Silverman's Farm

History:

Silverman's Farm was founded by Ben Silverman in the early 1920's. His first venture was building a cider mill. Families from surrounding towns would bring their apples to be pressed into sweet and hard cider.

Ben lived in one room located in the mill. Soon he moved his mother from NY City to Easton where they shared another part of the same building.

At age 30, Ben married Rose Hartz and built the farm homestead next to what is now Silverman's Farm Market. Rose canned preserves and baked bread for the road-side stand while Ben cleared wooded fields as his farm grew.

Ben pressed apple cider for over 60 years, and had the only operating mill in the area which allowed customers to actually watch the cider being pressed. Many school children would visit the farm to watch it made, and sample the fresh juice. In 2004 the vintage mill was retired because of new processing standards but the mill is permanently on display at the farm market. Currently, Silverman's sweet apple cider is pressed off site and sold at the farm market.

Though most farms today specialize in certain agricultural specialties, farms in the 30's and 40's were usually called "truck farms". That is, they raised all types of fruits and vegetables. People in earlier generations canned and froze much of their needs for the winter months. Fresh grown produce was purchased by the bushel rather than by the pound as done today. Ben Silverman raised everything including onions, potatoes, tomatoes, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, egg plants, and well as several types of berries, apples, peaches and plums.

During the 70's and 80's, Silvermans' evolved into a Pick Your Own (PYO) fruit farm featuring a widespread orchard, scenic tractor rides, and petting farm with many types of barnyard animals, and fowl. The farm market-florist is open year round.