Hudson and Saratoga Local Foods

Reminder- Please circulate to help farmers affected by flooding due to Irene and Lee

2011-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

The following message was forwarded by Nancy Halas, Sr. Administrative Ass't Agriculture, Horticulture and Family & Consumer Education

Cornell Coop. Ext. Dutchess Co.
2715 Route 44, Suite 1
Millbrook, NY 12545
845-677-8223 x115
nh26@cornell.edu
http://www.ccedutchess.org/

"The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.... "
An Indian Chief, 1876

Please disseminate widely through your association networks.

Cornell Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the New York Farm Bureau and the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, has re-established the CCE Forage Exchange to assist farmers affected by the recent flooding.

The Forage Exchange can be reached via the front page of the main Cornell Cooperative Extension webpage at http://cce.cornell.edu. The Forage Exchange provides an electronic venue for farmers who have available feed and forage to post, and for farmers who need feed and forage to locate. All transactions (including arrangements for transportation) will take place among the farmers themselves. Cooperative Extension Educators and Farm Bureau staff across the state will be available to assist farmers in using the Exchange.

http://ccetest-lamp.cit.cornell.edu/forage/index.php?cityid=0

Keith G. Tidball
NY Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)
Cornell Cooperative Extension
115A Bruckner Hall
607-254-5479

David Letterman appeals for aid for Schoharie

2011-10-03T04:38:00.001-07:00

David Letterman appeals for aid for Schoharie

Farmers continue struggle for flood aid, by Edie Johnson

2011-10-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

The Chronicle

The gridlock centers on whether disaster aid should be accompanied by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget, or given without offsets, as has always been done in the past. This week's debate yielded only temporary measures. But there's a chance the federal government will allocate more money in November, or change the rules so that crops can qualify as lost property. Read more..

Farmers push government for storm aid, by Alyssa Sunkin

2011-10-01T05:13:00.000-07:00

Schumer visits Black Dirt area, promises action

"We're a proud group. We're not ones to take handouts," said farmer Joe Morgiewicz. "We can donate and send money all over the world for people who have disasters. That's the humanitarian thing to do. I appreciate that. We're asking for help; we're asking for some rules to be changed because of something unprecedented like this." Read more..

Midhudsonnews.com, Schumer promises to push FEMA for as much aid as possible for New York

Black Dirt farmers say the usual disaster help won't help, this time

2011-09-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Mid Hudson News

Black Dirt farmer Chris Pawelski talks about shortcomings in the Crop Insurance Program and what that means for Northeast Farmers. Read more..

Senator Schumer visits hard hit Orange County farmers - YNN

Schumer, Gillibrand seek emergency Irene-related farm aid

2011-09-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

Mid Hudson News

In the aftermath of Huricane Irene, Black Dirt farmer Chris Pawelski was visited by senators Chuck Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand, both of whom have requested emergency funding to aid New York farmers who lost their crops. Read more..

News 12 Senator Schumer Pawelski Farm visit

Pine Island after Hurricane Irene on YouTube

2011-09-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

From the Times Herald-Record YouTube page, aerial shots of the black dirt region of Pine Island under water post Irene

Saving the mid-Hudson's Farms helps protect us all

2011-09-29T17:36:00.001-07:00

Times Herald-Record

Just as the storm provided unique challenges wherever it went, this farm crisis is posing its own unique set of questions. The normal sources of help will not be enough. "If we have to rely on crop insurance and disaster relief, we are done," said onion farmer Chris Pawelski. To get the money they need, farmers have to hope that the federal government will be responsive and creative — that it will find ways to lift the restrictions that normally would prevent the Federal Emergency Management Authority from getting directly involved or that complicate things when coordinating efforts with the Department of Agriculture. Read more..

WABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News Flood Story 9/1/11

The almost perfect bounty, by Edie Johnson

2011-09-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Chronicle

The rains of late August turned the lowlands of the Hudson Valley back into the "Drowned Lands." The winds of hurricane Irene didn't help. But most of the crop damage was in lower terrain, which has less opportunity to drain. Read more...

Chris Pawelski talks on the New York Farm Report

2011-09-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Chris Pawelski talks about widespread farm devastation that occurred in the Black Dirt region after Hurricane Irene on the New York Farm Report

Warwick Farm Aid

2011-09-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

Warwick Farm Aid

Information on Warwick Farm Aid

Warwick Farm Aid on YouTube

2011-08-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Grand Street Eats: One-Mile Urban Harvest
The Chefs Consortium, an organization dedicated to promoting local sustainable food, Youth Organics (a program of Grand Street Community Arts), and Harmony House Marketplace will host a cocktail party at the Grand Street Community Arts in Albany on Thursday, August 25th, 6-9pm that will feature local food harvested within a one mile radius, wine, music and art. The collaboration of artists, gardeners and chefs in the historic Grand Street location will bring together the individual talents and mediums of different Albany artists while chefs prepare clean and inspiring food with the freshest, local, seasonal, and organic foods that the Mansion Neighborhood has to offer. Locally renowned artist Chip Fasciana, founder of the Albany Underground Artists, will co-host the event with the Chefs Consortium and Harmony House Marketplace while enlisting the participation of fellow artists, food artisans and musicians, including Swamp Baby, Dan Johnson and His Expert Side Men, and Andy Sink.

Grand Street Eats: One Mile Urban Harvest will display the local talents of Albany artists while providing sustainable and locally sourced food and wine. Urban farmers, chefs, and vintners will be on hand to talk about their gardens, wineries and restaurants, and how their products are incorporated into the reception.

Participating chefs include: Noah Sheetz, Hudson Valley chef and local food promoter; Nicole Cagan, The Ulster County farm-to-school initiative, "From the Ground Up"; and other prominent Albany chefs.

Buy Tickets

Kingston Farmers Market

2011-07-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2011
Kingston, New York - The Healthy Eating Series continues at the Kingston Farmers' Market this Saturday, July 9th, with Jam in July. The focus of the chef demonstration will be preserving fruit at the height of its tastiness. As a spread, topping or filling nothing adds natural sweetness like fresh jam. Come shop the almost 40 vendors offering organic and natural fare such as meats and cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables, breads and other baked goods, honey, fresh-cut flowers and so much more. Healthy eating is affordable for everyone with FMNP and EBT naturally accepted. The Kingston Farmers' Market is held every Saturday, rain-or-shine, 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., through November 19th. The Market is located on Wall Street in the historic Stockade District of Uptown Kingston, near the New York State Thruway, at Exit 19. Admission is free, as is parking. For more information or to check weekly events, visit our website at http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/ or call (845) 853-8512. Find us on Facebook.

Guided Tours at Heather Ridge Farm

2011-07-04T07:32:00.001-07:00

Guided Farm Tours at Heather Ridge Farm

Preston Hollow - Come walk the fields at Heather Ridge Farm, a grassfed livestock and poultry farm in Preston Hollow. Your guide will show you many animals: all grassfed Devon and Angus cattle, Icelandic and Dorset sheep, Boer goats, heritage breed pigs, meat chickens, layers, guinea hens, guard llamas, an alpaca and donkey. Our method of intensive managed grazing for all grassfed beef and lamb as well as pastured pigs and poultry will be explained. From all points of our scenic farm, great views of the Catskill Mountains will surround you.

The first tour will be scheduled Saturday, July 2 at 10:30am, and last about an hour. Reservations are required. Meet at the Heather Ridge Farm store and cafe at 989 Broome Center Road. There is a fee of $5 per adult, who can be accompanied by two well-behaved children. The walking tour goes up and down hills and through grassy fields. Sturdy walking shoes that can get dirty are recommended.

Tours will also be scheduled Sunday, July 10, Saturday, July 16, Sunday, July 24 and Saturday, July 30. All tours will start at 10:30am. Reservations for the farm tours can be made by calling 239-6234, or sending and e-mail to heatherridgefarm@aol.com

The Heather Ridge Farm store and the Bees Knees Cafe are open each weekend on Saturday 10am-3pm and Sunday 11am-3pm for shopping and lunch after the farm tours. Please a check the website for further details, menus and updates.

What's Happening at Heather Ridge Farm

2011-07-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Interns Chelsey and Jakob learned to make sausage - Sweet and Hot Italian specifically!

From Carol Clement, Heather Ridge Farm
We have a full plate for the upcoming long weekend ... and the forecast looks like great summer weather! Come here, take a farm tour, have lunch and shop. Or find us at the Saugerties Farmers Market on Saturday.

Fresh Beef
Fresh steaks and (new!) pre-formed hamburgers to plop right on the grill. Holiday grillouts don't get any easier or tastier! We have our all grassfed hot dogs as well.

Fresh and Reserved Chicken
There are fresh whole, half (another great grill item) and chicken parts, If you reserved whole chickens for July, this is your pickup weekend!

Chanterelles
Bob Beyfuss has foraged the first of the chanterelles in our area. He says they are still small, but we will have some of them. To be featured on our menu, too!

Guided Farm Tours
Saturday at 10:30 am is the first in our series of weekly farm tours. Walk around the farm to see the animals and our farming methods. Reservations are needed. $5/per adult who can be accompanied by two well behaved children. Next tour, Sunday, July 10.

Future Fish
Wow! The fresh fish was huge success! Feedback is they were "fabulous!" I would have ordered more if I knew how many of you were interested. I'm sorry to those of you to showed up after the fish was sold out.

We plan to have SUNY Cobleskill's fresh fish again the weekend of July 22-24. These are farm raised trout/arctic char cross raised at the college's Aquaculture program, available whole and cleaned for $6/lb. Taking orders now. Don't be disappointed again!

Bees Knees Cafe Menu
Looks like a great weekend for outdoor eating, but remember that we have expanded our indoor seating as well. Here's Saturday's menu. The first four items are available for take out Friday evening from 5-7. Friday take out, Saturday lunch and Sunday brunch buffet menus with more details will be up on the website shortly.

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup with dill 5
Chilled Borscht a simple soothing beet broth 5
Cold Sesame Noodles with Ginger Chicken 11
Wild Chanterelle Chevre Custard with organic local greens salad 9.50
Pulled Pork Sandwich with spicy sauce on a bun 9.50
Roast Beef Panini with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce 9.50
Harpersfield Cheese and Roasted Vegetable Panini 8.50
Pastured Chunky Chicken Salad, as a mixed salad platter or a sandwich 9.50
Salad Platter of organic greens, roasted vegetables, chevre and summer sausage. 9.50
Patriotic “Never Tell a Lie” Cherry Tart 5
Honey Vanilla Ice Cream 4
Giant Brownies 2.25
Assorted Beverages 2.00

Blog
Have to share this great blog that features a visit to our cafe.

And there's an article on the Bees Knees Cafe in the current issue of Kaatskill Life magazine, hitting the stands now. Woo hooo!

Eat local, wear wool, make or buy art
Heather Ridge Farm & Bees Knees Cafe
989 Broome Center Road
Preston Hollow, NY 12469
518-239-6234
heather-ridge-farm.com
bees-knees-cafe.com
Check us out on Facebook

Weeds

2011-07-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Plantain is a weed with medicinal and edible properties. The leaves can be rubbed on cuts and burns and the seeds can be dried and eaten. Like most weeds it is fairly adaptable. Here it is shown growing between the asphalt and the concrete dock at the D. Brickman Produce and Seafood Company in the Menands Farmers Market

Weeds
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from one of the garden coordinators at Capital District Community Gardens:

Dear Gardeners,

Are you struggling with weeds this season?!? You’re not alone! All of our gardens are full of “volunteers,” persistent and invasive, which are difficult but not impossible to handle. This Thursday, June 30, from 6-7 pm at the 8th Street demonstration garden we’ll host a class called “Dealing with Weeds.”

A few days later the inspiration behind the "weed class" hit home when I went to my community garden plot to do some weeding (admittedly weeks overdue), and was shocked to find the jungle that had engulfed my tomato and collard seedlings.

As I yanked out handfuls of some foot-high leafy weed, a South American woman walked up and began excitedly pointing to the weeds and talking in Spanish. "They're all yours" I said. She gathered an enormous bushel in her arms, smiled, and walked away. Unfortunately I was never able to fully understand what she was saying about the weeds. I was also very distracted by my mission of annihilating the weeds and recovering my original garden theme.

I have since regretted not talking to the woman more about the mystery weed. Over the years I've gotten pretty good at recognizing different weeds that are edible or medicinal and the one growing in my garden was not a species that was familiar to me. I do know that it had a very similar stalk and leaf structure to that of Callaloo or Amaranth. With that said, I can only imagine that it made a delicious addition to the woman's dinner that night. I only wish I'd been there to taste it.....

Read my recent segment on 'edible weeds' in All Over Albany

Feta Cheese

2011-06-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Four Brothers feta in brine (back), fetas from Three Corner Field Farm, Neighborly Farm and Euprates (back left)

Feta Review
With hundreds of cheese makers throughout New York and Vermont it should not be surprising that many are making their own style of feta. Here are four, for better or worse (mostly better), that I had a chance to try.

Three Corner Field Farm - Shushan, NY - Sheep's milk farmstead feta. The sheep are raised and milked on the farm and the cheese is made on site. As a result, the feta is super fresh, has great texture but is a bit saltier than comparable samples.

Neighborly Farm - Vermont - Organic farmstead cow's milk feta. Neighborly's feta has a fresh flavor but is not quite a traditional feta, more of a cheddar/feta hybrid. It is still a tasty cheese as long as you know what you're in for.

Euphrates - Johnstown, NY - Large upstate corporate producer of cow's milk feta. This is a consistently produced feta with a nice texture. With a rich, lightly salty, and pleasantly acidic flavor profile, Euphrates hits on all of the important standards of making a respectable feta. Euphrates is affordable - I bought a two ounce wedge at Adams Fair Acre Farms for a dollar and some change.

Four Brothers - Millerton, NY - Farmstead goat's milk feta. Perhaps one of the freshest and highest quality fetas in production, Four Brothers is a classic Greek style feta. Its not overly salty and has a creamy flavor and a rich dense texture that breaks away in fine, snowy flakes when it is cut. It is packed in eight pound buckets in brine and is available at the store in Millerton or through the Pampered Cow. I bought my bucket from D Brickman Produce, Seafood and Cheese in Menands. With exceptional quality and taste, and an $8 per pound price point, Four Brothers feta is perhaps the best value to be found.

Mulch

2011-06-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

As a covering around plants, mulch helps regulate soil temperature and prevents the growth of weeds, soil erosion and water loss. The resulting decomposition from mulch also provides a nutrient rich soil amendment. There are several materials that make for an effective mulch, each with its own potential nutrient density, insulating properties and landscaping aesthetic.

Grass clippings are free but are not the most visually spectacular garden mulch

Buckwheat hulls make a beautiful mulch but can be pricey. They are recommended for small areas and container gardens

Mulching materials
As a free and readily available yard waste grass clippings are not the most visually appealing garden topping but work well as mulch, helping to insulate garden soil in cool weather and by keeping it cool and moist in hot weather. Like traditional mulching agents, grass clippings help retain moisture, prevent weeds and add nitrogen to the soil as they decompose.

If possible let the grass clippings cool after mowing before applying them as garden mulch. Fresh grass clippings can generate a lot of heat which can in turn damage plant roots. To dry grass clippings, just spread them out over a large area in the sun. Drying the clippings first will stop them from developing bad odors or matting up, which can prevent water absorption. When the clippings are dry, loosely mulch them near, but not in direct contact with, the plants.

Wood Chips, Sawdust and Bark Mulches have good insulating properties in the summer and winter months. Some gardeners recommend removing the mulch in the spring after it has overwintered, while others say that it is okay to till it into the garden soil since its decomposition will add to the overall fertilization process of the soil. The resulting nourishment and aeration however is not as productive as straw and hay mulches.

Straw and Hay Mulches have excellent insulating properties in summer and winter months. While some gardeners recommend removing straw after the winter months, others say that its fine to till it back under. Either way a high level of soil enrichment will occur from the decomposition of straw and hay mulches. Straw provides excellent insulation against the harsh elements of winter. The strands of straw are hollow, which provides dead air space, one of the best characteristics of effective insulators.

Buckwheat Mulch
As the outer layer of buckwheat seeds, these feathery light hulls—which measure just 1 millimeter in diameter—make for a beautiful, finely textured, dark brown mulch that works especially well around rose bushes . It is also recommended for use in smaller beds or container gardens, and should be applied in a layer no more than 1 ½ inches thick. To keep the tiny hulls from blowing away, sprinkle them lightly with water on a regular basis. (http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,1209283_1104766,00.html)

Learn more about mulch

What's new at the Kingston Farmers' Market

2011-05-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Kingston, New York - The Kingston Farmers' Market gets crafty this Saturday, June 4th, with the return of Crafts on John Street. Talented, local, Hudson Valley artisans showcase their wares in a wonderful, historic setting. Pottery, jewelry and art are just some of the wares you will find. Our more than 30 vendors are back offering organic and natural fare such as meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables, breads and other baked goods, honey, fresh-cut flowers and so much more. Healthy eating is affordable for everyone with FMNP and EBT naturally accepted. The Kingston Farmers' Market will be held every Saturday, rain or shine, 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., through November 19th. The Market is located on Wall Street in the historic Stockade District of Uptown Kingston, near the New York State Thruway, at Exit 19. Admission is free, as is parking.

For more information or to check weekly events, visit our website or call (845)853-8512
Find us on Facebook.

Garden Planting Time

2011-05-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Lemon cucumbers

Thai basil

Japanese eggplant

Garlic - I planted the cloves in pots this year and kept them in my garage until the treat of frost had past

Potato beds - the sprouted potatoes came from Staron's Farm in Chatham

Peppers

Garden Planting Time
Its garden planting time. The threats of cold spring weather and frost have past and all vegetables are fair game for planting. With two gardens, one in Dutchess County and the other a community garden plot in the heart of Albany's Lincoln Park, the planting of each requires two very different game plans. My home in Red Hook (Dutchess County) lies in a somewhat rural setting and the most prevalent and devastating threat to gardens comes from deer. Last year a serious outbreak of Colorado potato beetles partially destroyed commercial and home garden potato crops (including mine) throughout the Hudson Valley and Saratoga regions. The larvae of the potato beetle overwinter and will hatch again this year posing a threat again to potatoes and eggplant. "They love eggplant more than potatoes" says former Cornell integrated pest management expert John Mishanec. When asked what can be done to battle the potato and eggplant leaf eaters Chatham potato farmer Donna Staron says "absolutely nothing". Likely they will go away after this season, hopefully.....

My community garden is always a simple planting. No deer or potato beetles in the inner city. Flea beetles yes, and my collards and pak choy will likely pay dearly with pinholes and tattered leaves but that's about the only threat that seems to be a recurring issue. I kept my community garden simple this year - collards, tomatoes, pak choy, celeriac, and basil. Already thriving when I came to till and plant a few days ago was winter squash (not sure how or why it’s there but, good or bad, we'll see what happens...).

