Our Cultural Practices

Star Route Farm is located in the upper Catskill region of NY on alluvial and glacial till deposits of the Charlotte Creek Valley in Otsego County. Soil type is mainly Hamplain Silty Loam on a slope of less than 1 percent. Sub soil consists of Chenango Gravelly Loam providing excellent drainage and little to no runoff with the minimal slope.

Our 6 acres of production fields are bisected by both NY state and federally protected wetlands which provide a complex mix of fauna and animal life. Bald eagles, herons, bitterns among many other bird and animal species live, migrate and nest in this environment.

We use a permanent bed system that we have been transitioning to no-till. Our production soils have a organic matter content between 8-9%. We do not use animal manures for fertility, instead a mix of green manure/cover crops, basalt volcanic rock dust, alfalfa meal and vermicompost with a mulch layer of fine leaf compost.

Macro and micro (trace) nutrient levels are determined by annual soil tests and we use William Albrecht’s model of soil analysis and recommendations to determine specific mineral applications for the growing season. We use NO synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

Our goal is to create healthy, living soils to produce highly nutritious food for the sake of sustainable and healthy land, farmers and food accessible to everyone!

WE GROW

arugula, bambi lettuce, basil, black beans, borlotti beans, broccoli raab, bok choi, chard, cilantro, cone cabbage, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, grenada peppers, kaboca squash, korean melons, leeks, magic mollys, mustard greens, nappa cabbage, poblano peppers, psychedelic romaine lettuces, san marzano tomatoes, satina potatoes, scallions, spinach, red cloud potatoes, radicchios, radishes, romano beans, romanesco and cousa squash, thai chilis, tulsi basil, turnips, yard beans and more!!!

Star Route Farm is named for its home on County Highway 40 in Worcester, NY.  Back in the day, it was called Star Route because it was so far off the beaten path (a rural area with less than one customer per mile) that they had to hire mercenary postmen to make the rounds.