Posts Tagged ‘local food’

Thursday, May 18, 2017

NNY Farm Research Highlights Cherry Tomatoes

vegitable growers learn the progress of the cherry tomato productionThe Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has announced the results of vegetable research providing market growers with an unexpected insight into the production challenges associated with cherry-type tomatoes. The project report, which includes data on labor efficiency, weed control, and brown leaf mold susceptibility, is posted online.

The Northern NY trial evaluated and compared the labor, efficiency, and yield of three different tomato training systems: an intensively pruned single leader, a standard double leader, and a less intensively pruned four-leader system. » Continue Reading.


Monday, May 15, 2017

Warrensburgh Farmers Market Kicks Off May 25th

Garlic Festival at the Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers' MarketThe Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers Market will be held on Friday afternoons, from Memorial Day to Columbus Day Weekends.

Started in 1998, the Warrensburgh Farmers Market was the first market between Glens Falls and Ticonderoga providing convenient access to fresh, nutrient rich and organically grown fruits and vegetables, hormone and antibiotic free meats and poultry, plants, cut flowers and naturally produced cheeses, breads, pies, soaps, lotions and other value added products. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Tomato Blight Conclusions and Confusion

early blightIf jumping to conclusions was a sport, I might have played pro. In my prime I went for the long jumps. Like concluding that since I had once casually said to my spouse that backyard laying hens might be fun, she would not be upset when months later I came home with four dozen layers, plus a dog from the farmer where I got the hens. Can’t say jumping to conclusions worked out real well for me, but we all dabble in it.

For example if you heard of a first-time Massachusetts politician with the last name Kennedy being sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives, it would be normal to conclude she was related to Representative Joe Kennedy. A short jump, but there is a chance the two would not be related. So gardeners can be forgiven for concluding that two diseases that affect tomatoes and potatoes, both having the same last name, are related, or even the same thing. However, early blight is not related to late blight. Or urban blight for that matter. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, April 30, 2017

Native Plants: All About Wild Leeks

wild rampsThe white bulbs of wild leeks, also called ramps (especially in the south), can be eaten year round, but it’s the early leaves that are most appreciated. In pre-freezer days, ramps were the first greens available after five or so months of potatoes and they were considered important as well as good tasting. Ramp festivals are still held in much of Appalachia to celebrate the arrival of this nutritious fresh food, and these tourist attractions have become so successful that in some places ramps are over-harvested.

Wild leeks are spring ephemerals that have no flowers in the spring. I know this is confusing; there’s a tendency to call every spring-blooming thing an ephemeral. But most spring wildflowers keep their leaves through the summer and therefore don’t qualify – it’s the extra short lifespan of the photosynthetic machinery that defines a spring ephemeral, not the timing of flowering. The rounded flower heads of leeks appear in July, well after the leaves have withered and disappeared. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, April 23, 2017

Wild Foods Workshop at Whallonsburg Grange

wild foodOn Sunday, April 30, the Whallonsburg Grange Hall will present “Dig, Cut, Cook, Eat: An introduction to harvesting and preparing wild foods,” taught by Dillon Klepetar, co-owner of Farmstead Catering in Essex.

The course will include a field portion and a kitchen portion, beginning with a hunt for nearby wild foods. Participants will then use what is collected, supplemented by local farm products, to collaboratively prepare a lunch feast in the Grange’s commercial kitchen. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Adirondack Spruce Gum Was Once A Hot Commodity

All this talk from me during the last two weeks about spruce-related subjects (Sprucelets and spruce beer) is linked to past conversations with my mom, a native of Churubusco in northern Clinton County.

It’s officially known as the Town of Clinton, but to local folks, it’s just Busco — and about as country as it gets around here. Growing up there on a farm in the 1920s and ’30s, Mom partook in things that were once the norm, like drinking raw milk and chewing spruce gum. » Continue Reading.


Monday, February 20, 2017

Whallonsburg Grange Lyceum Series Begins

During February and March, the Whallonsburg Grange Hall will host four lectures focused on the interconnection of agriculture and community development.

This series, entitled “Living and Farming on This Land,” is co-sponsored by the Essex Farm Institute, and follows the fall Lyceum series which discussed humans’ impact on the surrounding landscape throughout history. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Small Farm Marketing and Growing Shiitakes Feb 17th

Warren County Soil & Water is continuing year four of its “Farm Talks” on Friday, February 17th from 6 to 8 pm at DEC’s Warrensburg Office, 232 Golf Course Road.

The first presentation of the night will be “Growing Shiitake Mushrooms” with Casey Holzworth from Kelsey’s Quarter Acre Farm. Shiitake mushrooms are a relatively easy addition to any small farm or home garden and they can grow in inoculated hardwood logs like oaks, maples, or ironwood. Casey’s presentation will cover growing environments, usable logs, inoculation of logs, growing climates, and harvesting. Mushroom cultivation is growing in popularity due to the market response and limited space needed to cultivate. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, December 27, 2016

January Farm Talks Planned For Warrensburg

Warren County Soil & Water is beginning year four of its “Farm Talks” on Friday, January 13th from 6 to 8 pm at DEC’s Warrensburg Office, 232 Golf Course Road.

