One Farm - Four Generations and Counting
Four generations of Frisbees live on Riverdale Farm, from age 2 - 90!
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Over the years, the original farmhouse was expanded to accommodate a restaurant and boardinghouse.
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The main barn at Riverdale was erected by Luther Frisbee, Wyatt Frisbee's uncle, in 1896.
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Associations & Accolades
Find us in the 2014-2015 "Guide to Pure Catskills Products!"
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The Frisbee family has deep agricultural roots in Delhi and the surrounding area, dating from 1788, when Judge Gideon Frisbee acquired property for his home and farm. A veteran of the Revolutionary War, he was instrumental in the settling of Delhi and Delaware County.
Through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Frisbee descendants owned and farmed various properties in the Delhi area. Wyatt Frisbee purchased what is now Riverdale Farm in 1919, and operated a small dairy while developing the large farmhouse on the property into a boarding house and inn for summer guests.
In the 1950s, when milk was no longer picked up in milk cans, Wyatt sold his dairy cows and transitioned to raising beef animals. In the 1960s, Wyatt’s son, Willard, and Willard’s wife, Lucile, purchased the farm and the inn, eventually converting the inn to apartments. They maintained the small herd of Herefords, which served as inspiration for their grandchildren, Gideon and Chelsea, to purchase animals and begin small herds of their own.
In 2011, Willard and Lucile placed the farm under a conservation easement, protecting the land from future development while allowing it to continue as a farm and forest enterprise. The conservation easement protects water quality to ensure cleaner water for those who rely on the Catskill Watershed.
Actually, the Frisbee farm has a long history with the Watershed Agricultural Council. In 1997 Riverdale was enrolled in the Council's Small Farms Program. The family currently works with the Ag Council’s Forestry Program; Willard’s son, Ron, the current owner of the farm, is a qualified watershed forester who has written and implemented a forest management plan that supports both the family maple syrup business and fuel and sawtimber enterprises. Riverdale’s maple syrup operation is a fourth generation tradition carried on in the farm’s original sap house, which sits next to the picturesque big, red, nineteenth century barn.
Eight generations after Judge Frisbee began farming in the valley, the Frisbee family continues the agricultural legacy. Ron and his son, Gideon, operate the farm with the support of their wives, Susan and Liz, and family. The beef herd has expanded to 25 animals and the Frisbees work in association with Jay and Abby Wilson of Maple Shade Farm—another original Frisbee family homestead—to raise quality Berkshire hogs.
Gideon and Liz's two sons, Wyatt and Porter, make up the 9th generation of Frisbees in Delhi!
Through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Frisbee descendants owned and farmed various properties in the Delhi area. Wyatt Frisbee purchased what is now Riverdale Farm in 1919, and operated a small dairy while developing the large farmhouse on the property into a boarding house and inn for summer guests.
In the 1950s, when milk was no longer picked up in milk cans, Wyatt sold his dairy cows and transitioned to raising beef animals. In the 1960s, Wyatt’s son, Willard, and Willard’s wife, Lucile, purchased the farm and the inn, eventually converting the inn to apartments. They maintained the small herd of Herefords, which served as inspiration for their grandchildren, Gideon and Chelsea, to purchase animals and begin small herds of their own.
In 2011, Willard and Lucile placed the farm under a conservation easement, protecting the land from future development while allowing it to continue as a farm and forest enterprise. The conservation easement protects water quality to ensure cleaner water for those who rely on the Catskill Watershed.
Actually, the Frisbee farm has a long history with the Watershed Agricultural Council. In 1997 Riverdale was enrolled in the Council's Small Farms Program. The family currently works with the Ag Council’s Forestry Program; Willard’s son, Ron, the current owner of the farm, is a qualified watershed forester who has written and implemented a forest management plan that supports both the family maple syrup business and fuel and sawtimber enterprises. Riverdale’s maple syrup operation is a fourth generation tradition carried on in the farm’s original sap house, which sits next to the picturesque big, red, nineteenth century barn.
Eight generations after Judge Frisbee began farming in the valley, the Frisbee family continues the agricultural legacy. Ron and his son, Gideon, operate the farm with the support of their wives, Susan and Liz, and family. The beef herd has expanded to 25 animals and the Frisbees work in association with Jay and Abby Wilson of Maple Shade Farm—another original Frisbee family homestead—to raise quality Berkshire hogs.
Gideon and Liz's two sons, Wyatt and Porter, make up the 9th generation of Frisbees in Delhi!
