About
Rutkowski Farm is a small 3rd generation family farm located 2 miles outside of the Village of Ballston Spa, NY. Our primary crops at the moment are garlic and blueberries. We follow the guidelines in the National Organic Protocol, but are not certified. We are, however, enrolled in the NOFA-NY Farmer’s Pledge Program.
Who’s who?
Kathleen was born and raised on the farm and spent many hot days picking strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Astoundingly, she came back! She’s the voice of reason on the farm when Paul gets a bit too ambitious about planting this or that. Also, she holds the reserve of knowledge of how her father did things back in the day. No sense in re-inventing the wheel.
Paul is not your typical farmer, or so he’s told by all of his friends. Most of his non-farm time is spent behind a computer screen at his place of employ. While behind that screen, he’s scheming on better cover crop rotations and cultivation techniques.
Asa is getting bigger every day, though we can’t put him to work yet. This year he’s running, so we know we’re in for it.
Grandma, formerly known as ‘Mom’ makes amazing jam. She also makes the best pies in the world. Yes, I think they’re even better than Smith’s pies. That said, we don’t sell pies, so you’ll have to settle for the Smith ones which are still quite amazing.
Our Story
In 2004, Paul and Kathleen moved from greater Boston back to Kathleen’s hometown of Ballston Spa, NY. In February of 2005 Kathleen declared that they’d be selling blueberries at the Ballston Spa Farmers Market that year.
Paul’s initial reaction was “whaaaaat????” One summer was all it took for his obsessive compulsive ways to refocus on farming. He’s been hooked ever since.
In the first 4 years of operation, they gradually upsized and expanded their offerings at the Ballston Spa Farmers Market. Year 5 was drastically different given a new family addition. 2010 promises to be another transitional year. We’re not promising anything to anyone this year, but Paul is cautiously optimistic.