Posts Tagged ‘local food’

Monday, November 13, 2017

Keeseville ‘Farmacy’ Grand Opening Friday

farmacyAdkAction has announced the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the “Farmacy” fresh food retail space in the Keeseville Pharmacy on Friday, November 17th from 4 to 6 pm. A  reception with sweet and savory snacks and wine and beer will be held following the ribbon cutting at the Fresh and Fancy Bakery across the street. The ribbon cutting and reception are free and open to the public.

Keeseville is a hamlet that has had long stretches without a grocery store. The most recent has lasted about four years after Mac’s Market in the heart of downtown Keeseville closed down in 2013. In the center of Keeseville’s downtown is an empty 8,000 square foot grocery store that serves as a gnawing reminder that the closest grocery store is about 20 minutes away by car. Despite the limited access to fresh food in Downtown Keeseville, there is a budding agricultural community developing on the outskirts of the hamlet. A 40-acre organic vegetable farm, a grass-fed dairy, and a sustainable beef, pork, and chicken operation have all grown over the past few years. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Food Justice Summit Planned For March

FJWG craigardenThe newly formed North Country Food Justice Working Group is planning a winter food summit.

“Feed Back: Growing and Sharing the Abundance” will take place Thursday, March 1st, 2018 at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

What follows is an announcement sent to the press: » Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 21, 2017

A Great Pumpkin Prank; Pumpkin Production In NYS

McGraw hallMcGraw Hall, Cornell University’s first building, is certainly the most recognizable symbol of the University and, arguably, one of the state’s most iconic buildings. Built in 1891 and named for Jennie McGraw, a close family friend of University co-founder, Ezra Cornell. McGraw Hall’s clock tower, which houses the 21-bell Cornell Chimes; played three times a day and heard all over campus, stands 173-feet-tall, with an extremely steep 20-foot-high tiled roof-spire. It holds a commanding presence from vantage points all around the city of Ithaca.

So, on the morning of October 8, 1997, Cornell students, faculty, and staff were baffled when they awoke to find a rather large pumpkin, estimated to have weighed 60-pounds, impaled upon the spire atop the tower. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, October 15, 2017

Cultivating Mushrooms in the Adirondacks

I absolutely love mushrooms. They add real zest and excitement to all sorts of recipes. I’ve been cooking with them all of my adult life. They’re the perfect choice for hearty, intensely satisfying, really-good-for-you, low-calorie meals. Great if you’re watching your waistline!

It’s easy and fun to cultivate edible mushrooms using logs, stumps, or other mediums (i.e. straw, corn cobs), and the moist shade of your wooded property. Each mushroom variety offers its own unique, often nutty flavor. And they’re packed full of nutrients; things like B-vitamins, including riboflavin (an essential dietary nutrient which plays a major role in red blood cell formation and energy production, and strengthens the immune system), niacin (a digestive aid that can help maintain good blood circulation, healthy skin condition, and brain function), and pantothenic acid (one of the most versatile and flexible vitamins). » Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 14, 2017

Farms And Food: A Bike the Barns 2017 Recap

Bike the Barns participants ride past agricultural landscapes and mountain views in EssexThis year’s Bike the Barns event took place at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall on Sunday, October 1st. Organizers say registrations for Bike the Barns doubled since the inaugural event last year.  This fall, over 160 people signed up to ride.

This is the second year the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has hosted the event, a one-day bicycle tour that offers riders the opportunity to explore the region’s agricultural scene, meet local farmers, tour their farms and taste local food and drink. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, October 12, 2017

Fall Farmers’ Markets in the Adirondacks

The next few weeks are bringing local Adirondack farmers’ markets to a close for the season. There is still plenty of fresh produce to gather though most of the weekly outdoor area farmers’ markets are starting to move back to the farm.

The Saranac Lake (10/14), Ticonderoga (10/14), Lake Placid (10/18),and Lowville (10/28) farmers’ markets are winding down their outdoor market schedule. Don’t fret. Most farmers are still producing their amazing meats, cheese, produce, and local products.

Winter farmers’ markets are available on the outskirts of the Adirondack Park, but two places that continue to provide that intimate connection with our farmers is the Sugarhouse Creamery’s The Snowy Grocery and the Saranac Lake Famers’ Market. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 9, 2017

Harvest Time Canning Safety Tips

canning suppliesIt’s harvest time. Tomatoes, corn, beets, carrots, peppers and other fruits and vegetables are readily available from farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and your own gardens. Preserving the bounty safely for the winter can be economical, delicious, and safe if laboratory tested rules for food preservation are followed.

Since 1994, testing facilities, universities and the USDA tested recipes and directions used in food preservation books seven times in different areas of the country and under different conditions to assure that directions to be used would assure the product canned would be shelf stable, nutritious, flavorful, and free from both food spoiling bacterium and deadly bacterium such as clostridium botulinum-botulism. It was found that many canning instructional materials were not safe. » Continue Reading.


