With the leaves rustling and crumbling beneath my feet and the smell of fallen leaves floating through the Dutchess County air, I was quickly reminded that it was fall, despite the 80 degree weather. On my trip to the Dutchess County Rail Trail I was surprised, awed and comforted by many aspects of this trail.

I was first surprised at the accessibility of the trail. It seems as though the one goal the county had in mind when building the trail was making sure that it was attainable by every resident of every city and town. There are parking lots and entrances at nearly every city it passes through, with distinct directions on their website. The trail was even elongated recently just so that people will be able to stay on their bikes when they want to finish their ride on the Walkway Over the Hudson.

 The path was filled with residents, some who I talked to. Mary, from Arlington, said that she loves going on runs in the mornings, before anyone gets on the trail, so that she could enjoy the brisk air and the trees all by herself. 

This path, designed specifically for a leisurely stroll or calming bike ride, was somewhat disappointing to a non-resident. Although the trees surrounding the trail were beautiful, especially in the beginnings of fall, it was unexciting. There wasn’t a goal at the end of the trail, it wasn’t at all difficult, and the scenery was uninteresting after walking on the trail for ten minutes. Thus, you can say a girl who thoroughly enjoys a challenging trail, or one that loves to sit at the top of a mountain and watch the sunset, was pretty bored after 15 minutes of walking.

On the other hand, it was wonderful to talk to a few residents and regular users of this trail. John, a man in his mid-sixties finds himself using the Rail Trail as a way to relieve a lot of stress and get away from his lovely, but nagging wife. And he seems to not be alone. Residents use this trail as a getaway from reality, from their lives. The trees encompass you completely, so much that you are excluded from the outside world. You are able to walk on this trail and stare at nothing but trees, engulfed in the world of mother nature and your own thoughts. Who would not want the ability to just escape for a few hours at a destination just a few minutes away from your home.

 As a Vassar student, one without knowledge of the area, without a car and who doesn’t leave campus too often, it was inaccessible and difficult to get to and fairly uninteresting. Yet, it was a great getaway. I did not think of classes resuming next week, missing my family or about writing this paper. I simply walked down a simple path, surrounded by trees and my simple thoughts. Looking back, it was one of the most relaxing experiences I’ve had on a trail and the only time I was surrounded by locals who were enjoying the benefits of the Hudson Valley.

What a great day it was to go apple picking at Fishkill Farms!!! It was warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon when I arrived at the farm. It took about 30 minutes to get to Fishkill Farms from Vassar. However, the drive was definitely part of the experience!! In early October, the hills were the best shades of orange, red, and yellow. Pulling into the farm was breathtaking. Fishkill Farms is surrounded by hills! They have acres of apple orchards, vegetable gardens, a pumpkin patch, and berry bushes.

At eleven in the morning, cars were already crowding the parking lot! This may have been because it was the peak time of year for apple picking as well as a CSA pick-up day. There were many workers directing cars as well as people. Apple picking for the first time was a great experience for me at Fishkill Farms! At the entrance to the orchard, they gave out apple bags for everyone picking apples. It was 30 dollars to fill a whole bag or you had to pay by the pound.

There were so many different kinds of apples to choose from!! However, the different types of tress were labeled and there were many employees around to ask. One employee told me his favorite type of apple was the Macron! They were very sweet and juicy.

After I picked enough apples I went up to the farm store to enjoy live music!! They had a band playing on the lawn as well as barbecue, ice-cream, and freshly-made cider donuts. The cider donuts were amazing!!!

As the day went on, more and more people arrived at the farm. Soon there were more than 100 people there! The line for barbecue and donuts was super long. People were taking there food and sitting on the grass to enjoy the music! There was also a bunny coup by the field that all the children were glued to.

Fishkill Farms is extremely family oriented. The majority of people there were people with young children! There were children running up and down the apple trees as well as the grassy field by the food and entertainment.

By advertising itself as a family friendly destination, Fishkill Farms is able establish itself as an important part of the community. It is a place where families can learn about farming and relax and have a good time with loved ones as well as their community.

However, there is no doubt that being an important part of the community is extremely beneficial to Fishkill Farms. Having free entertainment and food on Saturdays draws many previous as well as new customers to the farm. Fishkill Farms makes a large profit by having events centered around apple picking. They take into consider what the community is looking for, thus people flock to it. Fishkill Farms is a good example of a medium/large farm that is successful at bringing the community together around the principles of sustainable agriculture and local food!!!

