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Bringing Pork and Greens Together

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Isabel Buenaga grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, far away from farming. She went to Lehigh University, where she grew aware of many world problems and was frustrated by a lack of solutions.

Then, she spent the summer of 2016 working at a farm in Vermont. A solution to at least one problem – food waste – started to click. She spent the next few years traveling between Puerto Rico and the Northeast U.S., working at other farms. She started Pork & Greens in 2020.

Pork and Greens, photo provided.

Two years later, Buenaga is raising pigs and growing pea shoots and other microgreens on leased land in Rensselaer County. The combination brings together animals she loves, foods she likes, and a path toward a more sustainable food system she hopes to help build.

 

 

I visited the farm on a mild March afternoon, arriving a few hours after Buenaga brought in the first batch of piglets she plans to raise this year. As the eight-week-old animals oinked excitedly in their new pen, Buenaga and the farm’s assistant manager Emily Liebelt prepared part of the animals’ meal: milk, bread, buns, cookies, and bananas from the Regional Food Bank.

Pork and Greens, photo provided.

Pork & Greens pigs feast twice a day on such food bank goods along with spent brewer’s grains and whey. This blend gives the animals vital nutrients through food that otherwise would go to waste. As the piglets grow, their consumption increases. They go out onto pastures where they root out grasses and weeds, which can offer future space for the planting of greens and other vegetables. 

Buenaga loves her pigs for their silly antics and fondness for belly rubs. She also appreciates how they help eliminate food waste. “Packages get broken or mislabeled, and the food inside them gets thrown out. In addition, a lot of the food we produce generates by-products like whey. Pigs are a good way not to let that all go to waste.” 

 

Pork and Greens, photo provided.

Buenaga also grows microgreens and hopes to add additional greens. For now, she is starting small. In November, she joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market as a new vendor and looks forward to her first outdoor season this spring.

This week’s recipe: Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

Know Your Farmer – and Get to Know a Few New Ones, too

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

We get it. It’s January. It’s cold. It’s COVID, year three. 

And while you might love the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, you feel it has changed.

You’re right. We’ve changed. Some longtime, well-established vendors are gone. Their owners retired or chose amid the COVID-19 pandemic to shift their operations toward online, home delivery, or mail-order sales.

But we are still the same market in many ways. We still offer some of the best locally grown, raised, or made foods and craft items. We’ve continued to do so by shifting our definition of local away from the six counties that traditionally defined our vendor base toward a more inclusive idea. That shift has helped bring in vendors from other counties, from anywhere within 50 miles of Saratoga.Our new vendors give our market a new face. But they value good products that are local. Stop by and say hello. In time, they’ll be quite familiar to you. 

Here’s the lowdown on a few:

  • Pork & Greens. This farm hails from the Hudson Valley and is woman-owned. Isabel Buenaga started the farm in July 2020, with a mission to create healthy soil, reduce food waste, and produce high-quality pork and nutrient-rich greens. Her pigs “graze and laze” on 15 acres of woodlands and receive a carefully monitored diet of repurposed foods. Foods that would otherwise be trashed or composted become nutrition for the pigs and yield nicely flavored pork chops, sausages, ham steaks, and other pork items. As for the greens, they are chosen for their ability to withstand our region’s bitterly cold winters and sweltering summers. Check out Buenaga’s kale, pea shoots, and lettuces.
    Pork and Greens, photo by Pattie Garrett.
  • The Mushroom Shop. This farm, based in Salem, is run by Jacob Howard and Elise Olsen. They joined the Wednesday market last spring and are continuing through the winter to offer gourmet specialty mushrooms for culinary and medicinal uses. Check out their oyster, beech, and cinnamon cap offerings.
    The Mushroom Shop, photo by Pattie Garrett
  • Boozy Moo. Yes, ice cream in winter. Boozy Moo, based in Albany, is the brainchild of Leila Kiosse. Kiosse had opened a craft cocktails bar and games house in early 2020. Like so many retail outlets, hers was shuttered amid the pandemic. Kiosse began experimenting with craft ice creams, infusing them with alcohol, and realized she had a great new approach to a popular dessert on her hands. Ask for a sample and let Kiosse’s cool treats warm your soul.
    Boozy Moo!, photo by Pattie Garrett

 

This week’s featured recipe: Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Leaning into farming

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Leaning Birch Farm, photo provided

It’s about an hour before sunset. A truckload of deep brown compost has just arrived at Leaning Birch Farm. It sits in a heap near the garden beds and high tunnels that Dan and Rose Fera began putting in their backyard five years ago.

