In Orange County, one couple helms a regenerative farm and wellness center that fosters community connection in the Hudson Valley.
At 21, Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm’s chef and co-owner Andrea Hayley-Sankaran was traveling through Central America when she witnessed something that would change the trajectory of her life: a community kitchen in Nicaragua where families worked together to turn locally grown food into nourishing meals.
What struck her wasn’t just the hyper-local food culture—eating only what was available in each location—but the people themselves. “I noticed this incredible authenticity, sense of ease, presence, and groundedness. A genuine quality in the people,” she says. “And I really felt that that was missing from the people around me back home.” The simplicity of the ingredients paired with the authenticity of the locals inspired Hayley-Sankaran to embrace cooking as her life’s purpose. “I discovered the healing power of food,” she recalls.
That moment of recognition planted a seed that has now blossomed into Lotuswood, a 13-acre regenerative farm and wellness center in Middletown that’s quickly setting a new standard for conscious eating and community connection in the Hudson Valley.
Photo by Samira Bouaou, courtesy of Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
Becoming a Farmer
Hayley-Sankaran’s path to farming wasn’t direct. After her Central American awakening, she taught herself to cook from the perspective of Ayurveda, a traditional system of healthcare from India that views food as medicine. She spent a decade in restaurants specializing in vegetarian cuisine, followed by another decade in journalism, working at the Epoch Times in New York City and earning a master’s degree from Columbia.
It was during her time in New York City that she met her future husband, Kannan Sankaran, an AI engineer who grew up in Mumbai. When Kannan took Hayley-Sankaran to visit India for the first time, witnessing their rich traditions and cultural practices around food deepened her belief in food as medicine even more. “Going to India was like going to Central America again,” Hayley-Sankaran explains, “because the connection to the food is so profound. My mother-in-law cooked from morning to night—so many different dishes, everything from scratch, everything made with so much love.”
When the couple bought their first home in Westchester, Hayley-Sankaran felt it was time to act on her calling. She left journalism, started an ambitious backyard garden, and began hosting dinner parties while developing recipes for her food blog, Buttered Veg. After becoming a certified Ayurveda nutritionist and digestive health counselor, she started offering virtual wellness consultations.
But digital connection had its limits. “It was difficult to build deep connections with people the way I wanted to,” she says. Recognizing this limitation sparked the vision for what should come next: an in-person retreat center built on the foundation of food and community.
Photo by Tara Kearsing, courtesy of Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
Crafting Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
The search for the right property led them to what is now Lotuswood, formerly Shady Acres Organic Farm, which had been owned by one family for 68 years. The property wasn’t even on the market when a realtor friend introduced Hayley-Sankaran and her husband to the owners.
“The previous owners really fell in love with us because they saw that we would continue their legacy,” Hayley-Sankaran explains. The 13-acre property, with its pre-1900 farmhouse and rolling hills, felt like it was meant for them. With the purchase of the farm, their vision of food, health, and community came full circle. They chose the name “Lotuswood” because of its universal relevance and connection to divine consciousness. It perfectly captures their holistic approach, using the lotus as a symbol of growth and connection combined with their natural woodland setting, where they host transformative experiences.
Today, visitors stepping onto the property are greeted by an almost fairytale landscape. “I go out my door and I step out and I’m in this peaceful, park-like setting,” Hayley-Sankaran describes. The farmhouse contains a commercial kitchen along with a 40-seat dining room and a beautiful loft space for event preparation. Across the property sits a barn that can accommodate 130 guests, while a forested area nestled uphill provides an intimate setting for wedding ceremonies or smaller gatherings.
Perhaps the most important element of Lotuswood is what’s beneath visitors’ feet. When Hayley-Sankaran and Kannan arrived, they inherited the consequences of decades of conventional farming practices. “The soils here were hard,” Hayley-Sankaran recalls. “Like you couldn’t even get a shovel more than two inches into the ground. That’s how bad it was.”
Photo by Samira Bouaou, courtesy of Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
Their first attempt at soil building—trucking in manure and straw hoping it would compost over winter—became an expensive lesson. “We ended up, in the spring, paying to remove all of it,” she laughs. “So now we have a mountain of compost in a back clearing, which will be ready sometime this fall or early next year.”