Mountains

On Saturday September 21st I headed out to hike Stissing Mountain in Pine Plains, NY. The preserve is a Nature Conservancy property about 40 minutes away from Vassar College in north-eastern Dutchess County.

Setting out in the morning, the air was crisp, foreshadowing the autumn days to come. The directions I obtained from the internet were not extremely descriptive, but I eventually found the trailhead:

About 100m up the trail, I found this little Orange Spotted Newt sitting on a rock. It was a lovely start to the day, but also really exemplified the nature that tourists often come to the Hudson Valley to admire:

The hike up to the top was fairly steep, but certainly worth the effort. After missing a trail turn and getting lost in the woods for 30 minutes, I eventually discovered the fire tower. Although I harbor a small fear of heights, I slowly reached the top of this rickety metal and wood structure. The views from the top were spectacular.

The view up at the tower was also beautiful (the top of the left peak):

After all this activity, I planned to stop by the relatively new Red Devon Market, Bar, and Restaurant in Bangall, NY. However I found out that that I arrived in the awkward time between lunch and dinner (4p.m.?) where only the bakery case and market items were available. However, I do intend on returning to enjoy some local eats, as I have heard this place has excellent farm-to-table creations.

On a whim, I then ventured to Millbrook,NY to share a meal with my boyfriend/driver. It was a fairly average diner in a cute little town:

Overall, It was a great day in the Hudson Valley!

Apples

On Saturday September 28th I decided to go pick some apples. I went to Fishkill Farms in East Fishkill, NY. I won’t tell too much about this day because some of my classmates will share about their apple picking adventures in more depth, but a few hours spent in an orchard did make me ponder one question of note: Is this model of agri-tourism sustainable? Several attributes of my experience caused me to pose this question.

1. The line of cars waiting to enter and exit the orchard. Besides being immediately counterintuitive to the “fresh air” experience I thought I was having, they really show the problematic structure of a society where suburban/urban tourists pollute their own homes, yet also expect an unpolluted day in the country.
2. The small variety of apples that are available, showing the growing homogenization of agriculture, and lack of historic biodiversity.
3. The solar panels on the roof. In contrast with the previous points, I was excited to see this step in the right (meaning more ecologically sustainable) direction.
4. The lack of pesticides used in the orchards. On the back of the map of the orchard, the management bragged about their clay-based insect repellent. This may also exemplify a case of how an operation like this can be more eco-friendly.

I certainly don’t have a conclusive stance on if this business model can be ecologically sustainable. This may be because the sustainability of this business is not one-sided because the orchard is not a closed system: the needs and practices of the consumers certainly play a part in the adoption of sustainability initiatives. However, the ecological focus of this business is a good thing, and makes me hopeful for the future. The adoption of more sustainable business practices can help create an economically thriving, ecologically healthy Hudson Valley.

I couldn’t have been more excited to go taste maple syrup AND get class credit for it. We drove through country roads lined with orange, red and yellow leaved trees. The entrance was decorated with the autumn essentials (squash, pumpkin and hay) and despite our professor’s warnings – we weren’t prepared for the real fall season. Shellie greeted us promptly and gave us some time to look around their lobby, which was a syrup lover’s dream – maple syrup chocolate, maple sugar, apple butter (made with maple syrup, obviously) and even apparel. 

She lead us through to a massive wall mural, which depicts Madava Farms, and started to tell us about the history and science behind Crown Maple Syrup. Robb Turner bought the property for his family and saw an opportunity in the huge amount of maple trees that filled the land to get involved in the syrup game.

Since then the property has grown to 800 acres, and includes multiple ponds, a sugarhouse, processing facility and restaurant- all in about 36 months! In that time they seemed to have mastered the production of pure maple syrup.

They tap the maple trees with small plastic tubes which feed the sap, for about twenty days, into lines that lead to the processing center. The sap goes through a sci-fi looking reverse osmosis machine, a gigantic evaporator, a filter and eventually becomes our beloved maple syrup. Before packaging (by hand), they taste every barrel for quality control. Luckily, they gave us a chance to partake in quality control by giving us a tasting. We had shot glasses of light, medium and dark amber – and that’s how we got to drink maple syrup AND get class credit for it – cheers to the freakin’ weekend!

