By Andrea Harwood
Jen Bliss, co-owner of Hilton Family Farmstand in Brant Lake, has expanded her operations, adding a building and an ecommerce website to the enterprise.
Bliss’ father started the farmstand over 25 years ago as a small family project intended to provide summer work for an old friend. He set up a six-foot table and a tent, and put some melons and corn from Schuylerville Farms alongside some of the Hilton family pickles. It grew from there.
“It’s evolved from one little tent to a bigger tent, to a refrigerator, to now two full stores,” said Bliss. “There are people who still come by here who remember buying our pickles out of the little cooler on the side of the road. Now we have a full-sized store.”
In the past, the farmstand sold mostly produce. Bliss’ father sold only local Upstate New York produce, meeting with the farmers in Menands and partnering with Hand Melon Farm in Schuylervillle.
Jen Bliss now runs and co-owns the company alongside her mother, Cindy Hilton.
In 2015, the first store was built, replacing the tent. It is roughly 12×20 feet. An additional building of about the same size was reconfigured to hold things such as T-shirts, knickknacks and gifts. That building is called the Shirt Shed.
“We carry things from the six local lakes – Brant Lake, Friends Lake, Schroon Lake, Loon Lake, Paradox Lake and Eagle Lake,” said Bliss. Items are 100 percent locally made, from people and businesses that Bliss knows personally.
Last year, the Farmstand started selling products from Oscar’s Smokehouse in Warrensburg.
Bliss recently worked with Bailiwick Marketing to develop an ecommerce website to market the store’s year-round items. The website is www.HiltonFamilyFarmstand.com.
“We’re really focusing on the six local lakes and all of our items related to those lakes,” she said. “We’ve also partnered with some artisans in the area who do custom woodworking, again with an emphasis on the six lakes. We want people to have a place to get a gift when they’re away from the area.”
The Hilton Family Farmstand pickles can be found locally in what Bliss calls “mom and pop stores.” They can be found as far north as Blue Mountain Lake and as far south as Saratoga Springs. For most of the vendors who carry her pickles, Bliss carries their products in her store. All stores carrying the pickles are locally owned and operated.
“The pickles all started with my mom’s great uncle’s recipe,” said Bliss. “The family was raised up here in Brant Lake. We tailored it through the years. We hand-cut each pickle and hand-make each jar, all in our little 8×10 stuffy kitchen. We did over 5,000 jars last year. People buy cases of pickles to take with them. I’ve had people drive up from New Jersey to buy multiple cases to take back to their family.”
“We make everything ourselves, so we want to make sure everything is delivered properly and stored properly,” she said.
When Bliss’ father passed away, she quit her corporate job to take run the company with her mother. She runs the operations and business development, working with vendors, delivering product, making pickles, running the farmer’s market and running the ecommerce store.
“When you own your own business, you do it all,” said Bliss.
Hilton Family Farmstand is located at 7915 Route 8 in Brant Lake. The phone number is 518-796-9589.