Winter on the Farm

Written By: Ellie Wilson, MS, RD  Senior Nutritionist, Price Chopper Supermarkets

BLACK HORSE FARM, COXSACKIE, NY

We have had a very cold and snowy winter, and Black Horse Farm has been quiet, but not completely buttoned up. I caught up with Lloyd while he was on vacation in Puerto Rico – his daughters are home getting the ball rolling in the greenhouses. Seed and varieties of vegetables that will be planted this year were chosen back in December. They also expect to ramp up planting and production this year of vegetables – some capacity issues last year had them dialed back, but they have plans to go bigger this year. Again, great news that vegetable growers are ramping up to increase production – makes my dietitian heart pretty happy! But it is still early days – the cabbage is seeded, and the tomatoes were seeded on the 12^th, right behind them. Check out the picture of the cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse – that is a lot of cole slaw! I will be visiting Black Horse Farm at the end of April, I can’t wait to see how things are moving along as we inch forward with this chilly start to spring. FUN FACT:   “Top grower – New York State farms grow the second largest crop of cabbage in the United States – 434 million pounds in 2012!”