On September 28th, 11 stalwart club members and 3 guests ventured to Matthew Bensons’s Stonegate Farm in Newburgh, NY after the original trip the week prior was postponed due to heavy rains. It was worth the wait; the group enjoyed a gorgeous and warm fall day while Matthew lead a private tour of his flower and organic culinary gardens, various out buildings and greenhouses, and a look at his own home, which all reference a gothic revival architecture. During the morning tour he described his love of An- drew Jackson Downing (who was a resident of the area at one point), the local history, and the evolution of his property and business over the past 20 years. He offered helpful hints about how he cultivates ro- bust harvests year-after-year, including remineralizing his soil with Azomite, finding heirloom varieties of trees historic to the area to maintain authenticity, rotating crops and paying attention to planting his skincare line ingredients near one which he feels creates harmony inside and outside the soil. After walking through his garden rooms which run linearly, east-to-west, to optimize photography (his original career), the group was treated to a tour of his skincare lab and product line, Cultivate. His partner, Jill Rowe, described their production processes to create their products and the group sampled the oils. And finally, a gorgeous luncheon of farm fresh ingredients was had in the flower garden. The menu included a colorful fresh salad topped with edible flowers, several wood fired pizzas, their signature Aronia berry spritzer and a refreshing lemon verbena sorbet.