There is something about August around Keuka Lake.
The farm stands are overflowing. Sweet corn appears on dinner tables. Bees move busily from blossom to blossom. And along our country roads, fields that were green just weeks ago suddenly begin glowing brilliant yellow.
This weekend, Keuka country is putting on a show.
And apparently...
Yellow is the color of the weekend. 💛
At
Keuka Harvest, Matt and Alicia Henderson are inviting families into a field of sunshine with their new Sunflower Butterfly Maze.
Over in Branchport,
Matt and Marta Cramer are celebrating the tiny agricultural workers they know quite well—the honeybees they tend at
Keuka Trail Farm Market.
Two local farm families.
Two very different agricultural experiences.
One weekend celebrating the land, people and traditions that remain deeply rooted around our Crooked Lake.
So grab the kids or grandkids, charge the phone for plenty of pictures and get ready to...
Follow the yellow. 🌻🐝
🌻 First Stop: Follow the Yellow to Keuka Harvest
Our sunshine-yellow adventure begins at
Keuka Harvest, where Matt and Alicia Henderson are opening their new
Sunflower Butterfly Maze on Friday, August 14.
Located at
2932 Route 14A, Keuka Harvest isn't simply adding another summertime attraction.
They're creating a new way to experience one of the oldest traditions around Keuka:
Agriculture.
And there's a wonderful family story behind it.
Matt represents the
fourth generation of his family in our local agricultural community.
Four generations.
Think about what that means.
Generations of planting.
Generations of harvests.
Generations of watching the weather.
Generations of caring for the soil.
Generations of understanding that what happens in these fields eventually finds its way onto somebody's table.
Now Matt and Alicia are taking those deep agricultural roots and growing something new from them.
And this weekend, they're inviting all of us onto the farm.
🌻 A Butterfly Made of Sunflowers
The centerpiece of the experience is their new
Sunflower Butterfly Maze.
Yes...
A butterfly.
Made from a maze.
Inside a field of sunflowers.
How fun is that?
Children and adults alike can wander between towering yellow blooms, explore the pathways and maybe get just a little lost along the way.
Throughout the maze, visitors will also discover
fun educational markers, turning the adventure into an opportunity to learn more about agriculture and the world growing around them.
And keep your eyes open.
There's a
treasure hunt throughout the maze, with prizes waiting for successful explorers.
For younger visitors—and animal-loving grown-ups—there is also a
small animal petting experience.
It's part agriculture.
Part adventure.
Part education.
And a whole lot of summer fun.
🌻 Take a Little Sunshine Home
Of course, no trip through a sunflower field would be complete without pictures.
Lots and lots of pictures.
But Matt and Alicia are making sure you can take more than photographs home.
Admission to the maze includes a small bouquet of sunflowers.
Additional sunflowers will also be available for sale, so after wandering through all that yellow sunshine, you can carry a little bit of it home with you.
🌻 Sunflower Butterfly Maze Admission
Weekdays | $6 per person
Weekends | $8 per person
Admission includes the maze experience and
a small bouquet of sunflowers to take home.
Keuka Harvest
📍
2932 Route 14A
Opening Friday, August 14
Monday | 1–5 PM
Thursday | 1–5 PM
Friday | 9 AM–5 PM
Saturday | 9 AM–5 PM
🐝 Then Follow the Buzz to Matt & Marta's
Now we're leaving the sunflower field and heading to a completely different farm and family.
But we're still following the yellow.
This time, listen for the buzzing.
At
Keuka Trail Farm Market in Branchport, Matt and Marta Cramer have their own relationship with some of the hardest-working members of our agricultural community.
Their honeybees.
Matt and Marta tend the hives, caring for the bees that produce their own local honey and, in the process, help tell an important story about the relationship between pollinators, plants and agriculture.
On
Saturday, August 15, from 11 AM–5 PM, they're inviting the community to celebrate those incredible little workers during the
Honeybee Festival.
Held in honor of
National Honeybee Day, the festival is an opportunity to have some fun while learning a little more about creatures whose work often goes unnoticed.
Because when you spread honey on a piece of toast, drizzle it into your tea or add it to a recipe, it's easy to forget where it began.
Not in a bottle.
Not on a store shelf.
It began with thousands of tiny journeys from hive to blossom and back again.
🍯 Taste Keuka—and Honey From Around the World
One of the highlights of the Honeybee Festival will be the opportunity to taste
Matt and Marta's own honey, produced from their hives, alongside honey from around the world.
And you might be surprised by just how different each one tastes.
Honey reflects the flowers and plants from which bees gather nectar, meaning its flavor, aroma and even color can change depending upon where it was produced.
In a way, honey carries the landscape with it.
Around Keuka Roots, we might say...
Every jar has roots.
And on Saturday, you'll get to taste a few of them.
🍯 From Their Hives to the BBQ
Matt and Marta's honey isn't only something you'll find in a jar.
It's also making its way onto the menu.
The food truck will be serving
Kicken' Hot Honey Chicken BBQ made with their own honey.
For those looking for another option, a
Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl will also be available, along with drinks throughout the day.
Then grab something to eat and enjoy some live music:
🎶
Justin Turner | 11 AM–1 PM
🎶
Brent Boyd | Beginning at 1 PM
Local honey.
Hot Honey BBQ.
Live music.
An August afternoon on the farm.
