Ten Onondaga County farms are throwing open their barn doors on Saturday to give residents a chance to learn more about agriculture and life on a farm. That's the goal behind the eighth annual ON Farm Fest.
It’s a busy time of year at Navarino Orchard, where Vincent Sicignano is orchard manager and co-owner.
"Most of our time is spent picking apples and pumpkins and attempting to maintain quality of the farm,” Sicignano said.
But this weekend, farm staff is also taking visitors on tours, trying to educate them about what happens on the farm. For example, Sicignano says they talk about how planting apples trees has changed over the past few decades.
“It started with old standard trees that are planted 20 feet apart, 30 feet between the row," Sicignano said. "And, it kept getting closer and closer to where we're planting trees at 3 to 4 feet apart, 12 feet between the row.”
The closer planting means more trees and apples, but Sicignano says it also increases the spread of disease. He says the farm has grown significantly from just a few acres of apple trees and a small pumpkin patch a quarter century ago.
“Over that time we've expanded the orchard," Sicignano said. "We do 30 acres to pick your own apples. We got 12 acres of strawberries. 20 acres of pumpkins, so I've seen the demand for agritourism businesses grow over the past 25 years. We probably grown at least 10 times to what we started.”
Sicignano says Navarino Orchard has participated in nearly every ON Farm Fest, which cumulatively draws people to their orchard, bakery, and country store.
