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Shop Local, Eat Fresh

Burger's Market Garden

Kitchen Gardens

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By Andrea Grom

 

Have you been thinking about adding more fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit to your diet? Going to the farmers’ market and purchasing produce from local vendors is a great start. Better yet, try creating a kitchen garden. 

 

Kitchen gardens are special in that they’re totally geared toward your preferences. The scale and variety of plants is up to you. For example, if you like cooking with fresh herbs, consider planting a variety in a nearby patch of earth or in pots on your patio. If you love salads, plant lettuces, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers. 

Old Tavern Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett (Kitchen Gardens)

 

When creating a kitchen garden, consider how much time you can devote to it, your space, and who can help. Most food plants prefer full sun, a well-drained, fertile soil, and enough water to get them established and keep growing. Locating the garden close to your kitchen will make it easy to grab things for meals. Having a small garden is ideal for beginners and busy people. For those with kids or grandkids, encourage them to help and try a few things that they might like.

Gomez Veggie Ville, by Pattie Garrett (Kitchen Gardens)

Many Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendors are selling plants that are perfect for a kitchen garden. Here are their ideas: 

 

Green Jeans Market Farm: Jason and Andrea enjoy fresh herbs, so they always plant a lot in their kitchen garden. They especially love rosemary, basil, dill, thyme, cilantro, and parsley. 

 

Lovin’ Mama Farm: Lucas likes oregano because it’s easy to grow, versatile and it overwinters. Also special are violas (an edible flower) and their salad bowls with a variety of lettuces in a large pot.

 

Gomez Veggie Ville: The Gomez family suggests large tomato plants and mixed herb pots for an instant garden.

 

Balet Flowers: The crew recommends planting basil for an abundant supply, herbs like mint for teas and salads, sweet peppers, and tomatoes. 

 

Burger’s Market Garden: Andy recommends planting lettuce, tomatoes, greens, cucumbers, and herbs. Their hanging baskets of tomatoes, green beans, and strawberries are perfect for smaller spaces. 

 

Old Tavern Farm: Nicole suggests their herb pot packages. They have three levels with a collection of herbs for every chef. 

 

Scotch Ridge Farm: Ryan recommends their everbearing strawberry baskets, which will produce an abundance of delicious strawberries over the entire summer. 

 

Happy gardening!

Connecting to farms with fall fun

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By Julia Howard

The fall harvest season is the perfect time to discover local agriculture, one of the many aspects that make this area unique. Explore, experience, and enjoy farm tours, U-pick opportunities, dining, farm stands, and community events. Here’s a peek at what Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendors are offering.

Saratoga Apple, photo by Pattie Garrett

Pick Your Own
Saratoga Apple is a family farm and apple orchard located in Schuylerville, NY, offering “pick your own” in the fall. On weekends, get your U-pick bags at the big tent next to the orchard store, and on weekdays get them inside the orchard store. The store is open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; however, customers should purchase U-pick bags by 5 p.m.

Dancing Ewe Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

Farm-to-Table Dining
Dancing Ewe Farm is an authentic Tuscan-style family farm in Granville, NY, crafting impeccable, fresh cheeses & meats. They are currently taking reservations for their farm-to-table weekend dinners & lunches, featuring a selection of Italian wines and imported olive oil. Visit their website or Facebook page to see their menu and to make a reservation.

Fall Festivities
The DBA’s 2nd Annual Fall Festivities will be family-friendly and so much fun on two weekends: October 23 & 24 and October 30 & 31. On Saturdays, October 23 at 30, stop by the farmer’s market to shop with local farms and businesses. While you shop, enjoy live music and activities for all ages. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market will also host Customer Appreciation Day on October 27, their last Wednesday season’s market. Market-goers can enjoy special sales on market products, live music, and a free craft for children hosted by the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

Farm Tours & Live Music
Nettle Meadow Farm has a fun-filled weekend planned. Tonight, enjoy Nettle Meadow cheeses and local wine at their Cheese Jam concert, with proceeds supporting the Kemp Animal Sanctuary. Then, on Saturday, October 9, enjoy the Thurman Fall Farm Tour. This self-guided tour of regional farms includes talks, tours, wagon rides, breakfast and lunch buffets, and more.

Kokinda Farm’s farmstand, photo provided

Farm Stands & Garden Nurseries
If you’re looking to enjoy fall flowers and produce, consider stopping at a farm stand or garden nursery. Butternut Ridge Farm, Burger’s Market Garden, Balet Flowers & Design, Gifford Farms, and Kokinda Farm have the season’s harvest available right at the farm!

While you’re marking your calendar for these events, skip to 2022 and take note of the Washington County Fiber Tour that takes place in late April, The Cheese Tour scheduled for mid-September, and the Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival in late September. These events are excellent opportunities to discover local agriculture.

