The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
A GROWING VENTURE
Open Farm Day: Critz Farms offers wide array of agricultural products
CAZENOVIA, N.Y. » It all started as a Christmas tree farm.
WhenMatthew Critz moved his family from the Adirondacks to Cazenovia in 1985, he anticipated turning an old farmstead into a place for families to hunt for their Christmas centerpiece. As time passed however, it became more andmore difficult to sup- port a family relying solely on Christmas tree farms, so Critz and his wife Juanita began expanding operations to include additional offerings, including hard cider.
Now years later, Critz is a name synonymous with hard cider in Central New York, and on Saturday, July 29, Critz Farms will participate in the ninth annual Madison County Open Farm Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Organized by the Agricul- tural Economic Development Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County, Open Farm Day helps promote the county’s agriculture industry and gives visitors a chance to learn more about how their food goes from farm to table. As part of the event, farms must offer free tours or samples, and they cannot charge admission prices. Participating farms can be found in all corners of Madison
"It’s awareness. Awareness of products in Madison County. It gives people an opportunity to purchase a local product.” — Agriculture Economic Development Coordinator Jennifer Farwell
County.
“It’s awareness. Awareness of products in Madison County. It gives people an opportunity to purchase a local product and the knowledge of where to find it,” said Agriculture Economic Development Coordinator Jennifer Farwell.
Critz Farms has participated in the event since its inception. “It’s been a big day for us,” Critz said.
Typically, roughly 600 people visit Critz Farms on Open FarmDay and are able to enjoy cidery and brewery tours, music, wagon rides (which are not normally offered), a food truck, a selfguided tour of the hop farm with signs to explain different steps in the brewing process, and the opportunity to pick fresh blueberries. Cider and brews will be available for purchase, in addition to Critz’s maple syrup.
Able to boast an array of award-winning hard ciders and a growing craft beer selection, Critz sources much of its ingredients for its beverages locally. Critz says nearly all ciders are created using nearly 75 percent of the fruit from his orchards, and 80 to 90 percent of the barley is sourced locally, with a newhop yard established in 2016.
Though the operation is full-blown now, transforming an old dairy farm into New York’s sixth cidery was an organic process.
“It took on a life of its own,” Critz said of the process.
The first branch of the Critz Farm operation that deviated from the Christmas tree offerings was a pumpkin patch where guests can pick their own pumpkins, which was unrolled in the late ‘80s. Visitors enjoyed the additional offerings at the time, but Critz said, “We could sense they wanted to do more.”
So, the Critz family created a festive Autumn venue with a corn maze, food and entertainment.
“I always try to listen to my customers,” he said.
It was the same customers who began to inquire about apple picking during those early fall months, prompting the family to plant its first apple orchard and offering apple picking to the public during the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The next logical step following the installation of orchards and apple pickingwas to begin creating sweet cider for sale. As soon as the sweet cider was available, Critz said the next question he began hearing was, “Are you going to have hard cider?”
“I wasn’t sure about the craft beverage industry,” Critz admitted, and before he sold hard cider to the public, he wanted to be sure he had a solid product he could duplicate to ensure quality and consistency. After two or three years of home batching, the Critz family openeddoors to its tasting room, which features an antique, but operational, 120-year-old cider press constructed in Syracuse. During thefirst year of selling hard cider, the Critz family concocted 1,000 gallons of cider, establishing the Harvest Moon Cidery. The batch sold out in six weeks, and Critz knew they were on to something, prompting the farm to acquire its Farm Winery license in 2011.
Roughly five years later, at the urging of their son Patrick, whoworks full-time withhis parents, they added craft brews to their opera- tion. By 2016, the craft beer was available to the public, and currently, Critz Farms offers nine ciders and seven beers, with seasonal offerings as well. Four Screw, an aged hard cider with a touch of maple, has been the most popular cider, and IPAs have been the hottest selling beers.
During those early years, Critz said the farm saw roughly 1,000 visitors a year. Currently, between 60,000 and 70,000 people visit the farm, whether to purchase a batch of hard cider, fill a growler with craft beer, find fresh blueberries, pick their way through a pumpkin patch, or test the annual corn maze.
“I never expected 70,000 visitors a year,” Critz chuckled when reflecting back on his family’s journey. “I really don’t have any tales of woe. We’re so happy in Cazenovia.”
The Critz family employs 10 full-time employees and five part-time employees on the roughly 350 acre farm located at 3232 Rippleton Road (Route 13) in Cazenovia. During the busy fall season, Critz Farms adds 30 part-time employees. The orchard is divvied up between apple pick and ci- der trees with 2,000 trees available to pickers and another 2,000 solely reserved for cider.
“Cazenovia has turned out to be one of the most supportive towns of agriculture I know,” he said, also crediting Madison County for supporting a non-dairy agricultural operation in a dairy dominant landscape. “Community support has been fantastic.”
Critz Farms in currently open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m Thursdays through Sundays, with hours adjusted seasonally.
To learn more about Critz Farms, visit: http://www. critzfarms.com/
To learn more about Open Farm Day 2017, visit: http://madisoncountycce. org/events/2017/07/29/openfarm-day-2017
Open Farm Day passports - which includes the locations of all 33 participating farms and brief bios - are available at Price Chopper - the event’s major sponsor - locations, and participants who receive stamps from 3 or more of the 33 participating farms will receive an insulated shopping tote bag. Prizes are available while supplies last.