Enjoy All Madison County Farms Have To Offer With Open Farm Day

Summer is here and farmers in Madison County are ready to celebrate.

Open Farm Day is almost and farmers from all around Central New York are getting excited. The event gives everyone the chance to see all of what farms in Madison County have to offer.

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Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County is inviting you on July 30th to join in on the fun. Get a behind-the-scenes look at all the local farms. With the most recent census reporting 691 farms in Madison County, CCE is grateful to have 26 of them opening their doors for the day, free of charge.

Visitors will enjoy farm tours, rides, product samples, animals, recipes, and everything else that makes Madison County's agricultural community so special.

Credit - Madison County CCE

If you're new to Open Farm Day this year, here are a couple of things you should do to prepare:

Check Out the Farms - Get an idea of what each farm has to offer by following the link to Open Farm Day's website.

Pick a Lunch Location - Multiple farms are offering lunch locations this year. Choose ahead of time where you would like to eat.

Plan Your Route - There are special activities scheduled at certain farms, so plan ahead so that you don't miss out on any of them.

Bring A Friend - No better way to experience this event than with friends or family. There are fun activities all day long for everyone to enjoy.

Pack a Cooler - There will be SO MANY products for sale. Bring a cooler so you're prepared to take something home to share.

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Open Farm Day Passports will be available at 10 participating Price Chopper locations in Central New York. You can also get them at Madison County libraries and local farmers' markets.

Take a listen to Carl from Big Frog104's interview with Madison County Board Chairman John Becker.

The entire event will run from 10am to 4pm on July 30th, so you have the whole day to enjoy all the farms. Get more details on their website, on their Facebook page, or by calling their offices at 315-684-3001.

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Check Out this 19th Century Abandoned Farm House in Saratoga

Located on the grounds of the vast Saratoga Spa State Park, it's known as the La Tour Farmhouse. Back in 2009 the Post Star did an expose on the home, which has sat vacant for decades. Apparently it has a very rich history. It was built circa 1835 as part of a large 135 acre farm, in the early 1900's it was converted into a two family home. As Saratoga State Park began to expand, the land and the house were purchased by the state in 1928. It was occupied by workers at the nearby nursery until about 1978.

After that, it was vacant. The state threw out a couple different ideas, but apparently there's not even a driveway leading to the house, which made accessibility that much more difficult. Efforts to demolish the house were hindered because of the cost associated with razing it.

As for 2022, it's difficult to find any information on the structure. It's possible that it's still there, again any plans or records for the home, at least on a Google search, show the last plans for the house came about in 2009 when David Patterson was Governor. At the time, the plan was to tear it down, but that apparently never happened.

This video and the photos were taken back in 2014 as the building just sat, waiting and waiting to find out its fate. Apparently there are some other historic abandoned structures on the site. Although damaged by nature and neglect, it's nice to see it hasn't been hit by vandals - at least at the time of this video.

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.