As for my home garden, I've again opted not to fence it. Besides making for an ugly contraption, I'm too lazy to make the trip to Lowe's to gather the chicken wire and steel posts that are needed to build a fence. Instead I've planted several "deer resistant" vegetables, although again there are absolutely no guarantees when it comes to deer and their variable level of hunger and starvation. Nightshade vegetables like potatoes, peppers and eggplant (all of which I've planted) have a good "deer resistant" track record unlike tomatoes, also a nightshade vegetable, which get ravaged as young seedlings long before they ever have a chance of producing any fruit (this has been my experience anyway). I've also planted garlic, scallions and onions, which I'm using as a natural partition between my deck and the house where I've planted a small patch of lemon cucumbers. The theory is that in conjunction to the close proximity to the house, the onions, with an odor that is supposedly off-putting to deer, will act as a protective barrier of sorts for the cucumbers. I suspect that this is wishful thinking and likely the deer will just lean over the onions to eat the cucumbers. As far as overwintering potato beetle larvae go, I've planted my eggplant and potatoes in different locations this year and will hope that the beetles are too stupid to find their way to the new locations. I suspect that this is also wishful thinking... Time will tell.

Heather Ridge Farm

2011-05-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

The first goat kid was born yesterday! Here's momma goat Butter with her new little girl.

Our schedule has expanded! We're working away in the kitchen now to get ready for reopening the Bees Knees cafe! (Don't forget the first fresh chicken of the season will be available!)

On Friday, the store will be open for shopping and there will be "Grab and go" take-out by reservation. Please call or e-mail ahead!

FOR FRIDAY TAKE OUT:
Vichyssoise: Creamy, cool. smooth potato and chive soupl Our chicken stock makes it! 5

Dublin Coddle" Our own Irish bangers, no-nitrite smoked bacon and potatoes, baked with apple cider. A favorite Irish pub food, enjoyed anytime of the day. 11

Oink and Moo Chili Our near famous award-wining chili with our grassfed ground beef and heritage breed pork chorizo sausage. Served with corn bread. 8

Then on Saturday, the store opens at 10 and lunch is served from 11-3. We have a great full menu! It's attached here as a pdf, and always kept up-to-date on our website (bees-knees-cafe.com)

SATURDAY LUNCH
Vichyssoise Creamy cool, smooth potato chive soup. Our chicken stock makes it! 5

Delicate Mushroom Chevre Custard Local wild and cultivated mushrooms and Nettle Meadow chevre in a warm, creamy custard with a side salad 9.50

Dublin Coddle Our own Irish bangers, no-nitrite smoked bacon and potatoes baked with apple cider. A favorite Irish pub food, enjoyed anytime of the day. 11

Oink and Moo Chili Our near-famous award winning chili with our grassfed ground beef and heritage breed pork chorizo sausages. Served with corn bread. 8

Grilled Sirloin Steak Panini Our grassfed beef, grilled and served with caramelized onions, Brovetto cheese on ciabatta roll with side salad $9.50

Chicken Breast with Green Garlic Pesto Our own pastured chicken with a tangy green garlic spread and sundried tomatoes on ciabatta roll 9.50

Grilled Brovetto Cheese Sandwich on Mountain Bread 8.50

Goat Cheese, Roasted Asparagus, Roasted Beets and Smoked Ham Salad Platter on local greens. All this yumminess with our Bees Knees house dressing (Happy to served it without ham for vegetarians) 9.50

All Beef HotDog Our own no-nitrite hearty dog with side salad. 5.50 (Two 8). Make it a chili dog 6.50

Sides Local Greens Salad or Cole Slaw

Desserts Honeyed Rhubarb Tart First fruit of the season, from our garden with honey and almonds $5 With dollop of ice cream 6

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream 4

Beverages Mint-Honey Ice Tea, Decaf Mango Green Tea Chai, Milk, Coffee, Tea 1.75

Then on Sunday, our first Brunch/Lunch a la carte Buffet, from 11AM-3PM.

SUNDAY BRUCNH/LUNCH BUFFET
Vichyssoise Creamy cool, smooth potato chive soup. Our chicken stock makes it! 5

French Toast Bread Pudding Our own Challah Bread and pastured eggs baked with Cook Family Farm maple syrup (includes trees tapped on our farm) 8

Delicate Mushroom Chevre Custard Local wild and cultivated mushrooms and Nettle Meadow chevre in a warm, creamy custard with a side salad 9.50

Dublin Coddle Our own Irish bangers, no-nitrite smoked bacon and potatoes baked with apple cider. A favorite Irish pub food, enjoyed anytime of the day. 11

Oink and Moo Chili Our near-famous award winning chili with our grassfed ground beef and heritage breed pork chorizo sausages. Served with corn bread. 8

Goat Cheese, Roasted Asparagus, Roasted Beets and Smoked Ham Salad Platter on local greens. Build your own! All this yumminess with our Bees Knees house dressing (With or without ham for vegetarians) 9.50

Savory Scones Bits of our no-nitrite smoked bacon, local cheese and our garden chives baked into a hearty eggy scone. A breakfast in itself! 3

Sweet Scones Dried cranberries and white chocolate chips from our Potter Hollow neighbors, the Aloisi family 2

Sides Local Greens Salad or Cole Slaw

Desserts Honeyed Rhubarb Tart First fruit of the season, from our garden with honey and almonds $5 With dollop of ice cream 6

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream 4

Beverages Mint-Honey Ice Tea, Decaf Mango Green Tea Chai, Milk, Coffee, Tea 1.75

New Saugerties Farmers Market Schedule
Don't forget the Saugerties Farmers Market scheudle changes ,too. Starting this Saturday, it runs outdoors every Sautrdya 10am-2pm. Christine will be there, with chili, hot dogs and savory scones for sale. Sandwiches coming after this week.

Coming Soon!
Back on the farm, we are working on self-guided walking trail. We intend to open them for July 4th weekend. And as soon as both new interns are on board, we will schedule our guided farm tours.

We will have fresh lamb and goat the weekend of June 10-12. Fresh beef coming up July 1-3.

Best,
Carol

Carol Clement

Eat local, wear wool, make or buy art

Heather Ridge Farm & Bees Knees Cafe
989 Broome Center Road
Preston Hollow, NY 12469
518-239-6234
518-239-6234
heather-ridge-farm.com
bees-knees-cafe.com
Check us out on Facebook

Spring Deliverance at St. Joseph's Church, May 14

2011-04-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Spring Deliverance at St. Joseph's Church

Celebrating Local Albany on May 14

After a long cold winter The Chefs Consortium, an organization dedicated to promoting local sustainable food, Chef Ric Orlando from New World Bistro Bar, Harmony House Marketplace, the Heldeberg Market and the Honest Weight Food Co-op will host a cocktail reception at St. Joseph's Church in Albany on May 14, from 6-9pm that will feature local food, wine, live musical performances from Dan Johnson and His Expert Side Men and Matt Durfee, and art displays from Albany artists like Jennifer Grainer and Chip Fasciana, founder of Albany Underground Artists. Local chefs will serve up sustainably and locally sourced food while Harmony House Marketplace pours the finest wines that New York State has to offer. Many of the farmers and vintners will be on hand to talk about their farms and wineries and how their products are incorporated into the reception.

Participating chefs and food artisans include: Chef Ric Orlando from New World Bistro Bar, Noah Sheetz, Hudson Valley chef and local food promoter; Rebecca Joyner, Director of Dining Services at the Darrow School in New Lebanon; Nicole Cagan, The Ulster County farm-to-school initiative, "From the Ground Up"; Jeff Loshinsky and John Peterson of Jeff Loshinsky Catering in Hudson, NY, and Nick and Britin Foster of All Good Bakers in Albany.

About St. Joseph’s Church
St. Joseph’s Church was designed by Patrick Keeley, a renowned Catholic church architect in the 1800’s who designed more than 600 cathedrals and churches throughout the Northeast, New York City and Albany. Of the two churches erected in Albany, Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph’s, St. Josephs is considered by many (including Keeley himself) to be a masterpiece. The last official church service at St. Joseph’s was in 1993. After a brief private ownership the property was transferred to the City of Albany and since 2003 has been maintained by the Albany Historic Foundation who has continued to raise public awareness and donations needed to stabilize and stop the deterioration of the church. Today the church is a historic landmark, the spire of which can be seen on the skyline anywhere in Albany. While the church is no longer affiliated with a religious congregation, it serves as a community resource and a scenic meeting space that has been home to art shows, plays, and music performances.

Spring Deliverance at St. Joseph’s Church
May 14, 6-9pm
A reception of local food, wine, art and music
Tickets are $20, reservations are required
E-mail noahsheetz@yahoo.com, or call 914-204-9628

Nick and Britin Foster, All Good Bakers

2011-04-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

Nick and Britin Foster of All Good Bakers in Albany talk about their bakery, the community supported bakery, and their use of local ingredients and flours

Sarah Gordon, Heldeberg Market

2011-04-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sarah Gordon talks about the Heldeberg Market and the 13 farmers involved with the on-line farmers market.

Visit the Heldeberg Market website to learn more.

Cocktails and Grub at 431

2011-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

Cocktails and Grub at 431

Michele Owens, Grow the Good Life

2011-02-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

Michele Owens is a distinguished writer and gardener who lives in Saratoga Springs. She is a founding partner of the gardening blog Garden Rant and has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Garden Design, and Organic Gardening. Below is an excerpt from her latest book Grow the Good Life

Reprinted from Grow the Good Life by Michele Owens. Copyright (c) 2011 by Michele Owens. By permission of Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098.

THREE

Flavor

If You Haven't Grown It, You Haven't Tasted It

One of the best reasons to garden is the fact that homegrown fruits and vegetables just taste so transcendently wonderful.

So incredible that they can turn anybody into a magnificent cook. Even if you are merely a happy amateur in the kitchen, as I am, you may find yourself becoming grandiose as the summer wears on. By mid-September, when harvest season is at its peak, I often mistake myself for Alice Waters, the chef who revolutionized American cooking in the 1970s by emphasizing the fresh and the local at her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse.

Alas, when January rolls around and the only homegrown food I have left is a last parsnip in the cellar, I'm once again an enthusiastic but fairly ordinary cook. It's the ingredients, stupid.

Homegrown food tastes better than supermarket conventional produce, better than supermarket organic. It's better even than farmers' market produce, excellent as that usually is, and we'll talk about why in a minute. The truth is, if you haven't grown a vegetable, you may never have really tasted it. Tomatoes and other fruits, with their complex acid/sweet flavors and dramatic transformations on ripening, are classic examples of things supermarkets simply cannot do well. However, even humble staples that taste just fine from the supermarket are an absolute revelation from the garden.

I'm talking about such ignorable items as curly parsley, escarole, potatoes, onions, or dried beans for a chili--perfectly serviceable when purchased from the Price Chopper, but another thing entirely from the garden. It seems as if every year, another unassuming vegetable suddenly turns into a star in my garden and opens up a new frontier in my life as a cook and eater.

Last year's revelation was a green named mache, very popular in France, that I've planted a few times and ignored. It forms low-growing little rosettes, irritatingly tiny, too small to be worth the bother of cutting and washing, mainly because I never found the flavor particularly interesting. But it has been discreetly seeding itself in my garden in a bed of ever-bearing strawberries, and I haven't been weeding it out.

About a year ago, however, I took notice because as soon as the snow retreated in late March--long before any gardener in my part of the world even thinks about seeding salad greens--there the mache was, all perky and inviting. Then I popped a plant into my mouth. Allowed to germinate and grow on its own schedule, the leaves were so tender and melting and the flavor so powerful, it was like eating a strong and expensive French perfume, something on the order of Chanel Coco. Amazing.

Let's talk about why food harvested fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun or wet from the rain, offers the greatest possible interest for palate and spirit. It has to do with the nature of plants, of us, and of the food industry in all its desperate attempts to feign naturalness while undercutting nature at every turn.

The important thing to understand about plants is that because they can't run for their lives or do a mating dance, they manufacture chemicals of diabolical subtlety and effectiveness to achieve their goals. They produce chemicals to attract--for example, the chemicals that create the luscious flavor and glorious color of ripe fruit, all designed to draw seed-dispersing animals. On the other hand, some of the chemicals produced by plants are designed to repel hungry herbivores that range from bacteria to groundhogs. Some plants are so subtle that when attacked, they produce a chemical designed to attract the predator of the insect that is eating them.

These chemicals give plants their flavor. One of the theories for why organic foods taste better than the conventionally grown is because organic plants actually face some threats and are forced to mount some tasty defenses, rather than living in a stupid utopia created by pesticides that keeps their flesh bland. Because we adult humans are thrill-seekers, some of the repellent chemicals are part of the enjoyment.

In fact, I sometimes wonder if the difference between my 7-year-old's palate and mine is that her more sensitive palate responds to plants' attempts to seduce--and I appreciate the bite or burn of their attempts to repel. "It's spicy!" she says in an accusatory tone almost every night as dinner is served. Spicy is an all-purpose term that covers far more than hot peppers--raw garlic, horseradish, ginger, and arugula all fit her definition of spicy.

Our perception of flavor is incredibly subtle, and taste is only part of it. Almost all of our senses are involved. The feel of food in our mouths is significant. Appearance, temperature, and memory also contribute. Smell especially is essential to our idea of flavor, which is why it's difficult to appreciate good food with a bad cold. Brain imaging has demonstrated that our perception of flavor is more than the sum of its parts, too. More areas of our brain are activated by the combination of taste and smell that determines flavor than by smell alone plus taste alone.

Taste is, if anything, the blunter part of the system. Taste receptor cells are each tuned to one of five different sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory. In contrast, there are an estimated 350 different kinds of odor receptor cells in the human nose. Each one detects a very specific and limited number of substances. And because individual odors are multifaceted combinations that light up different combinations of receptors, we are able to recognize more than 10,000 different odors.

When it comes to flavor, the apparatus for fussiness is definitely in place!

Buy Grow the Good Life

Cocktails and Grub at 431

2011-02-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Baptist Church turned creative space at 431 Delaware, in association with the Chefs Consortium, will host a cocktail reception on March 18, 2010 from 6-8pm that will feature local food, wine, beer and artists from the Albany area. The reception will promote awareness of locally produced food, wine, beer and art, and will feature live music by the Red Haired Strangers. Locally renowned artist Chip Fasciana, founder of the Albany Underground Artists, will be co-host of the event with the Chefs Consortium while enlisting the participation of fellow artists and food artisans.

The collaboration of artists and chefs in the historic 431 location will bring together the individual talents and mediums of different Albany artists while chefs prepare clean and inspiring food with the freshest, local, seasonal, and organic foods that New York has to offer.

The Chefs Consortium, an organization of Professional chefs in the Hudson Valley who advocate for sustainable farming and food production practices, buying locally, and nutritional education for students, parents and government, includes:

Noah Sheetz, Hudson Valley chef and local food promoter; Rebecca Joyner, Food Service Director at Darrow School; Nicole Cagan, The Ulster County farm-to-school initiative, "From the Ground Up"; and Jeff Loshinsky and John Peterson of Jeff Loshinsky Catering in Hudson, NY. The Chefs collaborate for the sake of fun, food, and sustainable farming and donate their skills and creativity to promote awareness of local food and regional talent. Other prominent Albany chefs will also be featured at the reception.

Cocktails and Grub at 431 will display the stunning local talents of Albany artists while providing sustainably and locally sourced food, wine and beer from local farms, wineries and breweries. Many of the farmers, vintners and brewers will be on hand to talk about their farms, wineries and breweries, and how their products are incorporated into the reception.

As one of the largest agricultural producers in the nation, New York provides an amazing bounty of local ingredients. The farms in the counties that surround Albany produce a diversity of the highest quality ingredients available in the nation, including local produce, heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, corn, cereal grains and flours, wild mushrooms, lamb, game, and grass and grain finished beef. Buying food and art locally supports New York’s economy and the prosperity of New York residents – every dollar spent locally gets re-spent locally.

Tickets for Cocktails and Grub at 431 are $20. Reservations are required. Tickets are available now through the Chefs Consortium website or by calling 914-204-9628 (e-mail noahsheetz@yahoo.com).

Kinderhook Farm

2011-02-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

Kinderhook Farm, Valatie
Complete with a quaint 1800’s farmhouse, a victory garden and neatly painted wooden barns, Kinderhook Farm is perhaps one of the most picturesque farms in Columbia County. Lee and Georgia Ranney, Virginia transplants and cattle experts that know the art of managed grazing techniques, raise grass-fed beef on several hundred acres of lush rolling pastures that are studded with orchard and rye grasses, clover and flowers. Lee has gained regional notoriety as a “grass master” and is perhaps the leading authority in upstate New York on growing grass and grazing cattle. Most of the cattle at Kinderhook Farm retain a high percentage of Devon and Angus, a cattle breed that is known for producing great tasting beef.

Raising entirely grass-fed cattle to slaughter weight is a timely and costly process; taking up to two years and costing as much as one third more than grain fed and finished beef. Lee and Georgia promote the nutritional advantages of omega rich grass-fed beef and believe in raising their product as naturally as possible, seeing it as one that is represented by the “terroire”, (a wine term used to describe the unique flavor characteristics of a particular region or area) that is unique to the grasses and forages that grow in their farm’s pastures.

The quality of Kinderhook beef is truly amazing. Tender cuts like porterhouse and rib-eye are well-marbled and tender, with a bold, slightly gamey flavor that is undeniably grass-fed.

Kinderhook beef is managed naturally and carefully over a long growth period and, while the cost is significantly more than grain-fed and store-bought beef, is worth every dollar, and should be appreciated for everything that it is – an extremely high quality product and culinary indulgence that should be savored in conservative amounts.

Kinderhook Farm is designated as an Animal Welfare Approved farm, abiding by strict audits that certify high animal welfare standards for the beef, chickens and lamb that are raised on the farm.

A note on grain feeding and grass feeding
There are two common feeding systems for cattle that are used nationally and in New York State - grain feeding/finishing and grass feeding. Supplementing grain in the diet of cattle, and more intensively during the last three months of life (also known as the finishing period), produces less expensive, mature and market-ready beef faster than grass-feeding, where cattle are raised entirely on grass and silage. With both approaches, taste is a matter of preference. Some consumers prefer the flavor of grain-fed beef because of the higher degree of marbling (intra-muscular fat) that is produced, while others prefer the grassy flavor and leaner texture of grass-fed beef.

There is some controversy associated with the practice of grain-feeding and finishing. Because cattle are biologically predisposed to living on a forage diet of grasses and legumes, a high concentration of grain in the diet can lead to health issues, including an abscess in the liver of the animals.

In New York State most grain-fed beef producers rarely push the percentage of grain during the life and finishing period (typically above 60 percent) to the degree that health issues become a concern (some people theorize that intensive grain feeding is not common in New York because New York beef is not graded and there is not as much pressure for producers to achieve a high degree of marbling).

While cattle seem to naturally thrive on a grass-fed diet, and many consumers prefer the fattier flavor of grain-fed beef, the grass-fed and grain finished approach (or the supplementing of grain in the primary diet of silage), of raising beef may be a respectable solution to satisfying ethical issues surrounding the production of beef and consumer taste preferences. Also worth considering in the fat and flavor of grass-fed beef is the role that managed grazing techniques and genetics might play in the finished product. Some self-subscribed beef experts believe that cattle breeds like the British White and the Belted Galloway are genetically disposed to being leaner than other breeds like Angus, Devon and Hereford, all of which display a high degree of marbling even when the breeds are grass-fed.

Irena Chalmers offers food for thought

2011-02-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

Irena Chalmers is a professor at the Culinary Institute of America and is the author of Food Jobs:150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers. Publication Date September 2008. She offers thoughts on the future in Po’Boys Are Getting Poorer

Snow Ice Cream

2011-02-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Snow Ice Cream

With the large amount of snow that continues to pummel New York State, why not make a batch of snow ice cream. Its light, "seasonally appropriate", and the perfect finish for any meal.
See the recipe at the Chefs Consortium website

Only from the farm

2011-02-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Brebis Blanche, Three Corner Field Farm, Shushan, NY

Mark and Karolyn, Punsit Valley Farm, Spencertown, NY

Great Products, worth the drive
The following farms have very limited distribution and sell much of their products from the farm. Both are producing really great natural products that are worth the drive.

