Local Halloween Food!

How's this for an advertisement? LFLF did a double-take while driving down the main street of Monaca, PA. This is a new local shop, the "Original Pita Parlor" ....... looks like a fun place to stop in!

Garlic & Gourds!

No rain Saturday morning at the Beaver Farmers' Market. We were looking for a couple of gallons of apple cider and several heads of garlic. The garlic looked great and we also picked up our last decorative squash of the season. Of course, after enjoying the squash in a fall display, we will have several for cooking.

We had a little treat from farmer Becky --- gourds that her friend had cleaned and decorated. We put them out to share the pictures with our LFLF followers. WOW. They're not for sale, but it gives you an idea of what you can do if you're artistically inclined. Here's a gourd farm site with tons of information and a free download. Interesting how bad the drying gourds look before cleaning ..... Now go out, get yourself some gourds, and go to it!

I Brake for Farm Markets!

We set out for Waynesburg. PA today and took a little diversion off of I-79. We went off onto Route 19 S at the Ruff Creek exit for the last several miles of the trip. Route 19 climbs and winds along a ridgetop before dropping down into Waynesburg and leading right past Waynesburg University in town. While motoring along LFLF stopped (of course!) at this little farm market. The sign says it all! Across the road, they also had a great fall display. We picked up a few large gourds and were on our way ..... feeder pigs anyone?

Sunday Drivers

What a difference a day makes in October. Thursday, Friday, Saturday ..... cold, overcast, with mist & rain all day. Then Sunday came and it promised to be a perfect day for fall leaf peeping. We ended up driving north to Shelocta in Indiana County. Reegers Farm was having their annual fall pumpkin festival. Boy, has this grown in the 2 years since LFLF worked in Indiana! Reeger's is a great local spot for lunch out on the covered patio in the summer. The daily menu changes with what home grown produce is in season on the farm. They also have wonderful baked goods. There was a nice sized crowd there today to enjoy the pumpkin patch, hayrides, etc. & that's during a Steelers game!

On the trip back, we stopped at Brenkle's Farms and Greenhouse just west of Butler on Rt 68 and picked up some heirloom squash & pumpkins. They're really neat to decorate with AND cook with for something different. Today 2 young women were buying pie pumpkins when we came in. They were questioning "how many pumpkins does it take to make a pie?". Seems that one of their boyfriends wants a "real" homemade pie (and pumpkin roll!). LFLF cautioned them that a real pie won't be a perfectly smooth deep orange pie like they're used to, but it will be lighter in color & have "more texture". Told them to "Google it" ..... I wonder how that will turn out? ;~)

It looks like "Pumpkin" the cat was manning the scales. All of the big jack-o-lantern pumpkins were 19 cents/lb! That's the best buy we've seen all season, especially if you need to buy A LOT of pumpkins and you're in the area.

And yes ..... Brenkle's has a large selection of mums out front that still have "blooms opening" for sale.

Another Rainy Thursday

Thursday came and it rained pretty much all day ..... again. It was colder this week too, with the farmers bundled up in hooded sweatshirts, jackets, & rain ponchos. At least by market time, the rain mostly held off, or was a mist/light drizzle. Of course, all of the regulars & die-hard farmers' market fans were there, rain or not. LFLF came armed with a shopping list that included onions, red cabbage, Melrose apples, romaine lettuce, & potatoes.
The cold weather inspires thoughts of comfort foods. I barely got the picture of cabbage & kale taken before it was snapped up right in front of me. Lesson learned ---> buy first .... take pictures later! And yes, there were 3 cabbages, so one came home.

Spring House in October

If you're from the Pittsburgh area, here's a great local stop for October activities. The SpringHouse in Eighty-Four, PA is just a few miles off of I-79. It's a family run dairy farm/restaurant/catering & agri-tourism local favorite in Washington County. What started as an outlet for their own milk has really blossomed over the years!
Stop in for great food and home dairy products. October weekends feature 4-H Hog Roasts and all kinds of activities. There seemed to be lots of families out enjoying themselves on Columbus Day ........ Snow White & the Seven Pumpkins?????

Today after homemade lunch, we picked up some bacon, vegetable cheese, fresh baked cookies, & milk. There were plenty of pumpkins and other fall decorations outside.

Making Progress

LFLF worked a little pumpkin gathering activity into our schedule today. We picked up some pie pumpkins at Jodikinos Farm Market on Rt 18 ...... these small pumpkins are quite reasonable @ $1 apiece. We use them to top our fence posts along the driveway.

After Thanksgiving season is over, we feed them to the sheep! The older ewes, who know what they are, rush right in as soon as we smash them open. The lambs start munching too as soon as they figure out what's going on .....

We still need to complete the main pumpkin & squash display!

Pat's Pastries

There was a light rain/drizzle on & off at the Ambridge Farmers' Market on Thursday evening. Just enough to make picture taking risky ..... but we got one shot in under the tent at Pat's Pastries!

Like last week, there are tons of pumpkins, squashes, gourds, potatoes, cabbage, onions, peppers, leeks, apples, pears, 2nd crop green beans, & sugar pod peas.

Running Around ......

Visited the Ambridge Farmers' Market on Thursday & saw these gorgeous mums ...... then bought some Strawberry Fields gomphrena to dry for winter arrangements. It joins the magenta cocks comb from last weekend --- hanging upside down near the basement dehumidifier!

Our annual fall heirloom pumpkin & squash display got off to a nice start with a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin from Douds-Floyd Farm ..... it's in the bag on the far right in this display of pumpkins & squash. On Saturday morning we picked up a swan neck gourd at the little farmers' market in Lisbon, Ohio. We also got a giant head of cauliflower. It's about a foot wide! The annual search for worthy pumpkins, gourds, and squash continues ............ can you name all of the varieties in this photo??? Come to the market to read the signs & pick out your favorite. The traditional squashes & pumpkins were the ones used for pies & cooking ..... not the jack-o-lantern varieties that we see now everywhere for sale!