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Denison Farm

Sowing the seeds for a new season

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By Emily Meagher

Greenhouse full of seedlings at Pleasant Valley Farm

Walking around a farmers’ market, you see tables neatly displayed with mountains of produce. There is a long journey before produce lands on market tables and then, eventually, your table. Farmers are on a tight schedule to do all they can to make sure their crops flourish. Now that we are deep into winter, we asked local farmers how they are preparing for this year’s growing season.

Planting onion sets to be scallions, photo courtesy of Pleasant Valley Farm

Laurie Kokinda, owner of Kokinda Farm, says, “It’s the hardest time of year, in terms of grunt work.” Farms are working tirelessly to sanitize their greenhouses and tunnels and repair and order new equipment. Farms are starting their first seedings like tomatoes, alliums, and head lettuce. This year, many farmers ordered their seed supply earlier than usual due to Coronavirus-related increases in demand as well as mail delays. Paul and Sandy Arnold, owners of Pleasant Valley Farm, note, “Normally, we can get seeds in the day after we order. This year, we’re waiting weeks!”

Local farms often choose to work together to share resources. Pleasant Valley Farm’s Sustainable Farmers’ Network Group is hard at work in the mid-winter, bulk-ordering supplies so that farms may share discounts. Gomez Veggie Ville works with Denison Farm to get this year’s supply of organic potato seeds. And, for the first time, they will work to grow ginger. “I am learning how to grow ginger well in our climate. Hopefully, if it works out, we’ll be able to bring some to the market in September,” says Efrain Gomez.

Finished planting garlic, photo courtesy of Squash Villa Farm

Owl Wood Farm is taking this year’s seed shortages as an opportunity to try a new practice: seed saving. “We’ve wanted to save seeds that aren’t offered commercially, like tomato heirloom varieties and Abenaki flint corn, for a while. It involves a lot of work and isn’t very economical; you have to dedicate a new plot of land and grasp a whole new knowledge base,” says Mark Bascom. “But we see that seed saving is important this year especially.”

Squash Villa Farm (formerly Squashville) is trying not just a new crop or practice but also a whole new land plot after moving farms in 2020. “There’s lots of anticipation! As soon as the snow melts, I’m eager to walk the new land and just get a feel for what it’s like to step into the soil,” says Himanee Gupta-Carlson.

This week’s recipe: Beans and Greens

Enjoying What’s Fresh

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

 

Early Summer Produce at Owl Wood Farm’s Stand, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

The many vegetable farmers who bring their harvests to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays offer an abundance of early summer freshness – thick luscious leaves of kale and Swiss chard; bountiful bags of lettuce and salad mixes; tender carrots, sprightly radishes, and bright baby beets accompanied by long leafy tops.

This festive array often makes one want to buy everything. But then comes the question: How to enjoy it all before it wilts?

“How to store it, how long will it last? These are questions we get a lot,” says Justine Denison, of Denison Farm.

Such issues might particularly perplex subscribers of community supported agriculture (CSA) programs who receive boxes filled to the brim with produce every week. CSA subscribers are vital to many farmers’ livelihoods and the boxes, in return, are intended to offer up ample supplies of produce for up to a week. Many others also rely on their weekly or twice-weekly market visits for much of what they eat. As a result, it is in the interest of everyone to know how best to keep these seasonal vegetables fresh.

Denison offers the following tips:

  • Shop early. Farmers harvest and cool vegetables within a day if not hours before market. As a result, produce is most fresh right at the market.
  • Bring coolers to keep produce cool if you’re not heading straight home.
  • At home, give leafy greens like kale a cold water bath if they appear wilted. Drip or spin dry the leaves before storing them.
  • Store vegetables in a crisper in bags that are left open, allowing the produce some room to breathe.
  • Don’t wash vegetables until you’re ready to eat them.
  • Strategize. Radishes, turnips, and beets last longer than their green tops, all of which are delicious steamed, lightly sautéed, or in salads. Clip the tops off and eat them first. Save the roots for later.

