Sweet Corn At Schiefelbeins's Farm Market

Schiefelbein's Farm Market

LFLF made it a point to stop in at Schiefelbein's Farm Market yesterday to get some pictures.  You can see a lot of the produce growing in the fields right along Route 151.  We pass by and stop a couple of times a month, but never seem to have the camera in hand!  I didn't get any pictures of the sweet corn, but it was one of the best batches I've had all summer.

Schiefelbein's Farm Market Tables & Cooler

The tables were loaded with tomatoes front & center and surrounded by a colorful display of ornamental gourds, mini-pumpkins, & decorative corn.  Peppers filled the back side.  Click on the pictures to see what's in the cooler case - local milk from Brunton Dairy and fresh eggs from Seibel's Farm.


Decorative Corn & Mini-Pumpkins

In the background the tables are full of butternut & acorn squash, zucchini, cabbage, potatoes, beets, large pumpkins, and a good selection of local apples.  Along with the sweet corn we picked up a box of radishes, a cabbage, & some egg noodles.  You can also get PA maple syrup and local honey here.  The local beekeeper is J. Lee Miller - retired Beaver County Cooperative Extension Director ... aka "J-Lee-Bee-Glad" ... famous for his honey and prize winning gladiolus flowers!  :)

PA Maple Syrup & Honey From J. Lee Miller

Finally - how about this decorative cross-cut saw sign hanging over the canned goods & honey display?  Perfect for the fall season!

Schiefelbein's Farm Market Crosscut Saw Sign

What's Up At McConnells' Farm?

Following The Signs To McConnells' Farm !

LFLF hadn't been to McConnells' Farm for a couple of years ... due to a major bridge closing in the area, the detour home from work eliminated travel past this farm in season.   :( 
What a nice surprise when I visited on Saturday.  A relocated & restored barn is now the focal point of the farm market!   LFLF even got a chance to go upstairs to shoot a few pictures from the (as yet unopened) 2nd floor.  Thank you Mr. McConnell for recognizing a fellow barn enthusiast!

McConnells' Farm Customers Checking Out

McConnells' Farm - Apples, Peaches, & Nectarines

We circled the market and picked up sweet corn, a cantaloupe, tomatoes, nectarines, and a container of ice cream from Brunton Dairy, another local farm.

McConnells' Farm Market - Cukes, Green Tomatoes, & Zucchini

McConnells' Farm Market - Onions & Green Beans

McConnells' Farm Market - Peppers & Tomatoes

We also spotted some great handcrafted soaps ... loved the smell of the Clove Soap ... maybe on the next trip!  

Handcrafted Soap At McConnells' Farm Market

Our next post will show a bit of what's happening outside of the market ...

LOCAL LATE BLIGHT FIGHT!

Aaaacckkkk!

Despite a prophylactic spraying of fungicide last week, it looks like late blight has shown up in our home garden. Yes, gentle foodie readers, prophylactic is a legitimate agricultural term defining a "preventative" (or preemptive, if you will) measure. Scouting last week had not shown any signs of late blight on the tomatoes and they were sprayed with a fungicide containing chlorothalonil as recommended by Penn State Cooperative Extension, Cornell, & UMass. Obviously, something had already started although we didn't see it. I'm sure that the rain since then helped to keep conditions favorable for movement & proliferation of spores. Take a look at this picture of what was found when I went out to spray again tonight. Note the grayish spot in the bottom center of the photo above. It doesn't look like much when you're looking over a couple of dozen bushy & lush tomato plants, but it was lurking in there in the bottom close-up photo.
Two plants were carefully removed piece by piece & sealed in a black plastic garbage bag.

All of the plants were sprayed again, so we'll see what happens. We bring this topic up because all of the farmers growing tomatoes for market are having to deal with this potentially devastating crop problem. They are scouting the fields looking for this disease daily. The organic growers have a more limited range of options open to them to prevent the spread of late blight. Affected plant material can't just be thrown on the compost heap either, so this is a difficult problem. Let's see how everyone fares for the rest of the season. Our local paper already ran a story on a home garden wiped out by late blight ......

Local Resurfaces!

Busy, busy, busy ..... farmers' market friends will be wondering where we've been lately. LF&LF took a hiatus of sorts from this blog due to lambing season & a "local fiber" filled month of May!
But we're back with a trip to Iannetti's Garden Center. They had a very nice selection of tomato plants. We picked up 4 unusual plants - not your "garden variety" Big Boy type tomatoes - Yellow Pear, Cherokee Purple, Mr. Stripey, & Chocolate Cherry. We'll grow some canning tomatoes too, plus what we pick up at farmers' markets. Tons of other veggie and flowers are also available. Also, check out the pots and containers if you're growing some plants on a deck or balcony. There were some "Made in USA" pots tucked in there.

