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Composting

Backyard Compost Recipe

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How Do I Compost?

Composting is a lot like cooking.  The 4 magic ingredients for successful compost are: “greens,” “browns,” air and water.   One popular method is called “lasagna composting” where you create alternating layers of “greens” (food scraps, green plant trimmings) and at least twice as many “browns” (carbon-rich material like wood-chips, dried- leaves, and straw) in a confined space like a 3 foot x 3 foot bin.  Add air by stirring it occasionally with a stick or turning it with a pitchfork.  Add some water to keep the pile moist.  Keep it covered to retain moisture and heat from microbe activity.  Mother Nature does the rest- your compost should be ready in 3-6 months, depending on the season. 

(ILSR Ingredients Image)

How Do I Get Started? 

Composting is an activity you can do at home.  It’s great for engaging kids and helping them understand the food and soil cycle.  You don’t need a lot of space and when done right, there will be no offensive odors.

(ILSR Getting Started illustration)

  

Saratoga Farmers Market Expands Compost Collection

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By Himanee Gupta

 

Are you a Saratoga Farmers Market regular who arrives each week with shopping bags as well as a can of kitchen scraps for our compost collection bin? If so, thank you! 

Thanks in part to you, we’re expanding our compost collection efforts.

The market has partnered with a Saratoga-based small business Loving Earth Compost, to create a “Scraps to Soil” project at its Wednesday market. Loving Earth owner Hope LaBonty provides a bin for collecting food scraps and other compostable items each week. This material will be taken to Loving Earth’s composting facility to be turned into soil. That soil will be bagged and returned to the market in late fall. The market will then make it available to all of you on a donation basis.

Such soil is a perfect addition to backyard or container gardens, says LaBonty.

Hope LaBonty

LaBonty grew up in western Massachusetts and is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe and has various ancestral European roots. Everyone in her family had gardens and believed in fostering connections between people, plants, and the earth. A desire to pursue those connections led LaBonty to the University of Maine to study ecology and environmental science and eventually to Upstate New York, where she has lived for about a decade with her family. 

She took over ownership of Loving Earth in March 2022. The compost collection business currently services more than 100 households in Saratoga.

LaBonty describes the exchange of scraps for soil as an act of reciprocity.

“A lot of people don’t have access to a lawn or backyard they feel comfortable composting in, but they still want to be part of this movement toward being more environmentally conscious,” she explains. “They want to be contributing to soil health and toward mitigating climate change, all of which can be done through composting.”

Compost is a valuable aspect of the regenerative agricultural methods used by many Saratoga Farmers Market vendors. I am one such vendor. My farm’s co-owner Jim Carlson has been transporting compost brought to the market to our farm to generate topsoil. This year, the market’s pilot project with Loving Earth is part of my activities as SUNY Empire State University’s Turben Chair in Mentoring. As part of this work, Loving Earth will offer an informational table and one-hour workshop from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on June 7 and an activity during the Wednesday market’s summer Power of Produce Club for children on July 17 to teach children and families about the benefits of composting.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Wednesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at High Rock Park in downtown Saratoga. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Every day is Earth Day at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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By Emily Meagher

Sustainable mushroom boxes at 518 Farms, photo by Pattie Garrett

Happy Earth Week! Some places celebrate Earth Day, others make it a weeklong event, and still others organize month-long festivities. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, we like to think that every day is Earth Day.

Farmers’ market operations are inherently more sustainable than factory and grocery store operations. Most obviously, vendors produce food locally, cutting down on transportation impacts. The Farmers Market Coalition cites that, on average, food travels over 1,000 miles from the point of production to the retail store. In contrast, practically all vendors at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market live just a county away from the market.

Many grow and produce their food with extra care for the environment, for instance by growing organically or choosing sustainable packaging. Think compostable mushroom boxes, egg carton returns, or glass deposits on items like maple syrup, yogurt, or kombucha. “It’s obvious to consider the earth when you’re a farmer; your hands are literally in the dirt. But other food producers are equally responsible for operating sustainably,” said Shane Avery, owner of Junbucha.

Reusable bags and package free produce at Owl Wood Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

That green focus is evident in customers’ minds, too. Customers are prepared to shop with reusable totes and netted produce bags. They religiously return their empty containers. They often choose the more sustainable options even if it costs a little more. Julia, one market customer, stopped by to return her glass maple syrup jar, calling choosing glass over plastic “the intuitive choice.” She chooses jars as they are reusable, returnable, recyclable, and she uses them to store granola at home before returning them.

Composting at the Saratoga Farmers Market, photo by Madison Jackson

And then, there are the green choices that extend further than the farmers’ market. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s partnership with the Franklin Community Center is a prime example: customers drop off compost at the farmers’ market to be used in the Center’s community garden, while vendors donate unsold food to the food pantry.

