Great meat, beautiful farm, and adorable animals makes a great place for ta stop with the family!read more

Beautiful well kept farm with rolling hills, friendly staff and outstanding fresh foods. My buddy…read moreis local and this is his go to spot for meats and eggs. The food is fresh and simply tastes better than your usual city grocery store offering. The animals are well cared for and when you walk the grounds you can tell the farm is organized and properly run. My son had a blast watching the sheep grazing on the hill, the flock of geese marching around with the lead goose barking orders, the cute farm dog (boxer) and the hen house complete with a rooster crowing and guarding his peeps! The market has tons of different types of meats so bring a cooler and load up! The grounds are extensive so we didn't get to see the other animals. Meat wise you can taste the difference and although it's pricey you get what you pay for! Awesome stop if your in the area.

ORIGIN: Chaseholm Farm is a 350 acre farm named after the…read moreChase family, who have managed and lived on the land for three generations. The farm's name, coined by dentist and farmer Dr. Kenneth Fulton Chase, integrates the old European word Holm, which refers to a small island. CONCEPT: During an afternoon pasture walk organized by Slow Foods Hudson Valley, I learned about how Chaseholm Farm is managed with an eye towards sustainability and thoughtful ecological management. The talk was led by Sarah Chase, who to her family's surprise returned from college eager to continue a career at her family's dairy farm. She does so with emerging research at the forefront. Counter to long held notions about the damaging environmental impacts of ruminants, researchers are beginning to see evidence that domestic ruminant livestock can help produce higher soil cover, which in turn can reduce soil erosion and increase carbon sequestration. Sarah is actively looking to improve her family's farmland by rotating the herd's use of pastures, and allowing the dairy herd to exclusively feed on the grasses that naturally grow there. Besides the ecological benefits, the approach is more cost effective. EXPERIENCE: Of many things that make Chaseholm Farm stand out is that it is one of few dairies that produce both milk and cheese on site. Rory Chase, a third generation dairy farmer, leads this effort. The informative pasture walk began with a tasting of several cheeses produced at the farm, and ended with a visit to the farm store. Chaseholm Farm dairy products are available beyond this shop -- pick up locations across the Hudson Valley and neighboring Litchfield Hills can be found on the farm's website.

We were looking forward to strawberry picking and the information we referred to indicated that…read morethis pick your own strawberry farm was open. Unfortunately, when we showed up in the early afternoon of a June Friday it was closed. We'd love to go back when it is open, however, based on our experience, we are not sure when that will be.

The workers here are so friendly. We went on a weekday and we were the only people there. It was…read moreexplained to us that the particular day we went wasn't the best for picking and a few days later would be better but we went anyway and still found some big, bright red strawberries! These are some of the best tasting strawberries I've ever had and 100% organic! I highly recommend Thompson-Finch Farm for strawberry picking!

Another year, another visit to Philip Orchards. This is our…read morefamily tradition over the years, pick our Macouns (I don't know any other farms that does this) then get a dutch apple pie at Green Acres down the road. Love this place, wide area with many fruit trees. Best pricing around, especially when buying 4 or more bags. You'll be surprised how quick it's goes (apples a day, pies and gifts to family/friends). Interesting article, and link to a book on the place/family by Leila Philip. https://ruralintelligence.com/arts/apples-history-a-q-a-with-leila-philip-3 Support your local businesses, come to Philip Orchards!

We have been picking apples at this orchard for over 25 years. The staff are friendly and the…read moreapples are great. The prices are fair and you can just relax while picking.

What a wonderful museum in Hudson county. So educational and the kids throughly enjoyed. There are…read moretrucks for the kids to explore, tons of interactive displays, an obstacle course and a little center for the littles to explore. The staff working there the day we visited were happy to show the kids around and explore. We visited during the holidays and they had a scavenger hunt and winter displays throughout the museum.

Drove all the way here on a Saturday only to find the museum closed! Their sign says they're open…read moreWednesday through Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday. If they closed for the tiny bit of snow, they didn't bother updating their Google listing. Very unprofessional! Would not recommend.

I finally made it to Garlic Fest this year and it was very hot and very crowded. It took about half…read morean hour to get to the on-site parking ($10 for parking), but getting into the festival from the parking lot was quick if you pre-ordered tickets online. My group arrived probably at the height of the event (Saturday - noonish) and there was a long line at every food vendor. The festival was much larger than expected and we were there for a good 3 hours. There is live music scattered around the venue and lots of samples from the vendors. You can probably go through the festival within an hour when the crowd is more manageable (very early or later in the day).

They do such a fantastic job with this festival. I go every year. I should have taken my own advice…read moreand brought something to shade myself with. It was a whopping 91°. The vendors are in their same spot as they were the previous years so I was able to go and get everything that I love, especially the garlic ice cream! It is still $10 to park! It is $15 to get in! They have a credit card option now for entry too. Everything garlic! Fun fall day.

I have been to Chesterwood before but not in many years. During the pandemic they did a major…read morerenovation of the residence, including creating educational displays in the bedrooms on the second floor. This certainly was a highlight of this trip to Chesterwood! French's studio is remarkable and so interesting. It contains the actual model of the seated Lincoln that was used to created the marble statue we see in DC today! Many thanks to Laura, our tour guide, who was incredibly knowledgeable and an excellent educator. We learned so much! Highly recommend visiting Chesterwood when in the Berkshires - and be sure to take a tour!

Really lovely and understated estate/museum to visit in an area rich in those, Chesterwood is…read moredefinitely worth a visit. Daniel Chester French was the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, and there's a smaller version of the famous sculpture here in his studio. The house he resided in is well-maintained and is quite lovely. The tour guide was informative and friendly. The house tour is worth the admission but the views of the valley puts it over. The garden where the studio is has a nice fountain. I had to leave just before the end of the tour. With the tour, try to have at least a couple of hours so you can get the full feel of the estate.

Fletcher Gallery is a small gallery off Mill Road. I wasn't sure if they were open at first and if…read morethey even allowed the public instead but I took the risk and stepped in. It has two side's but you can only enter from the right. There are also two offices upstairs. The people working there didn't mind if we looked around. They also thanked us for coming in.The first few paintings were very eye catching and colorful of ballerina's and sacred figures but as we ventured further in towards the other side they began turning into more adult based photography with lots of nudity. I wasn't really expecting that and I had my teenage son with me so I decided it wouldn't be appropriate to bring him any further. There really weren't too many pieces inside. In less that five minutes you could likely carefully view the entire gallery. They did also have some bust sculptures in addition to the painted portraits and black and white nudes. It's worth a peek if you are passing by but it may be a good idea to leave the kids out of this one.

I haven't missed a fletcher gallery auction in many years. I think of it as one of the best kept…read moresecrets in Woodstock. An astute buyer can find amazing value on collectible works of art, and people shopping for lesser works can find great bargains. Some of the tips that I can give anyone is to do your best to really shop the gallery at pre-auctions so that you can make up your mind about those things that you think you want to bid on. It's unlikely that you will get all of them since there is often risk bidding on a number of the pieces. Then again it's likely that you can get a piece or 2 that slip between the cracks and buy them for a fraction of their value. It's also a lot of fun. - Ken from Woodstock