The first presentation of the night will be “Soil Blocks: A Better Start” with Rand Fosdick, Farm Manager of Landon Hill Estate Farm. In the northeast, starting your vegetable seeds early and correctly will lead to healthier plants with a head start to transplanting in spring. The soil block methodology is growing in popularity due to the success vegetable producers are having with this pot-less technique. The general concept behind it is using a soil recipe with structure and nutrients and a tool called a “soil blocker” to form the soil mixture into blocks to directly plant your seeds into. Soil blocks reduce transplant shock and add nutrients to your garden beds. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Support For Shiitake Mushroom Growing Offered

shiitake mushroomThe Cornell Small Farms Program, with support from the USDA Specialty Crop Grant Program and New York Farm Viability Institute, is engaged in a two year project to elevate development of a new niche crop in the New York; log-grown shiitake mushrooms.

Research and development at Cornell over the past decade, along with several partnerships and research projects has enabled greater understanding of the technical and business aspects of a small farm log-grown shiitake enterprise. Woodland log-grown mushrooms are a relatively new, niche crop and are low-input, high output enterprise that can also offset land taxes. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Nutting Season: An Old-Time Ritual

blackwalnutwikipdThanksgiving, with food a major holiday component, calls to mind a time of year that was once the subject of great anticipation: nutting season. I’m not old enough to have experienced it first-hand, although back in the 1980s I did explore many natural edibles. Among my favorites was beechnuts, which we harvested and used in chocolate-chip cookies. Outstanding!

But in days long ago, when many folks earned a subsistence living that utilized home-grown vegetables and wild foods, nutting season was an important time. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Champlain Area Harvest Fest, Hamlet Hikes Sept 16-17

CATS hikeThe Adirondack Harvest Festival will be held at the Essex County Fairgrounds in Westport on Friday and Saturday, September 16th and 17th. The event, which celebrates local farms and farmers with food, drink, music, and hikes, is supported by supported by the Hub on the Hill, Adirondack Farmers Coalition, Champlain Area Trails Society, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, The Adirondack Cuisine Trail, and adirondacks, usa.

The fairgrounds will feature a farmers’ market, over forty vendors, farming demonstrations (learn how to make sausage, cheese, and more), Ben Stechschulte’s film “Small Farm Rising,” and “Eat, Meet, & Be Merry,” a get-together hosted by Essex Farm’s Mark Kimball and the Adirondack Farmers Coalition, to sample local foods and exchange stories about our area’s new farming culture.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, September 2, 2016

Last Farm 2 Fork Festival in Saranac Lake Saturday

IMG_5392According to Adirondack Green Circle and Farm 2 Fork Founder Gail Brill “All good things come to an end.” In its seventh and final year, the festival that connected people to regional farmers through local food using traditional recipes and techniques will go out with a bang. For anyone knowing Brill and her passion for local food, “over” just means reinventing.

This year’s Farm 2 Fork Festival, a collaboration between the Adirondack Green Circle and Ausable Valley Grange, is bringing local food under the Big Top. This year’s circus themed festival continues to celebrate local food and farmers with other fun activities. In addition to the tasting ticket, there will be stilt walkers, face-painters, live music with Slow Pony and even a dunk booth. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 27, 2016

Saranac Lake Farm 2 Fork Festival September 3rd

farm 2 fork festivalThe seventh installment of the annual Farm 2 Fork Festival will feature a new twist. For 2016, Farm 2 Fork presents the “BBQ Under the Big Top,” a celebration of local food and farmers infused with a circus atmosphere.

Farm 2 Fork is a collaboration of the Adirondack Green Circle and the AuSable Grange. The festival’s mission is to expand support of local foods and farms, and promote food awareness in the northern Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.


Monday, June 13, 2016

Edible Forest Garden Tour Planned For June 18th

A Forest Garden (courtesy Chickenshack, North Wales)Adirondack Harvest is co-sponsoring an educational workshop in Cross Island Farms’ Edible Forest Garden on Saturday, June 18 from 1 pm to 4 pm.

Over the past three seasons Dani Baker, co-owner of Cross Island Farms, has developed just under an acre of her certified organic farm as a multi-functional edible forest garden encompassing numerous permaculture principles and practices. Attendees will join her as she describes the process of planning and planting over 300 cultivars of edible fruits, nuts, berries, and other edibles, both native and uncommon; learn about factors considered in deciding where and with what to plant the seven permaculture layers she has incorporated; and identify a large variety of supportive plants integrated into the landscape. Attendees will have an opportunity to sample edible fruits, flowers, greens and herbs in season and go home with a potted plant to begin or add to their own garden. » Continue Reading.



Wait! Before you go:

Catch up on all your Adirondack
news, delivered weekly to your inbox