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locally grown

Apples Evoke a Taste of the Change of Seasons

September 24, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

A couple of weeks ago, on my way back from a visit to a farm in Washington County, I stopped at Saratoga Apple in Schuylerville. Nate Darrow, who owns and operates Saratoga Apple with Christine Gaud, suggested I try a Williams Pride.

It was love at first bite.

Williams Pride apples are dark red, soft skinned and have a flesh flecked with streaks of red. Their flavor is delicately sweet, like summer itself. You can find them tomorrow at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market with a range of other early apples.

But hurry. Tomorrow might be the last chance to savor these fruits of summer before Saratoga Apple’s full array of fall apples roll in.

Why such a brief season? According to Darrow, summer apples do not store well. They are thinner and go soft quickly. Unlike most of the many varieties that sustain market goers throughout the year, the summer apples come and go fast.

“We call them fragile flowers,” says Darrow. “They are meant to be savored briefly, then forgotten until the following year.”

Among the “fragile flowers” are Williams Pride, Pristine, Zestar, Paula Red, and Ginger Gold. Like a bouquet of flowers, they look pretty on a plate, offering a range of colors: deep red, bright yellow, softly sheened green.

Their flavors also span a broad spectrum: extraordinarily sweet, boldly tart. 

As I bit into the Williams Pride, memories of childhood surfaced. My family lived in India for a year in 1973-74. We got fresh fruits and vegetables almost daily from a vendor we called the sabzi wallah, which translates to the vegetable seller. He would pull into our compound and call out the residents to come. We would get apples that were small, red, and sweet.

Golden Supremes. Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

This week, the calendar shifted from summer to fall. With it, the apples of fall – Cortlands, Empires, Northern Spies, and Belle de Boskoop, among others – are filling Saratoga Apple’s bins at the farmers’ market. Apple crisps, pies, and sauces beckon.

But tomorrow I hope to fill my bag with the last of the fragile flowers, for a final taste of summer until the following year. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park through October 31. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities. 

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: buy local, Christine Gaud, early harvest, Fall Apples, farmers' market, local fruit, local harvest, locally grown, Nate Darrow, Pick-your-own, Saratoga Apple, Saratoga Farmers' Market, Schuylerville, shop local, Summer Apples, Williams Pride

Preparing for Winter Now

September 10, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Photos courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Farmers’ market zucchini

Chowderfest is just around the corner … well, it isn’t, but from a planner’s perspective, it might very well be.

Part of farming is planning. So, even as farmers and regulars at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market are savoring the abundance of summer produce, many also are thinking ahead to winter.

Tomatoes, zucchini, corn, beans, and eggplant are plentiful now at the farmers’ market and in backyard gardens. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, they’ll disappear.

I have to confess that while my husband likes to cook down pounds of tomatoes into sauces to can, I enjoy eating what’s fresh and in season. But every once so often I get a hankering in winter for a taste of the summer – for “fresh” green beans in the legendary Thanksgiving green-bean casserole, for sweet corn in clam chowder in early February.  

Summer Harvest Vegetable Soup

So how to get these tastes of summer in the middle of winter?

One simple answer to freeze them now while they’re at their peak flavor.

I’ve also balked at freezing too much in the past, partly because I forget what I have frozen partly because many recipes require blanching vegetables first to preserve their flavor. Blanching requires dropping vegetables into boiling water, cooking them for a few minutes, then plunging them into ice water. It prevents the enzymes in vegetables from deteriorating. But it is a chore.

However, blanching isn’t required for all vegetables, especially if you plan to use them within six months. I’ve decided to experiment this month. I’ll freeze tomatoes in freezer bags whole, probably for a month, for my husband to can. Zucchini, I’ll shred, for winter baking. Green beans are being trimmed and frozen for casseroles and stir fries. I’ll blanch a few eggplants and save them for bharta, a softly mashed Indian eggplant dish I like.

