LFLF On The Road!

Local Janoski's Farm Display At Hookstown Fair

LFLF has been busy and on the road lately, but not too busy to snap a few shots of Local Farms & Local Food!  How about this beautiful display by Janoski's Farm at the Hookstown Fair?  You know where to go when Pumpkinland opens up!

Stopping In At Rhodes Farm Market

LFLF made sure to swing by Rhodes Farm Market on the way home from the Canfield Fair on Saturday ...... we picked up sweet corn, a perfectly ripe cantaloupe, and a quart of nectarines.  They had to be the sweetest "end of the season" nectarines ever! 

Klotz Farm Market Sweet Corn - Rt 42 Garrett County , MD

Last, but not least, we picked up fresh sweet corn for lunch on a trip to Deep Creek Lake on Sunday.  The Klotz Farm Market stand had a lot more to offer in the way of veggies, fruit, mums, & pumpkins, but LFLF was on a "hit-n-run" mission!   They used to have a roadside wagon stop, but seem to have graduated to a market building a short distance away this year .......

Spring Is In The Air!

Flats of Pansies

Look at what's available now at the greenhouses!  We stopped at Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse today to look at Easter flowers.  The Easter lillies aren't open yet --- still a week early for that, but the pansies & violas outside under the shed roof were in full bloom!   There are also flats of lettuces and onions ready to go.  The lettuce would still need a cold frame or some shelter, but the onions could go out now if you're inspired to get started in the garden .....

Lettuces & Onion Starts

Who Could Resist?

LFLF spotted this sign & had to add a stop at Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse!  It would be hard to resist & that's why the sign is out there, right?!?  We also picked up some of their homemade sauerkraut while we were there.  The kraut is available for a short time each winter ......

Volant Mill Winery @ Janoski's!

Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse  in Clinton is now home to a branch of Volant Mill Winery .  Here's an opportunity for folks in the Allegheny, Beaver, & Washington County areas & others who travel US Route 30 to get local Western PA wines.  LFLF didn't get the exact date, but Janoski's will be having a special for the grand opening of the winery shop.  Call them for more info ... is it the 26th of August???  Anyway, if you buy a bottle of wine, I believe that they are giving out a free 1/2 dozen ears of sweetcorn ........

Lot's of other fresh produce available now too!  If you are into home canning, Janoski's is the place to go.  Pecks & half bushels of peaches, tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, banana peppers, green beans, etc are ready to go. 
LFLF picked up sweetcorn for dinner Saturday & it was delicious. 

Fresh Picked Beans

LFLF stopped at Janoski's Farm and Greenhouse on the way home this evening.  In addition to these beautiful fresh green beans, there were plenty of other home grown choices such as: sugar pod peas, yellow wax beans, rhubarb, red raspberries, strawberries, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, new white potatoes, etc.  Everything that they grow is tagged with "Our Own" on the signage as shown above. 
For the plant lovers, there were signs for the greenhouse where everything was Buy One - Get One!    I didn't have time to go over and check it out, but there were plenty of bedding plants and hanging baskets visible from the parking lot ..........
Someday we'll also talk about the other local foods that Janoski's carries in the market ..... beef, eggs, fudge, honey, candy, and more.

Weekend "Gatherings"

LFLF was out & about this weekend picking up some local food. Saturday was the first time we've gone into the Beaver County Fruit Company since they've renovated a stone building that formerly housed a restaurant. They have a very good selection of local & regional products. LFLF will be exploring this store and reporting on what local products we find. We picked up a great tasting seedless raspberry jam made by James Gourmet Creations from Saegertown, PA. On Sunday we passed Janoski's and took the opportunity to replenish our supply of potatoes. Janoski's still has plenty of apples from their orchards and we even picked up a tub of their own sauerkraut for dinner.

Christmas Pointsettia Trip!

It was off to Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse today for our pointsettias. You just can't beat a warm greenhouse full of blooms when there's snow on the ground. Not the record 2 feet or more that blanketed the east coast, but enough to bring out the Christmas spirit! The big wreaths along the building on the left are "BOGO's @ $40. VERY TEMPTING if you've still got a space that can handle a couple of big wreaths. Some of the smaller pointsettias were also bogo's. There are still some of the "Christmas Rose" and the more burgundy colored varieties available, along with the usual red, pink, & white plants.
Don't forget the home grown produce. The sign for the potatoes was buried by the snow plows, but they have a really good deal on them too!

National Farmers' Market Week

Yes, it's National Farmers' Market Week from August 2nd - August 8th. Go out and hug your favorite farmers' market vendor! OK, OK, OK ...... if the hug is a little TOO MUCH, at least get out there and buy some fresh fruit & veggies! Just look at the local sweet corn and peaches in season now ........

Just for the record, we're still munching on some white nectarines & green gage plums picked up at Janoski's Farm Market on Friday ......

Up on the Roof ....

Here's an interesting picture that illustrates that there's always something going on in the greenhouse business. It doesn't seem that warm outside right now, but it was time to get the shade cloth over the greenhouse roof at Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse today. The huge cloth was laid out in the parking lot and about 6 people were involved in guiding it up to the roof and then dragging it down over this section of the greenhouse. What's inside of the greenhouses now? Plenty of lilies, mums, hydrangeas, azaleas, etc for Easter. The mums were "Buy 2, Get 1 Free", so of course 3 mums came home with me.. I ran into a friend who owns Bocktown Beer & Grill today at Janoski's. She was picking up a flat of mini potted violas for decorations at the restaurant. Perfect for little table decorations! BTW, Bocktown is planning to get active in sourcing even more of their foods from local growers and producers, so stay tuned to their web-site. Of course, they are already a supporter of regional breweries. (If my "friend" is reading this, drop down to the 3/22 post below & see "Chefs")
As a final note - take a look at these lettuces and kole crops out in the flats under the awning! Can gardening be far away now? Inside the greenhouse we spotted a few tomato plants with a tiny tomato or two on them already ....... also plenty of herb plants. Why not grab a basil plant as my friend did, and do some snipping on it for cooking in the next month or so? Then plant it outside when the weather warms up!

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/

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.

Local Farms Support the Fair!

Two of our local farms have been big supporters of the Hookstown Fair over the years. You can support these farms too and buy their products here in Beaver & Allegheny counties.

The first is Janoski's Farm in Clinton, PA. http://janoskis.com/ What a great display they had at the fair! There has to be a story behind that truck. If you visit their farm market & greenhouses on US Route 30, you'll see that they mark their own home grown veggies & fruit as "Our Own". They have also been big supporters of the 4H livestock aution over the years.

Another local farm with a nice display was Brunton Dairy. The cows were there too ..... http://bruntondairy.com/brunton_about_us.php Brunton Dairy still does home delivery in the Aliquippa area. You are likely to find their milk and ice cream in some of the local convenience stores. (I also saw their milk in the Kaufmann Family Marketplace on Rt 18 just outside of Burgettstown. http://www.kauffmanmarketplace.com/ <---- worth a stop for bulk foods and Amish meat & deli products from the Holmes County, Ohio area.)

Support our local farmers!