Saratoga Farmers' Market

marketeditor

Saratoga Farmers Market Kicks Off Outdoor Season at High Rock Park

By

By Julia Howard

Saturday mornings are market mornings for hundreds of area residents. Join them tomorrow at High Rock Park as the Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s 41st season opens.

Farmers, home artisans, and craftspeople will join city officials and others for a ribbon cutting just before 9 a.m. Then, as music from the Running the River band fills the air, vendors will begin offering fresh vegetables and fruits, meats, eggs, dairy products, home-baked goods, prepared foods, flowers, art, and more.

Anna Mae Clark rings the opening bell, photo by Eric Jenks

“We are thrilled to welcome several new vendors this year,” says market administrator Emily Meagher. “Our variety of local products is unparalleled.”

About 65 vendors participate in the Saturday market. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market also operates from 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays, with about 30 vendors.

Bring your shopping list and walk, bike, or drive to High Rock Park. Grab a coffee made with locally roasted beans and perhaps a light breakfast from one of the many prepared food vendors featuring items like crepes or breakfast sandwiches.

And shop.

Vendor stalls fill the pavilions and spill out onto the lawns. Volunteers will watch your bags and help transport your goods to your car with the Friends of the Market’s veggie valet wagons. The FreshFoodNY app and pickup service is available for pre-ordered items.

This year, we encourage you to visit the market via bicycle, if feasible. We also invite
you to bring your own bags to reduce plastic and will have totes available for purchase. We are continuing our compost collection program and will accept fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, used tea bags, and similar items. We have an ATM on site, and many vendors accept credit cards. We also accept SNAP benefits.

Shushan Hydro Farms, photo by Eric Jenks

While shopping, check out the children’s activities, and booths featuring the Adirondack Live Steamers, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, and Cornell Cooperative Extension Service’s master gardeners.

Says market administrator Emily Meagher, “To experience spring in Saratoga is to opt to dine on the patio, order tickets from SPAC, and embrace the return of the outdoor farmers market where the fragrance of flowers and produce mixes with freshly baked bread.”

See you there.

 

Saturday Vendors at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market 2019

Alaturco Mediterranean Grill
Argyle Cheese Factory
Balet Flowers & Design, LLC
Ballston Lake Apiaries
Battenkill Valley Creamery
Burger Farm
Clark Dahlia Gardens & Greenhouses
Dancing Ewe Farms
Dickinson’s Delights
Elihu Farm
Euro Delicacies
Feathered Antler
Freddy’s Rockin’ Hummus
Giovani Fresco
Gómez Veggie Ville
Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes, LLC
Green Jeans Market Farm
Halls Pond Farm
Humiston’s Vegetables
Kim Dolan Designed Jewelry
Kokinda Farm
Lake George Distilling Company, LLC
Lewis Waite Farm
Longlesson Farm
Lot 32 Flower Farm
M & A Farm
Mangiamo LLC
Mariaville Mushroom Men
Momma’s Secret Salad Dressings
Moxie Ridge Farm
Mrs. Londons
Muddy Trail Jerky Co.
Mugzy’s Barkery
Nettle Meadow
Nut Zez, LLC
old world farm
Otrembiak Farm
Owl Wood Farm
Petra Pocket Pies
Pleasant Valley Farm
Puckers Gourmet
Pura Vida Fisheries, Inc
R&G Cheese Makers
Ramble Creek Farm
Rock Hill Bakehouse
Row to Hoe Farm
Saratoga Apple
Saratoga Chocolate Co.
Saratoga Crackers®
Saratoga Peanut Butter Co.
Saratoga Spicery
Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff
Saratoga Urban Farm
Scotch Ridge Berry Farm
Slate Valley Farms
Slyboro Cider House
Something’s Brewing
Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery
The Chocolate Spoon
The Food Florist
The Saratoga Winery
The Smoothie Shoppe
The Vermont Spatzle Company
Underwood’s Greenhouse / Shushan Valley Hydro Farm
Vital Eats
Wild Things Rescue Nursery
Yankee Distillers
Zoe Burghard Ceramics