This week’s recipe: Chicken Spinach Salad with Butternut Squash

A farmers’ market guide to berries

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By Julia Howard

Sweet, sour, tart, juicy — berries are a highlight of the summer season. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, local farms bring the very best. The variety includes gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and saskatoon berries.

These locally sourced berries signify the diversity that grows in our region from late spring to early fall. Berries are known for their health benefits and antioxidants, but it’s their taste that makes them a coveted summertime treat.

Gooseberries are produced by a thorny shrub and are easy to grow, according to Laurie Kokinda, owner of Kokinda Farm. “Pick off the stems, rinse, and you can freeze them whole or cook them down first,” explains Kokinda. Gooseberries have a strawberry-grape flavor and are popular in jams, pies, and as a dessert topping.

Gooseberries, AdobeStock

Strawberries can be found in bountiful harvests in the early summer with additional everbearing varieties that produce berries into late September. Locally grown strawberries are often smaller than those found in stores, however, they have much more flavor.

Strawberries, photo by Pattie Garrett

Blueberries are just beginning to ripen and at Butternut Ridge Farm, Debbie Stevens reports that their harvest will begin in 1-2 weeks. Sweet, juicy, and loaded with antioxidants, blueberries are ideal for eating fresh, or in sauces and baked goods.

Raspberries are cold-hardy and long-lived. They produce sweet, flavorful fruit suitable for fresh eating, sauces, and preserves. “Our raspberry and blackberry bushes have been on our farm for generations,” says Andy Burger of Burger’s Market Garden. “We hand-pick these all-natural, small-batch crops fresh for every market, and our purple raspberries are really wonderful.”

Raspberries, photo by Pattie Garrett

Blackberries are renowned for their nutritional value as they are packed with fiber and vitamins C and K. The delicate fruit is popular in desserts, jams, seedless jelly, and sometimes wine. “Get them while you can because their growing season can be short-lived depending on the weather,” advises Andy Burger. “Freezing these berries is as easy as spreading them on a baking sheet to freeze overnight, and throwing them in a zip-lock freezer bag.”

Blackberries and blueberries, photo by Pattie Garrett

Saskatoon berries are exclusively available at Scotch Ridge Berries & Trees. Saskatoons are similar to blueberries in their composition and nutrition, though they are more closely related to the apple family. Many describe their taste as having a sweet, nutty almond flavor. They typically ripen in late June or early July depending on the seasonal climate.

Saskatoon berry, AdobeStock

This week’s recipe: Blueberry Fool

Food security can begin right on your patio

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Photo by Pattie Garrett

May means garden season, and this year, amid predictions of food shortages, growing your own food might be a vital source of sustenance.

“I always feel a few pots of easy vegetables or a small garden should be a part of life for any family,” says Sandy Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm. “It’s so easy.”

Yet, many claim they can’t grow food, citing past failures as evidence.

We at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market want you to try again.

Burger Farm and Balet Flowers & Design are selling vegetable, fruit, and herb seedlings to help you start. Others such as Gomez Veggie Ville make it even easier with pre-planted culinary herb mixes in a pot.

Culinary herb pots at Gomez Veggie Ville, photo by Pattie Garrett

Here are some suggestions of my own:
● If you love peas, snag a bag of seeds and plant them now, up against a wire fence or trellis. They’ll start producing pods around July and will flourish for about three weeks. Plant more peas in three-week intervals through mid-July to ensure an ongoing supply.
● Hardy root vegetables such as radishes, carrots, turnips, and beets also are easy to start by seed, though sometimes seedlings are available. Radishes and turnips grow fast and will be harvestable in four to six weeks. Beets and carrots take longer. Plant these vegetables several times, as well.
● Plant lettuce seedlings from Burger or Balet and start harvesting the outer leaves in about two weeks. Keep harvesting like this or wait for the plants to grow larger and then cut all the leaves at the base. They’ll grow back, but you also can keep planting lettuce from seed to ensure a steady crop.
● Burger and Balet also have kale, Swiss chard, pac choi, and other leafy greens seedlings. Plant and harvest the leaves when they are eight inches long. These “cut and come again” plants, produce through late fall.
● You also can get broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts seedlings now. Consider a second planting of broccoli and cabbage in late June.
● After June 1, start planting summer seedlings. These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, melons, and basil. They’ll begin producing fruit in several weeks and will continue until the fall frosts arrive.

Transplants at Burger’s Market Garden, photo by Pattie Garrett

This week’s recipe: Farmers’ Market Green Salad

 

Touch, don’t squeeze: Checking produce for ripeness

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Halls Pond Farm, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Early September is a time of abundance at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market: Summer squashes, tomatoes, and eggplants are plentiful. Fruits such as peaches, plums, cantaloupes, and watermelons are just coming in. The harder shelled delicata, acorn, and spaghetti squashes are making their first appearances, giving market goers much to choose.

With the choices come questions of sweetness and ripeness: Which tomato is sweetest? Will that watermelon be red and juicy when cut, or green and bitter?

