ARQ Gardens & Food Systems
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We have four vegetable and herb garden plots maintained by ARQtists each season. Their bounty is broad, and summer through fall we work hard to preserve our seasons harvest.
Tomatoes (so many tomatoes), cucumbers, squash, corn, rosemary, dill, fennel, oregano, basil, thyme, sweet peppers, spicy peppers, green beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, kale, chard, rhubarb, corn - and MORE!
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The Fruit Orchard in front of the ARQ Barn was established by the Carman Family in the 20th century, who sold the property to David Van Nostrand in 1992. When purchased the orchard included apples, pears, and mulberries. In recent years ARQtists have also added peach and sour cherry saplings to this orchard.
We annually make sweet cider, apple chips/butter/sauce and chutney from the apples and pears, and indulge heavily in the mulberries and other fruits while they are fresh.
We encourage any local cider makers to reach out to us during harvest, as we often have more available than our residents consume.
Join us for a mid-summer fruit fest!
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Bright Raven Farm and Apiary is located just a few miles from ARQ in Jacksonville, NY. Bright Raven manages over 80 bee hives in the region producing local, raw, and varietal honey.
ARQtists Zoë and Alex Van Nostrand reached out to Bright Raven in 2023 about establishing a hive on our land to further support local farms, pollination efforts, and a healthy local ecosystem.
The hives at ARQ are now producing honey which is being sold through the Honeybee Embassy on Swamp College Road.
We have had a wild bee hive inside the walls of the Grey Barn for as long as we can remember, but we don’t harvest honey from the wild hive.
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FLX Mushrooms is run by certified mycologist, forager, and ARQtist Stacey Estabrook.
In addition to teaching seasonal wild mushroom foraging courses in the Finger Lakes, Stacey has intentionally been seeding edible mushrooms throughout the landscape at ARQ for over ten years.
Current cultivations includes winecaps and oyster mushrooms.
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The DARQ Forest (David’s ARQ Forest) began in 2023 as a long term vision of intentionally planting long-life food producing plants to sustain our community for generations to come.
Planned out on 2 acre’s of former fallow field behind the Grey Barn; the DARQ Forest pathways are designed to mimic the patterns of a Dogwood leaf, and to encourage mindful engagement and harvesting. Original designs for the DARQ Forest were developed by Amanda Carman Bower (No relation to the original Carman’s of the property, the name connection is just kismet).
As of 2025 the baby forest includes hazelnuts, pears, quince, elderberry, raspberries, and blackberries.
The DARQ Forest is an on-going project of ARQtists Caleb T. Smith and Zoë Van Nostrand.
Community means connection, care and collective action. We don’t identify as an active “farm”, virtually all of the food grown on the property is consumed by our residents, and during community potlucks and celebrations. We do invest heavily in maintaining a healthy and biodiverse ecosystem with a focus on food producing plantings, and working with the native ecosystems of the northeast.
ARQ is home that prides itself on delicious and nutritious meals. Gardens abound from every corner of the property, many specific to growing food but also lots that exist purely for beauty and the joy of tending the land that was a huge part of David's life.
Community gatherings always include local, seasonal and intentional offerings.
We have three community vegetable gardens maintained by tenants, the “Fruit Orchard” inherited from the Carman Family; the DARQ Forest a section of new plantings started in 2024; active wild and cultivated bee hives; cultivated mushrooms; annual maple syrup boils, and more. We deeply pride ourselves on being a biodiverse niche surrounded by traditional agriculture fields, and are home to many wild creatures.
Our Plan(t)s are G R O W I N G
Click below to learn more about our current natural growing, food forest, and re-wilding projects.