Goose Egg Omelet

By

Recipe shared by Squashville Farm

Makes 2 large omelets

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 2 goose eggs* (can substitute 4 duck eggs* or six chicken eggs*)
● 1 small onion or scallion*, minced
● 1 cup mushrooms*, diced
● 1/2 cup pea shoots*
● 2 oz. feta cheese*
● olive oil or butter
● salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Gently break goose eggs into a bowl and whisk yolks and whites together.
2. Heat olive butter in a skillet and saute onion and mushrooms until lightly browned. Turn off heat and add cheese and pea shoots.
3. Gently heat an omelet pan or flat skillet. Add a little bit of olive oil or butter.
4. Spoon half the egg mixture into the omelet pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, gently moving skillet so that egg sets into a thin circle. Use a spatula to keep ends from sticking to pan.
5. Add half the vegetable and cheese mixture to one half side of the omelet. Gently flip the other half over the mixture to form a half moon shape.
6. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, before using spatula to place omelet onto plate. Serve with additional cheese, pea shoots, and/or salsa if desired.

Wednesdays at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

By

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

When the opening bell rings at 3 p.m. next Wednesday at High Rock Park, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market will begin its 41st season.

The Wednesday market runs May 1-October 30, from 3-6 p.m. Like the Saturday market, it offers a wide array of amazing foods fresh from our region’s local farms, along with locally made wines and spirits, art, and meals to go.

For many market regulars, the Wednesday market is the farmers’ market at its best. It offers an opportunity to browse at a leisurely pace, planning a few nights’ meals while listening to local music, and taking part in a series of all-ages activities.

Earn a $2 Bicycle Benefits coin each time you ride to the Farmers’ Market

“The intimate size of our midweek market creates a more relaxed pace,” says market activities coordinator Julia Howard. “It’s a little more spacious, airy. It’s a great way to meet up with friends.”

This year, the market is celebrating eight new vendors:
● Goode Farm, fresh and dried flowers and wreaths;
● Slate River Farm, herbs, meats, eggs, and seasonal ramps and fiddlehead ferns;
● High Peaks Distilling, spirits;
● Italian Market, pasta sauces;
● Alaturco Mediterranean Grill, gyros;
● Oliver’s Café, crepes and kettle corn;
● Left Field, snow cones; and
● Vedanta du Mas Designs, art.

As always, the Wednesday market will offer free music, children’s activities, its Power of Produce Club, and information booths. About 20 other vendors – ranging from small farmers to local artists and food entrepreneurs – will be returning to the market, as well.

Power of Produce Club at the Wednesday market

The Tisch Family Band will serenade market visitors on opening day. Throughout the season, the market will participate in the Bicycle Benefits program, and host tours. Market staff also are planning to organize monthly bus trips for Saratoga seniors.

As a shopper and a farmer, I look forward every year to the start of the Wednesday market. It evokes the historic roots of Saratoga’s producer-only market and the region’s agricultural heritage. I enjoy talking to vendors as I fill my bags with great foods for a few days before I return to the market Saturday to replenish.

Kale Pesto Pasta

By

Adapted from the recipe by Cookie and Kate

Cook Time and Prep Time: 13 minutes

INGREDIENTS
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
Pesto
● 4 cloves garlic*
● 1 small bunch of kale* (about 3 cups)
● ¾ cup hemp seeds or toasted walnuts
● 2 tablespoons lemon juice
● 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
● ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
● Red pepper flakes, optional
● Extra-virgin olive oil (more if desired)
● Optional: ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese*
Pasta
● 1 pound pasta*, any kind
● 1 cup reserved pasta water

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Make the pesto: In a food processor, add the peeled garlic cloves and process until the garlic is minced. Add the kale, hemp seeds, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the oil. Process until the pesto reaches your desired consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Taste and add more lemon, salt or pepper if necessary. (You can thin out the pesto with more oil, but if you’re serving with pasta, keep in mind that you can also thin it out with reserved pasta cooking water.)
2. Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve one cup cooking liquid before draining the pasta. Let the pasta and pasta water cool for a minute to make sure the high heat doesn’t damage the pesto.
3. If you intend to have leftovers, you can mix the pasta and pesto together in your cooking pot, adding splashes of cooking water as necessary.

