ORIGIN: Founded by Woodbury native James Wargo and opened in…read more2020, Hidden Gem Orchard is aptly named. LOCATION: Wargo leases land that is part of the Southbury Training School property, a campus that was once a fully self-sustaining community. I first came upon it on in 2020 on my way to the nearest highway, and was surprised to find activity in an otherwise abandoned-looking area of the vast property -- at height of a pandemic no less! The orchard is located behind some agricultural structures that reflect a more active past, and invite some interesting photo opportunities. CONCEPT: The founder of Hidden Gem Orchard, James Wargo, has expertise in soil management and crop production. Wargo works closely with esteemed Cornell University pomologist, Ian Merwin, PhD, to grow both new and antique varieties of apples. EXPERIENCE: As a result, a visit is like opening a treasure chest of uncommonly seen and tasted apples, such as Esopus Spitzenberg, a favorite of Thomas Jefferson. A visit to the orchard is tranquil, not a spectacle with crowds, music, and lines. The focus is growing and sharing a love for apples, rather than weekend entertainment. Pick your own in the orchard, or pick up at farm stand. TIP: "Imperfect" apples are available at discounted price. Look out for apple pastries prepared by local baker, Horsehill Provisions.

Love this little farm stand!! We were taking a back road route to New Milford and happened upon…read moreHidden Gem Orchard. They had so many varieties of apples - many we had never heard of. They had signs with descriptions of every apple, incliding best uses (eating, baking, etc). We got a ton of different apples to try. We will definitely go back anytime we are in the vicinity, now that we know about it! Check it out if you love apples!

Prettiest vegetables I've ever seen, to the point that I recklessly bought purple peppers. This is…read morea small shop, so you're here for specific delights, not for a full grocery trip like Bishop's. There are local baked goods, and I would give six stars to the ham & cheese croissant I'm eating at this moment. (Ham & cheese is hard to get right; these are perfect.) If you're local, why are you not here more often? If you're passing through, as I was, choose some non-perishable produce and the delightful artisanal soaps.

Another 5-stars for this amazing farm! I truly appreciate this place especially this time of the…read moreyear with christmas closing in. They have Arethusas infamous eggnog for sale, locally made toffee n peanut brittle, wreaths with custom designed bows & Christmas trees on a sliding scale for pricing. I love that they give you the option to pay what you can afford for a tree, with the scale ranging from a minimum of $65 up to $90 for a 6-8ft tree. Many people seem to think this is an outrageous price for a tree but I've seen prices much higher than this all around CT. With the stand closing for the season on december 23rd now is your chance to get in there and get some great clearance bargains and wholesale options.

Beautiful setting with fantastic views. Calm, friendly pumpkin patch. This was far and away the…read moremost enjoyable pumpkin-patch visit our family has ever had. A welcome antidote to how hectic and crowded some other places can be. An absolute gem.

This is an absolutely wonderful farm! We love coming here every October to get our pumpkins! The…read morepumpkin patch is real and authentic, and it's tons of fun! They have a huge selection of pumpkins and their prices are better than some other farms. The hayride is free and it takes you around the farm. One of our favorite things is seeing the farm animals. They have 2 pigs, several sheep, a cow, several chickens, and a llama. The sheep are really cute. We've never tried the corn maze, but it looks fun! The staff at this farm are so friendly and welcoming! They are wonderful and that's one of the reasons why we come back every year! This farm is great because there's no unnecessary fees, and no large crowds. It feels very down to earth, friendly, and local. This is a great farm and I highly recommend visiting the farm when they're open in October! 5 stars

I pass by the Ox Hollow Farm Stand, located on RT202, in Bantam, CT four times a week. I'll stop…read morefor produce in season, my wife loves their tomatoes. But it seems like they specialize in farm raised meats, they have a good amount in the several freezers found inside this little farm stand. Prices are typically 3X what you would pay for similar types of meat in the supermarket, but that's standard when you're buying quality, Farm fresh meats. A solid 4 Star rating for this wonderful Connecticut Farm stand.