Punsit Valley Farm
Punsit Valley Farm is a 200 acre farm in Spencertown that produces grain finished angus cows and flocks of hormone and antibiotic free pheasants and chickens. The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge features their chicken on the menu. See their product/price list.

Three Corner Field Farm
Located in Shushan, New York in the Battenkill River Valley of Washington County, Three Corner Field Farm produces great sheep's milk cheese. All of the aged sheep’s cheeses are produced from small batches of raw milk and are aged in the cave-like basement of the farmhouse. Three Corner Field Farm also makes sheep’s milk yogurt. Cheese varieties include feta, ricotta, mold ripened camembert, and Frère Fumant, a Spanish Idiazabal style raw sheep’s milk cheese that is smoked by the monks at the New Skete Monastery in Cambridge. Three Corner Field Farm sells at the Union Square Market and by mail order. Read more at the Chef Consortium website

A note to friends and fellow bloggers

2011-02-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

Chefs Consortium
Many of you may have noticed that the number of posts that I have contributed to Hudson and Saratoga Local Foods has dropped off significantly in the past few months. On September 11 me and several chef friends hosted a dinner at Bannerman's Island for 46 people. The synergy that was created during the event between the chefs, including Rebecca Joyner, Jeff Loshinsky, Nicci Cagan, Liz Beals, John Peterson, and myself, was amazing, and prompted the creation of the Chefs Consortium - an organization of chefs and foodies that are dedicated to celebrating local food and the regional hisorical diversity in New York state. Moving forward I will be posting more of my local food segments on the Chefs Consortium website. My backlog of Hudson and Saratoga Local Foods postings is also archived on the site. Please visit the Chefs Consortium website to read more about local food and upcoming Consortium events.

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, 2011 Winter Conference: Diggin’ Diversity

2011-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York Announces 2011 Winter Conference: Diggin’ Diversity

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) announces their 29th annual winter conference, “Diggin’ Diversity”. The conference attracts more than 1,000 people each year and will take place from January 21- 23, 2011 at the Saratoga Hilton and City Center. Over the course of this 3- day event, attendees can choose between more than 80 workshops which explore all types of organic farming, gardening, livestock, fruits and herbs, and policy issues. Friday intensives will cover topics such as food safety, marketing for farmers, holistic planned grazing, diversifying energy, and a brambles intensive. The conference will begin on Thursday evening with a Beginning Farmer mixer to meet new friends and catch up with old ones. As always, a variety of entertainment is planned for the weekend. Friday and Saturday evenings will feature film screenings of “Dirt! The Movie”, an evening of live music and jam sessions led by The Landlines, and contra dance with The Russet Trio & caller Fern Marshall Bradley! And of course, the conference would not be complete without the delicious organic meals, most of which are provided by our very own NOFA-NY members, and our large trade show featuring over 70 vendors.

There is also an exciting line- up of keynote speakers to highlight this year’s conference. Miguel Altieri is a professor of agroecology at the University of California-Berkley. His teaching and research focuses on the role of biodiversity in pest management. Malik Yakini is the Chairperson of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. He is a longtime Detroit activist who has played a critical role in raising awareness about environmental and food justice issues. Kevin Englebert owns a 120-cow dairy farm in Nichols, NY and has diversified into grain and small-scale vegetable production over the last few years. He has also been a member of the National Organic Standards Board advising the USDA National Organic Program.

For more information or to register online, visit http://www.nofanyconference.org/. Contact Matt Robinson, Education and Outreach Coordinator, for general questions about the winter conference at (585) 271-1979 x503 or email him at conference@nofany.org. For all questions regarding registration, contact Lynn Barrett, Membership and Registration Coordinator, at (585) 271-1979, (585) 271-1979 x509 or via email at register@nofany.org.

Albany Chefs serve up Venison at Pow Wow

2011-01-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Albany Chefs Consortium serve up traditional "Three Sisters" venison stew at fifth annual Rock Rattle and Drum Pow Pow

Garlic: Late Planting in Pots

2010-12-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

Plant garlic cloves in late October 4-6 inches deep and about 4 inches apart. If you miss the planting time and the ground freezes, you can still plant in April. Just remember to chill the cloves first to break their dormancy. You can also plant garlic in pots like I recently did.

Garlic: Late Planting in Pots
Like me you might be wondering if the opportunity to plant home-grown garlic for summer harvest has really past, or if it's even worth the trouble at this point, now that the ground is frozen and covered with snow.

Timing is important to planting garlic. In Upstate New York garlic is generally planted in late October when the weather is cool but the ground is not frozen. If it is planted earlier the garlic might actually sprout and start growing, the tender shoots of which would be annihilated by the first hard frost. If you wait too late to plant garlic, in mid to late November or December, it is very likely that the ground will be frozen as hard as a rock and totally impenetrable by any spade or shovel. With the ideal window being late October or early November, it is still possible to plant garlic in April after the ground defrosts. However, the bulbs will not have quite as much time to develop and will be considerably smaller. Also, before planting you'll need to chill the cloves in the refrigerator for a brief period to break their dormancy.

Yesterday I hauled the abandoned vegetable pots on my deck to the basement where it took more than a day for the frozen dirt mass in each pot to defrost. Today I hand tilled each pot, planted garlic cloves, and am hoping to see some nicely sized garlic bulbs this summer. Because the pots are above ground, there is much more risk associated with exposure damage that comes with extremely cold temperatures. Even when ground soil freezes, it is still slightly warmer than the soil in raised beds and pots. Over the remaining winter months I'll keep the pots in the garage where the temperatures hover around freezing but are still warmer than those on the outside. In the spring, after the danger of extreme winter frost has past, I'll move the pots outside and hope that my "garlic pot plan" yields a high success rate.

More on planting garlic

Winter Squash

2010-12-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Spaghetti, Butternut, Ambercup, and Hubbard squashes are availbale from Black Horse Farms at Hudson Valley Hannaford locations, and the Chatham Co-op continues to offer organic winter squash from Blue Star Farms in Stuyvesant. Many varieties of winter squash, like Hubbard and Butternut, will store for a couple of months in a cool dark place. You may decide to roast a large batch of winter squash and store the cooked pulp in ziplock bags or plastic containers in the freezer. After defrosting, add a little butter, maple or honey, and a few spices for a hearty vegetable dish that goes well with almost any meal. The pulp also makes a delicious addition to winter soups and stews. Below are some tips for cooking winter squash.

Cooking whole winter squash

The squash can be deeply pierced four or five times with a sharp knife and roasted for one and half hours until tender and easily pierced with a knife. Let the squash cool. Cut in half and scoop away the seeds. Serve with butter (or olive oil), salt, pepper, and chopped herbs.

Quarters
Cut the squash into quarters lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Place the squash quarters cavity side up in a baking dish with a quarter inch of hot water. Bake 30-45 minutes until the squash is tender when pierced with a knife. Halfway through the cooking, if desired, fill each cavity with melted butter, brown sugar (or honey), a dash of salt and pepper, and grated nutmeg. Serve the squash in its shell, the flesh will scoop easily away with a spoon or a fork. Otherwise, scoop the flesh out of the shell and serve it simply seasoned with hot butter (or olive oil), salt, pepper and chopped herbs.

Mashed
The cooked flesh can also be mashed with butter, cream, maple syrup (or brown sugar), ginger and cinnamon.

Three Part Harmony, Cohoes, NY

2010-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

Three Part Harmony, Cohoes, NY
Three Part Harmony: a Celebration of Local Food, Wine and Art saw a vibrant turnout of wine and food enthusiasts at the Harmony House Marketplace in Cohoes on Wednesday December 1, 2010. Seven chefs, including AJ Jayapal of Panza’s and Miss Sydney's Condiments and Sauces, Brian Molino of Marche, Larry Schepici of The Brown Derby Restaurant, Noah Sheetz of the Executive Mansion, Nicole Cagan of Rondout Valley Growers Association and “From the Ground Up”, Rebecca Joyner, director of dining services at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, and John Peterson of Jeff Loshinsky Catering, prepared appetizers from local ingredients, including cheeses from R and G Cheeseworks located in the marketplace, that were matched with New York wines. Vintners included Claire Goddard from Brotherhood Winery, Sandy Waters from Empire Merchants North, and Jack Meehan from Opici. Participating artists included multi-media artist Bob Gullie, painter Erik Laffer, wood artisan and musician Devin Dascher, and floral artist Lou Rizzo. Below are recipes from Noah Sheetz and Nicole Cagan that were prepared at the event.

Cornmeal waffles with Oscar’s smoked chicken, pear preserves and goat cheese mousse

Kale Tartlets

Learn more about attending part two of Three Part Harmony on January 12, 2011

LIVE: Root Vegetable Gratin Recipe on WNYT NewsChannel 13

2010-12-03T05:02:00.000-08:00

Noah prepares a delicious dish - Root Vegetable Gratin Recipe on WNYT NewsChannel 13

Two Brothers' Old Trolley Kitchen

2010-11-23T08:26:00.000-08:00

Two Brothers' Old Trolley Kitchen
Two Brothers' Old Trolley Kitchen, also known as "Eat", is serving old school breakfast and lunch fare daily. Local grassfed burgers, patty melts and sliders are prepared from beef from Meiller Farm is Pine Plains, and home fries and french fries are cut with the season's freshest potatoes from Story Farms in Greene County. Brothers Syl and Angus have been operating the small 20 seat diner for 10 weeks now and the food is fresh and delicious. Enjoy great burgers and breakfast specials, and other menu stand-outs like the scratch made soups including the Coconut Curry Butternut Sqaush.

Recipes from the Carrot Barn, Schoharie Valley Farms, cooking demonstration, Saturday November 13, 2010

2010-11-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Creamed cauliflower, "Florence" style

Home for the Holidays
This weekend the farms and shops in Schoharie Valley invited local residents and tourists alike to shop for Christmas gifts antiques and memorabilia, while offering a variety of holiday inspired workshops and demonstrations. The Drive-About of Historic Homes, sponsored by the Schoharie Colonial Heritage Association, was also an interesting destination for many visiting the valley. Below are some holiday style recipes that I prepared with vegetables in the Carrot Barn at Schoharie Valley Farms. Schoharie Valley Farms has an abundance of fall vegetables to choose from including celeriac, green and orange cauliflower, Romanesco, Macomber turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes and cabbage.

Braised red cabbage with golden raisins and almonds
1/2 medium cabbage shredded
1 cup water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 teaspoons Sambal (red chili paste)

Steam the cabbage in a covered pan with the water and raisins until most of the water has evaporated. Add the remainder of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Creamed Cauliflower, "Florence" style
1 medium head of cauliflower (green, orange or white), leaves and core removed
1 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Steam the cauliflower florets in a covered pan with the water until most of the water has evaporated and the florets are just tender. Uncover the pan and add the cream. Continue cooking until the cream has reduced and is thick and bubbly. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Creamed Macomber turnips
1 pound of Macomber turnips, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup hot heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Boil the turnips in lightly salted water until tender. Drain and mash with a fork or pass through a ricer. Add the cream and butter and season with salt and pepper

Macomber turnip salad
1/2 Macomber turnip, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
2 tablespoons of rice or red wine vinegar
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Sambal (red chili paste)

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Check for seasoning. Add more vinegar, olive oil, and chili paste if desired.

Maple glazed parsnips
1 ½ pounds parsnips, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters (for larger winter parsnips, remove the woody center from each quarter)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Steam the parsnips with the water, butter (or olive oil if using), sugar, salt and pepper in a covered pan until they are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover the pan and cook the remaining liquid down to a syrupy glaze that coats the parsnips, stirring often. Add the maple syrup and cook for another minute.
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Kington Farmers Market

2010-11-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2010
Kingston, New York - Come to Crafts on John Street this Saturday, November 6th at the Kingston Farmers' Market, featuring the wonderful wares of talented Hudson Valley artisans. From glazed stoneware and handcrafted jewelry, to handmade soap, glass art and more, your holiday shopping starts here. The bountiful autumn harvest is in just in time to prepare all the dishes that comfort you. Natural and organic meats for stews, fresh squashes for soups, cheeses for fondue, hearty breads, fresh pasta and sauce, desserts that delight and locally brewed and bottled autumn ales are all part of the Hudson Valley's finest fare that's just waiting for you at the Kingston Farmers' Market. Fresh from our Market to your home, cut out the middleman, buy local. Your healthy lifestyle starts here. The Kingston Farmers' Market has more than 30 vendors offering organic and natural fare such as meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables, breads and other baked goods, honey, fresh-cut flowers and so much more. Healthy eating is affordable for everyone with FMNP and EBT naturally accepted. The Kingston Farmers' Market is held every Saturday, rain or shine, 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., through November 20th. The Market is located on Wall Street in the historic Stockade District of Uptown Kingston near the New York State Thruway at Exit 19. Admission is free as is parking. For more information or to check weekly events, visit our website or call (845)853-8512. Find us on Facebook.

Cocktail Reception, The Produce Project, October 19, 2010

2010-11-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Pictures courtesy of Kevin Haran

Cocktails and Hors d’ Oeuvres in the Garden
On October 19th Capital District Community Gardens (CDCG) held an intimate cocktail reception at the 8th Avenue Produce Project site in Troy for 30 people. Executive Mansion chef Noah Sheetz and executive chef Brian Molino of Marché prepared hors d' oeuvres from several of the vegetables that are thriving on the one acre site. Many of those attending the reception were local politicians and members of Cornell Cooperative Extension who have been key supporters of the program since its inception and ground breaking ceremony more than a year ago.

The Produce Project is collaboration between Troy High School and CDCG. Troy students who participate in the program learn about agriculture as a business by planting, growing, harvesting and selling vegetables. During the reception the students each took turns hosting garden tours and passing trays of hors d’ oeuvres.

To grow vegetables in the colder fall and winter months, the Produce Project uses many season extension techniques like high and low tunnels. At the end of the reception John Mishanec of Cornell Cooperative Extension gave a brief talk on the season extension trials that he has conducted with growers throughout New York State this year. For the extension trials hearty root crops, like kale, leeks, kohlrabi, and carrots, were planted because of their ability to be grown later in the season and for their long storage capabilities. As one of the participants in this year’s season extension trials, the Executive Mansion planted all three of its gardens with season extension vegetables. John helped Noah Sheetz select seeds for the trial and offered guidance throughout the scheduling of the planting and harvesting.

Dinner on Bannerman's Island, September 11, 2010

2010-10-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

On September 11 after months of planning, five Hudson Valley chefs descended on Bannerman's Island to prepare a five course meal for 40 guests. Serving dinner on Bannerman's Island was an especially tricky undertaking because of the lack of running water and electricity - fundamental conveniences that are taken for granted when preparing and serving food; and everything - tables, chairs, chefs, food, and guests - had to be transported by boat and then up 75 stairs from the island's dock.

The idea of hosting a dinner on the island came from Noah sheetz after reading an on-line article about renewed public interest, spurned by concerns over the recent collapse of the castle's east wall. Chef Jeff Loshinsky was the second chef to sign up for the project. "Every time I pass the castle on the train to New York City I can't stop talking about what an amazing history it has. I've been fascinated by it for a long time."

All of the chefs were personally involved in the planning of the dinner. Omega chef Bob Turner supplied the compostable palm leaf plates on which the five courses were served. Liz Beals from Beth's Farm Kitchen monitored weather reports and tracked historical records on the sunset and the tides of the Hudson River. Chef Loshinsky planned a staff meal for the chefs, wait staff and volunteers; and Noah Sheetz charted boat schedules and a service time line for the execution of the dinner. Perhaps the most critical piece of planning came from Rebecca Joyner, director of dining services at the Darrow School, who coordinated the logistics and many of the finite details that were required to serve the 40 guests. Rebecca and her staff transported and set up everything that was needed for table service including tables, chairs, linens, silverware, water pitchers, and beverage coolers.

As Saturday September 11 approached, everyone crossed their fingers and prayed that there would be no rain in the forecast. Prayers were answered with a beautiful day - 78 degrees, clear skies and no winds. As the chefs arrived with their coolers at the Cornwall public dock, boat schedules ran smoothly and set-up for dinner service was easily accomplished. In the late afternoon, dinner was served and, composed from some of the finest local ingredients available in the Hudson Valley, was delicious. It was a once in a lifetime experience that will be remembered by chefs and guests alike.

Executive Mansion chef Noah Sheetz (left) with Bob Turner, general manager and executive chef of Omega FoodWorks. Noah and Bob have remained friends after graduating from the Culinary Institute together in 2002.

Bob Turner served the first course - Watermelon and roasted tomato gazpacho with feta cheese from Four Brothers Creamery in Millerton, NY

GiGi Hudson Valley executive chef Wilson Costa with owner Laura Pensiero. Laura and Wilson served the second course - Panzanella salad with grilled chicken from Northwind Farms

Upscale Hudson caterer/chef Jeff Loshinsky (left) with Elizabeth Beals, head jammer at Beth's Farm Kitchen, and Noah Sheetz. Jeff served the third course - Mesclun greens and pea shoots from Little Seeds Gardens, smoked duck from Quattro's Game Farm, dried apples (Golden Harvest Farms), and sherry vinaigrette

Rebecca Joyner, director of dining services at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, serving the fifth course - dessert by Noah Sheetz - Maple brioche bread pudding with peach bavarian, plum purees, and lace cookie. Ingredients included maple sugar from Russel Farms, flour from Wild Hive Farm, plums from Migliorelli Farm, and Cabot butter

Liz Beals served the fourth course - Nancy's Hudson Valley camembert with red currant jam.

*Pictures courtesy of Jane Feldman

News from the Kingston Farmers Market

2010-10-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

KINGSTON FARMERS' MARKET
NOVEMBER EVENTS 2010

Kingston, New York - The Kingston Farmers' Market has more than 30 vendors offering organic and natural fare such as meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables, breads and other baked goods, honey, fresh-cut flowers and so much more. There's something for everyone at the Kingston Farmers' Market. Healthy eating is affordable for all, FMNP and EBT are accepted. The Kingston Farmers' Market is held every Saturday, rain or shine, 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., through November 20th. The Market is located on Wall Street in the historic Stockade District of Uptown Kingston, near the New York State Thruway, at Exit 19. Admission is free, as is parking. For more information or to check weekly events, visit our website at: http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/ or call (845)853-8512. Find us on Facebook.

Holiday Shopping - Come to Crafts on John Street this Saturday, November 6th at the Kingston Farmers' Market, featuring the wonderful wares of talented Hudson Valley artisans. From glazed stoneware and handcrafted jewelry, to handmade soap, glass art and more, your holiday shopping starts here. Simplicity at its Best - The Healthy Eating Series continues this Saturday, November 13th, at the Kingston Farmers' Market. "One Pot Meals from the Market" is the focus of the chef demonstration this week. Join nutritionist Noel Conklin as she shows how simple and satisfying a "one pot meal" can be. We Give Thanks - This Saturday, November 20th, is the last outdoor Kingston Farmers' Market this season. Our Healthy Eating Series concludes with Thanksgiving dishes from the Market. Join nutritionist Noel Conklin as she creates all natural and delicious side dishes for the chef demonstration. Save time this holiday, buy your pies, tarts and other desserts fresh this year from the Kingston Farmers' Market. And don't forget to stock up on locally created gifts for the holidays from Crafts on John Street. The farmers, vendors and merchants from the Kingston Farmers' Market are thankful for your patronage and for helping to make this season the most successful yet.

