About Us
Hidden Brook Gardens, LLC, is a certified organic farm located in Ledyard, CT, started in 2006 by Bill Sokol and Anita Kopchinski. We specialize in fruit, vegetables and herbs and focus on heirloom varieties to encourage bio-diversity as well as excellent flavors.
Our guiding philosophy is to be in balance with nature by enriching and continuously building the soil with organic compost and amendments. In 2011 our focus became ensuring the nutrient density of the vegetables/fruits we grow. Towards that end we have attended seminars on this approach and have modified the feeding of our soil to ensure necessary trace elements and minerals as well as beneficial microorganisms are readily available at the appropriate concentrations.
When you visit Hidden Brook Gardens you will observe the beautiful crops which are surrounded by an abundance of wild birds, bees, and other beneficial pollinators that make the farm their home as well.
In 2009 we began managing Allyn's Red Barn Apple Orchard. In 2012 we obtained organic certification of the orchard.
Bill and Anita are proponents of supplying high quality fruits, vegetables, herbs, seedlings, cider, jams and jellies, etc. in season to the local community.
Hidden Brook at the
Allyn Orchard...
The Allyn family has been very supportive of our choice to transition the orchard to organic production. In fact, in 2012, after 3 years of treating the orchard organically we applied for and received organic certification from Baystate Organic Certifiers!
This transition hasn’t come easily, and in 2012 we were not successful in obtaining a crop of apples from the orchard. The year was unusually warm and pushed blossoms about 2-3 weeks early and then tragedy struck—a cold snap that appeared to kill off the fruitlets. We, however, are nothing if not stubborn and refuse to let this deter us!
