Fresh local organic slicing cucumbers from Sun Sprout Farm, grown on the black dirt of Chester, NY, a dark, fertile soil left behind by an ancient glacial lake that early settlers avoided for its poor drainage before farmers learned to work with it. Slicing cucumbers are the long, cylindrical, thin-skinned variety most people picture, distinct from the shorter, bumpier types bred for pickling, with a higher water content and thinner skin that gives them their crisp, juicy bite. Botanically, cucumbers are a fruit of the gourd family, related to melons and squash, though they're grown and eaten like a vegetable. Slice them into salads and sandwiches, layer into a Greek-style salad with tomatoes, feta, and olives, or blend into a chilled gazpacho or a yogurt-based cucumber soup. They also hold up well quick-pickled with vinegar, sugar, and dill for a fast side.
Chester, NY
Sun Sprout Farm is located on New York’s famous black dirt in Chester, NY. The land is being leased from the Chester Agricultural Center as part of an innovative farmland preservation project that provides long term, stable leases for high quality farmland.
Sun Sprout Farm is co-owned by Simon Ziegler and Madeleine Banulski who met in 2006 as volunteers at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Kimberton, PA, a living community that includes adults with developmental disabilities. Simon worked on the bio-dynamic dairy farm and Madeleine worked in the CSA garden, apple orchard and village cafe. After their two-year service, Simon returned to Germany in 2008 to study and obtain his bachelor’s degree in Organic Agriculture Science in Witzenhausen, Germany while Madeleine started going to nursing school in Philadelphia, PA. Simon came back to farm during his summer breaks every year, and worked on Riverbank Farm in Roxbury, CT with Madeleine as well as various CSA and community gardens in Philadelphia. Simon moved permanently from Germany to the US in 2011 and worked for six years as the field manager at Riverbank Farm, a fifteen-acre organic vegetable farm in Roxbury, CT.
They always dreamed of starting their own farm together. They have been in love with the Hudson Valley for a long time, and after several years of looking for the right place, found our destination in Chester, NY. Madeleine is a nurse and works on the farm part time while continuing her nursing career.