Live & Learn

This is a report back on the fruitcake from my December 8th post ....... well, we had always used Taylor's Port as the wine for the fruitcake because that's what we've always used. Soak the cheesecloth in the wine, wrap the fruitcake in the dampened cheesecloth, wrap the whole thing tightly in aluminum foil, and seal in a tin to mellow in a cold closet. Unwrap with anticipation, admire, slice, & eat.
It was all going well right up to the "admire" part ..... when the fruitcake was unwrapped it had dark splotchy irregular patches all over it. "You burned it!" was the cry from the family. Luckily we have the pics here to prove that it wasn't burned!
Here's what I think happened. This local wine - as opposed to the larger scale New York wine - probably should have been decanted and maybe even filtered through cheesecloth before using it to wrap the fruitcake. It looks like the sediment stained the highest areas of the fruitcake.
Bottom line - no pictures! Despite the appearance of the intact cake, once it was cut up into serving pieces it tasted just fine and it disappeared (no comments please from you fruitcake haters out there)!

Holiday Colors!

Who wouldn't love browsing through the poinsettias at Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse in Clinton? http://janoskis.com/ Several people were leaving as I got there, hustling their poinsettias into warm cars & vans on a cold & windy day. Today was a sunny day and I timed my trip to coincide with the Steelers game and to miss the crowds. Steeler Sundays ..... you'd have to go back to my October rant on a bye week to understand!

With such a great variety of colors, sizes, and varieties of poinsettias that it's hard to pick out just one. I usually buy 2 pots that each have a red, a pink, & a white plant and put them side by side in a copper boiler. Just turn 2 empty pots upside down and set the poinsettia pots on top of them to lift them to the right height in the copper boiler. Then it's just a matter of what else I like to fit in the other rooms ........ hopefully you've visited a local greenhouse grower for your poinsettias ---- I know that my poinsettias will last until Valentines Day! More info on poinsettias http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/

Farewell Farmers' Market!

Saturday, December 13th was the last market day of the season for the Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association in Beaver, PA. Goodbye 'til next spring from the farmers' market! Next market is May 2nd, 2009 ...... check the calendar and make sure that it's a Saturday.
We picked up apples since I'm on the hook to make apple pies for a Christmas luncheon party. We also bought cookies, a large butternut squash, carnival winter squashes, & some parsnips. PARSNIPS, you say? I've never had parsnips in my life before, so I decided to try some ..... I'll report back on the experience once I figure out what to do with them! The butternut squash went into "Butternut-Lamb Deluxe" - a recipe from the Garden Way Zucchini Cookbook. This recipe is about as local as you can get, since the lamb comes from my farm.

If you enlarge the picture, you might be able to see the price on the book --- $3.95. I've had this one for quite a while .......

O' Christmas Tree, Local Christmas Tree ......

You know that you're close when you start to see the rolling fields of Christmas trees in all sizes! What a picture perfect day it was to get out and cut your own fresh Christmas tree. The sky was overcast, but yesterday's snow made it a winter wonderland for the families out selecting trees at Hozak Farms in Clinton, PA. http://www.hozakfarms.com/.
The lighted lot next to the Christmas Barn was full of trees, but everyone seemed to be taking a wagon ride out to cut their own Christmas tree.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08342/933047-51.stm
Since we get a tree from our own farm, we go to Hozak's to get pine roping & other greenery. They have a big selection of greens, pine roping, wreaths, and swags out on the front porch of the Christmas Barn. I even noticed some eucalyptus bundles this year ......

The barn porch overhang is full of wreaths, display items, and yard cut-outs. Inside the barn there are all kinds of decorations from table runners to nativity sets to ornaments to nutcrackers ........
Open any newpaper now and you're bound to find ads for local Christmas tree farms. Or check out this link to find local farms in your state and area.
http://www.christmas-tree.com/

Roadtrip Local Wine Tasting Follow-up!

