Applewood in Park Slope Buys the Farm, Literally.

Applewood has bought the farm.

The owners of the organic farm-to-table restaurant , on 11th Street near Seventh Avenue, bought a farm in East Chatham, New York in the Hudson River Valley, but they need help to build a chicken coop, a rabbit hutch, a pig sty, buy seeds, a walk behind tractor, an excavator and fencing. 

Once completed, Applewood Farm will supplement their restaurant’s local, farm grown food and vegetables, and hopefully in the future, supply it entirely.

David and Laura Shea, who own Applewood, will move from Brooklyn to their farm and live there full time as soon as their two daughters finish the school year here in one of Brooklyn’s public schools.

Once there, they will begin their journey as farmers. 

“We want to produce and supply as much as we can to become what our restaurant is about and to become part of the farm-to-table philosophy,” David Shea said, who opened the restaurant almost eight years ago with his wife and use local, farm grown food and vegetables for their ever-changing seasonal menu. “And of course, to feed our family.”

Shea said that they want to become a self-sufficient, small-holding model that others may look to for inspiration.

The idea to start their own farm to supply their own restaurant started to percolate a couple of years ago. But, the Old Chatham Sheep Herding Company also inspired them—where they used to work.

 The Old Chatham Sheep Herding Company used to be a farm, an inn and a restaurant, and is down the road from their new home.

“Every morning started in the garden, bringing in food to the kitchen,” Shea said about the farm, which now only produces cheese.

“We want to show that your average neighborhood restaurant can support local farms and use good food and have a viable business model,” Shea said. “People don’t think that it is possible, but we are doing it and we are now trying to make our restaurant do that even more by becoming the farmer.”

Applewood does monthly “Meet the Farmer” dinners, where they take reservations and invite farmers to bring whatever produce they have that day and the restaurant’s chef, Sam Sherman, cooks a six-course tasting menu. The farmers also hold a discussion with the patrons, who sit at communal tables.

But when their farm is up and running, David and Laura will be the farmers, instead of hosts.

“We are going to love becoming the farmers, we’ll flip the ‘Meet the Farmer’ into us,” Shea said.

The husband and wife duo have spent as much as they can on their farm, but still have a ways to go. They have set up a fundraising account on a website, Indiegogo, and have collected $5,445. However, they need $15,000 to complete Applewood Farm, with only 45 days left.

They are accepting donations ranging from $10 to $2,000. If you donate the big bucks you will receive: A thank you on their website and Facebook page, an original photograph of Applewood Farm, a hand-written thank-you note, a jar of farm-grown pickled vegetables, a half-dozen eggs from the Applewood farm chickens, dinner for two at Applewood restaurant in Park Slope, two seats at the first Applewood farm Meet-the-Farmer dinner and a day visit to Applewood Farm in East Chatham, New York, lunch and dinner included.

Until all the funds are collected, David and Laura have been tilling their two-acre spread with shovels and a garden fork, click here for more pictures. He said that the land they bought hasn’t been tilled in recent memory and there are a lot of rocks to be removed, soil to be mixed, seeds to be planted, irrigation ditches to be dug and much more work to be done.

They will have tomatoes, herbs, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, beats and garlic. They will also have rabbits to eat, chickens to lay eggs, bees to make honey, apple and pear trees and pigs to supply all kinds of meals.

“Our end goal is to be a self-sustaining farm that supplies our restaurant and hopefully other restaurants throughout the area,” David said.