Benford Lepley

Benford in his fledging two acre Long Island cider orchard. It will be a beautiful project to see unfold.

Still crab cider (no effervescence) from the foam cellar in the garage with an A/C unit to control the climate.

Benford shows me his backyard native garden.

Benford and I discovered our passion for fruit and fermentation at a rural farm in Falkville, AL together with Lindsay Whiteaker. We foraged and collected fruit and herbs to create inventive meads, kombucha, and other wild yeast fermented beverages.

Yarrow house.

Benford sniffing perry from Pyrus Calleryana and similar hybrids. The pellicle is often as beautiful as the smell. Benford often ferments his ciders, perry’s and wines for long periods - three, six and even nine years.

The corner of Benford’s nursery at the monestery near his home in Long Island.

Flowers abound in this unique Eastern Long Island climate.

As we stood in the windy, chilling rain, Benford became more at ease about the height of the pasture flora once he checked on the thriving first-year seedling rootstock planted in the lush pasture.

Here Benford avoids the Redwing Blackbird nesting sites amongst the high mugwort and pasture grasses in Eastern Long Island, near Peconic. The ecosystem, and its native flora and fauna, is an esssential piece to his approach to orcharding and his fermentations.

Benford hand scything seedling rootstock and seedling grafts he has propagated from around Long Island and New York.

Dinner with Benford and Abby who Benford highlights is also an essential part of his holistic fermentation practice.

Benford and I have known each other since we were about 15 years old through skateboarding and photography on a website called SkatePerception. We both attended art school in NYC. This evolved into fermentation in our twenties, where Benford started Harvest Roots Ferments with Lindsay and I. Now in our mid-thirties, we finally got to reconnect in person after nearly a decade.

As a teenager, first seeing the agriculture in Eastern Long Island truly excited me, coming from row crop country in Alabama. This is a picture of the Long Island Cauliflower Association.

Mature eating pears at the Ukrainian monestery.

Myself and Benford in his mother’s Long Island garden. Benford and I long ago transcended friendship into brotherhood. Similarly, I consider his parents dear family who were there for me during my most vulnerable times.