Monday, September 4, 2017

Adirondack Fall Farm Tour October 7th

thurman farm tourThe newly expanded Thurman Fall Farm Tour will be held on Saturday, October 7th from 10 am to 4 pm.

Thurman Fall Farm Tour will showcase farms from over 200 years-old to those formed in the last ten years. With a map and guide found in town or online, the public will be able to visit the open houses being held at farms and sugarhouses around Thurman. » Continue Reading.


Friday, September 1, 2017

3rd Annual ViewFest Music, Art, and Food Festival Planned

Dave Bennett plays the keyboard behind his backView will host its third annual ViewFest Music, Art, and Food Festival, previously known as Adirondack Music Festival, September 22, 2017 through September 24, 2017 in Old Forge.

ViewFest combines food, art, workshops, craft vendors, demonstrations, and musical performances. The craft fair runs Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. Local restaurants, food, and artistic demonstrators will be on site Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.  » Continue Reading.


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Local Foods Changing Views on Farming

nys veggiesToday’s explosion of an appreciation of and demand for local foods is a positive affirmation of farming. There is a new gratefulness for farmers as caretakers of the working landscape and purveyors of quality foods raised nearby. A better understanding of the need for open spaces, preserving soil, safeguarding water and practicing safe animal care has increased markedly. It is an invigorating time, especially for those of us who have been embroiled in agriculture most of our lives.

I think back to when I enrolled in a two-year agriculture program there were only 12 students in the major and only 1 female. The four-year baccalaureate was struggling and certainly not overenrolled. Fast forward to today and most Colleges of Agriculture are busting at the seams with students. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Farm 2 Fork Festival Returns with ‘Adirondack Cookout’

The 2017 Farm 2 Fork Festival will be held at the Riverside Park in Saranac Lake on Saturday, September 2nd. This year’s theme is Adirondack Cookout. The menu includes grilled Mace Chasm sausage, vegetable lasagna, Dak & Dill Pickles, salsa, coleslaw, garlic and herb roasted potatoes, and apple crisp.

The inaugural Heirloom Award will be handed out at the festival, honoring a local person that goes above and beyond to support local farmers and local food. The first recipient will be Farm 2 Fork Festival founder Gail Brill of Saranac Lake. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 5, 2017

Bike the Barns Offers New Routes, Farm Stops

Bike the Barns participants cycle through Essex area farmlandThree new route options and four new farm stops have been added to the second annual Bike the Barns, a one-day recreational bicycle tour that takes riders through the agricultural landscapes of the Adirondack region, on Sunday, October 1st.

This year’s event, which is hosted by the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), will start and finish at the historic Whallonsburg Grange Hall in the heart of the Champlain Valley. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, July 13, 2017

New Viticulture Specialist Serving Southeastern Adks

jim meyersThe Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension has announced the hiring of James Meyers as the new viticulture and wine specialist for a 17-county region in the eastern part of New York State. Meyers will provide regional grape growers with a combination of on-the-ground grape production assistance and some high flying technology.

Meyers earned his PhD in Viticulture at Cornell University and has applied a Masters degree in Computer Science from Brown University to his viticultural research. Using satellite imaging and drone technology, Meyers has mapped canopy and vineyard variability to help growers in the Finger Lakes region of New York and in the state of California optimize the efficiency and profitability of their vineyard operations. He will continue the use of that technology in eastern New York. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, June 10, 2017

Eating Seasonally, Locally in the Adirondacks

Adirondack Farm Produce - Photo by Shannon HoulihanWe’re living in an age of global markets, with almost all of us buying our food from chain supermarkets, convenient stores, and fast food outlets; rarely thinking about where our food comes from or how it was grown or processed.

More often than not, the food we eat is grown on large industrial farms, before being shipped across the country, or from central or South America or overseas, to huge distribution centers, where it’s sorted, packaged, and processed before it’s trucked to retailers. This means that a remarkable diversity of food is available all year round, for consumers who can to afford to buy it. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, May 28, 2017

Cold-Hardy Grapes Key To Local Wine Industry Growth

harvest picked by volunteers and Cornell educators at the Cold Hardy Grape Research Nursery at the Willsboro Research FarmNew York’s Champlain Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) includes Clinton and Essex counties with 11 commercial vineyards and six wineries with a near-term growth projection from 15.47 acres to more than 78 acres. To accommodate that growth, the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program (ENYCHP) of Cornell University Cooperative Extension is now recruiting a new grapes specialist.

“The Champlain Valley AVA is distinguished by its short growing season, cold winter temperatures, and production of cold-hardy North American hybrid grape varieties, including Frontenac, La Crescent, and Marquette,” according to Elizabeth Higgins, business management specialist, Hudson Valley Lab, Highland, NY. » Continue Reading.



Wait! Before you go:

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