All these green efforts point out a quiet strength of farmers’ markets: their belief in the efficacy of traditional ways, where less is more, quality trumps quantity, and there is a deep-rooted connection to the earth.

This week’s recipe: Local Bacon and Cheese Quiche

Market Creates Community at High Rock Park

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Shortly before 9 a.m. tomorrow, Saratoga Mayor Joanne Yepsen will cut a ribbon at High Rock Park to officially open the Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s summer season. With her will be farmers and other vendors, volunteers and staff, artists and musicians, community service providers, dignitaries and other guests.

The brief ceremony captures a sense of how the market twice a week from May through October creates a sense of community that is vibrant, festive, and supportive.

“Community is our sustenance,” says market director Julia Howard. “It brings us all together.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market started in 1978 with starter plants and produce. Over the years, meats and dairy products, prepared foods, wool and fiber, household cleaners, gift items, and crafts were added the offerings.

For farmers and other vendors, the market is a vital source of income. But the market also is much more.

Running the River by Eric Jenks
Running the River
Photo by Eric Jenks

“Having music at every market helps local performers gain exposure,” Howard says. “Plus, we work with such organizations as Saratoga Bridges to offer employment for some of our janitorial tasks to individuals who need it. And our weekly children’s activities are often the result of our relationships with local businesses, libraries, and youth groups. We couldn’t be who we are without those networks of support.”

Tomorrow’s market will highlight these networks. CAPTAIN Youth & Family Services will offer a free planting of flower seeds to children of all ages. Musician Thomas Brady and the band Running the River will perform. Mamatoga will co-host a meetup from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for mothers and children. And new vendors – among them Zoe Burghard Ceramics, Freddy’s Rockin’ Hummus, The Smoothie Shoppe, Dickinson’s Delights, and Slate Valley and Nettle Meadow farms – will join the market’s regulars.

Setting up market at Rock Park by Eric Jenks
Setting up market at Rock Park
Photo by Eric Jenks

Behind the scenes, the Friends of the Market volunteers will operate its compost collection and recycling programs, assist shoppers with its veggie valet service, gather donations for the Franklin Community Center food pantry, and be on hand to relieve vendors. Also behind the scenes vendors will arrive early and stay late to put out market signs, traffic cones, and help clean up High Rock Park before and after the market.

“That cooperative spirit makes us so much more than a shopping place,” Howard says. “We’re in it together.”

Visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Markets at High Rock Park from 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

Chopped Spring Salad

Adapted from recipe by Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward featured in Bon Appetit
4 Servings

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

• ½ cup plain yogurt*
• 2 tablespoons olive oil*
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated*
• ¼ teaspoon Vital Eats Sriracha Ketchup*
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, plus more for serving*
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint, plus more for serving*
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• ½ Asian cucumber, chopped (about 1 cup)*
• 2 asparagus spears, chopped*
• 2 scallions, chopped*
• 3 radishes, trimmed, chopped*
• 1 cup pea shoots*
• ¾ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered*

Preparation

1. Whisk yogurt, oil, lemon juice, garlic, Sriracha, 2 Tbsp. chives, and 2 Tbsp. mint in a small bowl to combine; season with salt and pepper and let dressing sit at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld.

2. Just before serving, toss cucumber, asparagus, scallions, radishes, pea shoots, and tomatoes in a large bowl to combine; season with salt and pepper. Divide evenly among plates and drizzle with dressing. Top with chives and mint.

Do Ahead: Dressing can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Green Goes Beyond Great Vegetables

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By Julia Howard, Market Director

It’s not easy being green. But as one of our shoppers put it, it’s better for all of us.

Camm Epstein arrived at the market to shop on a recent Saturday with a backpack. He filled his pack, and prepared for a one-mile walk home. “It’s good for me and the planet,” he said.

As we join the nation in celebrating Earth Day, we recognize that while we are a source of healthy, locally grown food, being green should be more than that.

Our customers noted in a survey last year that while they loved the range of local foods that we offer, they wished we could reduce our waste and be more earth-friendly.

We took that advice to heart and have launched two initiatives:

The first is a compost station.
We invite shoppers to bring fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, and other easily compostable items from their homes to our compost bin. We also encourage you to deposit any leftovers from foods that you might consume at the market that you don’t plan to take home to eat later. This compost is going to a farm owned by two market volunteers and turned into their compost pile. Nearly 1,000 pounds of new soil that has resulted from these efforts is being put into the Franklin Community Center’s food pantry garden, said volunteer Jim Gupta-Carlson. From leftovers and waste come vegetables for our community.
Our second initiative is about recycling.
If you’re one of our weekly shoppers, you might be buying cups of coffee, snacking on yogurt cups or cookies, or buying a hot meal to enjoy while listening to our musicians. Consider disposing of these items’ packaging not in the trash but in bins labeled with recycling signs. The same goes for napkins and other paper items.