Crown Maple Syrup is striving to become a unique culinary and nature destination! Due to their picturesque location and the remarkably high quality of their maple syrup restaurants and chefs all over the world are already starting to take an interest in Crown Maple. Because of their state-of-the-art facilities, Crown Maple has the capacity to grow into one of the largest maple farms in the world! They currently tap 40,000 trees, but have the ability to tap 400,000!

However, it was very recently that Crown Maple emerged as a leading competitor in the maple farming world. In 2011, Crown Maple mastered their purification process, putting their maple syrup on the map. At the same time, they started developing the visitor aspect of their company, bringing people from all over the world to get a taste of their one-of-a-kind maple syrup.

Crown Maple attributes their location in the Hudson Valley as the reason for their overwhelming success. First, the natural characteristics of the land provides a large amount of maple trees in a relatively small area. This makes tapping more numerous and efficient than shipping sap from other locations. Second, the Hudson Valley is already known as a “food hub”, making the demand for fresh, local, and decadent foods very high. Because of this “foodie” culture, Crown Maple is able to sell its products to many up-and-coming restaurants and chefs in the Hudson Valley. Third, their proximity to New York City opens up a huge market for Crown Maple to grow and expand their company.

Overall, we had a great experience at Crown Maple!! Compared to the other farms we have visited as a class, Madava Farms is very unique because of the advanced technology they have access to and how they utilize it to progress the science of farming in the Hudson Valley. Crown Maple is a good example of the possible future of agritourism! Sweet right!!?

“Make Food Your Life at the CIA”     – The Motto of the CIA 

Well, I have visited the Culinary Institute, Hyde Park Campus for my individual fieldtrip. It’s really close to Vassar. It is actually a 15 minutes’ drive away from Vassar. The CIA was really awesome in so many different ways. It is a non-profit private institute which gives a really good education on culinary and baking. Also, they are not just located in Hyde Park. They also have campuses in Singapore, St. Antonio Texas and St. Helena, California. The institute identify itself as the world’s premier culinary college. They have no other branches. They are focused on culinary arts, baking & pastry arts. There are 2000 students at a time. As you may guess, the education is mostly based on practice rather than theory. It is founded in 1964 and since then they have been providing a culinary education. They also have certificate programs. And besides being a college, the culinary institute is also a destination for tourists. It may be said that the tourism also promotes the culinary institute. Although it is a tourist destination, the institute has a no-photo policy indoors. But, when I told them that I am from Vassar and will write a blog post about the CIA, they let me take some pictures and even assigned a student for me. Here it is : Me and Chandler.

She gave me some informal information about the CIA. Her major is baking&pastry arts. So she was not into the culinary so much but definetly into baking. When I asked her what made her chose the CIA, she told me that it’s because the CIA is only focused on culinary and baking. And it’s also because it’s reputation and connections. Once a student graduates from the CIA, they have many options.  The famous chef, cancer survivor Grant Achatz is also a Culinary Institute of America graduate. She also mentioned their study-abroad programs. They have the opportunity to go and explore different cultures and their food! [Spain, France, Italy and China ]

They also prepare their own food!!!! I find that really awesome! Here is the photo of their dining hall where they do their homeworks, eat or hangout.

By the way, there are also wine classes for studensts. And the New York State Law has a special regulation for culinary arts students. They can get wine classes even they are underage, because the classes have educational purposes.

You ask.. how come it’s a tourist destination

Here it comes. They have fantastic restaurants. Actually I tried to book a table in one of them. But it appears like you should book a table a month before you actually go. This is crazy! But you can go to the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe without any reservation.

• American Bounty Restaurant
• The Bocuse Restaurant
• Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici.
• Apple Pie Bakery Cafe

Guess what I saw in the cafe. Crown Maple Syrup! [ And by the way it was cheaper]

I ate a grilled chicken sandwich with truffle French fries. Although the French fries were also good, I really liked the sandwich. Also the prices were reasonable.

The CIA is also promoting the culinary culture in the Hudson Valley. They are a member of the Hudson Valley Food&Beverage Alliance. And there is a center in the CIA for that purpose. I asked a few people about the Alliance but they did not have any information about it.

Anyway, there are so many things about the CIA. I just tried to give you an overview. If you are interested you can always go there or visit their web site.