Snow For The Locals!

Snowy Market Greetings From Phil of Douds-Floyd Farm, Dick of
McElhaney Family Farm, & Wayne of Oak Spring Farm!

What a way to get in the Christmas spirit!  Only one more market day left on Saturday 12/21 at the Beaver Farmers' Market, but the farmers & vendors were out today in the snow for their loyal customers.  LFLF got there around 11:45 to select our Christmas wreaths from May-Malone Farm & pick up some Christmas cookies from Pats' Pastries.  

Wreath Customers At May-Malone Farm

The vendors and customers had to deal with the falling snow and slush in the parking lot, but they were still out there. 

Snow Covered Kale At Enon Country Gardens

Wood Street Bread Company Serves Up The Fresh Bread!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Finally, we picked up a head of cabbage for cabbage & noodles and a gallon of cider pressed on Wednesday from Oak Spring Farm .......
Something I just noticed ...... it's near market end, but all of the customers are different people in the pictures.  We muffed a picture of shoppers buying beef from McElhaney Family Farm --- too blurry in a bit of a snow squall when we snapped the pic! 

Winter Squash, Cabbage, & Golden Delicious Apples

Last Saturday At Market!

Customers At Douds-Floyd Farm

Last Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day at the Beaver Farmers' Market!  The weather was perfect & at this time of year the selection of veggies, fruit, & flowers is wonderful. 

Beaver Farmers' Market Shoppers

LFLF came home with green peppers, plums, buffalo chip cookies, cucumbers, onions, & sweet corn.

These Plums Are Delicious!

You never know who you'll see at the market ..... another supporter of local agriculture, of course (!), is Pennsylvania State Senator Elder Vogel Jr., talking here with Mr. McElhaney of McElhaney Family Farm.  This is the 1st year for the farm at the Beaver Farmers' Market ... they've been raising Shorthorn beef cattle & selling quality dry-aged beef for decades from their farm in Hookstown, PA.

Richard McElhaney & PA State Senator Elder Vogel Jr At Market

Catching Up - Last Saturday!

Beaver Farmers' Market - Oak Spring Farm Customers

LFLF is finally catching up to cover our visit last Saturday to the Beaver Farmers' Market.   The weather was dry instead of rainy like it had been all week.  We had in the neighborhood of 5 - 6 inches of rain ..... at least it came over 4 or 5 days!

Snapping Up Really Fresh Broccoli From Douds-Floyd Farm

LFLF was in line right behind this customer for a couple of heads of broccoli & then we moved on for some carrots from another farmer.  It's past Halloween and most of the customers were focused on apples. winter squash, cabbages, lettuce, greens, baked goods, & bread.

Purple Cabbage, Turnips, Parsley, Carrots, & Acorn Squash

The only disappointment of the day was that there was no apple cider to be had!  :(
Seems that some of the farms had bad luck with apples this year, so cider apples - usually seconds - were in shorter supply .......

Picking Perfection!

Fall Sunshine At Ambridge Farmers' Market

What a beautiful afternoon at the Ambridge Farmers' Market!  LFLF arrived to find shoppers enjoying the unseasonably warm 86 degree temperatures ...... surely the last of the year for those highs.  We picked up a box of carrots from the group above. 
It seemed that folks had time to search for their own kind of perfection.   LFLF chose a very nice group of large sweet bell peppers for stuffing.  
This gentleman carefully sorted through the Daikon Radishes, examining each one.  Inspired?  Here are some recipes to try from a farm web-site .......


Ambridge Farmers' Market - Buying Daikon Radishes

 We bought a half gallon of the last cider of the season and then moved on to find another customer happily selecting just the right combination of winter squashes!  The squash come in all sizes, colors, & flavors .... perfect for decorating before you eat them.

Douds-Floyd Farm - Boxing The Perfect Collection Of Squashes!

LFLF is holding off for the colder weather before stocking up on our winter squash.  Don't wait too long though ...... the butternut squash has a way of disappearing if you don't get it early!


Rainy Ambridge Farmers' Market

Ambridge Farmers' Market - Arriving In The Rain!