Spring Festival Celebrates Farming In Your Own Backyard

By

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Mark your calendars for April 27. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is closing out its final indoor market with its fourth annual Spring Festival. The 9 a.m.-1 p.m. event takes place at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park, and features four free workshops, face paintings, complimentary beverages, and more.

The annual festival comes just one week after the market’s Easter celebration this Saturday. Like the Easter celebration, the festival’s focus is on spring and farming.

However, the festival will offer more than the products of our farms. It will help you learn what goes into growing, raising, and making some of them, and offer you some useful tips for giving these crafts a try yourself. It is aimed at helping everyone: market regulars, newcomers to the Saratoga area and weekend visitors.

So, have you yearned to keep bees? Would you like to savor the joy of gathering up fresh eggs straight from your coop? Do you need a refresher on growing flowers, fruits or vegetables? Would you like to start your own kombucha brew? If yes – or even maybe – check the workshops out. Attend all four and receive a free Saratoga Farmers’ Market canvas tote.

The schedule includes:
9 a.m. Beekeeping with Rick Green, owner of Ballston Lake Apiaries and a longtime area beekeeper.
10 a.m. Backyard Poultry Basics for Beginners with Andrea Love Smith, a Cornell Cooperative Extension Services educator.
11 a.m. Gardening for Beginners with Lori Bishop, a master gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension Services.
Noon. Fermentation with Diane Whitten, a food and nutrition educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension Services.

Beekeeping workshop hosted by Rick Green of Ballston Lake Apiaries
Backyard Poultry Basics for Beginners workshop hosted by Andrea Love Smith
Beginner Gardener workshop hosted by Lori Bishop

 

One of the best things about these workshops is their emphasis on basics. The facilitators can answer questions and offer tips to everyone, regardless of whether they’re newcomers to farming or veterans.

The market also will feature its usual lineup of live music, and of course, its array of farm produce, meats, eggs, cheeses, and artisanal goods. A face painter also will be on hand for children.

Roast Lamb

By

Adapted from the recipe by Julia Moskin
Yield: 8-12 servings
Time: About 3 hours

INGREDIENTS
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 1 large lamb roast* with a cap of fat, 4 to 6 pounds: bone-in leg (these can be as large as 8 pounds), semiboneless leg*, bone-in shoulder*, boneless butterflied leg* or double loin*
● 2 ounces (1 can) anchovies packed in olive oil, drained
● Leaves from 6 fresh rosemary sprigs* (2 heaping tablespoons leaves), plus extra sprigs and branches for garnish
● 6 garlic cloves*, smashed and peeled
● 4 ounces unsalted butter*, softened at room temperature
● Black pepper
● 1 lemon, cut in half
● 1 ¾ cups white wine, plus extra for gravy

PREPARATION
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use a small sharp knife to make about a dozen incisions, each about 2 inches deep, through the fat that covers the top of the meat. Using a mortar and pestle or a blender, blend 2/3 of the anchovies, the rosemary leaves, and the garlic cloves into a chunky paste. Using your fingers, press paste deeply into incisions.
2. Mix remaining anchovies and the butter into a paste. Smear this mixture all over the surface of the roast. Season liberally with black pepper. (Do not add salt; the anchovies are salty enough) Place the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up, and squeeze the lemon halves over. Pour the wine around the roast into the pan.
3. Roast 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and roast until internal temperature reaches 130 to 135 degrees (for medium-rare or medium meat), about another 60 to 90 minutes. Baste every 20 minutes or so with the wine and drippings in the pan, adding more wine as needed to keep the liquid from scorching. If possible, for the last 15 minutes of cooking, use convection or a broiler to crisp the fat on the roast.
4. Remove pan from the oven, remove rack from the pan, and let the roast rest on the rack for at least 15 to 20 minutes in a warm place, tented with foil. The internal temperature will rise to about 140 to 145 degrees.
5. To make sauce from the pan drippings, remove a few tablespoons of fat by tipping the pan and spooning off the top layer. Put the pan over medium heat until the liquid simmers. Taste the simmering liquid and whisk in more wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the consistency and flavor are right. Do not let the mixture become syrupy; it should be a sharp jus, not a thick gravy.
6. Carve lamb into 1/2-inch-thick slices and arrange on a heated platter, decorated with rosemary sprigs. Serve with piping hot gravy.

Saratoga Farmers' Market