We are happy every time we pass this way along Rt. 202 and stop at Ox Hollow. They consistently…read moreoffer a welcome variety of fresh, locally grown produce (always good tomatoes), and they sell it at what seems to us as fair pricing. (We rate them much higher for quality and lower in pricing than the nearby Tara Farms setup.) This time of year they've got a lot of pumpkins for sale, but then so does everyone else, of course. The folks working here have always been pleasant too deal with. They stay open later in the season than we'd expect, but that's only a good thing!

Great family fun day at Evergreen Berry Farm! Right now they are open 8-8, which is very generous…read moreof them however we tried timing it to get some shade before the humidity and heat kicks in. There is plenty of parking between two lots, we found it to be stroller & wagon friendly for the little ones. They do have a few wagons that you can use if available. The staff from start to finish is super friendly and very helpful pointing you in the right direction. Great experience for all ages, you do have to walk about 1/4 each way to get to the raspberry bushes which is the farthest away from the booth.

Great spot to spend a few hours! It's very picturesque, with LOADS of berries all throughout the…read moreseason. It's mostly blueberries, but there are also blackberries, rasberries, elderberries... hmmm and falcons? Yes, falcons! Farmer Bob employs falcons to keep the berry-eating birds away, which is pretty badass.. Easily a must if you live in the area. HUGE deals for berries ... we picked about five pounds of blueberries, which came out to around $9. Compare that to what: 3-4 bucks for a pint at the store? A no brainer.

I love Mom and Pop shops (a.k.a. Local Vendors) and this one is a hidden gem!!! Hand made Christmas…read morewreaths, Christmas gnomes, Christmas balls and Christmas boxes ( they might be cemetery boxes- not sure- they are just so beautiful, I think they could go anywhere.) they also have Christmas trees, beautiful, well shaped trees. Jan makes everything by hand, she is a lovely lady. I'm so glad to have discovered this place, they have a huge greenhouse and I hear that they carry tons of stuff in the spring and I can't wait to go back and see what they have. This gem is easily missed because you can't see it from the street, you need to turn at the sign. 50 Scott Road. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063590052451&mibextid=LQQJ4d #Christmastree #Holidays #Christmas #Gnomes #wreaths

LOVE this place. For the past few years I have been honing my gardening skills, desperately trying…read moreto turn my brown thumb green. The Flower Farm is the perfect place to dream of bountiful gardens and stock up on on excessive amount of veggies. I was up unusually early on a Saturday morning the other day (6am)... I had been instructed to meet friends for an event BUT they must have had too good of a night the night/morning before and never woke up. SO, what was I to do? Shop! I pulled into TFF at around 8am and was curious as to what time they opened. The owner? told me.."If you're here...we're open! Start shopping!"...awesome! The reason why I REALLY LOVE this place...their assortment of heirloom tomatoes. Now, I'm one to be obsessed with 'Tomatomania" and if you don't know what that is then you better ask somebody! Long story short, tomato mania...Morris CT... 150 varities of heirlooms...at 4.50 a pop! TFF...$2.00...yes, you heard that right...same stuff..smaller variety...$2.00. Although the variety was slim, they still had every one I needed and the owner? told me straight up that he beefed up his stock to compete with Tomatomania. So...what's not to love? Instead of driving 30 minutes, I drive 10. Instead of paying $4.50..I pay 2....it's a win win. (oh! and they have other cool varities of veggies as well...i.e...purple bell peppers!)