The Ambridge Farmers' Market opens at 3PM for the rest of the season & goes 'til "dusk".  Well, dusk comes early when it's raining!    LFLF got to the market around 5:45 & only a few dedicated shoppers were still coming & going in the rain.   We hopped out and made the rounds ..... a plate of fudge to take to the office tomorrow, a purple cabbage, & some apple cider. 
We got some nice pictures of squashes & pumpkins in between the rain drops ...... we just love the great varieties of winter squashes.  We like to buy them for Halloween & Thanksgiving season decorations & then use them for baking later!

From Douds-Floyd Farm - Fairy Tale, Jarradale, & Green Hubbard

The chard, kohlrabi, kale, & other greens look great misted by the rain with the pumpkins & squash.
Here's an interesting recipe to try for kohlrabi & egg noodles!

Ambridge Farmers' Market - Swiss Chard, Pumpkins, Celebration Squash, & Kohlrabi

Now For Beaver On Saturday!

Beaver Farmers' Market - Jackets & Sweatshirts!

We're finally getting caught up on the blog .....  LFLF zipped through the Beaver Farmers' Market on Saturday early while we were out running errands.   It was rather cool in the morning so everyone was wearing layers on top, but some hardy souls still had on shorts!  Since it was a bit crowded, we took a different approach and tried to sneak in pictures of the purchases being made ....

Buying Baked Goods At Pat's Pastries

Buying Beets At Oak Spring Farm

Buying Peaches At McConnells' Farm

Buying Peppers At Douds-Floyd Farm

Buying Sweetcorn At Swicks' Orchard

Now that's a lot of buying!  :)  As for LFLF, we got onions, cookies, sweet corn, tomatoes, & green peppers.   The onions were sauteed with a ham steak today & the tomatoes will be part of BLT sandwiches this week.  Some of the sweet corn will go into a Mexican meatloaf recipe!  Use your imagination, but the recipe includes taco seasoning, corn, black beans, salsa, with cheese & picante sauce on top.  Instead of rice or oatmeal, use a little crushed tortilla chips .........

What's At The Market?

Shoppers At The Beaver Farmers' Market

We had a fantastic morning for a stop at the Beaver Farmers' Market.  The temperature had dropped from the 90's earlier this week and there were lots of shoppers grabbing up fresh veggies. 

Oak Spring Farm Peas

We picked up some nice small yellow crookneck squash & Bibb lettuce from Douds Floyd Farm and 2 containers of edible pod peas from Oak Spring Farm.  LFLF was away this week in Houston where the temperatures were lower (!) than they were here.  We came home to find one of the basil plants that we got last weekend in pretty bad shape .... luckily it hadn't reached what is known as the "permanent wilt" point, so it has been revived.  Good for us since we'll use some of it to saute with the squash.

Swiss Chard In Season

Great Market Weather In Beaver

Greens, greens, greens!

We had really great weather for the market Saturday in Beaver.  There were some gorgeous greens - chard, kale, & savoy cabbage, plus the root crops - turnips, beets, carrots, & potatoes galore. 

Melrose Apples - Woodwards Orchard

Then it was on to our favorite Melrose apples plus a gallon of apple cider.   We also picked up some of what could be the last green beans of the season ...... It turns out that we had our first frost Sunday morning, so if it wasn't picked by now, it could be gone!  That's why we got a quart of tomatoes & 3 green peppers ..... they may not be there next week.

Douds-Floyd Farm Winter Squashes

There were still plenty of winter squash, pumpkins, & decorative gourds for everyone.  This great table full is from Douds-Floyd  Farm.   LFLF couldn't get all of the varieties in the picture.  You can just see the bottom of a butternut squash ...... 

Finally, a note in passing.  The Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association put up a small memorial display for Mr. Lester Zahn.  Mr. Zahn was a charter member of the association & for some time also was known for raising turkeys at Zahn's Turkey Farm. Market regulars knew him for his garlic too!
    

Beaver Farmers' Market Cool & Breezy

Colder weather brings out the root crops like these turnips!
Let's just say that no one had their tents set up Saturday morning at the Beaver Farmers' Market .... it was a bit cool when the sun went in and the wind picked up.  LFLF found our usual cookies, cider, onions, and we also picked up some "personal sized" winter squashes.  Douds-Floyd Farm has a great selection of squashes including smaller versions of the standard acorn, butternut, etc. that are just right for one serving.  We had ours tonight baked & with a little applebutter mixed in .........
Speaking of cold weather, here's a chance to stock up for your squirrel friends ........ 

Ear Corn for the Squirrels!



Need Zucchini ???

