Thursday, April 8, 2021 - 9:21 am
DEPEYSTER Milkweed Tussock Tubers, the Depeyster root farm established in 2016, is making strides in local agriculture.
Catherine Bennett, lead farmer of MTT, has become St Lawrence County s only grower of certified disease-free potatoes.
With the assistance of a grant from the Adirondack North Country Association in 2020, she doubled production, growing fifteen tablestock varieties and three for seed. Now certified by the New York State Seed Improvement Project, she is selling purple Peruvian, papa cacho and upstate abundance seed spuds.
Unique in her focus on endangered potato varieties, Bennett is also saving the tubers of Fred Ashworth, local plant breeder, from disappearing, along with establishing native root crops for future use.