And don’t hold back. What’s in season changes fast. Owl Wood Farm’s snap peas have been a hit. Now, though, “That season is about done for us,” says owner Mark Bascom. Meanwhile, “green beans are just starting and we’ll start to pick them next week.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and check us out on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.

CSA Shares Simplify Cooking for Busy Parents

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Tomorrow, as you visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, we invite you to consider a different kind of Mother’s’ Day gift: A seasonal CSA share from one of our local farms.

CSA is shorthand for community supported agriculture. A share is like the purchase of stock: It reflects an investment in a farmer’s livelihood in exchange for receipt of a box filled with fresh foods from that farmer each week.

“It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement for everyone,” says Justine Denison, of Denison Farm. “It reconnects people with the land that sustains them while helping to build awareness of our interdependence on each other.”

Denison began offering CSAs in 2005 after the family began farming on land leased from another farmer who Denison recalls growing “the most beautiful produce around.” Inspired by the example, the Denisons have made the distribution of beautiful food via CSAs much of their farming mission on their own land in Schaghticoke.

CSA shareholders pick up their boxes at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market or other distribution sites and then have time to browse and enjoy the market, supplementing their boxes with meats, cheeses, and other foods from other vendors.

“It’s a beautiful arrangement,” Denison says. “People look at the box and start asking questions about how to prepare what’s in there. We respond with recipes and cooking strategies. It creates a connection that becomes long-lasting.”

The connection is sustained as farmland changes hands. The Gomez family now farms the land that the Denison family leased. They too offer CSAs, with an option for either a boxed share containing a predetermined selection of produce or a market share, which gives the purchaser the option of choosing a set amount of items.

Produce farmers generally begin offering CSA shares for purchase through May, and begin distributions in June.

For market administrator Julia Howard, CSAs s take the guesswork out of cooking.

“It’s an awesome option for working families who enjoy cooking and eating healthy and local,” says Howard. “You know that every week you will have a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, with the added bonus of supporting a local farmer.”

Farms offering CSA shares at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market are Owl Wood Farm (vegetables), Gomez VeggieVille (vegetables), Elihu Farm (eggs), Clyde O’Scope Farm (fruit and vegetables), and Denison Farm (vegetables).

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and check us out on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.

Spring Festival Highlights Local Food Systems

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market hosts its third annual Spring Festival tomorrow. Between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., the festival will feature hourly workshops and family-friendly activities aimed at helping both market regulars and newcomers gain a stronger understanding of how the local food system operates.

All of the workshops are free, open to all ages, and will offer attendees gifts. The schedule includes:

  • A 9 a.m. presentation on beekeeping by Rick Green of Ballston Lake Apiaries. Green, a recently retired market vendor, will discuss the life cycle of bees and give an introduction to beekeeping. Hives will be available for purchase, and free beverages will be offered to all attendees.
  • A 10 a.m. session on making the most of your CSA with Justine Denison of Denison Farm. This workshop will offer tips on storing and using produce and will outline the benefits of signing up for a CSA share. Anouk Booneman, co-founder of Spring Into Health will offer a live cooking demonstration during this session, using seasonal produce. Attendees will receive a free Saratoga Farmers’ Market tote bag.
  • A 11 a.m. workshop on seed bombs by Cornell Cooperation Extension Master Gardener Lori Bishop. Bishop will demonstrate how to make seed bombs and will send attendees home with seed packets to create these life giving bombs themselves.
  • A 12 p.m. demonstration on succulents by Suzanne Balet of Balet Flowers and Design. Balet will offer information about planting and caring for succulents and offer all attendees to plant their own succulent to take home.

In addition, the Friends of the Market will host a take-home planting activity for children of all ages and abilities, and the Children’s Museum of Saratoga will offer a spring-themed activity.

Over the past two years, the festival has drawn hundreds of visitors, and in 2016 it prompted I Love NY to declare the Saratoga Farmers’ Market the No. 1 Must Visit Farmers’ Market in the state.

The goal, says market director Julia Howard, is to raise awareness of the value of local food and farming in a fun way. “Getting people involved in their local food scene is a great way to get them to participate in it. The farmers’ market embraces its role in this respect as an educator and resource on local food.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park through April. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; and contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities.