Shelburne Farm — Local services in Stow

Update again (8/24 at 7:39am): the farm deleted their response posted last night. Great that I already saved the screen shot and am attaching the photo here what they deleted along with my payment on credit card, which showed what kind of person and family these people are.

To respond to the absurd response (8/23 at 8:50pm) from the farm: My name is Yuan Li. I stand fully behind my review and my words. The response from the farm falsely accuses me of “stealing produce” and “leaving without payment.” These are serious lies and completely unacceptable. I will not accept this kind of public defamation under any circumstance.

This is not a matter of opinion or misunderstanding — this is a false criminal accusation made publicly against me. I will be pursuing this matter in court.

In your response you wrote: “We are pursuing the matter with law enforcement and we will press charges given the opportunity.” I am now giving you this opportunity. Not only am I giving it, I myself will also pursue this matter with law enforcement and press charges. If you are willing to stand by your response as I stand by my review, then put down your full legal name and contact information here, so that I can send you the official court notice.

The original review (8/23 around 5-6pm): I stand behind every word written here!

We visited this farm for fun and paid $32 for a basket, with the rule clearly stated: as long as everything fits in the basket and does not fall out, you can take it home. We followed this rule — our basket was full but stable, nothing was falling out.

When we were leaving, staff first wrongly accused us of picking Asian pears instead of peaches (later admitted their mistake). Then, they claimed our basket looked “like two baskets” and said it was “not reasonable height.” But there was never any rule about “reasonable height.” The only rule given was: if it fits and doesn’t fall, it’s fine.

At that point, I said we felt discriminated against and singled out. The same female staff member responded, “I also come from another country, so I would not discriminate against you.” But nationality has nothing to do with it — what matters is the behavior. If your actions make customers feel singled out or treated unfairly, then that is discrimination in effect.

This same woman then went further and told me directly, “You don’t need to come to our farm again.” Yet when I asked to return the $49 apple bag (which I had not used yet), she refused to refund me — essentially forcing me to continue picking apples at a farm that just told me I was not welcome. This is completely inconsistent, unfair, and disrespectful.

We came here to enjoy the experience, not to be embarrassed, humiliated, or guilt-tricked about how “expensive it is to run a farm.” If the farm feels its pricing is unsustainable, they should change the rules. But it is not right to blame, shame, or drive away customers who simply followed the...

Social distancing is enforced slightly though people try to push it when in food lines. Otherwise they have staff going around the farm watching for people not using masks etc. I did notice many people still eat apples while picking which I think is fine and most people put their masks back on when they see strangers approaching. Most people stay far away from other groups but I did notice some groups bigger than 10 people.

The apples were delicious and there were plenty of kinds to pick. At the time I went there were no peaches or Asian pears. I noticed there was an abundance of apples on the ground under the trees which is no fault of the farm but I assume people are picking apples and throwing them on the floor. That made it hard to get bigger apples because the only ones available for some of the trees were at the very top of apple tree and there aren't many ladders available. Also be careful to sanitize after using the ladders, I didn't notice staff sanitizing them.

The shop was full of lots of desserts, apples, cider, popcorn, and donuts! I recommend the donuts and the desserts as I loved every single one I bought. I personally got: kettle corn, apple cider, apple cider donuts, mulled cider, and caramel apple cake.

The caramel apple cake seems like a pound cake made with real apples and topped with a caramel glaze. It was delicious and you can really taste the apple pieces inside the cake, it is soft and moist even up to a week later. Definitely a sweet dessert but not artificially sweet.

The kettle corn was great but isn't made on site if you are looking for fresh popcorn. Still tasted amazing, salty and sweet.

Apple cider donuts are made fresh and you can only buy one dozen per customer so if you want more than that you will have to get back in line. Definitely worth the wait! They are so sweet and soft, I loved the donuts with cinnamon sugar but they have a plain option in case you can't handle all the sugar topping. You can also get half plain and half with the sugar topping.

The apple cider has to be bought in the shop but ask for cups if you want to drink while on the farm. Tasted great! You could tell it is fresh and made only of apples, not too sweet and not too tart.

The hot mulled cider: This was my first time trying mulled cider and it was not what I expected. I assumed it just would be hot cider but it has some seasonings in it, so be aware of that. Seemed like typical fall seasonings but it was very strong, almost a little bitter at first. After getting used to the seasonings inside it was pretty good but I wish there was an option to just...

Shelburne Farms was created in 1886 by Dr. William Seward Webb and Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb as a model agricultural estate, using money inherited from railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt. They commissioned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to guide the layout of 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) of farm, field and forest, and New York architect Robert Henderson Robertson, to design the buildings. The estate was created by purchasing a large number of mostly agricultural properties, and then adapting the existing roads and lanes (some of which were public ways the Webbs petitioned to have closed) to fulfill the Webbs' vision for the estate.4] The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2001.[3 Shelburne Farms was incorporated as a nonprofit educational organization in 1972 by descendants of the Webbs. Nearly 400 acres (160 ha) of sustainably managed woodlands received Green Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council in 1998. The farm's grass-based dairy supports a herd of 125 purebred, registered Brown Swiss cows. Their milk is made into farmhouse cheddar cheese.[5] The farm serves as an educational resource by practicing rural land use that is environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable. Visitors may enjoy the walking trails, children's farmyard, inn, restaurant, property tours and special...