Feast of Fin and Vin: Cocktail Reception at the Hudson Athens Lighthouse, October 15, 2010

2010-10-09T11:01:00.001-07:00

On Friday October 15, Executive Mansion chef Noah Sheetz and chef colleagues Rebecca Joyner, director of dining services at the Darrow School, Jeff Loshinsky, upscale Hudson caterer, and Nicci Cagan, personal chef and Rondout Valley farm to school advocate, will serve an all local cocktail reception at the Hudson Athens lighthouse that will include fish from Local Ocean, produce from Hudson Valley farms and local beer and wine from C.H. Evans Brewing Company and Millbrook Winery. Tickets are $75 and will benefit the Hudson Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society. To reserve tickets call: 518-828-1330

Learn more about the Lighthouse Reception on October 15 at Rural Intelligence

First Restaurant in Catskill to Go Green

2010-10-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

Village of Catskill, NY – Bell’s Café-Bistro recently made history by having its restaurant become a 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant®, with 120.48 Green Points™. Cementing itself as a pioneer in the green movement, Bell’s is one of the two restaurants in the Hudson Valley to meet the Green Restaurant Association’s rigorous environmental standards, the nation’s pre-eminent environmental certification for foodservice. All of Bell’s Café-Bistro’s accomplishments are transparent and visible on the web (http://www.dinegreen.com/).

“To have our sustainability efforts and leadership recognized on the national stage as Catskill’s first restaurant to achieve this environmental goal is extremely gratifying. I am proud of my staff and vendors for their commitment to a better future,” said Yael Manor-McMorrow, chef and co-owner of Bell’s Café-Bistro.

Bell’s Café-Bistro has almost completely gotten rid of its waste through composting and recycling.

Certified Green Restaurants® must meet several sustainability criteria outlined in the Green Restaurant® 4.0 Standards, including achieving minimum point requirements in various environmental categories, such as energy, water, waste, chemicals, green disposables, and food. Each sustainability category is measured and verified, and restaurants are awarded points based on their application of sustainable practices. In accordance with the GRA’s Certification guidelines, a 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant® must meet a minimum of 100 points within its program. Bell’s Café-Bistro has earned more than 120 points so far by implementing steps that include:

Natural meats
Bamboo flooring
Low and no voc paints
Composting with a local farmer

Click here to see Bell’s Café-Bistro Green Label details.

“We are very proud of Bell’s Café-Bistro for its accomplishment in reaching 2 Star Certified 2 Green Restaurant® level with 120 points of quantifiable, transparent and verified environmental steps,” says Michael Oshman, CEO and founder of the Green Restaurant Association. “Bell’s is pointing the way for the industry to follow.”

Bell’s Café-Bistro is located at 387 Main Street in Catskill, New York and is open for brunch Wednesday through Sunday, while dinner is served Thursday through Saturday. Frugal Thursdays are a favorite at Bell’s Café-Bistro when the menu gets priced down to just $10 and under with glasses of wine priced at a wallet-friendly $5. A sample of Bell’s Café-Bistro’s menu is available on-line at www.bellscafeny.net. For reservations, call 518.943.4070.

For more information about Bell’s Café Bistro, visit http://www.bellscafeny.net/.

For more information about the GRA’s Certification program, visit www.dinegreen.com.

About Bell’s Café-Bistro
Bell’s Café-Bistro is a 30-seat restaurant with a European feel in the Village of Catskill located in upstate New York. Within a 180-year-old restored building, chefs Yael Manor-McMorrow and Keith McMorrow have created a culinary destination in the heart of the Catskills. Bell’s Café-Bistro serves up fresh and delicious dishes inspired from the Mediterranean, as well as bountiful salads and amazing hamburgers. Local, organic products are the hallmark of Bell’s signature dishes. Bell’s Café-Bistro is committed to using sustainable poultry and grass-fed beef that are free of antibiotics and hormones. Best known for its weekend brunch, which features house favorites like shakshouka and incredible banana granola pancakes, Bell’s Café-Bistro attracts patrons from far and wide. The dinner menu at Bell’s Café-Bistro is a treasure of wonderful dishes that are full of flavor. Dinner staples like Moroccan spicy fish and homemade ricotta gnocchi are considered Bell’s signature comfort-food favorites. The culinary approach at Bell’s Café-Bistro is simple, but the results are extraordinary. Each one of the dishes at Bell’s Café-Bistro is made fresh by the chefs, who are committed to creating meals with the best ingredients in order to offer customers great food in a relaxed atmosphere. Bell’s Café-Bistro takes advantage of every opportunity to use products that are earth-friendly and methods that conserve energy and contribute to the betterment of the environment. Bell’s Café-Bistro is proud to be a 2 Star Certified Green Restaurant®.

About the Green Restaurant Association
2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the Green Restaurant Association’s (GRA) founding. The GRA is a national nonprofit organization that provides the only official Certified Green Restaurants® mark in the country. For two decades, the GRA has pioneered the Green Restaurant® movement and has been the leading voice within the industry encouraging restaurants to listen to consumer demand and green their operations using transparent, science based certification standards. With their turnkey certification system, the GRA has made it easy for thousands of restaurants to become more environmentally sustainable in a profitable manner. The GRA is endorsed by scores of national environmental organizations such as Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund, and esteemed trade organizations including the New York State Restaurant Association, Orange County Restaurant Association, and America Public Garden Association. The GRA is also an Energy Star partner. In 2010, CitySearch announced the GRA as its official Green Restaurant® listing partner. The GRA has been featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, National Public Radio, and in The New York Times and The Washington Post. For more information visit http://www.dinegreen.com/.

FarmAssist Productions Presents: Kitchen Culture Workshop, Lecture & Event Series

2010-10-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

FarmAssist Productions

We are a small, independent farm and food advocacy, teaching and networking organization. Currently we are functioning under the auspices of Four Winds Inc. a fully accredited 501(3)c nonprofit. We work toward the inter and independence of our farmer and non-farmer neighbors as we strive for increased Bioregional Foodshed Security in the Greater Hudson Valley. All donations to support and expand our work are tax deductible to the full extent of state & federal tax law.

Kitchen Culture Workshops, Fall 2010

Hi Everyone! We are very proud to bring you this group of teachers, workshops and lectures. Early registration is highly advisable as we intentionally keep these small, so that everyone has a practical, hands on experience and can then go forth and can share the information with their family and neighbors. If you would like to conduct a workshop or just have a good idea to share, please contact FarmAssist Productions.
Please check back as we are constantly adding events, we are still scheduling workshops - meat & cheese smoking, small animal processing (including rabbits and lambs) and Slow Money 101, What You Need To Know if You are Looking For Investors. We are also booking A Better World Lecture Series featuring cutting edge innovators and visionaries in the food, farming, environmental, economic and permaculture areas. Monday nights in November will be fun filled and delicious with Celebrity Chef Guerilla Dinners. For the current, full schedule: http://farmassistproductionsfall2010.eventbrite.com/. Much more to come...

My Very Best!
Gianni

Seed Saving Secrets with Chris Kemnah of Otter Hook Farm Chris and Samantha Kemnah of Otter Hook Farm CSA are part of the young, smart and committed wave of farmers who are literally changing our shared landscape. Hudson Valley natives and experienced growers, they know what varieties do well in our soils and climate, Chris is a geologist and has a unique love and understanding of our soils and growing environment. This year in addition to offering a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, they grew over 60 varieties of tomatoes, Freedom Ranger broiler chickens, are milking a family cow (spectacular milk!) and raising two beautiful little boys, Alex and Benjamin, in the family farm tradition - and saving seeds for next year! http://farmassistseeds.eventbrite.com/

The Art & Science of Root Cellaring With Jack Kittredge Back by popular demand! Have you ever wondered how food was preserved before refrigeration and cryovacking? Enough was preserved to get whole families through the winter and not one drop of electricity was used. In the Hudson Valley we have many root cellars and experienced keepers but many of these valuable structures have fallen into disrepair. There has been a tremendous resurgence of interest in natural, low energy over winter storage of fresh and preserved produce - come learn how the many affordable ways to do it in your own home, basement or yard. http://farmassistrootcellaring.eventbrite.com/

Sourdough Baking With Matt Funiciello of Rock Hill Bake House Back by popular demand! Matt Funiciello is the master baker/owner of Rock Hill Bake House and has been a life long food activist. He is a spirited and deeply knowledgeable teacher. This workshop is suitable for you if you have never baked a frozen bun and also if you are an advanced baker. This man understands the true nature of grains and the alchemy of sour dough like no one else. This is a particularly exciting time to take up or expand your baking, as we are seeing the re-emergence of heirloom, non GMO varietals in our region. http://farmassistbread.eventbrite.com/

Mushroomology With Skotty Kellogg Mushrooms are not just delicious and medicinal, they are a very low maintenance perennial crop, a mushroom log can produce for up to five years. We will learn several growing techniques and everyone will go home with their own logs. Dress warm, bring a bagged lunch and snacks and be prepared to do some work. http://farmassistmushroomoloy.eventbrite.com/

Cider Vinegar, Lactofermentation & Acorn Flour Delicacies with Gianni Ortiz & David Delozier Used for hundreds of years as a daily tonic, apple cider vinegar is easy to make and provides many benefits. Often referred to as the Original Gatorade, it also offers many natural protective properties against viral and bacterial infections. Come learn how to make your own in addition lacto-fermented veggies and how to cook with the lost (and delicious!) native staple White Oak Acorn - used in puddings, ‘corn’ molasses and ginger bread, chili, etc... For native Americans having an ample store of acorns was the equivalent of having an insurance policy to get through the winter and this year there was a bumper crop. http://farmassistvinegaracorn.eventbrite.com/

Homemade Soap, Tallow to Lather - Laundry Detergent to Finely Milled Facial Soaps with Wanda Halten We will take tallow and turn it into a basic soap product that can be used for laundry, dish and finely milled facial soaps through traditional methods. We will take this basic product and bring it through the first phase of milling, using essential oils, algaes and herbals. They make for very special and treasured Christmas gifts. http://farmassistsoap.eventbrite.com/

Medicinal Herbals To Get Through The Winter with Stacy Pettigrew Mother, Journalist, Permaculturist, Activist and Herbalist Stacy Pettigrew will share her great depth of knowledge and well researched formulas with us just in time for winter cold and flu season. We will also discuss medicine-making. Hands-on activities will include pressing a tincture, and making both an Arnica salve for aches and pains and an anti-viral Elderberry syrup to take home.: http://farmassistherbals.eventbrite.com/

Nutrient Dense Winter Microgreens & Kombucha Cocktails with Deborah Doyle Missing your garden greens? OK, so you are into local and seasonal food, or want to be - what do you do during the winter? Learn to sprout and grow trays of microgreens that do not require lots of light that are super nutrient dense, fresh and affordable. Take starter trays and 'the kombucha mother' home with you. Please bring your own sterilized jars or purchase beautiful bottles appropriate for fermentation and storage. http://farmassistndmicrogreens.eventbrite.com/

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These workshops are deliberately designed to be low tech, home and small farm -scale and emphasize hands-on-learning so that you can easily incorporate these skills into your routine. All demonstrations will send you home with lots of information and samples, when possible. Please peruse the entire schedule - you may want to take more than one! Please bring your lunch, beverages and wear appropriate clothing and footwear. Also, continue to check the website as we are constantly adding workshops, lectures and events.

Art-On-The-Line Art and Music Festival Oct.1-3

2010-09-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

HUDSON VALLEY, NY - Noah Sheetz, Executive Chef for New York's Governors Mansion will join WDST personality Greg Gattine Friday October 1, 6-8:00PM at the Almost Famous Cafe at Seven21 Media Gallery on Broadway. As part of the "Art-On-The-Line" Art, Food and Music Festival in Kingston New York, October 1-3, 2010.

Chef Noah and Greg will prepare meals for over a 100 lucky attendees. Traveling regional cooking show Green Peas TV also will be doing a live taping of the event, in conjunction with Second Chance Productions.

For more information call 845-331-7955 or visit http://artontheline.info/

Sticky Fingers Gourmet Apples joins the Harmony House Market Place

2010-09-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sticky Fingers Gourmet Apples
Sticky Fingers Gourmet Apples is the latest artisanal enterprise to join the Harmony House Market Place in Cohoes. Two years ago R and G Cheese Works joined the market place, producing an exceptional line of chevre, mozzarella and their signature ash ripened Eclipse. The Bake Shop offers assorted holiday cookies, chocolate pecan oat bars, strawberry crumb bars, chocolate chip cookies, granola bars, carrot cake, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookies, scones, and double chocolate cream pies. The Wine Sellar provides the largest selection of New York state wines in the state. Sticky Fingers has added the store front location in the marketplace as a production center and retail outlet for what is already a thriving on-line mail order business. Candied nuts, gourmet popcorn and caramel covered apples are among the decadent confections that Sticky Fingers is mail ordering around the globe.

A Good Year for Melons

2010-09-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

There are two categories of melons, winter, or smooth skinned and the netted pattern skinned summer variety. Summer melons are widely grown throughout New York. The Hand Farm in Greenwich is known for producing exceptionally sweet and tender melons

A Good Year for Melons

As a general requirement the success, or sweetness, of melons is largely dependent on the amount of heat and sunlight that they receive. With a shorter and cooler than average growing season, New York can be a challenging climate to achieve the high level of sugar associated with a perfect tasting melon. The low temperatures and record rainfalls of last summer were reflected in what can be summed up as a terrible year for melons. In fact the mysterious and widespread absence of the infamous Hand melons from all farm stands and co-ops throughout the Hudson Valley and Saratoga regions was a tell sign of the unusually wet and cold growing season.

This summer began with a heat wave that lasted three weeks and saw record temperature highs and no rain. “We finally began watering all of our plants by hand when we lost three beds of cucumbers to the heat” says Stephen Corrigan from the Produce Project, who grows a variety of vegetables on a three acre plot on 8th Street in Troy. While the scorching heat and shortage of rain led to casualties in vegetable fields and gardens, it also had a positive impact on the sugar development in melons. Hand melons, which are bought in bulk from the Hand Farm at the wholesale farmers market in Menands and later resold at hundreds of farm markets and stands, have been abundant throughout the tri-state area of New York’s Hudson Valley, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Picking a great tasting melon is always a gamble. Everyone knows the disappointing scenario of choosing what seems like a perfect looking specimen but is actually flavorless, tasting more like a cucumber and less like a sweet melon, on the inside. This phenomenon generally happens when melons are picked before they are ripe. In the field or garden melons are perfectly ripe when their vines begins to turn brown and pull easily away, leaving a smooth indention at the stem end of the melon. When choosing melons, look for those that are aromatic and seem heavy for their size. Store them at room temperature, somewhere between 50 and 70 degrees. Melons will taste slightly sweeter if you briefly chill them before cutting and serving them.

Bruce Davenport at the Capital District Farmers Market

2010-08-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

With Bruce Davenport (left). During the summer Bruce wakes up at two in the morning every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to sell produce at the Capital District Farmers Market in Menands

Donna Staron from Staron's Farm in Chatham sells at the Capital District Farmers Market

Bruce Davenport at the Capital District Farmers Market

During the summer Bruce Davenport wakes up at two o'clock in the morning to load his produce truck and make the hour and half drive from Marbletown to the Capital District Farmer Market, the largest regional wholesale farmers market in upstate New York, located in Menands. Around five a.m. produce trucks from farms all over the Capital region also begin pulling into the hundreds of parking slots that divide an immense parking lot bordered by huge wholesale warehouses that are home to Capital region purveyors like D. Brickman Produce, Decker's Produce and Pray's Farm Market. As the farmers unload their trucks and set up produce bins, an intricate web of farm to farm business transactions begins. Farmers buy and sell their produce to each other before finally reselling it again at their own markets and stands. Last week I saw Bruce and I asked him if I could buy a watermelon. "I don't have any extra but let me see if I can give you one of Donna's" he said. Donna Staron from Staron's Farm sells potatoes and vegetables that her husband Stanley grows at the market. She also buys Bruce's watermelons and cantaloupes from the Hand Farm in Greenwich to sell at her market stand back in Chatham.

While Davenport Farms isn't located exactly in the Capital region that the market was created to serve, Bruce says that after his grandfather established the farm's presence there in the 1930's, the farm has continued to be a regular player at the market. Because of the farm's southern location, Bruce's produce is slightly ahead of other farmers on the seasonal curve. Many of his customers, farmers themselves, buy his produce to sell at their farm stands and markets when their own hasn't fully ripened. But even when the farmers catch up on their own produce and stop buying from Bruce he never takes it personally. He knows they'll return at some point during the next growing season.

Dinner on Bannerman Island by 5 Hudson Valley Chefs

2010-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Purslane

2010-08-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

"Although considered a weed in most of the United States, this green has been eaten for centuries."
From the Joy of Cooking

Purslane, trash or treasure
Stephen Corrigan from the Produce Project and Capital District Community Gardens says "you can keep all of it, I don't eat it and I don't like it." But I remember a day three years ago on a Washington County farm tour when I watched as the sous chef from Mercer Kitchen excitedly snagged a handful of it out of a dirt road at Sheldon Farms and popped it into his mouth. "I love this stuff".

Purslane for the most part is a weed, growing anywhere and everywhere - in gardens, flowerbeds, and the cracks of sidewalks. Sometimes it is included as a component in a mesclun salad mix. Rarely is it celebrated on its own, although I did see an episode of the TV series Top Chef where one of the contestants served a purslane puree as part of a dish (sadly I can't remember what the rest of the dish was).

If you've never seen purslane, it has a beautiful Jade like appearance and a bright refreshing citrus flavor. I've picked and eaten it with school children, carefully explaining how to recognize it and how it should be eaten. While children may be open to eating it, I'm not sure why, as is the case with other wild edibles, it has not gained in popularity, especially among today's adventurous salad fanatics. Perhaps there is something about eating "weeds" that makes people squeamish.

Cream of Purslane Soup
From the Joy of Cooking

5 cups of chicken stock
3 tablespoons brown or white rice
1 bunch purslane (about 7 ounces), chopped or pureed
1/2 cup hot heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped parlsey
2 eggs, well beaten

Simmer the broth and rice in a pot until the rice is tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in the purlsane, cream and parlsey. Simmer the soup about 5 minutes. Stir a small quantity into the beaten eggs. Add this to the rest of the soup slowly. Gently heat the soup over low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Garden Dinner, Roots and Wisdom, Schenectady

2010-08-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Garden Dinner, Roots and Wisdom, Schenectady
The Roots and Wisdom garden on Fehr Avenue in Schenectady was the setting for a four course family style dinner Wednesday evening. Guests from the Capital District and Hudson Valley included members from Capital District Community Gardens, Youth Organics, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Wellington's Herbs and Spices, the Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Hudson Valley steering committee of Slow Foods.

Chef and 'From the Ground Up' co-founder Nicci Cagan joined Executive Mansion chefs Noah Sheetz and Tom Santimaw in the preparation of the meal that started with chilled curried zucchini soup and corn cakes with ratatouille. A salad sampling of arugula with Alpine cheese and raw kale, corn and kohlrabi, and roasted green bean and cherry tomato salads was followed by dessert trays of zucchini coconut bread, berry tartlets, quark and ground cherry tartlets and corn ice cream.

