Fishkill Farms is a farm located in
East Fishkill
East Fishkill is a Town (New York), town on the southern border of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 29,707 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town was once the ...
in
Dutchess County
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
It is of historic significance primarily because its founder Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and his wife, Elinor Morgenthau were close and enduring family friends of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, "They were our neighbors in the country and we enjoyed them as neighbors and friends before politics and work for different social aims came into our relationship. It is interesting to know that my husband never held a political office from the time of his governorship of New York state without having Henry Morgenthau, Jr., in some way in his official family. My husband no doubt often treated Henry as a younger brother..." The Morgenthau's country home at Hopewell Junction was located in Dutchess County only ten miles south east of Hyde Park, where the Roosevelt's lived. The Morgenthau's and the Roosevelt's had much in common: sharing a similar upper-class background, a similar political outlook and a common interest in farming. FDR and Morgenthau were said to have engaged in a neighborly rivalry over the cultivation of squash.
Fishkill farms is currently an
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
and small-scale farm. Fishkill Farms is one of the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
's oldest apple orchards. In a May 6, 1914 letter to his father, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who was serving as Ambassador to Turkey in the Wilson administration, Morgenthau wrote, "I have undertaken to set out 1,400 fruit trees (apple trees) which cover some 47-48 acres."
Organic Authority LLC named Fishkill Farms its 2010 "top pick" apple farm in the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
area.
History
Fishkill Farms was acquired by Henry Morgenthau, Jr in the fall of 1913 at the age of twenty-two. Historian
John Morton Blum
John Morton Blum (; April 29, 1921 – October 17, 2011) was an American historian, active from 1948 to 1991. He was a specialist in 20th-century American political history, and was a senior advisor to Yale officials.
Life and career
Blum was bo ...
said that the farm was several hundred acres (many of them orchard) that became Morgenthau's home and vocation. FDR and Morgenthau first met at a Dutchess County political luncheon held at Hyde Park in 1915. Roosevelt immediately took to Henry saying, He is an awfully nice fellow, and one who will be a tremendous asset to us in the county." Although FDR was then serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration, "he kept a firm grip on the most minute functions of the Dutchess County Democratic organization." Roosevelt tried to persuade Morgenthau to run for Sheriff but Morgenthau declined indicating that he intended to devote most of his time to running his farm. Even so, FDR remained in touch with Henry, Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt and Elinor Morgenthau also became close friends. Roosevelt drew on Morgenthau's farming knowledge and agricultural connections when running for Governor of New York in 1928, which enabled FDR to pick-up an extraordinary number of votes in normally Republican areas. As Governor elect of New York, Roosevelt named Morgenthau Chairman of an Agricultural Advisory Commission, and most of the Commission's recommendations were enacted into law. Morgenthau joined the incoming Roosevelt administration when Roosevelt asked him to head Farm Credit Administration, which FDR had created by sending Congress an Executive order on March 27, 1933. Morgenthau became Secretary of the Treasury in January 1934 after William H. Woodin resigned for health reasons. Morgenthau served as Treasury Secretary from January 1934-July 1945.
There can be little doubt that Fishkill Farms had a special place in FDR's heart: With his second term drawing to a close and the world situation deteriorating FDR longed to retire to Dutchess County. While having dinner with the Morgenthau's at Mrs. Morgenthau's D.C. residence on the evening of April 17, 1940 FDR proposed a toast saying, "Next year's wedding anniversary will be at Fish Kill Farms," and Morgenthau noted that he repeated it two or three times. Morgenthau wrote that he thought FDR was sincere when he said it, but he suspected events would not permit it because that same evening Roosevelt also had described his plans to form a National Cabinet, which implied he was making preparations for a third term. Still, in less stressful times FDR was able to find relaxation at the Morgenthau farm. On August 9, 1936 the New York Times reported that the annual clambake at the Morgenthau farm "has become one of the high points of the Summers President Roosevelt has spent here since becoming President." On August 8, 1936 FDR sought relaxation at the informal annual clambake given in his honor by the Morgenthau's, after having been engaged in political conferences all week at his Hyde Park house. FDR arrived at the Morgenthau's farm in his new touring car. He joined some sixty guests, including many Dutchess county residents, that were seated "at tables on a rolling lawn beneath a great oak tree." Each guest received a large steaming canvass bag containing clams, chicken, and fish, that had been all cooked together. Corn on the cobb, salad, and coleslaw completed the meal. The clambake at the Morgenthau's farm was said to be carrying-out a century old Dutchess county tradition. The farm has been handed down through family members, including former Manhattan District Attorney
Robert M. Morgenthau
Robert Morris Morgenthau ( ; July 31, 1919July 21, 2019) was an American lawyer. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County (the borough of Manhattan), having previously served as United States Atto ...
.
The farm is now run by his son, Joshua Morgenthau.
The farm originally produced apples, chickens, potatoes, corn, dairy and likely more. After being held up by a wet spring, in a May 24, 1914 letter Morgenthau predicted "we are going to have a very good season." He reported that ten days without rain had enabled him to have practically all his potatoes in and about half his corn. Dairy farming ceased during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when hired help was hard to find.
In 1980, a hailstorm damaged the apples and rendered them unsellable to wholesale distributors so the orchard was opened up to the local public for
U-pick
A You-Pick ("U-Pick") or Pick-Your-Own (PYO) farm operation is a type of farm gate marketing, farm gate direct marketing (farm-to-table) strategy where the emphasis is on customers doing the harvesting themselves. A PYO farm might be preferred by p ...
harvesting. The farm has been doing U-pick ever since.
Services
Fishkill Farms' 130 acre
property offers U-pick services for produce including blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, nectarines, pears and vegetables. Pasture-raised hens also produce eggs for the farm.
It also sells produce in Brooklyn farmers markets and an order-fulfillment service called Good Eggs.
The farm offers
community-supported agriculture
Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an altern ...
shares for Hudson Valley residents. Numerous events such as weddings and private affairs are hosted on site, including a recent Autumn Orchard Dinner which was reported upon by the gourmet aficionado
Williams Sonoma
Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956.
History
In 1947, Chuck Williams settled in Sonoma, California ...
.
Sustainability
![Apple with Ladybug](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Apple_with_Ladybug.JPG)
Farming practices at Fishkill operate with the goal of sustainability and
carbon neutrality
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
in mind, with an effort to grow as many foods as possible organically. The farm intend to consciously select crop varieties which are most suited to the effects of
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
over the next twenty years.
References
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Further reading
* {{cite web , title=Fishkill Farms , website=Westchester New York , url=http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/The-Best-Places-To-Go-Apple-Picking/Fishkill-Farms/ , ref={{sfnref , Westchester New York , accessdate=October 8, 2015
Farms in New York (state)
Companies based in Dutchess County, New York
Sustainable agriculture