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!

It's Local Food Week!

Don't forget that it's Local Food Week in the Pittsburgh area. Check out the story at this link for events still planned for this week! http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08262/912869-34.stm?cmpid=fooddining.xml

How about the Main Street Farmers' Market in Washington, Pa on Thursday?http://buylocalpa.org/event/view/46
http://www.washpa.net/FarmersMarket/home.html

Or Farmers@Firehouse in the Strip on Saturday?http://buylocalpa.org/event/view/31

Is this blog working?

This is a test to see if we're up and running today ..... wouldn't allow this bloggist to "save" & post on the 18th! Otherwise you would have seen the mums yesterday ...........

Another crystal clear September afternoon at the Ambridge Farmers' Market. I got 5 purple mums to plant, but I really liked these "daisy" like mums too.

The final installment ......

Finally, a look at some of the fruit that was available at the Sewickley Farmers' Market. There were also loads of peaches at the market, but the picture came out fuzzier than the peaches. Oh well ...........

The last person that I got to talk to was Lynne from Dream Thyme Farm. She spotted my Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest T-shirt and we got into a discussion on sheep & fiber (!). Dream Thyme had some interesting peppers, winter squashes & pumpkins, as well as handmade soap. And here's something unusual --- they feature goat meat. Check out their web-site for more information.

http://www.dreamthymefarm.com/

Sewickley 2.0 - Me & Mrs. Jones

Me & Mrs. Jones ---- how many times have they heard this line?!? I came across a couple of great products at the market on Saturday after just missing the morning rain. I didn't get to meet Mrs. Jones, but I did sample her potato salad and her "Multi-Purpose Sauce!". http://www.mrsjonesthesauce.com/ After heeding the call to "Taste What You've Been Missing", I brought a jar of the sauce home. I was making stuffed peppers for dinner with a recipe that called for 1 & 3/4 cups of tomato sauce ....... I used 8oz. of tomato sauce and substituted Mrs. Jones Multi-Purpose Sauce for the rest of the sauce. The stuffed peppers were great! It added great flavor & a bit of a kick to the stuffed peppers. What next ....... brush on as a barbeque sauce?

One of the farmers at the market who suggested the use of the sauce as a beef marinade or barbeque sauce was Dave McElhaney of McElhaney Family Farm. http://www.familyfarmbeef.com/ They have a steady stream of customers buying their dry aged beef from the freezer truck. Later in the season, I'd like to get over to their place and get some pictures at the farm ...... stay tuned. Here's a great chance to get local beef to stock your freezer or for the grill!

More about the market on my next post ........

Sewickley Sensory Overload!

I've been meaning to get to the farmers' market at the Saint James Catholic Church parking lot in Sewickley for months ...... for one reason or another, I just haven't been "out & about" that way on a Saturday all summer. Today I found myself driving past Sewickley in the rain & of course, the car veered into a parking space and out came the camera! It had just stopped raining when I got to the market, so the crowds were lighter than usual.

Where to begin??? I think that we'll have several installments to do justice to the great variety of farmer and vendors in Sewickley. First, a bit of history. This market is in it's 4th year and is the vision of one man who wanted to bring local produce to the community and support local family farms. Although I'm sure that others (of course including the parish) have been of great help, this has been a labor of love for it's founder, hereafter known as "Dr. Rob". Thanks to Dr. Rob for tirelessly searching out and providing support to a fantastic mix of local farmers and entreprenuers.

For those of you interested in USDA Certified Organic produce, this is a market for you. Evan Verbanic of Cherry Valley Organics was there with some great heirloom tomatoes, beautiful clamshells of yellow & red salad tomatoes, tomatillos, etc - all certified organic. They also bring soaps, lip balms, hand salves, & other herbal products. Both Evan & Jodi have committed themselves and their farm to going beyond "local food" by achieving certified organic status. http://www.cherryvalleyorganics.com/ You might want to check their web-site for gift ideas too!

Espresso Specialty Foods had a really nice & packed table display. A steady stream of customers were snapping up the baked goods pictured here. A sampling of goodies made it home with me ........ http://www.espressospecialtyfoods.com/

Finally for today, a look at cut flowers from Pisarcik Greenhouses of Valencia, PA.

