Montgomery Farm Stand Finishes 30th Season
Since 1987 Doug and Talea Hekman-Taylor have operated the Montgomery Place Orchard Farm Stand on Route 9G in Red Hook, NY.
As the temperature begins to drop, the couple and their employees wrap-up their 30th season. “Because we are farmers, everybody thinks we are going to go to Florida for three months, we don’t,” said co-operator Talea Hekman-Taylor. “As fruit growers we have to prune every apple tree and every raspberry bush. We have to make sure everything gets winterized. We’re happy it hasn’t snowed yet.”
When the farm stand first opened Doug and Talea were two young 27-year-olds with a baby on the way. The couple left their home in Michigan to answer an ad in the American Food Growers magazine looking for folks who were willing to operate a small farm in the Hudson Valley. Doug and Talea specialized in fruit growing and began their craft with raspberries and grapes when they first arrived in Red Hook. The farm stand now features their own fruit, apple products and includes vegetables and dairy products from other local farms.
Natalie Blakey has been an employee at the farm stand for the past six years, and her job is to handle customer service, sort those products that are delivered from local farms and sometimes jar honey from the fields. For Natalie there is a family connection with the farm stand. “My mom worked for Talea, and my grandfather used to do UPS deliveries.That’s how my mom got the job”.
The farm stand itself dates back generations to when it started in the 1930s, but the Montgomery Farm itself goes all the way back to 1802 when it was established by Janet Livingston Montgomery, wife of deceased Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery. The farm switched hands in the early 1900s when the Delafield family took control. That is when the playhouse for the Delafield kids was dragged to the roadside to open the first Montgomery farm stand selling peaches and apples.
Then the Delafield’s transformed the building once more. “This whole farm stand was part of an exhibit by Violetta Delafield, who lived at Montgomery place and was a part of the Millbrook Garden Club,” said Talea Hekman-Taylor. “Farmers [in the area] were selling their products on the highway but [they] would just park their truck, prop up a tarp and sell everything. Violetta Delafield thought farmers lacked class, so she and the Millbrook Garden Club put up an exhibition to show farmers how they could sell their goods more elegantly.” Talea also stressed that the tablecloths and doilies that line the tables in her farm stand are to satisfy the ghost of Violetta.
Nowadays the land and building is owned by Bard College who bought the orchards and farm stand from the Historical Hudson Valley in 2015. Doug and Talea Hekman-Taylor own the business and operate the farm calling themselves “modern-day squatters.” The farm stand is quite popular amongst the locals. Located on a busy highway the farm stand gets a lot of traffic.
“It was a delightful accident. We were on our way to meet with friends and made a wrong turn and just happened to stumble upon this cute farm stand and decided to stop,” said Emma Felle, a happy customer. “Besides the unique variety of apples, the cider doughnuts are my favorite.”
After this weekend the farm will close until June. As fruit farmers their crop is usually ready a little later than most, and their first product of the seasons tends to be strawberries. For Doug and Talea, farming is their life long passion that they get to experience every day. Talea moved her life from Michigan to New York to fulfill her passion. “Fruit is that extra gift god gave us. Dessert.”