Chef Cagan sourced the kale for the raw kale salad from five different Rondout Valley farms. Other ingredients for the dinner included arugula from the Produce Project of Capital District Community Gardens, and kohlrabi and eggplant that were harvested from the Executive Mansion's gardens. Corn was harvested by youth from the Youth Organics garden in Albany, and zucchini, basil, parsley, cucumbers, and tomatoes were picked by youth from Roots and Wisdom who also helped serve beverages and platters of food.

photographs courtesy of Nicci Cagan

Holiday Brook Farm

2010-08-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

Desiree Robertson-DuBois

Sifting. After the compost is sifted the leftover rocks, sticks and plastic are removed.

Dicken Crane

Holiday Brook Farm
Holiday Brook Farm is a 1300 acre diversified farm in Dalton Massachusetts that produces hay, maple syrup, compost, firewood and has a 145 member CSA.

Farm managers Desiree and Jesse Robertson-DuBois have expanded six acres of vegetable production to include arrowhead cabbage, chard, kohlrabi, patty pan squash, several varieties of new potatoes; and are also managing herds of grass fed beef cows, pigs and sheep.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating ventures of Holiday Brook Farm is the full scale composting operation that processes thousands of tons of horse manure and yard clippings from county residents. Farm owner Dicken Crane says that an optimal blend of fertile compost is created with equal amounts of manure and clippings. A small supplement of animal renderings from a nearby slaughterhouse is added to boost the development of live natural bacteria, an essential component in nutrient rich compost.

While the composting operation provides Massachusetts residents with a recycling option for disposing of yard waste, Dicken says that the operation does present some minor issues. Coyote pups are known for dragging wax cardboard, a compostable byproduct from local grocery stores, into the hayfields. "Someone has to go out into the fields and gather the cardboard before the hay can be cut and bailed" says Dicken.

In Season

2010-07-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Lee from Angello’s Distributing, a distributor of local and organic products located in Clermont, sent the following e-mail message to customers on Monday night:

“In case I didn’t make the case clear enough, corn is here…”

Corn

Local corn is in season and will continue to be available throughout upstate New York until early September. When you are buying corn at farm stands look for bright green husks, pale yellow silk and plump kernels.

When preparing corn, “cooking” is a subjective term. The end goal involves little more than heating up the kernels and is a process that should be kept relatively short. Corn is perfectly safe when eaten raw and is, in fact, delicious. The next time you visit a farm and have the opportunity, try picking, peeling and eating a raw corn cob from the corn field. When it is perfectly mature, just-picked corn tastes incredibly sweet. From the moment corn is picked, the sugars that have built up within the corn kernels begin converting to starch. This is why it is best to buy corn as close to the time that it was picked as possible, when the sugar content is at its highest. If you are buying corn and do not intend to eat it the same day, store it in the refrigerator. Corn will still be enjoyable and have some sweetness left even when it is kept under refrigeration for a few days.

Corn in the husk can be roasted in a hot 400 degree oven or grilled, and will only take about 10 minutes to cook. Don’t worry about the husks burning; the kernels will remain protected and vibrant despite any dramatic exterior burning and blackening. To prepare corn on the cob, remove the husk and silk and drop the cobs into boiling water for two to eight minutes.

To remove the kernels from a cob of corn, first remove the husk and silk. Hold the cob upright, with the stem side down, and press downward against the kernels with a sharp knife, removing two to three rows with each cutting. After the kernels have been removed, you can scrape the cob with the back of the knife to remove any leftover corn juices and pulp. At this point the kernels can be used in any recipe or can be frozen in zip lock bags to be enjoyed during the winter months. Corn kernels are delicious in salads and pair well with butter, bacon, cream cheese, chili powder, basil, cilantro, parsley and lime.
*information from the Joy of Cooking

Look for corn at these Columbia County farms

Local Value

2010-07-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hepworth Farms Grape Tomatoes
$3.25 a pint at Mother Earth's Storehouse

Hepworth Farms is a seventh generation, 45 acre organic farm in Milton, NY. The farm grows 111 varieties of vegetables and 53 different types of fruit, including many older, offbeat apple varieties like Ginger Golds, Candy Crisps and Stayman Winesaps.

Learn more about Hepworth Farm at My Personal Farmers.com

Chef Peter Kelly, Dinner on the Hudson

2010-07-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Dinner on the Hudson
On Tuesday Green Peas TV film maker Jane Watson returned to the Mid Hudson Bridge to film celebrity chef Peter X. Kelly who prepared griddled quail, Doc Davies white corn maque choux and cherry mostardo. Local ingredients for Chef Kelly’s meal were provided by Blooming Hills Farm, Conklins Farm, and the Doc Davies Farm. Millbrook Vineyard’s “Xaviar’s Cuvee” was the local wine chosen to compliment Chef Kelly’s three star cuisine on the Bridge.

Chef Kelly’s “Dinner on the Hudson” episode will be one of three segments involving Green Peas TV and Hudson Valley chefs who cook with local ingredients on the bridge. On July 6th, I served grass-fed and grain-fed burgers paired with Keegan Ales for the “The Bridge, a burger and a beer” episode. Also attending were renowned composer and “Bridge musician” Joe Bertolozzi and blues guitarist Albert Cummings who provided an impromptu bluesy background for the episode.

On Monday July 26th Chef Marcus Guiliano of Aroma Thyme Bistro will be filmed for “Brunch on the Hudson”. Joining Chef Guiliano will be Paul Maloney, owner of the trendy new Stockade Tavern in Kingston, who will demonstrate old time pre-Prohibition era cocktail recipes using spirits from a local distillery in the Hudson Valley.

Local Value - Terrapin Restaurant

2010-07-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

$8 quarter pound cheeseburger

The Red Bistro, located in Terrapin Restaurant in Rhinebeck, serves a local burger with grass fed beef from the Hudson Valley Cattle Company, bread from the Bread Alone Bakery (I recommend the multigrain), and Sky Farm mesclun greens. While the formal dining restaurant features a set menu of tried and true favorites, the Red Bistro offers a variety of salads and sandwiches with a mix and match assortment of “build your own” ingredients, many of which are local.

Terrapin Restaurant
6426 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck
(845) 876-3330

Whitetail Deer - Menace to the Upstate Garden

2010-07-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Delbert Lee and son Remington, Rainbow Valley Farms

Whitetail Deer - Menace to the Upstate Garden

A few weeks ago I ran into Delbert Lee of Rainbow Valley Farms at his farm stand just off the Taconic Parkway - exit 52 Carmel/Fishkill. He told me about how he had just put several of his fields back into production after a rest period that had lasted several years. "We had farmed on the fields for awhile and they needed a break. But the real problem had been the deer. They were eating everything in sight". To combat the devastation that the deer posed to future production on the fields, Delbert constructed an eight foot slant wire electrified fence that is buried at the base. "It slopes inward so if they think about trying to jump over and they get too close it shocks them in the brisket".

It seems like an extreme solution to a common upstate problem. That is, unless you've ever lived in Dutchess or Columbia County and understand firsthand the ravage caused by, and the hopeless prospect of growing vegetables with an overrun Whitetail deer population. In fact Dutchess and Columbia counties have one of the highest rates of Lyme disease, caused by deer ticks, in the country.

The website of Cornell Cooperative Extension offers farmers and home gardeners several solutions to pests such as deer backed by an extensive body of trial research. For deer, Cornell recommends any number of slant wire, baited single wire, and electric fencing systems, the use of which seem completely over-the-top and overwhelming for suburban gardeners with small backyard plots who dream of little more than growing a few vegetables during the summer season. Putrefied egg products, fox blood, cayenne and human urine, all proven to only be slightly effective deterrents depending on the intensity of foraging pressures, also seem more trouble than they are worth and are easily washed away by rain.

Is gardening in urban and suburban areas with dense deer populations a hopeless venture? While an unfenced victory garden is obviously unrealistic, there are several deer resistant vegetables (which are actually just those that the deer haven't developed a palate for yet) and a few tricks that make growing vegetables a possibility.

Plants with strong odors - Onions, Garlic and Herbs

A common theory behind why onions, garlic and herbs are left unbothered by resident deer is that deer don't care for pungently aromatic plants. Herbs, easy and low maintenance, grow quickly and extremely well with little or no interference from deer.

I've had great success with onions for two seasons now but while onions seem to be resistant, I have heard that leeks, sweet and tender, are not as lucky.

Garlic
Garlic remains immune to the foraging of hungry deer. Plant the cloves six inches deep in early October. In the Spring the shoots will pop up and grow undisturbed until mid July when the leaves brown and wither back, at which point the bulbs are ready to be pulled up. Another bonus are the edible snaky long flowering scapes that grow up from the stalk throughout May and June. Clip the scapes and steam them like green beans.

Nightshade Vegetables

Peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes all belong to a family of vegetables known as Nightshade. Only the fruits of these plants are edible, the leaves and stems are toxic when eaten in moderate amounts.

This season the peppers, eggplant and potatoes in my home garden (although the potatoes have experienced other non-deer related issues) have all been left unbothered by the roaming deer population in my area of Red Hook. While the toxicity of Nightshade leaves and stems is the basis for the theory of deer disinterest in Nightshade vegetables, this seems only partly accurate as deer are notorious for systematically and voraciously munching tomato seedlings down to little nubs. Tomato plants may have a chance on your deck with a pet gate (so far mine have) but for now they are a losing proposition in an unfenced backyard garden where deer are present.

Container Gardens on the Deck
Your deck may offer enough of a barrier to prevent deer attacks. On average deer can leap six feet high. Most deck railings are just about that high. The strong presence of human odors and the proximity to humans is also likely to be a deterrent (although nothing is likely to prevent deer devastation during times of drought and competition caused by overpopulation). If you have stair access to the deck, use pets gates to block off the potential entry point. I use two gates - one for the bottom of the stairs and one for the top. Disadvantages of deck gardens include limited growing space and limited light. Most decks are shaded for many hours of the day by the house.

In Season

2010-07-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

Peaches
*Information from the Joy of Cooking

Peaches are in full swing at farmers markets and grocery stores all across New York. Look for Maynard Farms' peaches at Hannaford locations in Ulster, Columbia and Dutchess counties.

Clingstone and Freestone are two varieties of peaches, named for the relative ease that the pit can be removed from the flesh. White or yellow Clingstone peaches have pits that stick or "cling" to the flesh. With a tart flavor, Clingstones are ideal for cooking in cobblers and pies or by poaching or sautéing. Freestone peaches have a pit that is easily removable and are best eaten out of hand but also lend themselves to drying and canning.

When selecting peaches at farm stands and grocery stores, look for peaches that are firm or slightly soft (never hard), with even color, and without soft brown spots.

Canning and freezing are great ways to preserve large quantities of peaches to enjoy during the fall and winter months. To prepare peaches for freezing, first submerge them in boiling water, for about a minute, until the skins begin to crack. Remove the peaches and "shock" them by placing them in ice water. The skins should slip off easily. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Pack the peach halves in zip lock bags and freeze them for later use.

Peaches in Syrup
*From the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

3 1/4 cups sugar
5 cups water
8-12 pounds peaches, halved, pitted and skinned

Boil the sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pack the peach halves cavity side down in hot jars. Pour the syrup over the peaches. Cover the jars with tight fitting, sterilized lids and screw bands. Process pint and quart jars in boiling water for 30 minutes.

Note: If you're worried about preserving their color, you may choose to treat the peaches with a produce protector that contains ascorbic acid.

Look for peaches at these Columbia County Fruit Farms

In the Marbletown Elementary Garden, Barb Davenport and Allyson Levy

2010-07-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

Starting Your Own Garden, Tips from Allyson Levy

2010-07-07T19:25:00.001-07:00

Starting your own garden

Allyson Levy is a food stylist and gardening expert who lives in the Stone Ride area. She helped start both gardens at the Marbletown Elementary and Middle schools. Below are her tips for starting your own garden.

What is the easiest way for first time gardeners to start a garden?

Sunny Spots
First find the sunniest spot in your yard. That means an area that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight during the day. If you have several places that are ideal, consider positioning the garden close to the house, or even next to the door of the kitchen. This will allow you to keep an eye on what you are growing and, considering the close proximity to the house, it might offer some protection from deer and other creatures. If you don't live in an urban environment and deer might be a problem, a fence or another type of barrier needs to be in place if you realistically want to harvest what you will grow.

Raised Beds
Raised beds are the fastest way to start with lots of good soil rather than digging up your pre-existing soil and adding the amendments needed to create ideal growing conditions. Keep it simple, start with one or two beds. You can always build more beds in the following seasons if you outgrow your space. Ideally, if space allows, make a 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed with untreated lumber. Most large home improvement centers sell 2' x 8' x 12' untreated pine and can cut the wood to order. Two pieces of this wood will make one 4' x 8' box, when cut at the eight foot mark. Pine boxes will last about 5 years or so, so if you can make the investment, buy cedar which is more expensive but will last longer. To fasten the wood together use 3 inch deck screws which have a rust resistant coating.

Soil
Soil is a very complicated subject, which can be further examined on university websites (such as that of the Cornell Cooperative Extension) but the bottom line is that several organic amendments will mean bigger, tastier, and healthier crops. The most reasonably priced soil can be purchased from a local landscape materials supplier, and if you are planning to make more than one raised bed it is the best option because the supplier will generally deliver. However, the soils tend to be sandy loam and you will need to add compost, aged manures, decomposed leaves and grass clippings to enrich the soil. All of these amendments (except for grass clippings and leaf mould) can be purchased at your local nursery. They may be a little pricy but they are well worth the investment in the long run. The best ingredients for soil enrichment are fall leaves and grass clippings. Instead of raking those leaves and clippings into a bag that gets sent to a landfill, you can collect and store them under a tarp covering. After they have decomposed for a few years you will have a really high quality soil amendment that costs nothing. If this seems too complicated you can buy bags of soil and composted cow manure at your local hardware stores, and, although a bit pricy, it is a convenient alternative as the two can be easily mixed together in a wheelbarrow. For every two bags of soil you will want 1 bag of composted manure. To fill one 4' x 8' raised bed you will need approximately 21 cubic feet of soil.

What to plant
Pick a few vegetables that you and your family really like to eat. For some it's cucumbers and for others its salad greens. Make a list of your five favorite produce and buy 2-5 seedlings or small plants of each to plant out in early spring. Buy them from a local nursery and not a big box store if possible. Or try planting seeds in late winter to plant out in early spring. Even though it is more involved, with the help of a bright sunny windowsill and a little water, planting seedlings that you grew from seeds is very rewarding, as well as giving you the opportunity to choose unusual varieties of different crops. There are several organic seed companies that have wonderful rare heirloom varieties of popular vegetables, and do mail order business.

Chef/Caterer Jeff Loshinsky talks on Hudson Valley farms

2010-07-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

Jeff Loshinsky visited Bannerman's Island recently where visitors are required to wear hard hats. Jeff is one of five chefs that will be serving an all local, five course dinner on the island on September 11th

Chef/Caterer Jeff Loshinsky talks on Hudson Valley Farms

Et Cetera Farms in Philmont is a certified organic farm operated by a “Corean” couple (spelling unique to the owners) who have beautiful vegetables including many Asian specialties. They are also experimenting with growing rice here in the Hudson Valley. Their Romaine is delicate poetry, with sherry vinegar, sea salt and good olive oil. The golden beets are sublime; roasted with the tops separately stir-fried in garlic and a generous squirt of "rooster sauce" a/k/a Sriracha. They also have an Asian variety of a round radish that is white with the occasional purple and is very, very crunchy. At first I mistakenly thought they were baby turnips, but they are not. They are also doing a very limited run of pork. The only other farm that comes close to Et Cetera's quality is Cato Farm down in the Black-Dirt of Sullivan County. Cato’s entire crop goes to the Union Square Greenmarket and gets bought up very quickly by the top chefs in the city.

Also not to be missed here in the Hudson Valley is the Scottish Highland beef from Cool Whisper Farm on Route 21 in Ghent, just up the road from Georgia and Lee at Kinderhook Farm. Cool Whisper really hums under the radar, but one can purchase their beef directly at the farm or from the "needs-to-be-supported" Philmont Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings. The ground beef made an amazing burger at lunch on Tuesday. All of the "grassers" up here are delicious, but something really tweaked our taste buds with this particular beef. In addition to having great flavor, it has a price point of four dollars per pound, making it a great inside secret.

Rob and Heather Kitchen's Pigasso Farms are finally becoming known among chefs in the area. They are a great couple, holding down full time day jobs while running their farm, just south of the traffic light in Hillsdale and Copake proper - just off of Farm Road. While the bacon is wonderful and the chickens are superb, never pass up the opportunity to snag one of their pork shoulders. Rob is also making at least three types of pork sausage. All are great, but the shining star is his raw chorizo. The spice level is very good, but I’d like to see the introduction of Pimenton, a type of smoked paprika, assuming that Rob could get it at an affordable price. Another nice addition to the sausage casings would be some tiny quarter inch size chunks of pork meat. However this may be difficult with a raw product. I am not sure who runs the sausage stuffer but if you've ever worked with one of these monsters, you understand that it requires a significant level of skill.

Pigasso Lamb
Make sure that you reserve a lamb leg for yourself several months before Rob butchers his lambs. This is the kind of lamb one gets in Spain - lean, grassy, streaky and remarkable. I braised a leg for a client with garlic and herb studs, Tempranillo, allspice berries, a couple of cloves and some glace' de boeuf. It was hands-down better than the lamb I have tasted in either Spain or Corsica, both known for remarkable lamb.

Visit Jeff Loshinsky's website

Celebrating the Season with Berries

2010-06-25T03:22:00.001-07:00

Originally published for eco-Local Living Magazine, 2010 Sowing Edition
By Annette Nielsen

Celebrating the Season with Berries

Although you'll see an abundance of produce early on in the season at regional farmers' markets and farm stands, nothing is a more welcome signal of the warmer season than fresh-picked berries. The burst of sweetness never seems to last long enough, but with a little forethought, you can preserve your harvest for use throughout the year.

Strawberries are the first out of the gate (mid- to late-June) and are packed with Vitamin C, and they also provide a punch of iron and potassium. Think beyond the traditional strawberry shortcake, with chilled strawberry soup, strawberry coulis (a thick puree) or a bright salsa to accompany a tuna steak or chicken breast. Desserts like macerated strawberries (strawberries soaked or marinated in a liqueur) or strawberries with zabaglione (a frothy custard made from marsala and egg yolks and served over cake or fruit) are all favorites that augment your menus through the early summer.

Blueberries and early raspberries are next up (mid- to late-July) and provide ample opportunity for creative cooking. Cobblers, tarts, pies, soups, and smoothies – colorful and nutritious additions to warm-weather cuisine.

As the summer winds down, the late harvest raspberries are in abundance as the last kiss of summer. The majority of the raspberries we find are red, with varieties of black and golden also available. Since these berries are quite delicate, they don't ship well (another reason why procuring at the farmers' market, a farm stand, or at a u-pick farm is a good idea) and can't withstand the treatment you might give a strawberry or blueberry. Enjoyed fully on its own, just picked without adornment, raspberries are also an indulgence appreciated with a bit of whipped cream or dropped in a glass of bubbly mineral water or champagne.

When scheduling a family outing at a u-pick farm, know that you're getting an experience that not only provides you with the best tasting fruit, but that you're supporting your local farmers and producers as well as your local economy.

