Plum Brook Farm – Good Fruit

What we grow

Plum Brook Farm primarily produces fruit: apples, pears (mostly Asian pears), peaches, raspberries, blueberries, and grapes. In the fall, we press fresh cider (apple and apple-pear) weekly, and we sell apple sauce and apple butter made from our fruit. We grow some garlic, basil, tomatoes, and sometimes pumpkins and other annual crops in limited quantities. We also sell some local products grown or produced by our partners, including Hives to Home honey from hives kept on our farm and other farms nearby.

How to buy

Our farmstand at 416 Bay Road in Amherst is generally open every day in season, starting sometime in June or July and ending sometime in November. Hours are generally 9am to dusk, but may vary. When open, our OPEN sign is always displayed. The farmstand is self-service using the honor system. We accept all major credit cards and digital payments using a Square terminal, Venmo, or cash in a cash box (no change available).

We do have an online store is limited to non-perishable items that we ship (apple butter) and items that we deliver to Brookfield Farm for their CSA members. When the farmstand season is over, we sometimes advertise opportunities to pre-purchase holiday or seasonal items and pick them up at the farm during specific time periods.

How we grow

All of our products are grown with inputs and methods that could qualify us for organic certification, but we have not yet taken the step of getting certified. Organic tree fruit is rare in New England, and it is hard to grow, but we think it’s worth the effort. We use mating disruptor pheromones, and a variety of mineral and biological products from old-fashioned sulfur to the extremely targeted “codling moth granulosis virus.” We pay close attention to pest and disease models to apply the right materials at the right time, following Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. Unfortunately, some organic materials are very expensive and many are not as effective or long-lasting as their conventional counterparts, so our costs are high and we must find the beauty in cosmetic “imperfections.” Despite those challenges, we pride ourselves in producing high quality fruit with top-notch flavor at fair prices, and our loyal customers tell us we are succeeding.