McCollum Orchards is a 100-acre farm in the City of Lockport, New York. First established in April 1827 by brothers Joel and Hiram McCollum, the farm has seen many changes in its nearly 200-year history. Six generations later, it is still in the family.
The Next Chapter
It is time for the farm to evolve again. In 2011, Josie’s grandson, Rich Woodbridge, and his wife Bree, moved to Lockport with the goal of preserving the home and restarting the farm. Rich is the great-great-great grandson of Hiram McCollum. 
Their mission is to revitalize the property as a healthy and profitable farm that honors its history and can be passed to the next generation with pride.
At first, Rich and Bree started a hops orchard – one of the first in Niagara County. They sold fresh and dry hops to breweries and homebrewers all across Western New York. All the while, they had a little farm stand in front of the barn, where they sold fresh vegetables.
One day, one of their farmstand customers asked if they had ever considered starting a CSA. After speaking with more customers, they found great interest and decided to switch from growing hops to growing lots of vegetables and flowers.
For 8 seasons, Rich and Bree ran a very popular farm share, or Community Supported Agriculture program. Its often called a CSA, for short. They became the first produce grower at the Lockport Community Market. They started growing vegetables year-round and selling to restaurants and caterers, too.
In 2017, the farm became Certified Naturally Grown to show their commitment to raising chemical-free and GMO-free produce.
In 2022, after growing the farm business substantially, they transitioned from the CSA to a flower u-pick garden and farmstand that is open July through October.
Off the farm, Rich is an Agricultural Educator at the Niagara Cornell Cooperative Extension and Bree is an advisor at the Niagara Small Business Development Center.