We're already sold.
🐝 Something for the Little Bees
The Honeybee Festival is designed to be a day the whole family can enjoy.
Young visitors can take part in a
scavenger hunt, decorate
Honeybee cookies, enjoy
face painting and stop by the Keuka Trail Farm Market educational booth.
Local beekeeper
Briggs Bees will also be joining the celebration.
Behind all that sweetness is an important lesson.
Honeybees aren't simply honey makers.
They're pollinators.
Those tiny journeys from flower to flower help support gardens, orchards, crops and farms throughout our region.
And suddenly our two sunshine-yellow destinations don't seem quite so separate after all.
Flowers need pollinators.
Pollinators need flowers.
Farmers depend upon both.
🛍️ Meet the Makers
The Honeybee Festival will also bring together a fun collection of artisans and small businesses, including:
Deez Scentz — Hand-poured soaps, candles and scented wax
Creative Crafts & Primitives — Welcome signs, wine bottles, wooden projects and more
Pieces of You — Nature-inspired jewelry
Honey Bee Home Bakes — Decorate-your-own Honeybee cookies and more
Skylarc – Mozaic — Handmade creations
Finger Lakes Baskets — Unique Finger Lakes gift baskets
Fish King Custom's — Hand-carved and painted fishing lures
Unique Creations — Handmade jewelry
Karen's Recycled Clothing
Upcycled Denim by Dawn — Denim creations with a twist
QKA Card Vault — Pokémon cards
Art by Ana — Face painting
Linx on the Go — Permanent jewelry
Briggs Bees — Local beekeeper and honey
Italy Valley Creations
And don't forget to stop at the
Keuka Trail Farm Market educational booth.
🐝 Honeybee Festival
Saturday, August 15 | 11 AM–5 PM
📍
Keuka Trail Farm Market
3554 Darbys Corners Road
Branchport, NY 14418
🌻🐝 Two Farms. Two Families. One Sunshine-Yellow Weekend.
Put these two experiences together and you have the makings of a pretty wonderful Saturday around Keuka.
Start your morning with
Matt and Alicia Henderson at Keuka Harvest.
Get lost in the Sunflower Butterfly Maze.
Search for treasure.
Visit the animals.
Learn something new.
Take approximately 147 sunflower pictures.
And leave carrying your own little bouquet of sunshine.
Then follow the yellow toward Branchport and spend the afternoon with
Matt and Marta Cramer at Keuka Trail Farm Market.
Taste honey from their hives.
Learn about the honeybees they care for.
Eat some Hot Honey BBQ.
Listen to live music.
Meet local makers.
Let the kids decorate a cookie.
And celebrate one of agriculture's tiniest but most important workers.
Two farms.
Two families.
Two different ways of sharing agriculture with our community.
That's the real story of this weekend.
🍂 And the Seasons Keep Turning...
While we're soaking up August sunshine, fall is already peeking around the corner.
And Keuka Harvest isn't finished yet.
As sunflower yellow begins giving way to autumn orange, Matt and Alicia will be ready with even more farm adventures, including a
Keuka-inspired corn maze and a fun
U-Pick Pumpkin Patch.
It's another reason to come back.
Another opportunity to bring the children and grandchildren.
Another chance to walk onto a local farm and experience the changing seasons from the ground where they're actually happening.
🌾 Walking the Ground That Has Fed Us
Maybe that's the bigger story behind this weekend.
For generations, the fields surrounding Keuka Lake haven't simply provided a beautiful backdrop.
They've fed us.
Families have planted these fields.
Worked this soil.
Tended livestock.
Cared for bees.
Watched the skies.
Prayed for rain.
Worried through difficult seasons.
Celebrated good harvests.
And passed their knowledge of the land from one generation to another.
Agriculture is quite literally part of the roots of this region.
And experiences like these give the rest of us an opportunity to step into that story.
To walk the ground that has sustained our communities.
To show children that pumpkins don't begin in a grocery store.
That sunflowers don't start in a vase.
And honey doesn't begin in a plastic bear.
There are farmers behind it.
There are bees behind it.
There is soil beneath it.
And there are families caring for all of it.
That's what Matt and Alicia Henderson are sharing when they invite us into their sunflower fields.
And it's what Matt and Marta Cramer are sharing when they invite us to learn about the honeybees they tend.
Different farms.
Different stories.
But roots planted in the same agricultural community.
💛 Follow the Yellow
So if you're wondering what to do this weekend, perhaps the answer is pretty simple.
Follow the yellow.
Follow it into a field of sunflowers.
Follow it through a butterfly-shaped maze.
Follow it to the buzzing of a honeybee.
Follow it back to the hive.
Follow it into a jar of locally produced honey.
And most importantly...
Follow it back to the farms and families who continue caring for the land around our Crooked Lake.
Come for the sunflowers this August.
Come back for the corn maze.
Pick a pumpkin when the hills around Keuka begin turning red and gold.
Taste honey produced by bees tended right here in our community.
Meet the farmers.
Ask questions.
Bring the children.
Walk the fields.
And remember that beneath all the fun is something much older and deeper.
These are the roots of our region.
And this weekend...
They're blooming, buzzing and glowing sunshine yellow. 🐝🌻💛
Small Towns. Big Stories. One Crooked Lake.™
Stay Rooted. Stay Keuka.™