This post takes us back to the September roadtrip ...... http://localfarms-localfoods.blogspot.com/2008/10/roadtrip-somerset-farmers-market-part.html. While in Virginia, we picked up a local wine to use in a Christmas fruitcake. If you look in the blog background behind the tomato tasting platter, you can see a bottle of "Snort", a 2006 Virginia Red Wine from The Winery at La Grange. It was the last wine of the tasting that day and we felt it would serve perfectly for the port wine that we use in the annual holiday fruitcake. http://www.wineryatlagrange.com/

For the fruitcake doubters among us, I've included the recipe for the fruitcake. Double-click on the picture above & you can actually see the recipe. We're not wishing to start a debate (!), but you'll note that this recipe doesn't include any nasty candied citron, dates, brown raisins, or walnuts. Nor any embittering hard liquor ..... by the way, spare yourself the "mixed candied fruit" and get the red & green candied cherries and the candied pineapple individually and do it right!

Mixing the candied fruit, golden raisins, & pecans into the batter is best done in a stock pot with your hands. It's like mixing mortar. You end up by dropping it by handfuls into the foil lined pan and nudging it into place. When it's cooled and done baking, you can "knock wood" on the surface .....
Time will tell, but for now the fruitcake is swaddled in wine soaked cheesecloth, over wrapped tightly with aluminum foil, and gently mellowing in an old cookie tin on the bottom of a cold closet.

Thinking about next year already?

Here's a clipping about the demand for local food & farmers' markets. The message continues to be that it looks like there's room for everyone ......
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081130/ARTICLE/811300337/2055/NEWS?Title=Local_small_farms_continue_to_grow
How about this story about growing food locally? http://www.dowagiacnews.com/articles/2008/12/01/news/dnnews5.txt If you want to venture deeper into really making $$$ on small plots, follow up on the comments about SPIN Farming out of Philadelphia's Somerton Tank Farm.
http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2006/0606/somertontanks/sullivan.shtml
I saw a presentation on this method at the PASA Farming for the Future Conference in State College, PA a couple of years ago. Lots of practical ideas that don't involve a tractor or investment in heavy equipment.
Anyone want to wager on when the 1st seed catalog shows up for 2009?

Beaver Farmers' Market Still OPEN !

Two more Saturdays left for the Beaver Farmers' Market. Today the weather was relatively mild in the 40's and sunny. Baked goods were sold out by the time we got to market, but after Thanksgiving, who really needs it?!? I'm rationalizing, of course. We picked up a couple of cabbages from Oak Spring Farm and some green onions from Dave's Produce.

My big purchases of the day were Christmas wreaths and swags made by the Volkar family. It's a tradition every year. The 13th will be the last day to get holiday greenery at market, so don't miss it! Here are the Volkars taking orders and customizing wreaths ........
After the market we stopped for lunch at a local drive in restaurant ...... yes, we still have carhops in Beaver County! This is another way to get "local" into the equation. Not necessarily food from local farms, but supporting a local business over a chain. Jerry's Curb Service is located in Bridgewater, PA on Riverside Drive. You can't miss the big EAT sign on Rt 51. If you go on a warm evening, the local car buffs circle the lot with antique autos & muscle cars as you're parked in your car eating. No one was circling today, but it was a perfect day to eat in the car. Try it sometime if you're in the area. Back into a parking space, turn on your parking lights, and wait for the high tech carhop with a handheld device to come and take your order!

Finally, back home to put up the wreaths ......

Just in Time!

Whoa ....... almost missed it. Here are the remains of the Dutch Apple Pie baked for Thanksgiving dinner. The Melrose apples were perfect and I still have most of them left! I'll have to come up with another apple dish or two over the weekend & then freeze the rest. Or how about making applesauce for a change?

In the background is my old favorite reference cookbook, the Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook - 1976 Edition! "With hundreds of pictures, tested recipes, and practical advice, the new Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook tells everything you want to know about buying, proper care, preparation, and serving of foods of all kinds." ---- so says the book jacket. The chapters on Game & Variety Meats are keepers. For all of you local food advocates, this is the ultimate resource in preparing foraged meals. For example, we find that "The opossum is a very fat animal with a peculiarly flavored meat. It is dressed much as one would dress a suckling pig." We are encouraged to "stuff the opossum with opossum stuffing". Yes, among recipes for sage stuffing, raisin stuffing, oyster stuffing, etc., we find a specific opossum stuffing recipe that includes "1 hard cooked egg chopped fine" & a "dash of Worchestershire sauce" as key ingredients. Did Michael Pollan mention this dilemma? ;~) Anyway, I use this cookbook for good basic recipes and to logic check new recipes .....

