What is the first thing that comes to Hamden residents’ minds when they think of fall?
“When you’re driving through town and see Sleeping Giant start to get colorful. That’s fall,” said Tom Rivera, over a seasonal apple fritter at Hamden’s Whitney Donut. “I’ve lived a lot of places in my life but I think Hamden, and Connecticut, is just the best in the fall.”
Other community members echo the sentiment.
“I always think of pumpkins, the best part of fall right there,” said Jennifer Thomson, coming down the mountain from Sleeping Giant State Park. “I mean you start to see these leaves become bright orange and the air gets cold like it is today, and you just need to pick out a pumpkin. Everyone gets that, I’m sure.”
But those chasing fall aesthetics and a way to celebrate the turn of the season often travel outside town lines for infamous autumn traditions in the state.
“I took my kids all the way to Lyman Orchards the other day for apples and pumpkins, and we’re looking for other places to go like Pumpkintown which is pretty far,” Thomson said. “It’s not that you know, we’re trying to do fall outside of Hamden, sometimes it’s just hard to know what’s going on or what there is.”
But take a drive down Dunbar Hill Road and residents would come across Century Farm, where the fourth generation of the Hindinger family continues to sow 120 acres of Hamden, keeping traditions alive on the farm yet still innovating to keep the business alive.
It was always great here in the fall, it still is, but Liz and I want to get people out here so they can see that.
George Hindinger
“We have an apple orchard across the street and we’d run around the farm as kids and just enjoy it,” said Elizabeth Hindinger, who can be found running the retail side of the farm and selling produce in their market.
“Oh yeah, Liz and I, we always worked the farm growing up, but we loved it, great here in the fall,” George Hindinger said. He does most of the growing and agricultural managing of the farm but says he and his sister have had to work together to keep the business going.
“It was always great here in the fall, it still is, but Liz and I want to get people out here so they can see that.”
The farm opens up to visitors Tuesday through Sunday at 9 a.m., and there is lots to enjoy for that ‘fall feeling.’
“It’s a tough life, we have a hard time making a living,” said Elizabeth Hindinger. “But when you come here, you’re sustaining our property, open space and a longtime community farm, getting time outside with your family, getting vegetables at their fresh[est] so the nutritional value is high, the taste is great.”
When you come here, you’re sustaining our property, open space and a longtime community farm…
Elizabeth Hindinger
And despite their great grandparents starting the farm almost 130 years ago, the siblings say their lineage has always grown with the community and the times.
“We got our little goats and built that play area to draw people here,” said George Hindinger. Everyone just loves them. There’s such a great space back there to spend time together.”
“We come here quite often,” said Hamden resident Celly Hall, as she watched her family interact with the goats. “It’s a great place for kids to play. They have lots of wonderful pumpkins and you can get your food shopping done too, with lots of fresh stuff.”
“There aren’t too many farms around anymore, open-air is so important, but this lifestyle, it is waning,” said Elizabeth Hindinger. “Obviously George and I spent our whole lives on the farm, but lots of families and kids, they have no idea about how good it is to be here, to eat this produce.”
And while they expressed how valuable the experience of just a little time in the fall air with the view of the New Haven skyline could be for visitors, and of course some playtime with the beloved four-legged members of the Hindinger family, there’s an even simpler, more dire, reason they say people should stop by soon.
“If people don’t come here this fall, we’re out of business,” said George Hindinger. “We can’t keep up, we can’t stay open, we really need the support.”
If people don’t come here this fall, we’re out of business.
George Hindinger
The farm, under the siblings’ ownership, transitioned from being a completely wholesale operation to all retail.
“We’re just this little shop, but we have so much to offer,” said Elizabeth Hindinger. “We’re depending on people coming in here and spending money. Fall is the perfect time to cook with fresh produce like squash, and I even made a wall of recipes for people to take and try in the store. Families don’t spend as much time together in the kitchen now, and people are busy, but I think they should.”
George agreed.
“It is imperative that people come here to buy, buy local, please. Whatever you can do to come here and spend a little money… it’s the only way we stay here,” he said.
It is imperative that people come here to buy, buy local, please.
George Hindinger
Farms around Connecticut have been hit with the surmounting pressure of labor costs and a “miserable growing year” according to George, with local and national agricultural societies attributing it to bad weather and the effects of climate change.
“Just to run this business costs so much money, we can’t keep up,” he said. “Our labor has been jumping up every year, 20% a year, which is outrageous. We need to stay alive, but we need to grow too to keep up with expenses. And yeah, this year was tough for growing, but we’ll keep doing it and we’ll keep doing it well as long as people come and support us.”
When asked what people should come to pick up in the farm market, the Hall family said, “Everything is so delicious, but this time of year, it’s definitely the fall squash and apples. Lots of apples.”
“We had a really great crop of apples this year,” Elizabeth Hindinger said.”You’ve got to try them. We’ll be selling apples probably until we close in December.”
“We’re just selling ears of corn, an apple, some peppers… and that’s how we stay open,” said George Hindinger. “Of course, it’s all much more than that, it means a lot more, but we just need people to buy some vegetables, buy some pumpkins and support us. We’ll grow it, but you’ve got to buy it. We want to keep doing this as long as we can.”
The siblings stopped talking for a moment as they saw a frequent customer and community member walk by with his family. Quickly going up and calling him by name, they spoke with a sense of neighborly love about his family’s health, offering condolences for a lost relative, and taking time to play with their granddaughter.
“You’ve got to come over and meet the rest of the family,” he said.
“Oh we’ll be over soon,” said George Hindinger.
“She’s just adorable, go get some pumpkins,” his sister adds, as the family made their way to the playscape and goat pen nearby.
There is a sense of family on the farm, and not just between the Hindingers themselves.
“Once people step on the farm, they always come back,” said Elizabeth Hindinger. “We want everyone to just come by, once at least.”
Once people step on the farm, they always come back. We want everyone to just come by, once at least.
Elizabeth Hindinger
They are normally open until early December and post updates to their schedule on their website, but George Hindinger confirmed that they most likely will open up for a short amount of time even in the winter.
“After fall, farms may leave people’s minds, apples may not be on people’s minds, but we’re still here,” he said, looking out at their land. “We’re still open and we’ve got good stuff. It’s good food and fun here. Hamden, help us out.”
