Our Farm
Loiacono farm at 573 Meeting House Road, West Winfield, NY 13491, is a is a third-generation farm located north of the village of West Winfield in central New York. The farm presently consists of 200 acres. About 110 acres are tillable and the remaining acreage is woodlands and pasture. Most of the tillable land is currently rented to a local commercial grower of small grains.
My grandfather had the ability to graft apple trees and there are many varieties of heirloom apples as well as perry pear trees in the pastures of the farm. He would often take a branch from an apple tree that had apples he particularly liked and graft it on to another nearby tree to make more of them. There are many apple trees on the farm that yield more than one variety of apple. I’m hoping to preserve some of these varieties by taking grafts from these older trees and grafting them on younger trees to start the cycle over again. I know that some of these heirloom apples would be excellent for blending in the craft cider industry.
In 2009 I put up two high tunnel greenhouses. One 20’ x 72’ and the other 30’ x 48’ to house a hydroponic strawberry set up and grow tomatoes and peppers. In 2012 I added a third 30’ x 96’ high tunnel for raspberries and NFT hydroponic fancy lettuce production. The high tunnels are supplemented with approximately 3 acres of outdoor vegetable garden. All of our produce and berries are grown non-certified organic and pesticide free.
I market my produce through a self serve roadside stand in front of my home. The stand is always open during the season however, I do cover it up during periods of inclement weather. The stand is actually built on the frame of a Papec silage blower that my father used to fill the silo with corn silage when I was a young boy. It sat in the bushes for over 50 years. When I pulled it out the wheels all rolled and it steered just as it had when it was new. The mechanical parts on top had all rusted beyond repair but, the frame was till solid. The blower parts were removed and I built the farm stand on the remaining frame. Below are pictures of what the blower would have looked like in working condition (Left) and the farm stand I built on the frame (Right). I also like to take advanced orders for larger quantities of produce and berries as I like to pick them when they are ripe and have the best flavor. Since much of what I grow is quite perishable I would prefer to pick them fresh for customers rather than have them sit on the stand. Advance orders of all of my products are always welcome and you can either call in an order or order using my contact form on the contact page of this site.