Nic, their son, greets me as I pull up, but his focus is on the compost. A former coffee shop worker and musician, he pays close attention to the aesthetics – the color, the texture, the smell. He thrusts his arms deep into the heap and pulls out a handful. He forms a ball and lets its crumble through his palms back into the pile. He then buries his nose into a handful, savoring its smell.

Photo provided by Leaning Birch Farm

Leaning Birch Farm is among several new produce vendors at this year’s Saratoga Farmers’ Market. The Feras grow dozens of varieties of vegetables in approximately 1.5 acres of space. They use intensive, high-yield planting techniques to maximize their space, which as Nic notes, teaches that “you don’t need a lot of land to make a decent living.”

Nic grew up in Saratoga Springs, where his parents were renters. Dan restored violins and Rose worked as a clinical director for a special education school. All three had a flair for art and a fondness for fresh food. Nic began playing music at coffee shops, and ultimately worked in the business himself.

Dan and Rose had a garden and relatively low rent. Still, they yearned to build equity by doing something they loved. That desire led them to purchase a house in Broadalbin. The house came with a yard filled with good soil and abutted a pond. It also came with a mortgage that was nearly twice the monthly amount they had been paying in rent.

Dan had a plan: Pay the mortgage with garlic.

“I had heard somewhere that you could make $40,000 a year on an acre of garlic,” he said with a laugh.

Nic and Ashley at Leaning Birch Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

Garlic as a sole moneymaker never materialized, but the idea helped the Feras see the hunger for fresh local foods. They began selling to restaurants, via a farm stand, and through a CSA. About three years ago, they joined their first farmers market, and now sell at markets in Schenectady, Glens Falls, and Saratoga.

“It’s a cool feeling to realize how many other people also are sitting down to dinner, eating our vegetables,” adds Rose. “We’re not just taking care of ourselves but our community, too.”

This week’s recipe: Ginger Sesame Salmon Salad

Get to know greens at the farmers’ market

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Fiddleheads, Ramble Creek Farm, photo by Madison Jackson

By Madison Jackson & Julia Howard

Spring is finally bringing warmer weather and with it an abundance of much-anticipated seasonal produce to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. Greens, in many forms, including perennials, hearty cold-weather crops, and greenhouse-grown, have been catching our eye, and we invite you to try some fresh new flavors of the season.

Several farms at the Wednesday and Saturday farmers’ markets offer varieties of greens. This includes red romaine, baby spinach, radicchio, green romaine, red leaf, arugula, mustard greens, red chard, and tatsoi. These greens offer distinct fresh flavors and textures, and they are high in nutritional value, too. Depending on the green, some may be cooked, wilted, or enjoyed fresh as a salad.

Pea & sunflower shoots, Leaning Birch Farm, photo by Madison Jackson

Vibrant sunflower and sweet pea shoots are available at Leaning Birch Farm on Saturdays. Pea shoots have the sweet, grassy flavor of snap peas with a refreshing crunch, and sunflower shoots have a nutty taste with a similar crisp bite. According to Nic Fera of Leaning Birch Farm, both are a year-round crop for their farm. “They are great to add a little fresh accent to dishes,” says Fera.

Capital Greens NY brings varieties of microgreens to the Saturday farmers’ market, including the mixes like their Signature Gourmet, Thai Basil, and Gourmet Fiesta. Microgreens are young vegetable greens packed with nutrients and are easy to incorporate into many dishes or used as a garnish. Try them on sandwiches, in salads, on pizza, or blend them into a smoothie.

