A Family Affair: Life at Sunny Cove Farm
Kristina and Kelby Snyder believe in returning to a more traditional, artisanal way of farming and growing food. Their life on a third-generation farm in Alfred, NY, with their three children, Kedric, Kelby Jr. and River, centers around caring for their pasture-fed herd of milk and beef cows, pigs and goats while tending vegetable gardens and, more recently, a farm store.
Sunny Cove was started by Kelby’s grandfather, Frank, in the 1950s as a traditional dairy farm. Frank named his farm Sunny Cove for the way the sun rose and set over the hill where his farm stood. Because farming was hard and not always profitable, Frank sold his cows in the late ’50s to take up a penny candy and gumball route. Frank’s son, Jerry, bought a herd of cows in the 1970s to restart the farm his father once believed held so much promise.
Kelby’s name, which has Celtic roots, means “born on the farm next to the spring.” He followed in his father Jerry’s footsteps, taking over the farm in 2008. “It was always my husband’s dream to be a farmer,” says Kristina, who met her future husband while visiting the farm in 2009. Kristina was a city girl from Buffalo.
“I was studying agriculture, agronomy and plant science at Alfred State College at the time I met Kelby,” she says. “I’ve always loved nature and food—even as a child. When I discovered how delicious fresh, organic food was, I decided I’d study agriculture.”
Kelby and Kristina hung out together on the farm, then were married in 2013.
Today, Sunny Cove, a small, family-owned organic farm, keeps 30 cows in their herd of beef and milking cows, which can go down to 25 based upon seasonal cycles.
“We select cows with genetics that do best on pasture,” explains Kristina. “Our steers are Angus and Simmental. For milking, we like Shorthorn and Jersey.”
She adds that “most traditional farmers preferred Holstein cows for milking, but small organic dairy farms have different requirements. We milk our cows once a day and they are on pasture except for colder nights when we take them inside.”
According to the Snyders, beef from their steers is rich in flavor because of their choice of breed and how their animals are raised.
In 2006, Sunny Cove obtained a permit to sell certified organic and 100 percent grass-fed raw milk through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Their raw milk is routinely tested for purity and to ensure that it meets the highest standards.
“We believe that raw milk is tastier than milk that’s been pasteurized and homogenized. I say, there’s no comparison. Raw milk is sweeter and thicker and, I think, easier to digest,” she says.
Kristina notes that it’s important to know the source from which your raw milk comes. Know, too, if the cows are pasture-fed.
Sunny Cove averages eight to 12 pigs most seasons and a handful of goats. Their pigs are raised on the raw milk their cows produce.
Kristina and sons Kedric and Kelby Jr. plant and tend the raised garden beds at Sunny Cove.
Kedric, the oldest, runs a lawn tractor. He brings needed materials to the garden, and mulches and plows in winter. Five-year-old Kelby Jr. is a gardener. He grew and harvested his own crop of vegetables, which he sold to a local restaurant last summer.
“I refer to River, my 15-month-old, as our garden gnome. He’s out there with us as we tend the garden,” says Kristina, who has a fourth child on the way; this time, a girl.
Kristina likes to plant “weird vegetables” in her raised beds and no-till garden like purple carrots, tomatillos and pineapple husk cherries: prolific, cherry-sized fruits with a faint pineapple taste that grow in a husk.
“I’m a mom who enjoys finding vegetables my kids will want to try,” she notes. “Kelby Jr. grows cucumbers: lemon cucumbers, dragon egg cucumbers and cucamelons: a cucumber with a rind like a melon.”
An apple orchard that’s over a hundred years old and maple trees that are tapped in spring also grace the land where the Snyders raise animals and farm.
“We tested our apples but they were so old, they came up with few matches,” Katrina says. “We have a heritage variety, Northern Spy, that people come from miles around to buy.”
And on a weekend each March, the Snyders tap their maple trees in an event they call Maple Days.
“We make maple syrup the old-fashioned way: in glass bottles, tapped from the trees into metal buckets. The sap is collected with 1,000 taps, then boiled over a wood-fired stove before bottling,” she says.
And because there isn’t a grocery store within 30 minutes, the Snyders opened a farm store on their land. Six years ago, the farm store became a storefront selling not only farm products from their farm but foods sourced within 100 miles of the farm.
“Seventy percent of items sold in our store comes directly from our farm, including our beef, certified organic raw milk, and baked goods like sourdough bread and maple cookies from our farm bakery, featuring sugar-free and seed-oil-free breads and cookies,” Kristina says. “We also source peanut butters and ice creams, in addition to other necessities, from nearby farms and businesses.”
Sunny Cove also offers a CSA-style once-a-month Farm Box that can be picked up or delivered to Buffalo and the eastern suburbs of Rochester.
“Our CSA operates a little differently than most,” she explains. “It’s a month-by-month subscription that can be canceled at any time. We offer our Farm Box year-round. Each box contains meats, a quart of yogurt, vegetables and either cheese or a baked good. In winter, we partner with other farms to obtain organic citrus, oranges, lemons, “ugly limes,” organic ginger and more. One box can feed a family of 2–4 people.”
Kristina says her heart lies in connecting people to wholesome foods.
“My heart tells me to teach people how to rediscover a traditional way of eating. I find old recipes, make them in our bakery and offer them for sale in our store. We have classes that teach traditional skills at Sunny Cove, from butter making to how to change your car’s oil. We’re here for whatever interests guide people. There is so much that farming offers and we want to share it.”
