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Growing Love on the Farm

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Ann and Josh Carnes met in September 2015 at a fire department pig roast near Josh’s farm in Laporte, Colorado. Ann was growing edible flowers and herbs in nearby Wellington. Josh had just retired from the fire department and had a handyman business and a garden on a three-acre homestead. They fell in love and began farming together the next spring. 

In November 2017, they uprooted their lives and moved to New York to start Ramble Creek Farm. They joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market in 2018, selling mushrooms, pork and poultry. Late last summer, amid preparations for their first autumn on the new farm, they married.

Their story highlights an important but not always talked about aspect of farm life – its reliance on interdependence. Nine out of 10 farmers farm as families, often as couples. While hard work and low profitability can strain such relationships, these factors also can make the romances more resilient. Nationwide, farm couples divorce less than others. Shared commitments to making farms grow often also help such relationships grow.

For Ann and Josh, that has meant a division of roles alongside frequent consultation. Josh does most of the animal care and the “building and fixing of things.” Ann’s creative talents put her in charge of marketing and branding. She represents Ramble Creek at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. Josh once a week rises at 2:30 a.m. to drive to New York City for the Union Square Greenmarket.

Both love the work and try to not let it take over their lives completely.

Josh and Ann Carnes on their wedding day

Their wedding illustrated that. 

It took place on their farm on the last sunny weekend before the turn toward cooler weather. They said their vows in what they now call “the wedding pasture,” before friends and family from all over the country. A friend officiated, and as Josh put it, “we all drank, ate, and danced our butts off.”

“Neither of us are sure why we decided to stack a wedding on top of starting our new farm and everything that comes along with that,” says Ann, “but we wanted to make it official.”

“And here we are,” adds Josh, “doing our best for our land, our animals, and ourselves.”

Pot Stickers

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Feel free to use ground meats other than pork, and to substitute honey,* carrots,* and turnips* for the sugar and water chestnuts.

* Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork*

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sesame seed oil

white pepper

1 teaspoon oil

2 teaspoons cooking sherry

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1-2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 egg,* beaten

½ cup water chestnut, finely chopped

Finely chopped onions,* garlic* and/or shallots,* to taste

Wonton wrappers

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients, except wonton wrappers, in a bowl.

2. Prepare a small bowl of warm water. Place individual wonton wrappers on countertop or wooden board. Dip finger into water and skirt the edges of wrappers so that they stick together when folded.

3. Place about a tablespoon of meat mixture into the middle of the wrapper and fold.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

5. Lightly oil a steaming basket and place wontons in basket, making sure that the edges don’t touch.

6. Steam in batches for eight minutes.

7. Remove from basket and serve with hot mustard, sriracha, or any other dipping sauce of choice.

Winter Time Is Stew Time

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By Mary Pratt

In the cold of winter, it’s time for the comfort of warm savory stews. The Saratoga Farmer’s Market has the needed ingredients and ideas from different cultures to spice your stews up. 

Arnold Grant, of M & A Farm, is celebrating his 20th year at the market. Although most known for his family’s delicious breakfast sandwiches, he also raises and sells pork. Stewing pork is versatile; it can be used for Indian curry or French stew. Longlesson, Lewis Waite, Moxie Ridge, and Mariaville also raise pork. Pork butt (a shoulder cut) makes an excellent stew, as does fresh pork leg.

Christophe Robert, of Longlesson Farm, grows weaned piglets on pasture from spring until the snow falls. He also raises grass-fed beef until they are three to four years old to insure flavorful and marbled meat. Since Christophe is from France, he recommends making boeuf bourguignon, a stew with red wine and vegetables including onions and mushrooms, or a Flemish stew, boeuf carbonnade, with dark beer. He offers cubed beef for stew, but suggests that chuck will make stew that is more moist and flavorful.

Lewis-Waite Farm also raises grass-fed beef. Janet Lampman, who works for owners Nancy and Alan Brown, said it’s important to stew or oven-braise grass fed beef very slowly. She likes shanks or round roast. 

Ann Carnes, of Ramble Creek Farm, offers a variety of chicken. She finds the best cuts for cooking a chicken stew are thighs or drumsticks. Squashville Farm’s Himanee and Jim Gupta-Carlson offer fresh heritage-breed roasting chickens, from which they use leftover meat for soups and stews. In the last ten minutes of cooking, the chicken is added to warm through. Most recently Himanee made a Peruvian stew called Cazuela (casserole). 

Bob and Mary Pratt, of Elihu Farm, have raised lambs for over 30 years. After weaning, lambs graze for three seasons, and eat hay or baleage in winter. The best stew cuts are shoulder, shanks and neck. They enjoy making Moroccan tagine, Indian curry, and osso bucco. 

Come talk with the farmers at the market to get recipe details and other ideas.

Planning a Summer Supper on the Grill

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

A great perk of summer is eating outdoors. My husband and I do this as often as we can manage. About 7 p.m., he gathers up wood and gets a fire going in our old charcoal goal. As the wood burns down to coals, I prep. Then, we cook and eat slowly, sipping wine and beer, watching the sunset and sky darken to dusk.

What goes on the grill? Where does it come from?

Most of what we eat comes from our farm or the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. What goes on the grill depends on what’s in season at the market.

The centerpiece of most of our meals is a meat, farm-raised and brought to an ambient temperature, maybe brushed with a bit of Dancing Ewe Farm’s olive oil, maybe sprinkled with black pepper or garlic, maybe topped with finely chopped rosemary or sage.

The “maybes” are truly that. Options. The meats our farmers bring to market come from animals that feast on the flavorful bounty of outdoor pastures, and rarely require much to enhance their flavor. We rotate between chicken, goat, pork, fish, lamb, and beef, and often grill double portions so as to have leftovers for the next day’s breakfasts and lunches – or an indoor stir-fry or stew for dinner if it happens to rain.

While meat is the main course, the real stars are the sides: vegetables in all shapes, textures, and tastes.

I plan a supper’s vegetables around three basic cooking styles: roasted, sautéed, and right on the grill. Roasted is usually a starch – such as hakurei turnips, trimmed, wrapped in foil and cooked until fork-soft and slightly caramelized. For sautéing, try a bunch of seasonal greens such as tatsoi, tossed into a frying pan or wok with olive oil, lemon juice, and maybe chopped onion, green garlic, or chive. Stir fry the greens for 2-4 minutes until they have wilted. Right on the grill is anything that likes a slight singe. For instance, asparagus, cooked to a bright green, about two minutes.

Summer supper possibilities on the grill are endless. Try your own combinations and stop by the market to share your results.

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

 

Cracking the Code for Chowder

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By Pattie Garrett

What’s more American than apple pie? Along the Eastern Seaboard, the answer could very well be clam chowder, specifically New England clam chowder. Despite the variations – Manhattan, Rhode Island – the classic chowder is New England.
 Chowder originated in fishing villages along the coasts of France and Britain. Fishermen returning from their trips would celebrate with a large chaudiere – or cauldron – of their catch. The name of the mix of fish, aromatics, and vegetables cooked in the chaudiere came to be known over time as chowder. Because clams and oysters were plentiful on America’s northeast coast and a favorite with Native Americans, they came to be adopted by the Europeans who settled in the Americas, too. From these coastal beginnings came New England clam chowder.
             Not all of us, however, are from the coast. Some of us grew up landlocked surrounded by cornfields and forested mountains. For us, too, chowder has become a favorite dish – one that features the farm-raised meats of our region: chicken and pork.
              Making a successful chowder starts with a good base. I begin with a whole chicken from the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. That goes into a Dutch oven with onion, celeriac, a bay leaf and plenty of water. I cook the chicken until it’s done, pull off the meat, and toss the bones back into the pot. I set the meat aside and continue to let the bones simmer until I have an awesome rich stock.
             Pork is a traditional ingredient whether as sliced bacon, slab bacon or salt pork. But it’s not the pork as much as the method that’s important. In an empty pot, cook the bacon slowly at a low temperature and don’t let it burn. While it cooks, scrape up the browned pieces from the bottom of the pot. Those brown scrapings matter: they hold the code to a great chowder – the flavor. Then come vegetables: The standard is cor

 

n, which makes chowder a perfect dish for the corn you might have frozen if you stocked up on the fresh corn available last summer at the farmers’ market. Other vegetables might be diced potatoes or carrots, or perhaps a sprinkle of pea shoots just before serving.
Add the shredded chicken and stir in some heavy cream at the end for a creamy consistency. And there you have it, a rich, chunky, serious cup of chowder.
          Visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in Saratoga Spa State Park; follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; and contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities.

New farmer brings the ‘moxie’ to her work

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Leah Hennessy decided to become a farmer on the day she had her first affectionate encounter with a goat.

Now the owner of Moxie Ridge Farm & Creamery, one of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s newer vendors, Hennessy recalls that she was on a business trip as a wine consultant in Provence, France. She had asked if she could visit a fromagerie, or cheese shop. A day with a regional cheesemaker was arranged.

At the end of the day, the cheesemaker took her to the barn to meet the goats. As the animals excitedly approached the equally excited American visitor, the cheesemaker murmured in French to a translator accompanying Hennessy. Hennessy caught the word “bisou.”

 

“I know what that means,” she exclaimed. “It means kisses.”

“That’s right,” replied the cheesemaker via the translator. “They like kisses.”

A yearling goat poked her nose through a fence, and Hennessy bent down.

She was hooked.

Hennessy had worked and lived in Hollywood for eight years. She packed up that life and returned to Albany where she grew up. She poured her savings into farmer-training seminars and courses and schooled herself in goat rearing, herd management, cheese-making, and sustainable agriculture while working at area farms.

In late 2016, through a partnership with Dirt Capital, and assistance from such organizations as American Farmland Trust, the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corp., FARMroots, and the Agricultural Stewardship Association, she acquired the farm formerly operated by Longview Farm owners Dave and Liza Porter.

Cannonball Cheese by Moxie Ridge Farm

In her first year, Hennessy has brought French and other European inspired cheeses to market. She also offers chicken and goose eggs, poultry, goat milk and yogurt, and pork.

The ridge in the farm name reflects the area topography. Moxie reflects Hennessy herself – a tough woman determined to persist. She uses minimal machinery, relies on animals for land maintenance, and loves each and every animal under her stewardship passionately.

“All my life I’ve looked for something that would be meaningful to me and give me complete fulfillment,” says Hennessy, at her farm. “I’ve found it here.”

 

 

As if in agreement, chickens squawk, goats bleat, and a gaggle of geese parade between the farm entrance and her front steps.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.