Now, what is that antique in the picture? It's a pie lifter ..... one side of the wire is "fixed" and the opposite side is loose. Hold the handle over the hot pie dish, hook the loose side over and around the rim, grab the opposite side of the rim with the fixed wire, lift the handle up slowly, and the wires close to grip the pie plate. Off you go with your hot pie, steaming from the oven. Hmmmm ...... seems easier to use a pair of pot holders.

A Bit Nippy Today

My singular purpose for going to the farmers' market today was to get apples ....... I am on tap to bring the pies for the family Thanksgiving dinner and I decided to make an apple pie as well as the obligatory pumpkin pies. Oak Spring Farm recommended the Melrose apples from the varieties that they had available. Here's a link to selecting & using the apples that are so plentiful locally now: http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/apples
I'll make the crusts from scratch, the apples will be local, but "Ms. Libby" will provide the pumpkin! Have you ever made a pumpkin pie from pumpkins or squash? I like them, but their paler color and extra texture (read fiber) make people think that there's something funny about them. The traditional Thanksgiving meal is not the time to introduce new (old!) ideas to the less adventurous conventional eaters. Too strenuous after all of the turkey ......

Well, it was cold today with about half an inch of snow on the ground around the Beaver Farmers' Market. That made it the perfect setting for the holiday greens & wreaths that the Volkar family sells every year. I didn't have my camera with me today for whatever reason, but next week I'll have pictures of their wonderful wreaths & swags. They will be at Beaver Farmers' Market until December 13th so get your local holiday decorations from the farmers' market! We also got the red onions from the Volkars, and of course a tray of cookies from Pat's Pastries. Have you noticed that the cow kitchen timer keeps angling into the picture? Yes, the cow "moos" the alarm. How now, black & white cow?

Warm & Light Rain Today

The broccoli from Swab's Fruit & Vegetables was doing just fine in the light rain & mist at the Beaver Farmers' Market today. The market is open from 10am - 1pm and will run until Decmeber 20th. I've had to give up on the Thursday afternoon farmers' market in Ambridge ...... just can't be sure to get there from work before it gets dark. So ..... it's back to the Saturday farmers' market in Beaver until the season ends. We skipped around to several of the vendors today picking up this broccoli, carnival winter squash, Winesap apples, black walnut fudge, and finally, red potatoes on our way out. I also made note that 2 of the vendors still have tomatoes for sale - some ripe - some nearly ripe - some green.
I got a special "present" from the Volkar family today ...... a shopping bag full of red onion skins! Yes, a bag of onion skins to use for my natural dyeing at the farm. I can't believe that they remembered me mentioning that I was looking for red onion skins, but I got a bag to try. I've seen a nice shade of green that was supposedly obtained from red onion skins, so I'm going to see if I can research the process to get that color .......

100% Local Feast!

You're looking at the serving line for the 53rd Annual Beaver County Farm-City Banquet held at the Big Knob Grange on Wednesday night. Reservations were capped at 150 and it was a sell out! The Farm-City Banquet exclusively showcases Beaver County produced food from vegetables to beef to ice cream.
The Big Knob Grange, New Sewickley Kiwanis, & Penn State Cooperative Extension of Beaver County organize the dinner every year. The food is donated by the farmers' market members of the Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association and other local farmers ...... this year, Rovidale Farm and Brunton Dairy helped support the dinner with beef, milk, and ice cream. Proceeds were donated to the Beaver County 4-H Foundation.

Local produce items on the menu included spiced beets, sweet corn, butternut squash with local honey & butter, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and that perennial favorite (where else could you get it?!?) roasted turnips being dished up below!
Follow that up with apple pie and ice cream and everyone left the tables feeling grateful for our local farmers ............

Hey - it's dark out here!

Yes, we (one of my friends from work) went to the Ambridge Farmers' Market yesterday. But with the time change, we had to move around quickly before it got too dark. I didn't bother to pull out the camera, but I did buy Winesap apples, red potatoes, and peanut butter cookies. Among other things, my friend got a loaf of French Bread from the Wood Street Bread Company. They always have a nice selection of breads at the Ambridge market as well as at the farmers' market in Beaver on Saturday morning. http://www.woodstreetbread.com/. In fact, if you look at the picture just below this post from last weeks entry, the white tent with the red table is the Wood Street tent.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Driving home from work on Wednesday I passed through a whiteout! Even though the ground isn't frozen, the snow covered the road and the tracks of the cars for about 10 minutes. By the time the Thursday afternoon Ambridge Farmers' Market rolled around, thankfully the temps were in the 50's and the sun was shining!

Here are some nice pictures of the market and produce in the setting sun. Look at what is still available in the way of tomatoes. Thursday was Trick-or-Treat night in Ambridge, so the crowd came early and headed home to pass out candy ......

We're Sitting on the Fence ....

Well, here they are ....... the fencesitter pumpkins at home. They'll stay up until the ram knocks them off or until the November freeze/thaw cycles start turning them mushy. Then we feed them to the sheep. Local food for local sheep!

Looking for ideas for your pumpkins? http://www.countryliving.com/30-days/pumpkin-parade-1008

There are still plenty of pumpkins, squash, and gourds at the farmers' markets. I'll be interested to see what can be found tomorrow at the Ambridge Farmers' Market. The temperature dipped today to a high of 41 degrees. Throughout the day, we had snow flurries, rain, & tiny hail stones in the air. It should be in the 50's on Thursday for the market.

How Local is Local?

Here's another story on defining "local" food. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-10-27-local-grown-farms-produce_N.htm
At a program last weekend, we learned that the PA Dept of Agriculture defines local as being produced in Pennsylvania. This was in reference to the PA Preferred program. http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/papreferred/site/
Some "Locavores" have a tighter definition of local ...... the "100 Mile Diet", for instance. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200783,00.html
How big is your "foodshed"? I try to write about the farms & food that are "local to me". Sometimes, as you can see from my posts, it can be a farmstand, farmers' market, or farm that I pass closeby while traveling. So that's my own version of local!

Mission Accomplished (well almost ......)

Another Sunday in October and another diversion related to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This time my return trip from State College was affected, since driving in on the Parkway East pre-game would not be a good idea! So ....... I came across the area on Rt 422 W and then dropped down to Rt 68. This gave me a chance to include a stop at Brenckle's Farms & Greenhouses as I passed by. Well, I finally completed my pumpkin shopping for the season. I added 3 large pumpkins & a group of gourds to the decorative "One Too Many" pumpkin that I had purchased at the Ambridge Farmers' Market a couple of weeks ago. The pumpkin search is over for this year. I looked all over, but I really wasn't able to find good specimens (ahem) of the heirloom varieties that I like to use. The Long Island Tan Cheese were scarce and smallish this year. The Rouge Vif d' Etampes that I found were nicked & scratched and their stems were broken. The Galeux d'Eysines were completely covered with warts & no pinkish orange was showing. I understand that they must be picked before they get too mature because the warts keep growing.

Picky, picky, picky!

The end result is that this year's display will be much more "conventional". And that's not a bad thing anyway. If you're interested in looking at or trying some of these unusual pumpkin & squash varieties check out Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/ and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds http://rareseeds.com/.

Since I use these for display through Thanksgiving, they tend to go soft, but they do not go to waste ....... they're fed to my sheep when we're finished with them! I even have an antique "long handled pumpkin cutter" that we use to break them up so that the sheep can bite into them.

How about these apple gourds? These aren't the little ones, they're 8 -12 inches around. I was impressed with the selection of pumpkins and home grown produce at Brenkle's. It's definitely worth a stop and the price on the pumpkins can't be beaten.

Running Late Tonight ......

I dashed over to the Ambridge Farmers' Market a little late tonight after work, and ended up watching folks tearing down their stalls by the time I left. You've got to hand it to these farmers ..... when you do this several times a week, you get pretty good at it. Just look at how neatly & efficiently Oak Spring Farm has their trucks packed up. Everyone has their own system depending on what they sell.

I did get what I wanted today - red potatoes & Winesap apples. Check out your farmers' market and orchard stands for the uncommon varieties of apples that you can't find in the supermarkets. You're hearing from someone who hasn't has a Red Delicious (<---- yes, I did that on purpose) in the house for 20 years!

Even a little pile of salad tomatoes made it home, maybe the last ones we get our hands on for the season. :~( We've had a couple of frosts in Beaver County during the last week, so most of the tomatoes have been picked.

Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association update:

The Ambridge Market will start at 3:30pm once the time changes so that you still have time to get over while it's still light. I also understand that their last market of the season in Ambridge is the TUESDAY immediately before Thanksgiving. Perfect timing for your Thanksgiving dinner!

More on Pittsburgh area farmers' markets:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08297/922008-34.stm

How much do we spend on food?

Here's a timely article, since everyone is concerned about their finances and savings right now. It sounds like most of us don't have a good handle on this ..... farmers' market shopper or not, there are quite a variety of responses.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/10/20/moneytales.DTL

They're Back!

Look what appeared at the Ambridge Farmer's Market on Thursday ..... sugar pod peas! They're back for a couple of weeks in the cool weather. I really appreciate our farmers planting a second crop of peas in the summer right when they're busiest with harvesting all of the other summer veggies.

I also grabbed a Hi-Beta Gold Spaghetti Squash ..... this will be the first time to try this variety. It's "claim to fame" is that it contains more beta-carotene than the standard spaghetti squash.

We rounded out the day with Kennebec potatoes, onions, some heirloom tomatoes, and a big bag of Golden Delicious apples that just couldn't be squeezed into the picture.

There was definitely a nip in the air and the temperature seemed to drop about 10 degrees while the market was on.

On Saturday, we were in Beaver and made a quick dash into the Beaver Farmers' Market to get some apple cider and one of the last watermelons of the season. The flowers from Ridgemont Farm looked great and a couple of bouquets sold while we were nearby ..... One of the farmers told us that he heard that the "f" word was coming ..... yes, it's time for the first FROST! He was right, we had a heavy frost overnight. Look around if you pass any farms and you may see the white floating row covers over some of the crops to extend the season. Janoski's Farm in Clinton had row covers gently billowing in the wind on Saturday when I passed by ....... they were ready.

October Sunday ... what was I thinking?

I was out and about today. It was a beautiful, sunny October afternoon and I decided to stop at a local farm market to pick out a few pumpkins. I should have known better! In addition to the great weather, it was a bye week for the Pittsburgh Steelers ......... Yes, that means that every family in Southwestern Pennsylvania went out to get their Halloween pumpkins today.

They packed the farm markets and corn mazes. They took hayrides out to the pumpkin patch. They sipped apple cider. They stirred applebutter. They staggered through the fields & parking lots loaded down with pumpkins and corn stalks. They got in my way! ;~)

I by-passed two farm market festivals where they had folks in orange t-shirts directing traffic into the parking areas. Finally, I slipped into Jodikinos Farm (between tractor ride departures to the pumpkin patch) and picked out 10 little pie pumpkins for $1 each. Then I zipped back out of the parking lot and headed for home. Whew.

Hey, the good news is that our local farmers had a great day to bring in visitors.

All about pumpkins ...... http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/
My pie pumpkins are going to be fence posts sitters ..... yep, they sit on fence posts along the driveway as a seasonal touch.

Still, I didn't get the unusual pumpkins/squash that I'm looking for to use as decorations. The search continues ..............

Slow Food Commentary

Seems that topics suited to this blog pop up at the oddest places ....... like waiting to get a haircut and finding this article in the September 15 issue of TIME magazine. Something to chew on, so to speak. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1838757,00.html

Michael Pollan is quoted in the article ..... have you read The Omnivore's Dilemma? It's the story of 4 meals, but here's a better description ....... http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php
Get it from your local library. Enough of this for a while .......... ;~)

Roadtrip Part IV - Local Flowers, Local Artists

Our first stop on the Wild Western Prince Willaim County Farm Tour was actually LynnVale Studios. http://www.lynnvale.com/ We didn't get any pictures of the cut flower garden beds since it was raining steadily when we arrived, but here are a couple of pictures of the floral design and studio area inside of the converted dairy barn. Cut flower grower Andrea (in the brown coveralls), has quite a selection of both annual and perennial beds on the farm. It's always an advantage for flower growers to have the perennials ....... some of the work maintaining them can be done outside of the busiest times planting & harvesting from the annual beds. She has a large stand of curly willow along with many other shrubs. If you're interested in the cut flower business, here's an association link to check out:

http://www.ascfg.org/.

Some other useful resources:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/cutflower.html

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/woodyornamentals.html

http://www.growingformarket.com/

After we enjoyed walking through the gardens and looking at the gallery and arrangements in the barn/studio, we picked up a bunch of dried sunflowers to take home.

Roadtrip Part III - Now for the Sizzle!

A great coincidence for this local food blogger, during last weekend's visit to Virginia, was finding that a local farm tour was underway. http://www.pwcfarmtour.com/ Thanks to my indulgent family members, (!) we were able to visit 3 farms. We followed that up with wine tasting at a local winery on the way home.

Check out this great T-shirt from the Smith Family Farm! http://www.beefandhayproducer.com/home.nxg

This farm was serving lunch and taking visitors out on hay rides to see their Angus cattle herd. People were lining up to purchase beef and by Sunday, several of the cuts were sold out. We were able to pick up Porterhouse & Delmonico steaks ........ they were delicious on the grill that evening. Thanks to Smith Family Farm for hosting such a diverse crowd from the community on a rainy day! Nothing like scheduling a farm tour to bring on the rain ......... We also got a look at their pastured poultry operation and all of the equipment needed to run such a large family farm operation.

Roadtrip & Somerset Farmers' Market Part II

Part II .............
Some of the things that I just knew I could get at the Somerset County Farmers' Market - hereafter referred to as the SCFM - were Certified Organic & Certified Naturally Grown products as well as a selection of heirloom tomatoes. I purchased some really nice green (and purple) beans and purple cauliflower from my friends Ray, Kathy, & Yvonne of Providence Acres Farm. http://agmap.psu.edu/Businesses/2055 They've chosen to farm under the guidelines of the Certified Naturally Grown, Inc. organization. If you're interested in learning more about this program, check out the following link. http://www.naturallygrown.org/

Heirloom tomatoes were the fun purchase of the day, since my plan was to have a tomato tasting to complement a local dinner Sunday evening. The tomatoes came from Hi-View Gardens - just look at their beautiful displays! I took notes as Todd deferred to Sarah to give me the names of all of the tomatoes that I purchased ........ she really had a colorful variety for sale. Hi-View Gardens can also be found at the farmers' market in Wilkinsburg if you're from the Pittsburgh city area. http://www.farmersmarketalliance.com/farmers/FarmerPage.php?farmID=5 Stop in and get some tomatoes before it's too late this season. They were also among the growers featured in this recent restaurant food story.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08241/907344-34.stm

Just look at the gorgeous platter of tomatoes sliced and ready for our family tomato tasting! All of the tomatoes were great with the exception of ---- sorry Sarah :~( ------ Moonglow. It looked really nice and sliced well, but we didn't like the distinctly "different" flavor. You can see in the background of the picture that we had come from a wine tasting, but we were fresh out of words to describe Moonglow ......... afterwards, the rest of the tomatoes went into a delicious salad with green onions, shredded mozzarella, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yes, this was the same meal that included the grilled Shiitake mushrooms ...........

Local Food Goes On a Roadtrip!

Everyone seems to define "local food" in a different way ...... home town, home county, home state, 100 mile radius, etc. Well, this weekend, local food went on the road and made stops on the way to Virginia and in the Prince William County Virginia area.

The weekend started with a stop at the Somerset County Farmers' Market just off of the Somerset Pennsylvania Turnpike exit behind Georgian Place. http://www.somersetcountyfarmersmarket.com/ As usual, it's always windy & cooler in Somerset!

We started with some colorful good looking produce. One of the unique items of the season are locally grown strawberries! Grandma's Produce had customers lining up for their strawberries. Grower Joel has figured out a way to produce local strawberries in late summer/early fall. What a treat at this time of year. For the technically inclined out there, here's a link to a report on how this is being done by some growers in the Somerset County, PA & Garrett County, MD area. http://www.sare.org/reporting/report_viewer.asp?pn=ONE06-060&ry=2007&rf=1

For most of us, it's just good eating .......

We also picked up some maple products and Shiitake mushrooms at the market. The mushrooms and tomato chunks drizzled with Italian dressing grilled up great for dinner on Sunday. They were a side-dish to local Angus beef steaks that we'll talk about later this week.

That's it for now ...... more on heirloom tomatoes and other products on the next post!