The real solution came through regenerative practices: incorporating purchased compost into the clay with a plow, building permanent raised beds, and implementing a sophisticated cover cropping system. Different crops are planted and terminated throughout the seasons, their roots and organic matter feeding the soil while suppressing weeds and attracting beneficial insects.
The results speak for themselves. “We have almost no insect pressure on our crops,” Hayley-Sankaran notes. “Everything is growing really well. I haven’t had to use any intervention for insects or diseases. And the reason is because the soil is good.”
Lotuswood’s regenerative and sustainable philosophy mirrors Ayurvedic principles. “It’s just like humans. The immune system of the plant is nourished by the good soil, the sun, and the water. So as long as the plant is relatively healthy, it resists whatever kinds of diseases come its way,” she says.
A Food-Filled Future
Nine weeks into their soft opening for prepared foods (cooked in-house by Hayley-Sankaran herself), Lotuswood is proving that healthy, vegetarian-focused cuisine can be both approachable and irresistible. Hayley-Sankaran’s mission is clear: “making healthy, healing food accessible at an affordable price to our community.”
Photo by Tara Kearsing, courtesy of Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
The star of their current offerings is a gluten-free zucchini crust pizza. When one customer initially questioned the $4 price point, Hayley-Sankaran challenged her perspective: “What can you buy for $4 that has any nutritional equivalent to this slice of pizza that I’m selling?” The customer’s tune changed immediately after tasting it. “She called me back 30 minutes later and said, ‘This is the best thing I have ever eaten. And I will take 10, please. Every week as a standing order from here on forward.'”
The menu rotates based on what’s currently growing on the farm: zucchini everything (chocolate loaf, cookies, soup), garlic-braised kale (“the softest kale ever”), aduki bean quinoa patties, and seasonal soups. Farm-grown herbs become healing teas, while abundant basil transforms into pesto.
“What I would like is to have people take our food home, serve it to their families, and sit at the table and enjoy it together,” Hayley-Sankaran explains. Her vision extends beyond typical farm-to-table dining to something more profound: “It becomes almost like a community kitchen.”
The success of Lotuswood relies heavily on the partnership between Hayley-Sankaran and Kannan. While she handles the food and farming, he brings technical skills and, perhaps more importantly, infectious enthusiasm for community building. “He’s a huge people person,” Hayley-Sankaran says of her extroverted husband. “He loves driving grandmas around in the gator during our events. He just brings so much warmth to the property.”
Even their approach to business reflects their values. “We have a deep and profound belief that when you do the right thing, the profits will come,” Hayley-Sankaran explains. “So we stay focused on the type and the quality of experiences that we’re providing. To us, it’s about fostering a deeper connection to self, to the divine, to nature, and to each other.”
Photo by Samira Bouaou, courtesy of Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm
Their philosophy is already paying dividends. They’ve successfully hosted two weddings thus far, with a third booked for September. They’re also offering a full lineup of fall programming, including an Ayurveda wellness retreat, South Indian dinner feasts in the orchard, and hands-on kitchari cooking workshops.
Looking ahead, Hayley-Sankaran and Kannan envision onsite accommodations for multi-day retreats and expanded partnerships with neighboring farms like Freedom Hill Farm and Farmer’s Daughter. But their ultimate vision is even more ambitious: creating a culinary ethos that spreads throughout communities across the Hudson Valley.
“The grand dream vision,” Hayley-Sankaran explains, referencing what she witnessed in Nicaragua, is “a model that reflects the concept of one house on every street providing healthy, lovingly prepared meals to their neighborhoods. We need to help each other with this.”
As Lotuswood approaches its first anniversary, the impact Hayley-Sankaran witnessed in Central America decades ago is beginning to manifest in the Hudson Valley. “I’m really motivated by doing the right thing, and I’m really motivated to make a difference in the world,” she reflects. “I’m a pioneer. I’m driven by mission and impact.”
In a time when authentic connection often feels elusive, Lotuswood offers something increasingly rare: a place where land, food, and health combine to nourish not just bodies, but communities. As Hayley-Sankaran learned all those years ago in Central America, sometimes the most profound transformations begin with a simple meal that’s prepared with love and shared with intention.
Lotuswood Organic Wellness Farm is located in Middletown and is currently in soft opening for prepared foods. For more information about upcoming events and programming, visit the farm’s website.
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