LFLF is here to report that the markets are packed with fresh fruit, veggies, and flowers.  You can't miss the boxes of tomatoes, baskets of peaches, and piles of zucchini!  Something a little different in the way of zucchini, are what LFLF refers to as the "Personal Zucchini".   Douds-Floyd Farm brought these little beauties to the Ambridge Farmers' Market today.  The round zucchinis make great one or two person portions ..... easy to stuff, too. 

Even close to 6pm, there were customers in line waiting to buy their produce.  And let's not forget Mr. Market holding court at the cooking demo booth!  Eggplant was the featured veggie mixed in with a whole wheat pasta dish .......

"And then there's melons" ......

We're used to seeing melons as we reach the peak of summer at the markets, and Saturday at the Beaver Farmers' Market was no different ...... LFLF picked up a perfectly ripe cantaloupe from Volkar Farms and we're just waiting for their watermelons to come in season.  Seems that they have 2 varieties of "lopes" planted, with the plan for one variety to ripen for market 2 weeks ahead of the 2nd variety.  You guessed it!  Both are ready now.  Well, that's better that having a blight or crop loss, eh?  :) 

And then there's melons ....... how about these Bitter Melons ???  And who knew that there is a "vibrant, diverse Bitter Melon community" out there?   Douds-Floyd Farm grew these beauties.  Of course, LFLF has no idea of how to prepare these veggies, so maybe next year ..... If nothing else, we have this link to an interesting web-site and some potential recipes & health tips! 

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!

Before & After

It took a few days, but the peppers from Douds-Floyd Farm at the Beaver Farmers' Market are stuffed. In fact, after a few days, the green pepper turned an orange/red color.

A few tweeks of the recipe --> Substitute your favorite spaghetti sauce for the plain tomato sauce. Substitute prepared spanish rice (cooked with stewed tomatoes) for the plain white rice. Vary the cheeses on top .......

Shop Like You Mean It!

Today there was a "goal" or purpose to shopping at the Ambridge Farmers' Market. I'm on tap for a "sidedish" (NOT a salad) for a picnic dinner meeting tomorrow night. Since the committee is part of Penn State Cooperative Extension in Beaver County, it's only appropriate that fresh local farm products go into the the dish, right? So what's in season? Well, new potatoes are abundant right now, so we're having "Garlic & Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes ..... it had to be something that could be popped into the microwave to heat up after work. The new potatoes are from Dave (see the post from June 18th) & the garlic scapes & parsley are from Douds-Floyd Farm . The fresh rosemary is from plants that I overwintered on the kitchen windowsill. Now that's local!
I can smell the aroma from the kitchen as I write .... & rounded out by a couple of other items ...... fresh black raspberries from May-Malone Farm, yellow summer squash from Volkar's Farm, and chocolate/black walnut bars from Pat, the baker.

Also --- if you're interested in preserving your own food & farmers' market produce to enjoy all year, take a look at the brochure for a 3 hour class coming up at the end of July in Beaver County. This is perfect timing ..... right at the peak of canning season. Pat Leach, a former Penn State Cooperative Extension Sr. Educator from Indiana County will be leading the workshop. I worked with Pat at PSCE and she is an expert on the subject. You've heard of Penn State Master Gardeners, right? Well, Pat is a Penn State Master Food Preserver!

Click here for a copy of the program brochure. These programs are really popular right now. A similar program put on by PSCE in June at Janoski's Farm in Clinton had about 50 people in attendance.

More Coming to Market!

WOW ..... there were some really great looking green things at the Ambridge Farmers' Market today. First a shot of Dave & Pat getting snowpeas and onions ready just before market opened. Dave is the market manager at Ambridge and as such, he blows the air horn to signal that the market is open and sales can begin. Believe me, he gets lots of prompting from eager customers telling him to "blow the horn".

Several farmers had broccoli today ..... who could pass it up? Not me! Other veggies today included beets, sugar pod peas, kohlrabi, onions, and lettuces - both leaf & head lettuces. Today was the first day for pie cherries from Oak Spring Farm.

Back to the lettuces though .... here is Douds-Floyd Farm and a line-up of happy customers buying lettuce, fresh herbs, and broccoli ..... another unique item today from Douds-Floyd Farm were the edible flowers, "Lemon Gem Marigolds". They're good for a bright spot of color and a spicy lemony taste in your salad.

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/