Some tips to make your berry-picking experience a fun one:

DRESS FOR THE WEATHER. Since you'll be outdoors, bring along a light jacket or sweater for early morning (cooler temperature) picking and don't forget to apply sunscreen, even for the cloudy days;

CALL AHEAD FOR PICKING SCHEDULES. Weather plays a major role in the availability of crops -- typically mid- to late-June starts the strawberry season, while blueberries are available during July, and raspberries (depending on the variety) are available starting mid-July for the summer variety and fall-bearing raspberries like Heritage and Autumn Bliss allow for picking until mid-October (or when the temperature dips to 28 degrees F.)

BUCKETS. Most farms supply buckets that you can use to pick the fruit, but you can usually save money by bringing your own container in which to transport your berries home;

BUGS. You'll be picking your berries out in nature's kingdom - the home of bees, ants, birds, and butterflies. If you have an allergic reaction to bees or bug bites, bring along the appropriate medications;

PICK ONLY THE RIPENED FRUIT. Blueberries tend to drop into your hand when ripe, and raspberries pull easily from the cluster. Blueberries, for example, are ripe when they have turned a purple-blue color, not reddish blue, but can ripen left at room temperature and will keep in the refrigerator for almost a week;

WAIT TO WASH the fruit until you're ready to use it -- water on picked berries promotes mold growth;

If YOU'RE FREEZING THE FRUIT, try to freeze as close to your harvest time as possible. Use either freezer-quality plastic containers or if you're using non-rigid containers (bags), make certain they are also the thicker, freezer-quality variety to protect the fruit from freezer burn. Berries are delicate and if you're freezing in bags, the bags shouldn't be stacked until they are frozen;

REMEMBER that our farmers and producers grow the fruit, mow, prune, weed, and fertilize the plants from which you pick – all taking time and money. Their return on this investment is the income from the fruit. Be aware that eating more than a small handful of berries while picking is, inappropriate -- and may also mean that a farmer can't stay in business over the long haul if they aren't fairly compensated for the fruit they produce. Berry picking etiquette also includes paying for all that you pick -- including the unripe ones you might have inadvertently picked.

Quattro Farm Store

2010-06-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Quattro Farm Store

If you're driving east through Pleasant Valley on Route 44 you'll pass Quattro's Farm Store. It looks very much like a country convenience store, with signs advertising the sale of worms and shotgun shells, but also freshly killed chickens, local meats and produce from other farms in the area. Quattro's Farm raises game and eggs from game birds including duck, pheasant and wild turkey. Look for the striking assortment of different shaped and colored eggs at the Migliorelli farm stands and the Rhinebeck farmers market on Sundays.

Quattro's Farm is one of the only farms in New York State to raise wild turkey, a feat considering their independent and cantankerous nature. Other game raised on the farm includes duck, rabbit, pheasant, fallow deer, and domestic turkey. Cured and smoked specialties include pheasant and venison sausage and smoked duck and pheasant. Additional local products available at the store include produce from Migliorelli Farm, Cabot butter and cheese, Spacey Tracey pickles, milk from Hudson Valley Fresh, honey from Remsburger Apiary, Beth's Farm Kitchen preserves and processed grain products from Wild Hive Farm.

Quattro Farm Store
(845) 635-2018
Route 44
Pleasant Valley, NY 12569

Farm to Table Co-packers

2010-06-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Farm to Table Co-packers

It’s been said that the greenest building is the one that doesn’t get built at all. Such is the case with Tech City, the former IBM production facility in Kingston, which is experiencing a green and locally focused reincarnation. Farm to Table Co-packers is a food processing and contract packaging business, and the latest among many sustainable businesses, like Solar Tech Renewables and FirmSupport Software, to set up shop in what was once a dilapidating abandonment. Partners Jim Hyland (Winter Sun Farms) and Luc Roels have worked for three years to raise the $1 million needed to renovate the former IBM cafeteria and kitchen. To offset the significant cost, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) secured $350,000 in federal funding for the partnering non-profit organization Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation, which will be used in part to help fund Farm to Table Co-packers.

Currently Farm to Table Co-packers includes a fully licensed 21,000 square foot production kitchen, including a full scale bakery, three loading docks and storage space for refrigerated, frozen and dry goods. Also on-site is a 1000 square foot incubator kitchen designed to assist the farmers on Route 209 with value-added and processing capabilities, which will hopefully lead to the creation of more local food businesses. The range of foods currently being produced at Farm to Table Co-packers includes frozen vegetables, pies, soups, jarred pickles, sauces and meat products.

Local food companies that are now producing at Farm to Table Co-packers include Pika's Farm to Table, Rick's Picks, and Spacey Tracey's Pickles. Farm to Table Co-Packers employs 14 full time workers with the future capacity for an additional 13 jobs.

Wellington's Herbs and Spices

2010-06-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Wellington's Herbs and Spices

At the top of Rickert Hill Road in Schoharie, with panoramic views of the valley, Grenada transplant Frederick Wellington grows a diversity of vegetables like collards and habañero peppers. But despite his talent for growing organic vegetables, Frederick's real specialty is herbs. At Wellington's Herbs and Spices you'll find all the usual suspects, like basil, thyme and lemon verbena, but also the unexpected, like stevia and lemongrass.

While Frederick works the fields, Carolyn Wellington is busy tending a well stocked gift shop, complete with locally crafted artisanal products, imported teas, tea accessories, dried herbs, and dried flowers; as well as a tearoom with great quiche and baked goods - including thyme shortbread cookies and the richly delicious confection known as “gooey butter cake”. Another "must try" from the tearoom is the sweet and coconut-ty Island Ice Tea. Rumors persist that the Wellingtons have been approached by Snapple for a potential production agreement. While the fate of Island Ice Tea in the future flavor lineup of Snapple is unknown, one thing is clear, it is a more than worthy contender for the prospective honor.

In addition to Wellington's tearoom and gift shop, there is an art gallery where the work of local artists is displayed and special cultural events and classes are convened throughout the spring and summer months.
Click here to see an event schedule.

Even with all the ongoing enterprises of the farm, the Wellingtons still find time to sell their vegetables, herbs and baked goods at the Delmar and Schenectady farmers markets. For the future, the Wellingtons are working on an explosive hot sauce recipe inspired by Frederick's Caribbean heritage and the fiery habañeros that are grown on the farm.

Capital City Roasters

2010-05-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

Capital City Roasters

With more than 200 flavors and the ability to customize flavors for different needs and tastes, Capital City Roasters is perhaps one of the biggest and best wholesale local coffee roasters in the upstate and Albany area. The 30,000 square foot warehouse in Castelton is home to hundreds of burlap sacks of green coffee beans that are just waiting to be roasted in either of the two coffee roasters on site.

Jimmy "the roaster" is the master roaster at Capital City Roasters and knows by the second when to shut down the heat on a batch of roasting coffee beans to achieve each level of darkness. When the beans have cooled, they are either flavored or packaged as is, and shipped out to more than 200 wholesale accounts throughout Albany, Saratoga and the Hudson Valley, including Babycakes Café and Jake Moon Restaurant and Café.

Capitol City Roasters will ship their roasted product in one or five pound bags, as whole beans or beans that are ground to customer specifications. Standout flavors include Hazelnut and Vanilla.

Capital City Roasters
632 Kids Lane
Castleton-On-Hudson, NY 12033
518-766-9900

Migliorelli Farm

2010-05-26T07:48:00.001-07:00

The Migliorelli farm stand in Red Hook

Migliorelli Farm

Selling 130 varieties of fruits and vegetables at more than 42 greenmarkets from Schenectady to New York City, Migliorelli Farm has perhaps a larger presence, from Long Island to the Capital region, than any other farm in the Hudson Valley. Chances are good that you've seen the Migliorelli logo in the background of farmer's markets on TV shows like Top Chef and The Real Housewives of New York City.

The farm operates three quaint open-air farm stands in Rhinebeck, Red Hook and Hudson. Besides stocking Migliorelli produce, fruit and cider, the farm stands carry a variety of other specialties including jams and preserves from Beth's Farm Kitchen, locally made mozzarella and pheasant eggs from Quattro's Farm.

Ken Migliorelli is the third generation of the Migliorelli family to run the farm. His Italian born grandfather Rocco started as a farmer in the Bronx but later moved his family to start a farm in Tivoli. Saved from generation to generation, today's Migliorelli broccoli raab is grown from the same seeds that Rocco brought with him from the Lazio region of Italy more than 70 years ago. In 1998 Ken sold the development rights of Migliorelli Farm. The farm's land is now protected as farmland through a Scenic Hudson conservation easement.

Visit the Migliorelli Farm website

Spring Avenue, Troy, NY

2010-05-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Spring Avenue

Ask any Troy resident about the drinking water, tap or spring, and they'll tell you the same thing. "Troy has the best water". For the better part of a century, many Troy residents have made the trek to the natural spring on Spring Avenue to collect water in glass and plastic containers.

For a time, the spring was little more than a trickle that fell from a series of rocks. The lion’s share of the money used to renovate the spring was donated in 1958, by the children of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Chuckrow, who had founded a successful poultry business on River Street that was subsequently operated by their sons. In 1974, a trust fund was dedicated by the Chuckrow family to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Chuckrow. The annual payments were collected by the city with the understanding that they would be accrued over periods of five to six years and then appropriated to offset any significant maintenance expenditures of the spring.

By the turn of the century, the pipe that had been installed to channel the water had become rusty, though the water was still pure and safe to drink. While the city of Troy was ultimately responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the public site, many residents, including Ben Chuckrow, great grandson of Joseph Chuckrow, felt that the city's Recreation Department, who had made the decision to divert the Chuckrow trust appropriations away from the spring and into the department's general fund, was not fully committed to properly maintaining the site.

In the summer of 2008, native Troy resident Julie Westfall began rounding up donations to pay for the necessary restorations and repairs for the spring. Throughout her life, Westfall had been a frequent visitor to the spring and regularly drank the water. "I drink it, I use it to make my coffee, and I cook my macaroni with it" (Troy Record, July, 2008).

Today the spring is held by a rock retaining wall with two adorning plaques, and flows through four spigots. On average as many as 40 people turn up each day to collect the spring water. Two weeks ago I made the drive out to Spring Avenue and collected a few jugs of water for myself. It would seem that Troy does have great tasting water. Maybe even the "best".

Visit the Friends of the Troy Spring website

Heather Ridge Farm

2010-05-14T07:32:00.001-07:00

Piles of lambs asleep in the grass

Heather Ridge Farm
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A very full couple of weeks. Insanely busy with lambing and getting the season on track. 18 ewes have lambed, giving us 34 lambs, consisting of 14 sets of twins, one set of triplets and 3 big singles, each 14 pounds! 15 heavy, big-bellied ewes left to go. The cattle arrive tomorrow ... the first batch of meat chickens are almost ready to leave the brooder shed and move outside.
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The store will be open 11am to 2pm with all our usual goodies and lunch. We will have a beef package available soon ... just didn't have time to get to the frozen food bank where we store some of our inventory to have it available this weekend..
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Plans for this season! A freezer!
I'm really excited about several developments! We bought a glass front display freezer, which should arrive Friday. The frozen products then can be on display, organized and ready to choose from. We can lengthen our store hours and add additional times. The freezer should make shopping easier. We will be changing out hours after this weekend. We will be open May 22, then May 29 (Memorial Day weekend), and every weekend then through December. I'll have the times and schedule in more detail on these subsequent e-mails, on our Facebook page and hopefully, soon, our new revised and more active website.
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Bees Knees Cafe
The freezer will make running the Bees Knees Cafe easier! The Cafe will open for the season on Saturday, June 5. I pleased to announce the Billie Potts, our chef from last season will be back. Cynthia Nicholson promises to help out sometimes, too. More on the Bees Knees soon.
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Staffing
Looks like we'll have a great crew here this year. We will have a new intern, Kevin Riedel, just graduated in forest resource management from Virginia Tech, with a background and personal interest in livestock agriculture. Returning will be Melissa Whitney, an intern (three years ago!), who is graduating in landscape architecture and planning from Syracuse. Not only is she a great worker and compassionate with the animals, but the landscaping around the farms store is her project, started last year. Expect great things! And Erica Schwebke, our niece, who worked here four years ago, and returned for every turkey sale, is finishing her masters in education, and will be working here much of the summer while she applies for fall teaching jobs in other states, and runs off for interviews. Christine O'Dell will be continuing with the Saugerties Farmers Market and helping here as well doing an internship with the Agroforestry Resource Center to research silvopasturing systems, aiming to plan one for here that could be a demonstration project to benefit other farmers. How cool is that? Dina Nester hangs in as the bookkeeper and help at the sales, Cameo appearances by Lisa O'Leary and Mike Brocci, who are invaluable for special projects. Full house!
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This great crew presents an opportunity for us to consider adding more products and making productive changes in our management here. We're all batting around some ideas, but we'd also like to hear from you.
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What changes and additions would you like to see here?
For example, we plan to have a big garden, for the staff to eat out of as well as grow some items for the Cafe and some for sale. We may have another "Lughnasa," based on an ancient Irish celebration of the beginning of the harvest early August with a pig roast and farm tours. Additional hours for the store. We plan to create more prepared foods, so that you can take out meals, fresh or frozen, We may bottle and sell our Cafe salad dressing. You get the idea ... what are your ideas? Send me an e-mail with feedback on the ideas I tossed out here as well as new ones of your own, or let's chat at the store. We'd love to know.
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Chicken ordering time!
At last, the reserved whole chicken ordering form is attached. Here's the deal ... we plan to have fresh chicken every week, whole and parts, available at the store (and the farmers market), first come, first served, starting June 5 and continuing through mid-October. But if you want to reserve whole chickens, there are certain dates. These dates are handy if you want to be certain to have chickens in your own freezer to have your own supply through the winter. Some people reserve 4 or 5 chickens each month to store away, as well buy some fresh chicken or parts any week for immediate use. Other people order 15 or so chickens in one month, planning to have a big event or party and want to be certain to have them. Reserved dates are Saturdays, June 12, July 10, August 3, September 4, October 2. Chickens usually range 4-5 pounds on those dates.
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You can reserve your turkey for Thanksgiving, too!
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The form also asks for your interest (not a commitment, but interest!) in sides of beef pork, or whole lamb and goat. We expect to fresh beef starting end of June, and monthly after that. Pork available late summer or fall (and we plan to have some rare Ossabaw Island pigs again, too).. Lambs available in June and the fall. Goats late fall or next spring. We hope to do ducks again, but the big February snows storm collapse the brooder shed we raised them in ... so our duck schedule is not set yet!
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Best,
Carol

Carol Clement
Eat local, wear wool, make or buy art
Heather Ridge Farm
989 Broome Center Road
Preston Hollow, NY 12469
518-239-6234 518-239-6234
heather-ridge-farm.com

Thomas Poultry Farm

2010-05-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Josh Thomas, Thomas Poultry Farm
Eggs Benedict with Greens

Thomas Poultry Farm

If you talk to Josh Thomas, he’ll tell you that the Thomas Poultry egg farm in Schuylerville is a small farm by commercial standards, but many people might think otherwise. With 250,000 hens laying eggs each day, the farm supplies more than 300 Stewarts convenience stores and several restaurants throughout the Capital Region. To supplement a portion of the massive amount of feed needed for the hens, corn is grown on 500 acres of the farm.
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Started in 1873, the farm in Schuylerville has been in existence for more than 130 years now, even before eggs became the primary business. Today, at least 11 of the 17 employees at Thomas Poultry Farm are direct descendants of Jared Thomas who started the egg operation in 1948 with just 200 laying hens.
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Eggs Benedict with Greens

2 eggs
2 slices toasted brioche
3 slices Mountain Smokehouse Canandian bacon, hot
1 yolk
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/3 cup hot melted butter
1/3 cup cooked and chopped greens, spinach, arugula, swiss chard, kale, or beet greens
Salt and pepper
Tabasco
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Poach the eggs in simmering water with a dash of vinegar for 2-3 minutes until the whites are cooked and the yolks are still "wobbly". Remove with a slotted spoon.
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Hollandaise Sauce with Greens
Whisk the yolk, water and vinegar in a small bowl over a pot of boiling water until thick. Whisk the melted butter into the thickened yolk mixture in a slow steady drizzle. Add the chopped greens, a dash of tabasco and season with salt and pepper.
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Place the brioche on a plate with the Canadian bacon and the eggs. Pour the Hollandaise over the eggs.

Learn more about Thomas Poultry Farm

Cabot Greek Style Yogurt

2010-05-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Cabot Greek Style Yogurt
Cultured with whole milk and cream, and thick enough to support an upright spoon, perhaps the top honor for creamline yogurt belongs to Cabot. Even with label descriptors like "extra rich" and "premium", and, with a whopping 23 grams of fat per eight ounce serving, words cannot truly describe Cabot's intensely decadent Greek style yogurt. Less of a traditional "breakfast" yogurt, Cabot's Greek yogurt should be savored on its own, in small amounts, as a simple dessert with a few berries and a drizzle of honey, or as a conservative garnish on a pureed soup.
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Cabot, produced by the Cabot and Agri-Mark cooperatives of dairy producers in New York, Vermont and the northeast, continues to perfect its line of premium dairy products. Known for classic, high quality, aged New York and Vermont style cheddar, and high fat butter that rivals even the best of French counterparts, Cabot has expanded its line to include cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt. In 2003 Agri-Mark and Cabot merged with the Chateaugay Cooperative, the upstate New York producer of McCadam brand cheddar, muenster, and European style cheeses.

Sustainability Symposium at The Darrow School, New Lebanon, NY

2010-05-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

*pictures from the Darrow School website

Sustainability Symposium at the Darrow School

On Tuesday April 20th, the Darrow School in New Lebanon held their second annual Sustainability Symposium. Students and guests attended sustainable workshops and listened to inspirational speakers like Amy Cotler, author of the Locavore Way, who are on the forefront of sustainability issues here in the northeast. As the morning workshops concluded, Rebecca Joyner, Darrow foodservice director, served an all local lunch that included frittatas, local greens, mushrooms, and Darrow baked breads.
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During lunch, student groups organized sustainability discussions on a range of topics that included anything from automotives to horse farming. Afternoon workshops convened in various campus locations, like the living machine, a unique greenhouse operation that employs plant life and natural bacteria to purify the campus water supply, and the school gardens, where the green tops of mint and horseradish have returned after the cold winter. As the afternoon workshops concluded, dinner, which included local beef, pork and cannelloni with a filling of local pumpkin and house made ricotta, provided a meaningful end to those who had attended the symposium.
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After a full day of sustainable workshops and a total of four hundred lunch and dinner meals (all prepared from local ingredients) Rebecca said "Craig from the development office and I felt that the day superseded our vision for the conference! Our magical mountainside is finally being noticed!"

Rondout Valley Growers Association Annual Meeting and Potluck

2010-04-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Bruce Davenport with Jim Hyland of Winter Sun Farms and Farm to Table Co-Packers Executive Mansion chef Noah Sheetz with Susan Perrin, executive director of the Rondout Valley Growers Association

Rondout Valley Growers Association Annual Meeting and Potluck

On Saturday April 17th the Rondout Valley Growers Association held their annual meeting and potluck at the Marbletown Community Center. More than 50 RVGA members attended with potluck dishes that included roasted asparagus, chili, guacamole, rice salad, and baked ziti.

Bruce Davenport's opening remarks imparted the sad news that two of the founding RVGA board members, Fabia Wargin and Chris Kelder, have decided to step down from their positions on the board. Despite their resignations, it seems likely that Fabia and Chris's continued involvement as RVGA members will be valuable to the future of the organization.