Food & food for the soul!

What a great market this afternoon in Ambridge! The weather was fantastic. I arrived around 5:45 today and the tables were still overflowing with a great variety of baked goods, veggies, flowers, and fruit. I also spotted the first apple cider of the season.

As I walked through the market, I saw several people picking up large quantities of tomatoes and peppers for canning & freezing from the farmers. Keep in mind that many of the farmers will accept orders for large quantities of produce if you're into preserving. The heirloom tomatoes in the bottom picture are "Hillbilly" & "Mortgage Lifter" from May-Malone Farm.

Need ideas on how to use tons of tomatoes? Here's a link to check out. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can3_tomato.html

The peppers pictured above are from Douds-Floyd Farm. I bought 6 bell peppers for stuffed peppers this weekend. Two baskets of hot peppers disappeared in front of me as I tried to take the pictures ........ If you like hot peppers, now is the time to hit the market!

Finally - food for the soul. Check out the gorgeous magenta colored Celosia (aka cockscomb) from Ridgemont Farm. I picked up the 2 large stems to dry for a winter arrangement. Several of the cut flower arrangements contained flowers that could be dried. Why not ask for a custom bouquet of flowers to make a dried arrangement?

Here's more info on dried flowers ----> http://www.dried-flowers-galore.com/

Packed Market ver2.0

I have a few more shots of the Ambridge Farmers' Market from Thursday to share. A note for those with limited mobility ...... the market is level and parking is available next to the vendors. You don't have to cross a street or climb any steps. There are always folks with walkers & scooters in the mix here. Also plenty of baby strollers, so come on down.

First, a little info on my "take" from the market. I only buy watermelon in season, so I'm going to try this "Y4" melon from the Volkars. "Y4", for the uninitiated, means that it's a $4 yellow fleshed melon. I'll crack this open on the weekend. The Ginger Gold apples http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Fruits/ginger-gold-apple.asp came from Woodward's Orchard. There's a picture of some of their peppers and tomatoes. If you like to visit farms, check out their annual event beginning on the 3rd weekend of September, "Fall Fun for Y'all". Here's a link for contact infomation & directions. http://agmap.psu.edu/Businesses/1591

Also ---- there's still time to buy potted herbs to transplant for your windowsill garden! I always have a rosemary plant on our south facing kitchen windowsill to clip when I'm making a beef or chicken roast in the winter. Everyone can fit in a potted plant or two ........

Finally, I seemed to keep bumping into this gentleman mystery shopper ..... he was buying up all of the tiniest new potatoes at the market.

Packed Market!

A quick picture or two from the Ambridge Farmers' Market today. Here's a look at SOME of the mums available now ........ and how about these cut flowers and herbs? I got to the market at 4:30 today and it was packed! Of course, most markets are jumping right at opening, but the crowd seemed to have staying power today. The tables were overflowing with fantastic fruits, veggies, baked goods, flowers, and plants.

So what is a Somerset Snap???

OK ..... this is for the serious foodies. I just got my PASA Harvest Celebration Benefit Dinner invitation in the mail today. http://www.pasafarming.org/pittdinner.html The tag line is "Pittsburgh Celebrates the Freshest Local Flavor of the Season". In looking over the extensive menu, I noticed "Somerset Snaps". Now what is a Somerset Snap? A Somerset Snap is a tasty, regionally adapted green bean grown by Laurel Vista Farm in Somerset County. How do I know this? Well, I had the opportunity to work on a couple of projects with Rick & Rita when I worked at PSCE. They are very active in promoting local agriculture and they have a special interest in infrastructure & logistical issues ...... the kind of things that most farmers have so little time to do. If we want to promote local food, we need to do some work to break into the marketplace. That means going beyond our great farmers' markets and working through issues related to transportation, food safety, processing, packaging, etc. Lots of work to do on this front for agriculture ......

If you'd like to try the full range of local foods, this dinner may be for you! In any event, check out my friends at Laurel Vista Farm. http://www.laurelvistafarm.com/Products.html

Sidelight ---- Rita & Rick came to a conference & brought me a garbage bag full of onion skins from their packing house. Why? I use them to make a natural dye for my wool yarn. It makes a beautiful deep gold! ;~)