• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Shop Local, Eat Fresh at the Saratoga Farmers' Market | Food, Crafts, Music in Saratoga Springs

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

  • Markets
    • Our Markets
    • Market Maps
  • Vendors
    • Vendor Directory
    • Becoming a Vendor
  • Shop Online
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Community Partnerships
    • Summer Internships
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
    • Weekly Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us
    • Message us!

Jam Makers Preserve a Sweet Tradition

December 13, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Homemade jams are a longtime staple of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. These treats – made from fruits grown and harvested spring through fall – gleam like jewels in glass jars. They are rich in fruit flavor, and thick with sweetness. They fill holiday stockings, they sit on breakfast tables, and they work great in holiday recipes.

Two vendors – Laurie Kokinda of Kokinda Farm and Anna Mae Clark of Clark’s Dahlia Gardens & Greenhouses – offer jam. For both, jam-making runs in the family.

“My mother taught me how to make jam as a young child,” says Kokinda. “We would go picking fruit at ‘pick your own’ farms and gather wild huckleberries in Luther’s Forest.” 

“Then,” Kokinda recalls, “as a teen, I started making it by myself.” Her mother had had a horse accident and had broken her wrist.

Kokinda joined the farmers’ market in 1997. Since then, she has sold jam under the name of Laurie’s Jams, alongside produce, eggs, and handmade items.

She makes jam once a week, in between driving a school bus and caring for horses, chickens and dogs. She grows raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, apples, pears, rhubarb and grapes. She obtains other fruits such as cherries, plums, blueberries, and apricots from other local growers. Of particular pride is her favorite, peach jam, made from peaches from her own trees.

Clark was a Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendor when the market started in 1978. She began selling jam around 1998 when, she recalls, she had “a freezer filled with fruit that wasn’t being used.” But she has made jam for 50 years. She inherited the tradition from her mother and grandmothers. “We all made jam,” says Clark. “We had to at the farm, or you wouldn’t have any.” 

Clark perfected her jam-making through 4-H and Cornell Cooperative Extension classes. She grows most of her fruit, though relies on others for products she cannot grow herself such as oranges and cranberries. She goes through a pallet of sugar a year. Jams, insists Clark, need sugar. Sugar brings out a fruit’s flavor in a way that other sweeteners cannot.

Many of Anna Mae Clark’s recipes come from her mother and grandmothers. They create “older flavors” that people enjoy, and can’t always find outside of farmers’ markets.

The Saratoga Farmers Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on the FreshFoodNY app.

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: Anna Mae Clark, jam, jam tradition, Laurie Kokinda, Saratoga Farmers' Market

Reader Interactions

Before Footer

Instagram

We are honored to be nominated as one of the Best We are honored to be nominated as one of the Best Farmers’ Markets in the Capital Region for the Times Union’s Best of 2021! Thank you to all of our amazing customers and community for your continued support! You can vote for us daily under the category “Goods & Services” using this link: https://www.timesunion.com/bestof2021/ 
.
.
.
#timesunionbestof2021 #timesunionbestof #saratogafarmersmarket #farmersmarket 
#supportlocal #shoplocal #saratogany #saratogasprings
Starting off the week with another MCM (Market Cru Starting off the week with another MCM (Market Crush Monday!) This week we talked to Kim from Mugzy’s Barkery who brings healthy, locally made dog treats to the market. 
 
1. How did Mugzy’s Barkery get started? 
My sister Jaime started the business just over 5 years ago to have a healthier treat option to give her beloved Olde English Bulldog, Mugzy. Our treats are all natural and organic, providing a healthy alternative to mass-produced treats for caring dog parents. 
 
 2. What’s your favorite part about vending at the market?
Definitely getting to see all the dogs! The funny thing is I know all our regular customer’s dogs by name, not the owners. 
 
3. What are your most popular treat flavors?
Pumpkin paws (grain-free biscuits) and the pupcakes (a bite-sized treat) are really popular with the dogs but we also have flavors like PB cookie cups, apple cheddar training treats, banana buddies and more, so something to fit any pup’s tastes!
 
The PB cookie cups have been tried and approved by our market assistant’s dog, Lacey! 
.
.
.
#saratogafarmersmarket #farmersmarket #saratoga #upstateny #shoplocal #saratogadog #farmersmarketfresh #mugzysbarkery #dogtreats #healthydogtreats
No need for an international flight when you can j No need for an international flight when you can journey around the world at the market! 🌍 Between Italian, Mediterranean, and Ukrainian, our vendors bring some of their best home cuisines to the market.
 
Have you tried My Dacha's Ukrainian food yet? Choose from lots of delicious options like pierogies, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, or opt for sweet crepes. 🥟🤤 (If you've tried their food, what's your favorite?!)

We're open this Saturday, 9:30am - 1:30pm at the Wilton Mall food court!
.
.
.
#farmersmarket #saratogafarmersmarket #saratogasprings #food #ukrainian #pierogies
When the food court sun hits the product just righ When the food court sun hits the product just right... 👌 Don't forget our online preorder deadline is TONIGHT at 9pm for pickup this Saturday! Give some love to your gut and grab a bottle of @junbucha365 online or at the market.
.
.
.
#saratogafarmersmarket #junbucha #kombucha #probiotics #loveyourgut #farmersmarket #onlinepreordering #curbsidepickup #saratoga #saratogasprings

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Saratoga Farmers Market · Design by REACH CREATIVE

    COVID-19: Check our latest Safety Guidelines!
  • Markets
    • Our Markets
    • Market Maps
  • Vendors
    • Vendor Directory
    • Becoming a Vendor
  • Shop Online
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Community Partnerships
    • Summer Internships
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
    • Weekly Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us
    • Message us!