If you’re a fan of fiddleheads, stop by Ramble Creek Farm this month while they’re in season. Fiddleheads are young shoots that grow from the ostrich fern, and with a very narrow harvest season, you can only enjoy these shoots in the early spring from around late April to early June. With a nutty and sweet flavor reminiscent of asparagus, fiddleheads may be steamed, braised, or sauteed, as they contain a trace amount of a toxin and cannot be consumed raw.

This week, we encourage you to try something new, whether it be a new product or shopping with a new vendor at the Wednesday or Saturday markets.

This week’s recipe: Spring Vegetable Pasta

Eating with the Season: Summer Meals

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By Catherine Morba

We have waited patiently, our farmers have worked tirelessly, and the Upstate New York soil has recognized the efforts and responded with annual generosity. Market tables are beginning to overflow with rainbows of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. With so many ingredients for the taking, cooks can indulge in cravings for juicy peaches, leafy greens, and heirloom tomatoes of all sorts while paying homage to the local lands that bore them.

Summer vegetables on the grill

This special season deserves cooking that is equally so. The ideal recipe is light, refreshing, and a celebration of all summer has to offer. Another consideration is temperature. During the dog days of summer, the less time spent inside with ovens ablaze the better. When heat is required, a grill can be a saving grace. Grilling up a large batch of fresh vegetables tossed in a simple marinade such as minced garlic, lemon juice, and good quality olive oil provides options for the next several meals. I use a grill basket, skillet, or shish kabob set depending on the vegetable but prefer to put them right on the grate for the coveted grill marks. Serve them as-is, then combine leftovers with grains like bulgur, quinoa, or rice. Grill whole bell peppers and stuff with any of the above, or beans and cilantro for a Southwest take. Experiment with fresh herbs, cheeses, kinds of vinegar, and seasonings to round out the dishes.

This week, try Polenta with Grilled Eggplant, Tomatoes and Basil. While the grate is still hot, make way for a dessert of Grilled Peaches with Browned Butter and Cinnamon Crumbs. The options for different flavors, textures, and pops of color are endless and impressive, but not time-consuming. Meals that are quick to come together allow for more precious moments in the backyard with feet kicked up, full plate in hand, and family and friends abound.

Vegetables in their ‘Baby’ Stage Add a Touch of Green to Winter Market

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

For Shane Avery, Saturday mornings begin early. He rises before 5 a.m. to harvest, prep, and bring his tiny little “vegetables” – known as microgreens – to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market.

At 9 a.m., the market bell rings and the greens – beets, broccoli, peas, radishes, and more – sit nestled in clear reusable containers, gleaming. Soon, market goers surround his table. Often, by the market’s 1 p.m. close, Avery has sold out.

A Sampler Pack. Photo by Pattie Garrett

Avery owns Saratoga Urban Farm. The farm is based in Gansevoort and produces microgreens, wheatgrass, culinary herbs, and other products. Avery started the business a year ago and joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market last November. His clientele has expanded to include two farmers’ markets and a few local restaurants.

Microgreens are essentially vegetables in their youngest stage, harvested when the seeds from which they’re grown have produced their first true leaves.

“They’re about 10 days old,” says Avery. “At this stage, they have the strong flavor of their parent vegetable and a very high level of nutrient density.”

Pleasant Valley Farm offers pea and sunflower shoots, among other vegetables. Avery specializes in microgreens. His packages include the greens of individual vegetables and mixes.

For many, the appeal of microgreens is ease. They require minimal washing – just a quick rinse under running water and a shake dry – and little prep. They can be sprinkled over omelets, folded into sandwiches, added to stir fry dishes, casseroles, or soups. Avery offers a handout with 52 ideas for using them, one for each week of the year.

He likes them best fresh in a bowl, with a light drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Unlike sprouts, which are typically grown in water, microgreens are grown in soil. Avery soaks his seeds for a day, plants them in trays filled with an organic soil, and gives them three to four days to germinate, at which point they go under grow lights. Three to four days later, the tiny plants are ready for harvesting.

Avery times the soaking, planting, and germinating so harvests come just before market. They arrive at market 1-2 inches long, bright, crisp, and packed to remain fresh for seven days.