There are no easy answers, as one only knows the true taste of such items when they’ve been cut open. And many traditional methods of testing summer produce for ripeness like knocking on melons or squeezing tomatoes are unreliable and potentially damaging.

However, there are a few tricks to determining ripeness.

Gomez Veggie Ville, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

“Color, feel, and smell,” says Paul Moyer, of Old World Farm, which brings nearly 50 varieties of tomatoes to market. Moyer picks up a tomato and holds it, “like you would hold a baby or a fragile item that might easily break.” He recommends looking for uniformity in color, touching it very gently for firmness, and smelling it at the base. Similar principles apply to eggplants.

Soft skinned zucchini and summer squash should be firm but not hard and unblemished. They will spoil quickly so are best used soon after purchase. Harder skinned winter squashes, however, will continue to ripen after harvest and often gain sweetness with time.

Farmers harvest some fruits before they reach full ripeness such as peaches or plums to avoid spoilage. They might be rock hard at market but will soften within a few days if kept in a bowl on a counter away from the sun.

Burger’s Marketgarden, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

That practice differs, however, for melons, which will remain ripe if picked ripe but will be hard and bitter if harvested too soon, says Ryan Holub, of Scotch Ridge Trees & Berries. Scotch Ridge sells berries in the summer and fall, and seedlings for backyard gardens in spring. Among its offerings this year were watermelon plants, which are producing melons now.

“If it twists off the stem easily, it’s ready,” Holub says, adding that a melon picked too soon has little chance of ripening once off the vine.

In Full Bloom at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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Written by Catherine Morba

Robin Holland, owner of Goode Farm, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

A bouquet of cut flowers will brighten a room and the mood of anyone who lays eyes on them. “It is easy to talk about local and seasonal food, but it is very exciting to see people turning on to flowers again, reclaiming a local craft that essentially skipped a generation since trade policy put flower farmers out of business in the early eighties” muses Robin Holland. Holland is the owner of Goode Farm, a flower and specialty vegetable farm located in Ballston Spa.

Goode Farm is shaking up the local flower business with their unique Flower Club subscription service, in which members get 6 centerpiece arrangements whenever they want them throughout the course of the season. “Designing with honest materials and their innate surprises and quirks has always been a constant fascination. I was never drawn to flower design until, in my attempts to landscape, I found myself surrounded by healthy and fragrant flowers, coordinated and in balance with season and place.”

Several market vendors offering a selection of cut flowers graciously offered tips for choosing the stems, arranging, and preserving freshness for days on end.

Balet Flowers & Design, photo courtesy of Suzanne Balet-Haight

Selecting Stems:
“My favorite flowers change as the seasons change,” says Suzanne Haight of Balet Flowers & Design. In the spring, peonies are stunning in bouquets and have an amazing fragrance. In summer, my favorites are Sunflowers and Zinnias for bright colors. In fall, Gomphrena and Hydrangea, fresh or dried. Succulents and Narcissus in winter, for their texture and because they can still be forced as a cut flower.” Haight also suggests Snapdragons, named for their resemblance to a dragons head when the sides of the flower are pushed together. Another aptly named flower, Chelone or “Turtlehead” is unique for its turtle shape and native origin in eastern North America. Both are whimsical and especially fun for children.

Arranging Bouquets:
“Fillers or accents for bouquets are what steals the show,” says Erin Luciani of Lot 32 Flower Farm. Luciani gravitates towards Scabiosa or Scabiosa Seed Pods, Gomphrena, Poppy Pods, and Ammi, otherwise known as False Queen Anne’s Lace. If arranging a full bouquet seems intimidating, Debbie Stevens of Butternut Ridge Farm suggests sticking with Sunflowers. “They speak for themselves,” says Stevens. “Just intermingle the dark-colored with the light-colored, and you’re set.”

Arrangement by Goode Farm, photo courtesy of Robin Holland

Preserving Freshness:
When asked for the best way to keep flowers looking fresh, one tip was widely agreed upon. “You should change the water every other day, if not every day,” says Burger Farm’s Andy Burger. “Not many people think to do that, but it’s important to prevent the stems from deteriorating.”

The type or quality of the water can also play a role in flower longevity. “Zinnias do not like city water, but Sunflowers and Gladiolas don’t mind it.” Says Linda Gifford of Gifford Farms. “If you have city water, use distilled or filtered water instead.”

“Recut the stems at an angle, underwater if possible for maximum absorption,” adds Haight from Balet Flowers & Design. “Also, place flowers in a preservative solution such as 2 drops of bleach, 2 drops of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar.”

Saturday Cut Flower Vendors:
Balet Flowers & Design, LC
Clark Dahlia Gardens & Greenhouses
Lot 32 Flower Farm
Kokinda Farm
Pleasant Valley Farm
Saratoga Apple
Scotch Ridge Farm