Bruce went on to highlight some of the events of 2009 including the 6th Annual Orchard Dinner and Wine Tasting and the Seventh Annual Harvest Dinner and Square Dance. The ongoing work with school children and the Farm to School initiatives of From the Ground Up were also praised. Perhaps one of the most admirable accomplishments of 2009 was the processing of 4000 pounds of corn by RVGA volunteers at the Woodcrest Community. The corn was bagged, frozen and donated to regional food pantries.

The evening concluded with brief presentations from guest speakers like Jim Hyland from Winter Sun Farms and Farm to Table Co-Packers.

*pictures courtesy of Nicci Cagan

Whole Foods

2010-04-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, Coach Farm, and Hawthorne Valley Farm are among the local producers featured in Northeast Whole Foods locations
Many of the organic and natural ingredients at Whole Foods are sourced globally. Clockwise below: Mini pineapple, Horned Melon, Goji berries, and Cherimoya

Whole Foods

Thirty years ago Whole Foods opened its doors in Austin Texas as little more than a health food store that specialized in local and organic ingredients. After expanding into one of the largest grocery stores in Austin, the natural and organic retailer went on to form an empire that eventually gobbled up every natural foods company in the national market, including formidable competitor Wild Oats. After the Wild Oats acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods charging claims of an unfair monopoly on natural and organic foods. The suit was later settled in favor of Whole Foods. Today, as the national appeal of organic and local foods continues to catch on with health conscious customers, many wonder if Whole Foods is getting too far from where it started thirty years ago.

The organic, natural and eco-friendly product line of Whole Foods includes anything from raw and processed foods to vitamins, pet food, green cleaning products, beer, wine, cheese, and flowers. Whole Foods continues to promote its local food policy but, to keep up with increasing organic demand, emphasizes the need to buy globally.

Local ingredients for Whole Foods' stores are sourced from organic and sustainable farms by eleven separate regional buyers. "Local" by definition at Whole Foods means a shipping time of seven hours or less by car or truck. By that standard "local" here in New York might include Ohio, Pennsylvania and Canada.

While the reasons behind the Whole Foods local policy are inspired by the usual environmental and economic drivers, the global buying policy is becoming increasingly more complicated. With multiple layers of auditors, including its own internal experts, the USDA, and independent third party inspectors like Quality Assurance International, it is difficult to know if Whole Foods is ensuring its missions of food quality and safety, and if it experiences fewer recalls than competing grocers.
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In recent years China has emerged as one of Whole Foods' dominant global suppliers. "Whole Foods Market continues to buy from China because we believe in supporting farmers that provide high quality products." "Our strategy is not to run away from our Chinese suppliers, but to take a stand and get closer to our suppliers. We will continue to improve on the audit and testing procedures that are already in place."

As Whole Foods gets bigger and looks for reliable sourcing solutions for organic demand, many wonder what that means for their local policy. Will it remain a distinctive core practice that has garnered respect from locavores across the nation, or will it get lost as Whole Foods continues to go global? "As the world population grows, we are going to be forced to look at our supply chains and develop emerging organic suppliers all over the world." "The steps we are taking now will assure the long term quality of our supply as we look beyond the United States for organic food solutions."

*Information cited in this segment was taken from the Whole Foods website

Heather Ridge Farm

2010-04-15T03:29:00.000-07:00

We will be open this Saturday, April 10, celebrating that the snow is finally gone! All our products will be available, as well as our own soup and homemade bread lunch. Lots of eggs available!
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Spring Chicken Package!
For the month of April, we are offering 2 whole chickens (3-4 pounds each), eight pounds of legs, (about 8 legs), four pounds of wings (about 14-20 wings), four pounds of big meaty drumsticks (6-8 drumsticks), and a package of country style chicken sausage. Value at least $100 for 25% off ... $75. Order one or more packages! (You can mix and match the wings and drumsticks for a total of 8 pounds.) Contact me and you can pick one up this Saturday!
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Speaking of Spring
Jump start your gardening! Jane Hersey will be back with her potted perennial plants starting this Saturday. Jane expects to have chives, lemon balm and other herbs as well as early blooming perennials including some shade plants. Look for new plants at each sale as the season progresses. And still time to order your organic vegetable and herb seedlings from Karin Savio. She will deliver them here at the appropriate planting times. Contact Karin at 518-872-2176 or by e-mail whous@localnet.com for a list.
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Melissa returns!
Former farm intern, and now landscape designer, Melissa Whitney came by this past weekend, to assess how the landscaping work she did here last summer fared through this tough winter. (Melissa, with a crew, created the new walkway and plantings in front.) Everything did well! Melissa will be around this summer, continuing this project, making more magic here! Jane Hersey is contributing many plants.
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Saugerties Folks
No farmers market in April! Come visit our farmstore instead ... open April 10, 24 and May 8. The next Saugerties market will be Sunday, May 16.
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Photos on Facebook
I do get a lot of comments (positive)! About the photos I usually include in these e-mail's. We are working on updating our website (finally!) as well as putting announcements and collections of photos on the Heather Ridge Farm Facebook page. Become a Facebook "fan" of Heather Ridge Farm and enjoy the growing library of photo albums. You can add comments and photos of your own!
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Chicken Orders
I will soon be sending out reservation order forms for whole chickens (starting fresh in June), sides of meat and Thanksgiving turkeys! We hope to do ducks again, but the duck brooder shed was one of the casualties of the 5-6 feet of snow we got end of February. Hopefully we'll figure out another location real soon.
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New Crop of Maple Syrup
We visited the Cook's sugar house last week, excited to see how the sap from our trees end up as maple syrup. With a reverse osmosis machine to remove much of the water from the sap, the Cooks save a lot of time and fuel (trees)! By reducing the time needed to boil it down. Walter, Stephen and Shawn all were working late this night. They say it was a short sap season due to the warm nights, so it was not an abundant year. We should have the new crop in our store to sample soon.

Our work load has blossomed!
Amidst the din of peepers and wood frogs, we're getting ready for lambing, moving the male sheep, the two llama boys and the donkey out of their winter yard, and moving the laying hens back up the hill with some guinea hens. Massive barn cleaning. The first meat chicks should arrive next week. Here's Mike Brocci putting a tarp on the portable "summer" layer huts. The grass is starting to green up, but there are not too many tree leaves yet!

Best,

Carol

Carol Clement
Eat local, wear wool, make or buy art
Heather Ridge Farm
989 Broome Center Road
Preston Hollow, NY 12469
518-239-6234
heather-ridge-farm.com

April Greetings from Otter Hook Farm

2010-04-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

April 8, 2010

We finished construction of our greenhouse in mid-March and we now have well over 100 flats of cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, Napa cabbage, scallions, celeriac, celery, eggplants, peppers and herbs started and sprouting, with the much-anticipated tomatoes starting next week. It’s just amazing to look in and see the flush of green against the dark soil that comes on all at once. I’ve really noticed the changes this year with the greening of the grass and the blush of the maple trees and the swelling yellow of the willows, now the small green leaves coming on – in the past, these events either went unnoticed or seemed to happen overnight, and I guess that’s what happens when you’re cooped up inside all day. We’re lucky to be out in it, living the dream.

Just yesterday, Chris plowed and tilled up our “Barn Garden”, which is generally our earliest planting spot. He got in sugar snap and snow peas, beets, carrots, radishes, and direct seeded some scallions. Our first transplanting date for broccoli and lettuce is only about a week away! Hard to believe, but the busy season has officially arrived. He’s back at it today, plowing and tilling before we get the rain that is predicted for tonight and tomorrow.

Our garlic is all up – the tops are about 6 inches high already. Alex and Ben were sampling some yesterday, and liked it surprisingly well!

UPS delivered 600 pounds of seed potatoes on Tuesday. We’ve got a new spot to plant them this year that has not had potatoes planted on it before…just playing it safe to not get any contamination from last year’s blight. We’ll spend a few evenings cutting them up, then have another planting party with the Newbanks family and anyone else who wants to join – sometime in early to mid May. We’ll keep an eye on the weather and keep everyone posted with a date for that.

Our hens are picking up their egg production, so we do have eggs available now above and beyond our pre-orders. The hens are free-roaming and fed certified organic grain. Eggs are absolutely delicious and cost $5.00 per dozen. Email or call if you want to pick some up.

All in all, this is shaping up to be a great year! Thanks to everyone who is paid up on their shares. If you are unsure of your balance due, please ask. We still have availability, so if you or someone you know are interested in a share, sign up soon!

Best wishes from your farmers,

Samantha, Chris, Alex & Benjamin

Otter Hook Farms

PO Box 255

New Baltimore, NY 12124
Christopher & Samantha Kemnah
518.756.7141
otterhookfarms@yahoo.com

Overwintering

2010-04-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hearty crucifers like collard greens (above) and kale (below) are notorious for growing back on the forgotten and discarded stems of the past season. If the leaves are not vigilantly pruned back, the plants will quickly go to seed.

Horseradish root (above) and perennial herbs like mint (below) will sprout new leaves from a root system that, once established, is nearly impossible to kill. Community garden organizations like Capital District Community Gardens in Albany have banned gardeners from planting highly invasive and indestructible roots, herbs, and shrubs like horseradish, mint, oregano and berry bushes.

While some perennial herbs like mint and oregano form leaves from root systems, some herbs like chives (above) and cilantro (below), will germinate from fallen seeds that are hearty enough to survive the winter. Chives should be trimmed back regularly before their purple spiky flowers have a chance to form. Cilantro will go to seed very quickly after it has formed leaf clusters. Even meticulous cutting of the leaves will not stop the inevitable white flowers and seeds from forming. While the cilantro leaves will stop bearing, the seeds, also known as coriander, can be clipped and dried. Fresh coriander seeds are much more aromatic than any that are available at the grocery store. There is an extremely good chance that early season cilantro will completely re-cycle by flowering, seeding, germinating, and sprouting into a second fall harvest. Fall cilantro is beautiful, delicate and delicious.

The Garden

2010-04-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

Karyn Novakowski, educational coordinator of Katchkie Farm
In the upcoming months I'll plant my baby food focused community garden plot

The Garden

This year I've decided to plant my community garden plot with vegetables for my infant son Porter. I took a stroll through the baby food aisle at a grocery store awhile back and discovered that there are really only a few fruits and vegetables that are processed for baby food. With that in mind, I've decided to grow sweet potatoes, carrots, a bush variety of acorn squash and peas. For the sweet potatoes I sought the advice of Richard Ball from Schoharie Valley Farms who, over the years, has developed a fail safe technique for growing sweet potatoes. While New York State doesn’t quite present the ideal climate for the long-season, warm weather crop, Richard, armed with a few tricks, has learned to grow a tasty and respectably sized New York sweet potato. Richard imports a first cutting of the sweet potato plant from North Carolina. He also covers the ground where the sweet potatoes are planted with a black tarp, which heats up the ground and makes the growing conditions a little warmer.

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The farmers and gardeners that I've met over the years have inspired me to think about food and the way that I eat in completely different terms. I don’t expect food to be dirt cheap anymore. I am now a believer that you get what you pay for. And I don’t think that it is beyond my ability to actually grow a thing a two, for myself and for my family.

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Everyone knows that food was different in the generations of our parents and grandparents (especially our grandparents). In the time that our grandparents were getting married and having children, food came from local farms and everyone had a victory garden in the back yard. Our grandmothers canned vegetables, kept huge root cellars and everything that they cooked was made from scratch.

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It’s unlikely that our current generation will return to the charming and simple food system that our grandparents knew. Local milk deliveries, victory gardens, and corner farm stands are slowly disappearing from the landscape of our current generation. As our food system evolves towards convenience and one stop shopping, I don’t think that we should consider ourselves off the hook because our lives are busier or more complicated. “If we can take care of ourselves and if we can take care of our families and our communities then we can take some of the burden off of the greater whole.” (Nicci Cagan, From the Ground Up).

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In the summer of 2009 I spent an afternoon with Karyn Novakowski at Katchkie Farm with a group of culinary students from the Questar technical school in Hudson. The students were harvesting vegetables with Karyn when I got to the farm that day. We all walked down to the educational pavilion where there was a dirt floor, two gas burners, and chests of ice water for cleaning vegetables. We washed, cut and cooked lunch with vegetables that had just been pulled out of the ground. It was one of the best meals that I can ever remembering eating and it inspired me to learn more about growing vegetables myself.

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I had a chance to see firsthand the educational potential of school gardens here in New York when I visited July Holbrook in Keene Valley in the Adirondacks in the spring of 2009. She had just begun planting the school’s garden, a half acre that spanned the entire length behind the K-12 school. A few years ago she persuaded the school to allow her to expand the garden. By the time I met July, she, with the help of her husband Mike, had been able to increase the garden’s output to a significant level of production. July stored garlic, dried tomatoes, grew winter squash – all of which was incorporated into the school menus. Besides creating fresher and healthier school food, July learned through the experience that she was also saving money. When I met her again that summer she told me about how her budget was actually in the black and she had a small surplus of money that she was deliberating on the smartest way to spend.

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Besides providing a supplemental source of produce for school menus, school gardens seem to be an excellent experiential learning tool. While I was in Keene I watched as teachers and classes from different subject areas filed in and out of the garden. Biology teachers were able to talk about botany with living examples from the garden. Nutrition teachers talked about fresh vegetables. Math teachers planted squash seeds with formulas in rows and grids.

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Over the summer and fall months I visited several other school gardens where I saw the same process of teacher and class participation and educational principles being applied. The Farm at Yale, with its sleek brick fired pizza oven, provides perhaps the best educational model for the school garden and place-based learning (not to mention great flatbread pizza with garden fresh vegetables).

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During many of my visits, I cooked outside in the school garden with students, teachers, and parents. I realized that one of the biggest opportunities with our current and future generations is to show people how to cook, simply and healthily. Children will turn their noses to a slice of raw turnip but if you take the same turnip, thinly slice it and toss it with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and few chili flakes, they’ll enjoy eating it.

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The issue is not so much that we are busier and have less time to cook, but that we have a very limited knowledge about what’s good for us and how to cook with fresh ingredients to maximize our health. We also know very little about how our food is produced. Economies of scale and the business of large food corporations has come to mean our removal from where and how our food is grown and what happens to it from production, to processing to shipping to the grocery store where we buy it.

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To me cooking in the garden has been a refreshing way to bridge the lack of knowledge that many people have about food. It directly answers the questions of why locally grown and garden grown foods are more nutritious and how they can be cooked in simple, healthy, and delicious ways. While garden fresh produce, especially here in New York, is limited to the spring, summer and fall months, food preservation methods (blanching and freezing, drying and canning) can make it possible on some level for us to eat from the garden throughout the entire year.

Chives and Dandelion Greens

2010-03-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Chives and Dandelion Greens

Every spring I look for what has become my official sign that winter is passing, chives and dandelion greens. At some point later in the season other wild edibles like burdock root, black caps, callaloo, horseradish, lambsquarters, and purslane will also spring up in the unlikeliest of places - on the medians of the Taconic State Parkway, in the cracks of sidewalks, and in just about every unoccupied urban and suburban space from New York City to Albany. In the late spring I know that at some point I will get together with Martin Ping, executive director of Hawthorne Valley Farm, to pick ramps and stinging nettles along the creek across the road from the farm in Ghent.
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After their spring debut, wild chives are abundant and can be eaten for months. Their flowers make a striking salad garnish but take care to moderate their inclusion. Their flavor can be quite potent, lingering on your breath for hours after you have eaten them.
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Dandelion greens, on the other hand, have a very short "edible" window after their small tender clusters of greens emerge in the early spring. Try to harvest the greens before they flower. After that they are hopelessly bitter. If the greens are young and small enough, you can eat them by themselves in a salad or in a mix of other salad greens. Larger Dandelion greens can be sautéed or pan steamed like spinach or chard. Blanching the greens in boiling water before you cook them will take some of their bitter edge off.
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I adapted and simplified the recipe below so that it can be made entirely from spring-foraged chives and dandelion greens. The soup is vegetarian with a surprisingly deep flavor and with a mild, but pleasantly, bitter finish. The dandelion greens that I picked were very small with their signature pre-flowering crowns. Because they were young and tender, I didn't bother with the extra step of blanching them before making the soup.

Creme de Pissenlits
*Adapted from Care2.com – the largest online community for healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare
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This soup balances the dandelion’s spiciness and subtle bitterness with the bright and mild onion flavor of spring chives. It is delicious, a perfect way to eat dandelion greens. The traditional French recipe uses Dijon mustard. I think it adds some lovely depth, but you may prefer it without.
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Ingredients
1 pound (about 3 cups) dandelion greens, trimmed and washed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups water
1 large bunch of chives, root bulbs attached, washed
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
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1. If using more mature or very bitter tasting greens, blanch them in a pot of boiling salted water, then drain and squeeze out the excess water, chop and set aside. Try to find spring Dandelion greens when they are just “crowning”. They will be at their most tender and the least bitter of the season.
2. Heat butter or oil in a large pot over medium low heat, add the greens and chives and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the water and continue to cook partially covered over low heat for another 10 minutes.
3. Add the remainder of the water and simmer for another 10 minutes. Heat the milk in another pot.
4. Puree the greens and cooking broth in a blender until smooth. Add just enough milk to adjust the puree to a light and velvety consistency. Season with salt and pepper, and add Dijon if you like.

The Berry Farm

2010-03-18T07:02:00.001-07:00

The Berry Farm
Passive Geo-thermal, Passive Solar Greenhouse

A few years ago I was vaguely aware that The Berry Farm in Chatham had insulated and heated one of their greenhouses, and was growing a limited amount of salad greens. Arugula and spinach had then become available to Berry Farm customers throughout the harsh winter months when local salad greens were scarce and fetched premium prices (today some farms sell their greenhouse salad mixes at the Union Square Farmers Market for upwards of $16 a pound).
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Today a stroll through the Berry Farm’s greenhouse reveals much more than a few hearty, winter resistant salad greens. Celery, leeks, mustard greens, swiss chard, beet greens, collard greens, and kale are all grown side by side and are offered for sale in the Berry Farm's market store.
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Salad greens include spinach, arugula, and a mix of red and oak leaf. Cooking greens include collard greens, kale, and a braising mix of swiss chard, mustard greens, spinach and beet greens. The Berry Farm even has a “Greens Card” which is somewhat like the free sandwich cards that were once offered by Subway. The reward for ten card punches is, of course, a free bag greens. By the way, each bag of greens is only $2.95.

The Market

In the height of summer the Berry Farm has fresh berries of all shapes colors and flavors. Besides having an array of their own fresh produce and preserves, The Berry Farm stocks a hefty supply of ingredients from other local farms and producers like Little Seed Gardens, the Farm at Miller's Crossing, Northwind Poultry Farm, Smoked Fish and Honey, Beth's Farm Kitchen, Old Chatham Sheepherding Company and Grazing Angus Acres.

