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

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

Gifford Farm

Connecting to farms with fall fun

By

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

How to Buy an Egg

By

By Mary Pratt

When shopping for produce or meat in supermarkets, there’s often no information about the origin of those products or how they were raised. At Saratoga Farmers’ Market, customers can easily get the “where and how” from our farmers.

One exception in grocery stores is the overwhelming amount of information on egg cartons. Some information is based on USDA definitions; some is advertising. Farm locations are often on the back of the cartons.

Ramble Creek Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

According to USDA, farms can raise egg-laying hens in various ways. If a carton states nothing, this probably means the hens are in “battery cages,” 67-76 square inches per hen, smaller than a standard sheet of paper.

Other housing methods are cage-free, free-range, and pastured. “Cage-free” hens live indoors, with no requirement for the amount of space for each hen. “Free-range” hens have access to the outdoors, but that area may be very small and covered with concrete.

Otrembiak Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

Although USDA hasn’t defined “pasture-raised,” pasture for hens should contain young grass and plants in addition to standard feed. Hens will also catch earthworms and insects. Research done by Mother Earth News and Penn State University concludes that these eggs are higher in Vitamins A, E, and D, and Omega-3 fatty acids, and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Cartons labeled pastured eggs in winter should come from states where grass grows year round such as Texas, California, Georgia, Arkansas. In the Northeast, there is no pasture once the snow falls, until spring comes.

“No Hormones” on cartons means nothing because the Federal government
doesn’t allow hens to receive hormones. “No Antibiotics” means farms add none to the hens’ feed or water.

For eggs to be labeled ‘local’, the 2008 Farm Bill requires flocks to be less than 400 miles from processing, or within the state where eggs are laid and processed. Those eggs may be shipped anywhere in the U.S. By contrast, eggs at our Market come from farms less than 30 miles away.

These are the farms that provide you with delicious, fresh, and truly local eggs: Elihu (Sat.), Gifford (Wed.), Kokinda (Sat.), Longlesson (Sat.), Moxie Ridge (Sat), Old World Farm (Wed./Sat.), Otrembiak (Wed./Sat.), Slate River (Wed.), Squashville (Wed.)

Elihu Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett