Saratoga Farmers' Market

Ramble Creek Farm

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.

Finding Freshness in the Freezer

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Mid-winter meals often call for “something fresh.”

At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, “something fresh” in February usually means stored fruits and vegetables from late summer harvests, or items like microgreens and pea shoots that can be grown in flat trays over heating mats or under lights, or small tomatoes and cucumbers that can be grown in greenhouses.

Late summer produce, photo By Eric Jenks

All that is good. But sometimes the taste buds want something more – out of season peppers, beans, broccoli, a wide variety of tomatoes, or corn.

In the past, saving foods for the winter was a necessity. In a practice known as “putting foods by,” families salted, pickled, dried, canned or otherwise preserved freshly harvested fruits or vegetables for later use.

The rise of global shipping and grocery chains caused many to abandon the practice, as did changes in the societal structure that led to longer working hours and more activities outside the home. It became faster and easier to just drop by the store.

But I hate buying non-local produce. I love growing food with my husband and supporting my farmer friends by buying what they grow. Last September I decided to try putting foods by in a simple way: I stored fresh tomatoes, beans, peppers, broccoli and sweet corn in freezer bags. On my mind then was Chowderfest, and its fabulous chowders, many of which get their zest from non-winter foods.

The result? Winter meals with more variety, flavor, and color – fresh tomato sauces, roasted broccoli, and braised beans served alongside the apples, turnips, carrots, and microgreens I can still get weekly at the market. 

I hope to finish off these delights by early May when the market moves to its outdoor location on Wednesdays and Saturdays at High Rock Park. Then, I will start planning for next winter. I invite you to join me in this venture as you visit the market now and in the future.

Clams & Mussels from Pura Vida Fisheries, photo by Pattie Garrett

As for chowder, I am thinking classic New England, made with clams (Pura Vida Fisheries) or chicken (Squashville Farm, Ramble Creek Farm, Mariaville Mushroom Men, and others), milk (Battenkill Valley Creamery), potatoes, and kernels of sweet corn, purchased last summer for weekends like this.

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.

Saratoga Farmers' Market