And, finally, corn. The cold of winter and the warmth of chowder are on my brain, so I’m going to try freezing some corn straight on the cob for shucking when I use it. I’ll also trying blanching some to ensure I have sweet, crunchy “fresh” corn when Chowderfest comes. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through October 31 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.

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: blanching, Chowderfest, corn, corn chowder, easy ways to preserve vegetables, eggplant, freezing vegetables, green beans, local produce, locally grown, Saratoga Farmers' Market, summer produce in winter, tomatoes, Zucchini

Garlic and the Love of Farming

August 13, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Jim and Himanee Gupta-Carlson, owners of Squashville Farm, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

My husband Jim and I love garlic. Not just the sight, smell, and taste of the bulbs, which are at their peak season now at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, but everything about the planting, tending, and harvesting of it.

We began growing garlic seven years ago, well before our backyard land became Squashville Farm. We started with cloves we got from the Row to Hoe Farm. The following year, we purchased garlic in bulk and began saving seed. By 2015, we were harvesting about 600 bulbs a year.

During those years, we also helped form the Friends of the Saratoga Market volunteer organization. In that capacity, we got to know local farmers, learned more about growing food, grew an increasing variety of vegetables, and began raising laying hens, meat chickens, and goats.

This spring, we became vendors at Saratoga’s Wednesday market. At our stall, just past the central pavilion on the north end, you will find lettuce, kale, chard, and other greens; a range of seasonal vegetables; eggs, chicken, and several cuts of goat meat. And, of course, garlic. This is the food we grow to eat and enjoy offering to others.

Garlic comes in numerous varieties, and we like to sample a lot of them. We do this by traveling to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, where we meet growers and taste their wares. We decide what to plant based on what our taste buds like.

This year, we chose three varieties, one from each of the “hard neck” families. Our Red Chesnok is a purple stripe, great for baking and eating roasted; our Georgian Heat is a porcelain, great for general cooking and longer-term storage; and our Ukrainian Red is a rocambole, known for having a lot of cloves in varying sizes and a true garlic taste.

We planted cloves in November. They sprouted in the spring. The sprouts turned into stalks that produced scapes in June, which we cut off and sold. The stalks then turned brown, telling us it was time to harvest.   

As my husband notes, garlic is magical. It’s a year-round anticipation, planning, and celebration of farm-grown food.

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 out the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.

 

Filed Under: Featured Article, News Tagged With: fall harvest, farming, garlic, garlic varieties, Jim and Himanee Gupta-Carlson, locally grown, planting, Saratoga Farmers' Market, Squashville Farms, Wednesday Market

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After a much anticipated wait, come June 1st, the After a much anticipated wait, come June 1st, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be returning to High Rock Park for our Wednesday and Saturday Markets! Thank you to everyone on our team, our vendors, customers and friends who have helped to make this transition happen. Stay tuned for upcoming events celebrating our move! 

Photo: Flowers from @lovinmamafarm 

Parking will be available on High Rock Ave and in the new City Center Parking Garage (free for the first hour and $1/hr after that) 

#saratogasprings #farmersmarket #farmtotable #shoplocal #june1st #highrockpark
It is our second to last market on High Rock Ave b It is our second to last market on High Rock Ave before heading back over to the pavilion on June 1st!!! Stop by tomorrow from 3-6pm for our musical guest Dave Moore and our friends from @bsneny 

Photos by Pattie Garrett @mysaratogakitchentable 

#farmtotable #saratogafarmersmarket #shoplocal #healthyfood #smallbuisness
Join us this Saturday for the Saratoga Farmers’ Join us this Saturday for the Saratoga Farmers’ Market located at the Wilton mall from 9am to 1pm. Our friends from @comfortfoodcommunity will be there along with our musical guest @maltacoustic . Don’t forget your sunscreen!

#saratogasprings #shoplocal #farmtotable #shopsmall #farmersmarket
Tomorrow at our Wednesday 3-6pm Market outside the Tomorrow at our Wednesday 3-6pm Market outside the lower city civic center parking lot @northernriversfostercare will be joining us for a seed planting activity for kids! #saratogasprings #farmersmarket #shoplocal

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