Eighty-two-year-old Windsor Abbott leaned against a red shed, his right leg propped up on the back fender of his tractor.

There’s a long buzz and a voice comes from Windsor’s back pocket. His cracked and scarred hand grabs the clunky walkie-talkie — it’s the farm’s project manager who needs the tractor at the other side of the farm.

He quickly walks around to the front of the machine, opens the door and hops in. His hands move swiftly and automatically to the controls — he’s been driving tractors since he was 6-years-old — and in a moment, he is moving toward the other end of the farm to drop off the tractor.

 

It’s a chilly Saturday morning and the workers at Abbott Farms in Baldwinsville, New York are hustling around the property. Over 50 employees are making sure all of the pieces are in place before the 1,000-plus anticipated customers descend on the small farm.

This is the busiest time of year for Abbott Farms, when people from all over the state come to pick their own apples and to experience farm life every year. The farm is about a 20-minute drive northeast from the Syracuse University campus.

The Abbott family has owned the property since 1866, but only recently switched over to an agri-tourism or agri-entertainment business model. This model is geared toward bringing families to pick their own produce and experience life on a farm for a few hours.

In addition to regular business hours, the farm hosts large fall festivals that give families the chance to pick their own apples, interact with the farm animals, buy freshly made apple cider, shoot an apple out of the farm’s specially designed apple cannon and take a run through its corn maze.

After operating for decades as a large-scale wheat commodity farm, the Abbotts decided to capitalize on the large local market to help keep the farm afloat.

 

“Back a few years ago, we realized we couldn’t keep running the farm that way, because we didn’t have enough land,” Windsor Abbott said. “We were running about 763 acres in this area, which is quite a lot of land, but you have got to have thousands, at least three, to justify your equipment.” Mike Blair, the farm’s production manager, has worked for the Abbotts for the last 10 years. He has been instrumental in transitioning the farm into its more entertainment-focused state. On this morning, he is wearing a red, long-sleeve shirt, jeans and a blue hat pulled backwards.

He weaves his way through the tall sunflowers that line the edge of the property, looking for ones to cut and sell. After chopping about a dozen flowers off, he throws them in the bed of his red pickup truck, hops in the cab and throws it in reverse. He expertly maneuvers over hills and sidewalks to the chicken coop.

“It’s always more fun driving backwards,” he said.

Each section of the farm serves an independent purpose — the main store is stocking donuts, cider, apples and more for visitors to purchase, the cidery is beginning to churn out its amber-colored liquid and the food shack is prepping for the lunch rush. Blair acts as the glue, running or driving (sometimes backwards) across the complex to check in with every group to make sure things are running smoothly before customers begin to pour in.

“The most stressful part of right now is the unexpected stuff, for me personally when and if something goes wrong that affects the customers, that’s the time to panic,” said Blair, his face red with sweat beginning to slide from his forehead to his chin as the sun gets higher. “It’s a sheer numbers game. Sometimes we are going to have an emergency; with the amount of people we expect, I expect at least one lost kid today

The main farm property is about 120 acres, which is a lot of land to get lost on, he added. When emergencies arise, the staff looks to him and he directs them on the next move.

He walks across the front of the building toward the 15-acre apple orchards, which produce over 20 different kinds of apples. On his way ,he waves to Windsor’s wife, Nancy, who is now watering the farm’s flowerbeds.

Nancy Abbott attributes the success of both her marriage and the farm to her strong Christian faith. The couple has been married for 59 years.

“It was 1943, and it was spring and the teacher plunked me right in front of Windsor and he was a pain,” said Nancy, her floppy red hat shading her eyes from the sun. “He took the erasers off my pencils and was just a nuisance like that, but I liked it.”

She said her favorite parts of Windsor’s personality are his work ethic and compassion for others.

Families begin to arrive at 10 a.m., and by noon, the place is packed. The farm is flooded with people, long lines form all across the complex. A little girl pulls impatiently at her mother’s dress as the duo waits for food.

Parents hoist their children up to pluck apples off the taller branches. Two children run near the chicken coop, their parents close behind as Nancy Abbott looks on.

“Families are my favorite part,” she said. “I love talking to all these different people.”

Published on September 29, 2015 at 10:49 pm

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