Tierra Farm

2010-03-10T08:02:00.001-08:00

Carrot and Cashew Salad

Tierra Farm

If you've ever bought nuts, seeds or dried fruit at an upstate health food store it is likely that they came from Tierra Farm in Chatham. The company is one of the largest private importers of nuts and dried fruit in the upstate area and prepares a variety of roasted and value added products that include Curry Cashews, Chocolate Covered Cajun Cashews, Tamari Almonds, and Chocolate Covered Goji Berries. All of the Tierra Farm products are certified organic and are available through upstate and Saratoga health food stores, food co-ops and directly to on-line consumers.
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Carrot and Cashew Salad
½ cup Tierra Farms Curry Cashews, Garam Masala Cashews, Thai Spiced Cashews, or Salted Cashews, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
¼ cup raisins
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup Hawthorne Valley Farm yogurt, plain or maple vanilla flavored
2 sprigs of parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
One pinch of ground black pepper
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Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well to combine. Re-season with additional lemon juice, salt, pepper or sugar if desired. If the salad seems a bit dry, add an additional tablespoon of yogurt.

SEFCU Wellness Fair, Albany, NY, March 2, 2010

2010-03-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

SEFCU Wellness Fair
The SEFCU Wellness Fair was held at the SEFCU corporate headquarters in Albany on Tuesday March 2, 2010. Fox Creek Farm was on hand to promote their CSA, and demonstrations were performed by massage therapists, yoga masters and Karate experts. Below are a few of the healthy recipes that were prepared for those who attended the fair.
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Whole Grain Salad
3 cups cooked and cooled of any of the following: brown rice, bulgar, quinoa, wheat, rye, and/or spelt berries
½ yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
½ tomato, diced
½ avocado, diced
2 scallions, chopped or 2 tablespoons of diced yellow onions
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ cup corn kernels
1 tablespoon of Sambal (red chili paste found in Asian markets or the ethnic food section of most grocery stores) or minced jalapeño
Salt and pepper to taste
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Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss the ingredients with a large spoon. Check for seasoning, you may wish to add a little more vinegar or olive oil to suit your individual taste.
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Cooking whole grains
Some grains, like barley or wheat, rye and spelt berries, can be simply cooked in boiling water for 45 minutes to an hour. This approach is easy in that you do not necessarily need to measure the grain or water.
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Other grains, like quinoa, bulgar, millet and brown rice, require specific amounts of water when being cooked. Most water to grain ratios are very similar to that of rice. Cook one cup of quinoa, bulgar, millet or brown rice with two cups of water. If you plan to cook more than one grain, cook each of the grains separately in their own pot.
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Marinated Cabbage
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Lentil Salad
Prepare Lentil Salad the same way that you would Marinated Cabbage but substitute cooked and cooled lentils. Combine the cooked lentils in a large bowl and add enough dressing (from the Marinated Cabbage recipe) to coat the lentils. Add any combination of chopped herbs, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, avocadoes and minced garlic.

R & G Cheesemakers

2010-02-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

Sean O'Conner of R & G CheesemakersEclipse cheese with the vegetable ash coating, before the white rind forms. Eclipse Cheese after the white rind has formed over the vegetable ash coating
R & G Camembert before it develops its characteristic white rind

R & G Cheesemakers

One of the best kept secrets in Cohoes is artisan cheesemaker Sean O'Conner, owner of R & G Cheesemakers located in the Harmony House Marketplace. Sean is a virtual one man show, enlisting the help of only a few of his cheesemaker friends to make deliveries.

Sean's products are equal to or better than any of his artisan competitors, featuring seven sophisticated hand crafted cheeses and a line of yogurt. His experience at F. Cappiello's Dairy in Schenectady and Old Chatham Sheepherding Company have led to the creation of a versatile and dynamic product line that includes whole milk mozzarella, ricotta, Camembert, and what has become Sean's signature cheese Eclipse, an ash ripened goat's milk cheese.

Sean's cheeses are distributed through the Pampered Cow, a distributor of New York state cheeses. Look for R & G cheeses at the Vorheesville and Colonie Farmers Markets, the Honest Weight Co-op and at the Harmony House Marketplace.

See a video of Sean talking about his cheese

R & G Cheesemakers

Harmony House Marketplace
190 Remsen St # 184
Cohoes, NY 12047
Phone: 1 518 238 2232

Huevos Rancheros

2010-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Huevos Rancheros
Huevos Rancheros are a traditional Mexican breakfast dish with many variations to be found throughout Mexico and here in the U.S. Classically the ingredients for preparing Huevos Rancheros include tortillas (corn or white), eggs, cheese and a tomato based salsa, or Ranchero sauce. Variations might include beans, avocado, and green chilies.
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For a New England twist on the Mexican classic, try Palantine Habañero cheddar on a freshly made sweet potato tortilla with a poached egg from Feather Ridge Farm and smoky roasted tomatoes.
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Huevos Rancheros
Palantine Habañero Cheddar, sliced
Sweet potato tortillas
Poached eggs
Smoky Roasted Tomatoes, chopped
Sour cream (optional)
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Sweet Potato Tortillas
1/2 sweet potato, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
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Boil the sweet potato until it is tender. Drain and mash. Mix the mashed sweet potato with the flour, butter, baking powder and salt until a dough forms. Knead the dough for one minute. Divide the dough into six small patties and cover with a damp paper towel. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Roll the patties into thin tortillas. Cook the tortillas in a very hot skillet on each side for 30 seconds to one minute, until small dark bubbles form on each side.
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To poach the eggs
In a deep pan, boil 2-3 inches of water (enough so that the eggs will be completely submerged). Add a dash of vinegar and reduce the water to a simmer. Carefully crack the eggs into the water. Cook the eggs for two to three minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon.
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To assemble
While the tortilla is hot, top with the Palantine Habañero Cheddar, then the poached egg and finally the egg and sour cream, if using.
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Look for sweet potatoes at the Troy Farmers Market or Schoharie Valley Farms
Palantine Cheddar and Feather Ridge Farm eggs can be found at the Honest Weight Food Co-op and Adams Fair Acre Farms

Local Ocean

2010-02-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

A former 40,000 square foot distribution warehouse in Hudson is home to Local Ocean, a fin-fish aquaculture system that will soon provide Northeast residents with a local supply of fresh fish. Local Ocean is actively expanding square footage with two large additions directly behind the current facility.
Gilthead Sea Bream and Flounder are two of several varieties of fish that Local Ocean will raise for direct sale to the public

Local Ocean
As the first commercial recirculating marine fin-fish aquaculture system in the United States, the future of Local Ocean promises a large, local and sustainably focused fish supply on a mind boggling scale. Over the past two years Local Ocean has standardized an aquaculture system at the 40,000 square foot location in Hudson that makes possible a large scale fresh and salt water commercial fish farm that is the first of its kind. Once established there are plans to strategically implement other locations throughout North America and the Western Hemisphere.
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The patented sustainable aquaculture system of Local Ocean is based on a unique fish-farming system that is highly efficient in respect to water and energy use. Energy conservation at Local Ocean comes from a fully-recycled water supply and a passive solar design that provides light and helps minimize heating requirements for the water.
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The water is purified by what is known as a "living machine" which employs the use of natural "living" bacteria. The result is a continually purified recirculating system run entirely by two electric pumps with no pollution from environmental discharge and very little need for water replacement. In fact the only loss of water due to evaporation amounts to a mere one percent over time.
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The output capacity of Local Ocean’s system is much higher than that of comparable systems (100kg of fish per metric ton of water, compared to 10kg in existing aquaculture systems). With close proximity to large consumer markets like New York City and Albany, Local Ocean will provide a constant, year-round supply of fresh fish without expensive transportation costs.
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While fish is typically considered a healthy food option, various studies have shown that many ocean fish contain toxins like lead and mercury. Such contaminants can be eliminated by Local Ocean's closed system of circulation. From a health stand-point, the advantages of Local Ocean's aquaculture system will mean a product that is close to organic, even though there are currently no USDA organic certification standards for fish.

The Lamb Riblett

2010-02-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Lamb Riblett
Regarded by many as a leftover from the butchering process, lamb spare ribs, or "ribletts" as they are commonly known, are an oddball cut that don't always sell well at farm stands and markets. Because they are not the most popular cut, many farmers are willing to discount their price to reduce inventory, making the riblett an economical buy.
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Ribletts make for excellent BBQ and can be braised, cooled, frozen and kept on hand for spur of the moment family gatherings and cook outs. Because they are relatively thin, they will defrost and reheat fairly quickly. In fact, in the summer you can throw them on the grill straight from the freezer - no defrosting necessary.
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To par cook ribletts, simmer them in lightly salted water with a dash of vinegar and a few pickling spices for one hour or until the bones easily turn when you twist them.
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As with BBQ pork ribs, lamb ribletts will also go well with traditional southern sides like BBQ baked beans, creamed turnips and braised greens.
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This summer I planted radishes in the late fall and was disappointed when no radishes formed beneath the lush greens. I cut, blanched and froze the greens, and have been happy to have them throughout the winter. Radish greens are very similar to mustard greens, tender with a mild horseraddish like bite.
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Here is a Southern style recipe that makes use of the riblett, Chumleys BBQ sauce, turnips and radish greens. Of course radish greens are not the most commonly available green but you could substitute just about any other cooking green, like mustard or collards.
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BBQ Lamb Riblett with Creamed Turnips, Braised Greens and Crispy Fries

BBQ Glaze for Lamb Ribletts
One Lamb riblett
½ cup Chumley’s BBQ sauce
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon ground coffee
3 tablespoons ramp jelly, onion jelly or garlic jelly
(Ramp jelly can be easily found in the Adirondacks where ramps are plentiful during the spring and summer months. If you can’t find ramp jelly, try the horseradish or garlic jelly from Elderberry Mary who can be found at the Schenectady Farmers Market on Thursdays.)
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Cook the lamb riblett in boiling salted water with a dash of vinegar and a tablespoon of pickling spice until the riblett is tender and the bones easily turn when they are twisted, about one hour. Whisk all of the BBQ glaze ingredients together in a large bowl. Place the riblett in the center of a large square of aluminum foil. Pour the glaze over the riblett. Cover with another square of aluminum foil and crease the edges to form a tight “leak proof” package. Bake the riblett on a baking pan in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Tear a hole in the top of the package. Use a brush to baste the glaze over the top of the riblett. Continue baking the riblett and basting periodically. Flip the riblett once during the baking and brush the bottom (this will ensure that the riblett is evenly coated with the sauce on both sides). Continue baking and basting until the glaze reduces and the riblett is coated with a thick sticky glaze (at this point the ends of the bones may start to burn a bit. That is perfectly fine.) Let the riblett cool for 10 minutes and cut into single ribs.
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For the Greens
4 cups of radish or mustard greens, chopped
Or
1 cup of blanched, frozen and defrosted greens, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
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If you are using fresh greens, blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain. Cook the greens covered in a large pan with the butter and 2 tablespoons of water for five minutes. Add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cook the greens over low heat for another 5 minutes until they are tender.
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Creamed Turnips
4 small turnips, peeled and quartered
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
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Boil the turnips in lightly salted water until they are soft, about 30 minutes. Mash the turnips with a potato masher or a large fork. Combine the turnips in a large pan with the butter and milk. Cook the turnips over low heat, stirring frequently, until the turnips have thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
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For the Fries
1 potato, sliced into thin sticks
olive oil as needed
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Heat the olive oil and fry the potato sticks at a moderately high temperature (350 degrees) until the fries are golden, about 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
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Northeast Livestock Processing Service Company
I recently bought a few lamb ribletts from Kathleen Harris of Northeast Livestock Processing Service Company (NELPSC). NELPSC was founded as a service company that helps connect farmers with the resources and marketing necessary to becoming successful on a local level. Collectively, the company sources meat from 101 local producers and sells to large wholesale accounts in the Hudson Valley and Saratoga regions. Recently, NELPSC has contracted to provide 10,000 pounds of beef to SUNY Albany.

Planting Seeds, a wellness conference at the Life Bridge Sanctuary

2010-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

Jacob Diaz of Esopus Creek Farm was one of many who attended the Planting Seeds Conference at the Life Bridge Sanctuary on Saturday

Planting Seeds Wellness Conference
On Saturday The Life Bridge Sanctuary in High Falls was home to the Planting Seeds Wellness Conference - a Celebration of Youth Food and Agriculture. The conference was organized by Nicci Cagan, Rondout Valley Growers Association member and co-founder of 'From the Ground Up'. More than fifty people from all walks of life, including lawyers, chefs, herbalists, wild edible enthusiasts, food service directors, farmers, Farm to School advocates, local food distributors, representatives from the Rondout Valley Growers Association, and youth and garden coordinators, attended the six hour conference. The conference kicked off with a circular meet and greet where the attendees took turns announcing their personal and professional interests. “I would like to learn how to cook more nutritious food” and “I love kale” were two of the more popular statements made. As each person spoke their sustainable and culinary visions for the future, other people stepped forward into the circle as a way to show their support.

After the meet and greet, the highly renowned Vermont Feed documentary was shown, while topics, including school food, Farm to School, food as curriculum, gardens as an avenue to wellness, and ways to offer our children a sustainable future, were discussed in the conference workshops.

After the morning workshops an all local lunch, which included ingredients from Migliorelli Farm, Ronny Brook Farm Dairy, Hudson Valley Fresh, Roots and Wisdom, the Produce Project, ‘From the Ground Up’ and Esopus Creek Farm, was served. The afternoon concluded with a brainstorming session that addressed issues related to Farm to School and finding ways to keep conference attendees connected in the future.

Cost to attend the conference was free although donations were accepted for the food and beverages. There is strong interest in a follow-up event to the conference. If you think you might be interested to learn more, contact Nicci Cagan.

niccifromthegroundup@yahoo.com

Visit the Life Bridge Sanctuary website

Buckwheat Pancakes

2010-02-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

Buckwheat Pancakes, a flour dilemma, more delicious dairy products, and great pear preserves

The pancake and all of its variations is a surprisingly easy recipe to master and one that is extremely versatile. The mission of tracking down all of the ingredients, specifically flour, to make an all local buckwheat pancake was one that was a little more difficult than I imagined. I had counted on the prospect of finding Birkett Mills Pocono brand buckwheat (and possibly whole wheat pastry) flour which, as it turned out, was not as readily available as one might think. The closest buckwheat flour that I was able to find was from Maine. Two of the Birkett Mills buckwheat products, Wolff's roasted Kasha and the Pocono breakfast cereal, were stocked in several grocery and health food stores but the Pocono buckwheat flours were absent from all of the upstate retailers that I visited. Which is surprising considering the Penn Yann based mill is the largest processor of buckwheat in the country. With that said, don’t hesitate to try the Birkett Mills Pocono buckwheat flour products if you do happen upon them.

As for local wheat flour, Vermont's King Arthur flours are available just about anywhere, from Wal-Mart to many farmer's markets and, in some cases, even local gas stations. While it is a very high quality and consistent product and one that I personally use on a regular basis, I'm curious to know the source of King Arthur's wheat. I've poked around the King Arthur website and I've found no information about King Arthur's growers which leads me to think that perhaps the wheat berries are grown in another region and shipped in for the milling process. Regardless of the pre-milling origins, King Arthur's products are fresh - naturally produced just a state away, and are always readily available.

For a time Wild Hive Farm's whole wheat and wheat flours were available at Mother Earth's Storehouse in Kingston but are no longer consistently stocked, likely as a result of seasonal availability and from high consumer interest and demand. The Wild Hive products are still available at the High Falls Food Co-op and from the Wild Hive bakery in Clinton Corners. As the Wild Hive products continue to generate popularity and buzz among locavores and chefs, owner Don Lewis and contract growers like Lightning Seed Farm are increasingly challenged to provide a grain supply to keep up with the local demand.

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Other Ingredients
Flour aside, all of my additional pancake ingredients were easy to find locally. Feather Ridge Farm eggs can be found at Mother Earth’s Storehouse, Red Hook Natural Foods, the Honest Weight Food Co-op and just about every freestanding farmers market from New York City to Saratoga.
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Rich and tangy, Hawthorne Valley Farm's biodynamic buttermilk is typically stocked in the farm store towards the end of each week. As it is prone to selling out quickly, it might not always be available toward the beginning or middle of the following week. Because all of Hawthorne Valley Farm’s milk products are raw and unpasteurized, they are only available at the farm store.

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For this recipe Ronny Brook Farm Dairy's crème fraiche adds a delicious touch of creamy decadence and a perfect balance to a dollop of Beth’s Farm Kitchen Pear Preserves. Ronny Brook Dairy Farm products are available at many Hudson Valley Hannaford locations, Adams Fair Acre Farms, Mother Earth’s Storehouse and the Hawthorne Valley Farm store.
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Speaking of Beth’s Farm Kitchen, the fruits and vegetables used in the Beth’s product line are all sourced locally. Every one of Beth’s products are winners but standouts in my opinion include the Pear Preserves, the Cranberry Horseradish Chutney and the Dilled Carrot Sticks. Look for Beth's products at the Honest Weight Food Co-op or purchase them by mail order.

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Buckwheat Pancakes with Pear Preserves and Crème Fraiche
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For the pancakes
*from the Joy of Cooking
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Mix together:
1 cup Pocono buckwheat flour
1 cup King Arthur all purpose flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
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In another bowl combine:
2 cups of buttermilk¼ stick butter
2 egg yolks
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Pout the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until the batter comes together, leaving it slightly lumpy.
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Beat until stiff but not dry:
2 egg whites
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Fold the whites into the batter until blended. Cook the pancakes on both sides until golden in a hot skillet with a few teaspoons of butter or vegetables oil. Garnish with the pear preserves and the crème fraiche.
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If you're looking for an interesting substitute for Hawthorne Valley Farm’s buttermilk, mix two cups of Coach Farm’s goat’s milk with a teaspoon of vinegar. The goat’s milk is light and delicious with only the slightest “goat” aftertaste. Coach’s goat’s milk is available at Adams Fair Acre Farms

See a past post from a visit to Birkett Mills

Fleisher's on meat and food safety

2010-01-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Josh and Jessica Applestone of Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats for sharing their wisdom on meat and food safety
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"Great response to a previous email on food safety prompted us to put together some tips on cutting board cleanliness:
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1. Don’t cross-contaminate!
If you cut chicken on your cutting board do NOT cut anything else on the same board until you wash it in hot soapy water, run it through the dishwasher or use a light bleach solution to clean it. Poultry, beef, and vegetables should each have their own board. Different color boards can be helpful.
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2. Discard old cutting boards.
Deep scars provide more places for nasty bacteria to hide. Cutting boards are relatively inexpensive so we suggest you replace them every six months to a year.
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3. We recommend deep cleaning your cutting board often. Here’s how:
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• Cover cutting board with kosher salt to draw out moisture and impurities. Rinse with hot water. Air dry.
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• If your cutting board is stained or heavily scarred clean it by wetting the stained area with water and sprinkling it with kosher salt. Let salt sit for 24 hours. Rinse. Air dry.
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• Or, create a scrubbing paste using salt and clean water. Use a clean nylon scrubbing sponge or a clean toothbrush to scrub the salt onto the cutting board. Rinse the area clean with fresh water and repeat if necessary. Rinse the board again and finally scrub the cutting board with hot, soapy water then rinse with hot water. Air dry.
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• We also use a LIGHT bleach solution on our boards regularly. For this solution, combine one teaspoon of bleach to one quart of water —more is NOT better in this case, just more toxic. Pour the solution onto the entire surface area of the board and allow it to sit undisturbed for several minutes. (For tough stains or heavy cleaning we soak rags in this solution and lay on top of boards for 24 hours). Rinse the board clean with water. Air dry.
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• If you prefer, use a white vinegar solution in place of the bleach solution. Combine one part white vinegar to five parts water. Use this solution in the same manner as the bleach solution.
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• Once clean, always keep cutting boards stacked upright to allow air to circulate.