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

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

Pick-your-own

Connecting to farms with fall fun

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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

Apples Evoke a Taste of the Change of Seasons

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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.