I'm a little surprised that Gazy had not been Yelped yet...nor was it even found when searched!…read more We have been using their CSA - Communuity Support Agriculture, for the last two years now and have just about fallen in love with this program. We heard about CSA through a coworker and decided to look up a few in our area and learn more about it. Gazy Brothers was one that looked appealing, the cost seemed most budget friendly, and they delivered to our area. We missed the first summer CSA so hopped on the Fall ration. We enjoyed it; however, it consisted of a lot of greens that we weren't sure what to do with. Also, they deliver on Thursdays in East Haven/New Haven and because we are CT transplants, we travel MOST weekends out of the year so aren't able to do anything with our fresh veggies until Monday. Anyway, our boxes were filled with squash of all types, huge ones...we would cut them up and freeze right away if we weren't eating it. Kale and Spinach, root veggies too. We skipped Winter and Spring and signed up for Summer as this would give us the most goodies. Fact. We have 8 or 9 veggies in a typical week, plus we added the fruit CSA too so there is always a bag of fruit in there too. Because I stock up on meat throughout the year, our grocery trips during a CSA are minimal. If we don't need yogurt/dairy/cold cuts...then I can skip 1-2 weeks of grocery shopping! imagine that. CSA costs for summer came to about $25-$30/week. I spend more than this at the store every week on JUST produce. Plus it forces us to try new things. Along with the CSA box, Gazy sends out weekly emails with what may be in your box as well as recipes. They have a Facebook which is always updated with new recipes and their website as well has recipes, information and a veggie produce ID in case you have NO idea what is in your box. There is a delivery fee, but if you are like us and enjoy fresh fruits and veggies, the cost is still minimum in the long run. If there is ever a problem that you won't be home to receive your box, no problem, contact Gazy directly and they will deliver a different day with no issues. They are so helpful. We really enjoy this program and have gotten friends of ours involved as well. They don't live as close to us, so they use a different farm, but it's still a great thing to do to support your community. I have posted pictures of past CSA boxes.

I've been getting the Gazy CSA boxes for over a full year now and it's not an exaggeration to say…read morethat it has transformed my life. My meals are nutritious and colorful, I'm cooking more and having more fun doing it, and I hardly ever have to go to the store. Plus I'm eating better than ever before. I joined in the depths of winter, and even the winter boxes include a very nice mix of stuff (hardy greens, squashes, root vegetables, different varieties of apples). I've enjoyed making apple sauce, and just chopping up and roasting the vegetables as they come in and having them as is the first night and in soup or stir fry later in the week. Roasting vegetables with rosemary is a wonderful smell and warms up the kitchen nicely. But it's in spring and summer that things start to get really sublime. After the long winter it's heaven to enter the season of bright above-ground growing things: delicate lettuce and rainbow chard and scallions and spinach and mint and STRAWBERRIES. Spring is already such a blessed relief in New England and I don't know if I'd appreciate it fully without my CSA. Summer is just an embarrassment of riches with too much goodness to list. I don't know if there's anything better than summer tomato season, which seems to last forever. Week after week of the most flavorful, beautiful tomatoes you can imagine (plus all the other summertime lavishness). Last summer I was having sliced tomatoes two or three times a day and never got tired of them, and I even sometimes ate them whole like apples-- so messy but ridiculously delicious and luxurious. There is absolutely no comparison between these things and what you buy at Stop n Shop. It's as if they are from a different planet. Then in the fall, leek and potato soup... mmmm And besides the fact that they grow the best vegetables ever, the Gazy people are very nice and easy to reach on email or phone. And they bring everything right to your doorstep, a box of exciting surprises, like Christmas every week.

In the Sun. NYC Market they offer large brown EGGS for 6$ a dozen…read more I have not eaten an egg in 2 yours because of knowledge received of the CRUELTY of industrialized chicken farming ...However this farm offers..... HORMONE FREE ...Antibiotic FREE...Steroid FREE...NGO ... That's good enough for me ..I assume that info is true for their pigs, lambs and cows.. The 'Produce' I can buy elsewhere..if there's a problem Bon cruelty free Appetit..Thanx

Very disappointed with this farm. I was very excited to join both the vegetable and meat CSA this…read morepast season. When you walk into the farm stand area everything is beautiful, what I received in my bag was not. Received a poor variety, poor quantity, and the quality seemed like last weeks unsold product. Constantly Inconsistent.Posted CSA board looked great but was always incorrect., not having time to change last weeks, or out of items. I inquired about yellow watermelon during one of my pickups and was quoted $30.00.(Ridiculous Watermelon) Unfortunately, the few steaks received were un chewable, even after marinading for hours. Never received lamb. Sausage and bacon heavily spiced, Chicken meh...Hard to plan with no weights on packaging. Hopefully, with more experience they'll get better.