillar. 
• tunnel looks like a caterpillar
• For the tomatoes horn worms probably does help