The Family Behind Lomar Farms Is Worried About the Fate of Bees
But more optimistic about the future of the country
Six years ago, Yvonna Kopacz-Wright, Brett Wright, and their two daughters left their home in Harlem, setting up shop in Palisades, New York, on a 6-acre farm. Without much of an idea of what they wanted to do in the beginning, today the pair are full-fledged beekeepers at what’s now called Lomar Farms, with 10 hives (plus a bunch of chickens) and a thriving business that is evolving in a beautifully surprising way.
Demand for their products — homemade candles, bath and body products, and, of course, honey––is way up, and even their kids’ friends help out. “Each bee has a job and all of them pitch in for the benefit of the species,” it says on their website, and the Wright family has made the hive concept one to live by. This interview about their dreamlike city-to-farm journey was edited for clarity and length.
Kate Bittman: Your family left Harlem and moved to your farm in Palisades in 2014, which is something that a lot of people dream about — especially now, with everyone searching for simplicity, nature, outdoors — but never do. How did you make it happen?
Brett Wright: We sort of tripped onto it, to be honest. Once I had the two kids and the private school in the city —…
