Farmer Friday: Fobare's Fruits

The Farm Market of Fobare's Fruits

On a dead end road within Rensselaer Falls you will find a playground, corn maze, pumpkin patch, farm market, raspberry field, and apple orchard. These are only some of the attractions offered by Steve and Gayle Fobare, of Fobare’s Fruits. Their family friendly, safe, affordable, and local oriented property allows families, birthday parties, schools, and businesses, the opportunity to pick apples and raspberries straight from the fields and connect with their environment.

Even in the off season, on a warm August day, it is apparent how much time is dedicated to this interactive and inclusive property. With fifteen acres dedicated to apples, four and a half for the corn maze, and one for raspberries, combined with the diversity of attractions within the playground, and the variety of products sold and baked within the farm market, you wonder what it is that keeps the Fobares motivated.

Mining Attraction and the Orchard

“When a kid is crying because they have to leave you know you did good” explains Gayle Fobare. The most rewarding aspect of their job is being able to watch children and families experience local food. Both Steve and Gayle explain their joy in the ability to help a child eat an apple straight from the tree, and watch children connect their food directly to the source. Fobare’s allows visitors and North Country residents the opportunity to limit the miles it takes to bring fresh fruit to your home, and for many children it is the first time they understand and experience where it is their food comes from.
Like all farmers, the Fobares depend on the weather to create produce. “There aren’t many orchards up here and there’s a good reason for it. We are too far north. But there are orchards in Canada that are further north yet, so we were hoping that if we picked the right variety we could make it work” explains Steve. Gayle also elaborates on this reliance with our natural world, “You’re playing with Mother Nature. She controls everything. You don’t control her, she controls you”.

Some of the goodies inside the Market

From exploring the property and knowing the success that the Fobare's have had in a still relatively new business, you can see that weather is not a limiting obstacle and they have created an equally beneficial and respectful relationship with their land.
The orchard began in 2009 and now houses at least five apple varieties and has expanded to consist of almost seven thousand trees. This amount of apples would be an endless task to allocate if it was not for the help of u-pick visitors in the fall. The help allows Steve and Gayle to work on the other attractions around Fobare’s property. Gayle spends most of her days inside the Farm Market store, baking everything from cinnamon rolls, baked donuts, pies, apple crisp, and homemade bread that can be bought directly, while Steve constantly assists with the crowd and activities outside. They also have hosted a Princess Tea Party, Super Hero Event, and are currently planning a Cancer Walk for August 12^th.

Although the fall is notably the busiest time on the farm, Fobare’s is open from Wednesday to Sunday and is a great and easy place to sit and enjoy "A Taste Of Country". For more information visit, https://www.fobaresfruits.com/ .