QUEENS, N.Y. — Meet some feathered residents of Eastern Queens. They are hens, living on 47 acres, land that has been continuously farmed for more than three centuries. It’s the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park. But don’t be fooled by the name, this is a working farm. Its history goes back to 1697, when the Adriance family started farming on the plot of land.

“They bought it in 1697 and they owned it for about 100 years about five generations," said Jennifer Walden Weprin, executive director of the farm, which includes the historic Adriance Farmhouse built in 1772.

The Farm Museum is a not for profit founded in the mid-seventies to maintain, preserve and interpret the land, after ownership was transferred from the state to the city. More than 200 types of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers are grown on the farm, and more than 200 animals like goats, sheep, alpacas and steer call it home.

The state has given the farm more than one and a half acres of extra land to grow on which was part of the farm's original 1697 footprint. The bounty is sold at a farm stand on the property and at Jamaica Hospital. The farmers say sometimes it can be hard to explain that they work the land in Queens, which has undergone tremendous development over the years in an area that was once mostly farmland.  

"Forty-seven acres in the middle of Queens and nobody ever believes me really," said Alaina Pribis, who is the farm’s Operations Coordinator.

While the farm was closed to the public for nearly five months last year until August due to the pandemic, the staff remained to take care of the animals and the land.

"I'm quite proud of our team here and everyone put their heart and soul to getting us through the pandemic and it shows," said Weprin.

Since reopening last summer, the farm has become an even more popular spot. Visitation was up more than 30% in the fall.

Plan your visit at queensfarm.org.