Photo by Pattie Garrett

We hope our market becomes a green collaboration between farmers, shoppers, and the community. As Gupta-Carlson notes, by using baskets and reusable bags and by adapting such healthy habits as walking to the market when feasible, we all can contribute to “the environmental benefit of supporting local food systems and healthy farming practices.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be at its winter location – the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park – for two more Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1p.m., before moving outdoors May 3 to High Rock Park.

 

Photo by Pattie Garrett

Sauteed Asian Greens

Recipe by Pleasant Valley Farm
Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic minced*
• 1 bunch Asian greens*
• 4 oz mushrooms*

Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute. Do not let it burn. Add mushroom and greens. Toss greens until wilted.

 

Giving Thanks to the Pumpkin

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

The bold orange hue of pumpkins makes fall festive in Saratoga. But as the vivid glow of fall gives way to the wetness of winter, a question arises: What to do with the bounty of pumpkins, gourds, and other winter squashes?

sheldon-farm-by-pattie-garrett
Sheldon Farm Photo by Pattie Garrett

The best answer, of course, is to eat them, especially at Thanksgiving. In doing so, you’re continuing a history of feasting that might stretch back thousands of years.

Nate Barksdale, writes in “The History of Pumpkin Pie” that pumpkins likely were a part of the first Thanksgiving feast. The orange gourds were first grown in the Americas around 5500 B.C.E. When European explorers traversed the New World, pumpkins were among the foods brought back to Europe. By the time the Pilgrims left England, pumpkins were well known throughout the Atlantic.

Pumpkin is an acquired taste — both then and now. Europeans made it palatable through pies. These pies involved steaming or roasting a pumpkin to cook and soften the flesh, scooping it out, and combining it with eggs, cream, and spices. This concoction was then poured into a pie crust and baked.

Such pies have deep roots in New England Thanksgivings, with one town, Colchester, in Connecticut postponing its celebration of the holiday in 1705 because of a lack of availability of molasses to make pumpkin pie.

These days, pumpkin pie often is made with canned pumpkin, as a result of the Libby’s company introduction of the product in 1929.

While the introduction of canned pumpkin has given pie making a boost in the convenience realm, we at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market stick to the idea of appreciating pumpkins fresh. Like other winter squashes, pumpkin can be roasted, slow cooked or stewed. While perfect in pie, it also can be a side dish stuffed in the style of the accompanying recipe. Give it a try.

As for all of those spent jack o’ lanterns that might be lingering in garages or on doorsteps, pumpkins and other winter squashes compost beautifully to create new soil. The Friends of the Market would be delighted to accept lingering remains of jack o’ lanterns and any other squashes in its compost bucket at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market each Saturday.

For more on pumpkins, visit www.history.com/news/hungry-history/the-history-of-pumpkin-pie.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building at the Saratoga Spa State Park.

 

home-for-the-holidays-stuffed-pumpkins

Stuffed Pumpkins

While pie is the go-to preparation for pumpkins, we invite you to consider this recipe, adapted from Kim Serverson of the New York Times. This recipe features market pumpkins and vegetables, Murray Hollow bread, and Longview Farm’s High Rock Cheese in place of the Gruyere below. Other small winter squashes such as acorn or sweet dumpling also can be used in place of the pumpkin.

 

Ingredients

• 2 small pumpkins (or 6 mini pumpkins) orange or white
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 scallions (about 1/3 cup) chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 4 cups Swiss chard (or baby kale) stemmed and roughly chopped (about 4 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup homemade bread crumbs, lightly toasted
• 2/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (used Homestead Artisan’s High Rock Cheese)
• ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the pumpkins and remove the tops as if for a Jack-o’-lantern.

2. Scoop out the seeds and stringy insides with a spoon, leaving the flesh intact. Rinse out the cavity.

3. Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat, then add the scallions and cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or so until fragrant. Add the swiss chard and cook until it just wilts, about 3 or 4 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and transfer to a bowl. Add the bread crumbs, cheese, pine nuts, and nutmeg. Mix well, and then stir in cream.

5. Divide the filling into the pumpkins and replace the tops. Rub a baking dish with olive oil and arrange the filled pumpkins in the dish.

6. Bake for 1 hour, watching to make sure the tops don’t brown too much. Test the pumpkin by piercing with a fork. If the skin doesn’t pierce easily, remove the tops and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Replace the tops and serve hot.