Hayden’s Acres closes on another successful season

Hayden’s Acres is a small produce stand in Freeville with an even smaller owner — Hayden Wood, who is almost 3 years old. Aug. 22 marked the last weekend of the 2021 season for the stand, and Hayden’s mom, Caley Wood, said it was a big success.

Caley has lived in the Dryden area her entire life, growing up in Freeville and attending Dryden High School when she got older.

“I like the small communities,” she said. “I like how everyone tries to help out one another.”

At first, Caley worked full time at a nearby veterinary hospital, but soon after Hayden was born, Caley decided to become a stay-at-home mom, which she’s been ever since. Last year, she decided to branch out and create Hayden’s Acres with help from her husband and parents and, of course, Hayden.

“I grew up on a dairy farm,” Caley said. “When I was little, my mom actually had a produce stand. And I was probably 7, 8 years old when she had this stand. And I remember it just being so much fun. And we grew our own sweet corn because we had a dairy farm. And I wanted to just experience that with my daughter as well.”

Caley’s husband built the stand itself, and Caley and Hayden stocked it at Caley’s parents’ house in Freeville, 1831 Peruville Rd. (its current location), for its first weekend on July 4th of last year.

“It was supposed to be a lemonade stand to begin with,” Caley said. “And then, it just kind of developed one weekend. We put some produce out there [to] see what it would do, and it literally flew off the shelf.”

And thus, Hayden’s Acres took off. It was so popular that Caley and Hayden had to restock the self-serve stand several times per day.

“I think, because of COVID, people weren’t going to the stores as much or didn’t feel safe in the stores,” Caley said. “So, I think that really helped businesswise.”

Originally, Caley had a second stand at her house in Dryden, but with such little traffic, she decided to move that stand to her parents’ house and help increase capacity there, allowing Hayden’s Acres to sell more sweetcorn. In addition, Hayden’s grandmother chipped in, putting out lots of baked goods at a stand right next to Hayden’s stand called Grandma’s Bakery.

Since it was such a big hit last year, Caley decided to keep the stand going, expanding the inventory further. The stand frequently features a wide variety of produce, and Caley sometimes even works with other local producers to put out things like honey along with fruit and vegetables from Hayden’s garden back in Dryden.

While this year has been a bit slower compared to last, which Caley attributes to the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the weather was a lot more cooperative.

“Weather is our biggest challenge,” Caley said. “It was a rough start in the beginning. We did a lot of watering for sure. And that’s a big area to water by hand. But now, the rain started to cooperate and that garden took off like you wouldn’t believe.”

And last year, the stand was still plenty busy. Customers love it, as Caley can attest.

“We used to get little notes in the money box saying, ‘we appreciate you so much being here,’” she said. “Someone left us painted rocks. I used to get, and I still do get, a lot of messages on Facebook just thanking us for being there, which is cool. I guess I never saw this little tiny stand becoming such a thing. But it’s cool.”

Though Hayden is still a toddler, Caley said she really took to the experience last year.

“I would start off with egg cartons,” Caley said. “She’d have a little bowl of dirt and a little bowl of seeds, and she would just mimic what I was doing. This year, she just did it by herself. … We added starter plants like basil, dill, and she planted those herself.”

Caley said that last year, between safety restrictions and lockdowns, she was worried Hayden wouldn’t get much chance to socialize. But Hayden’s Acres gave Hayden the opportunity to interact with other kids like her as more parents visited the stand while Hayden was there restocking.

“People stop, and they bring their kids too,” Caley said. “It’s such a kid-friendly place that looks like a lemonade stand. So, she gets to see people. We’re outdoors. … It’s just such a relaxing type of thing, and she learns a lot, with the growing process and meeting people.”

Caley also loves Hayden’s Acres, she said, as it’s a big bonding opportunity for her and her daughter. And her parents have fun with it too.

“They really love it,” Caley said. “My parents think it’s so cool. It’s funny — I think my mom is touched by the fact that I wanted to do something that we had done when I was little. I don’t think she realized how cool we thought that was.”

Everybody in the family pitches in, and Caley has made sure to keep it a fun experience.

“We made them T-shirts,” she said. “So, my mom, we call her the property manager. And we co-own a dog — he’s mine, but he’s taken to my dad — so we got little Dozer, he’s a little miniature pinscher, a shirt that says ‘security’ with his name on the front. And then, we got my dad, who’s his best friend, a ‘security handler’ T-shirt. They’re our ‘employees.’ They’re well paid.”

While Hayden’s Acres had to close a bit earlier this year due to another baby on the way, Caley expects to reopen the stand next year with an even bigger set-up. She plans to change it to a small building with more coverage so the stand can be open in all kinds of weather, she said.

On Hayden’s Acres’ Facebook, facebook.com/Haydens-Acres-105965284522755, plenty of folks gave their congratulations to Caley and said they are looking forward to Hayden’s return next year. Caley said the feeling is mutual.

“We’re so appreciative of our customers, friends, family, for supporting such a small stand,” she said.