Now the trick is to get the garden planted. Our garden sits in a moist area and it looks like it's finally ready to be rototilled for planting.

Also ..... while poking around in Kuhn's Market, a new local grocery store in Hopewell, I came across a farmers' cheese from Pearl Valley Cheese in Fresno, Ohio. A check of the address once I got it home found that it's 101.68 miles away ..... that stretches the "local" definition that some people have, but I'm enjoying it anyway. I appreciate that a local stocks some regional prducts.

A couple of thoughts ......

Yesterday we enjoyed a side dish of cabbage & noodles. This used about 1/3 of the last cabbage bought in December at the Beaver Farmers' Market from Oak Spring Farm, so there's still more to go! The last items in cold storage right now are several Carnival winter squash and a couple of onions obtained at that last market. Is it too early to start thinking about the first markets opening in MAY?????
Which brings us to the next topic ...... seed catalogs! Here's an interesting variety of sweet corn found in the Burpee catalog. It's called Ruby Queen. This is one that I am planning to grow myself to try it out ..... if you're a farmers' market grower, do you think it would attract customers? If you're a foodie, would you try it? Some folks look for different or novelty veggies and others won't touch them. There is a definite trend in mixing colors that many market vendors use to play up their veggies. Red & yellow pear tomatoes in the same container, red/white/blue new potatoes, purple & green string beans (refer to the beautiful beans above), red/pink/white/lavender radishes in the same bunch, the rainbow colored carrots, & mixed salad greens/mescluns are just some of the examples that we saw in 2008.
If you're interested in open pollinated & heirloom veggies & flowers, try the Seed Savers Exchange catalog. This was the first catalog to arrive for the season and it's full of great reading and descriptions. It's almost impossible to pick favorites out of this catalog --- there's so much variety --- but how about Striped Cavern Tomato, a unique stuffing tomato?

Time to settle back into studying the catalogs ........

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.

Back to the market!

Well, I missed the Ambridge market on Thursday since we were spending our evenings at the fair but ............. in Beaver County we are lucky to have 3 markets run by the Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. The Saturday market is held from 10am - 1pm behind the Beaver County Courthouse. The BCF&VGA celebrated their 25 year anniversary last year and they present a great mix of vendors. I took a list, but forgot to get green peppers. There is just too much to look at in late August. "Sweet Apple" is the 1st apple we've gotten this season. Now that the plums are winding down, the apples are coming on ,with Rambo and other early apples leading the season.

We're trying a white sweet corn, although I prefer yellow & bi-color varieties. One of the biggest misconceptions still going is the quest for "Silver Queen". Virtually no one sells it anymore, but customers keep asking for it because it's the only name they know. Some vendors will even tell you that they have it, but they give you a new superior tasting variety that they're growing. Bottom line dear foodies ........ don't ask for Silver Queen. It's long ceased to be the white corn standard. My college classmate sweetcorn selling friends in eastern PA started to educate their customers about corn varieties back in the 80's. They made a big push pin graph with the daily varieties marked for everyone to see. Their customers learned about newer varieties way back then.

My haul from Ambridge this week!

This picture might really be notable for what I didn't buy. OK - I got sweet corn, cucumbers, green beans, new potatoes, the first carrots at market, plums, and anise biscotti. What didn't I get this week? Gorgeous red onions, summer squashes/zucchini, purple cabbage, sweet & hot peppers, the first acorn squashes, leeks, tomatoes (just got some yesterday, remember?), focacia bread, fudge, honey, peaches, Jersey-Mac apples, garlic, basil, dill, ........... not to mention cut flowers and perenials. All of this is available at the Ambridge Farmers' Market run by the Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. Now that I'm working in Ambridge, this is my regular stop instead of the BCF&VGA market in Beaver, PA on Saturday mornings. The sweet corn from Douds-Floyd Farm was really great for dinner tonight. I'll be taking more pictures at market as the season goes on. This market is really the hub of activity in Ambridge on Thursday afternoons.

Tomato treats

It was a nice local dinner tonight with a treat of a "tiny tomato" salad courtesy of a friend at work. We had perfect yellow pear and cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and chopped onion with vinegar + oil. Also finished the sweet corn from last week ---- amazing that it's still ok ---- remember years ago how you had to rush the ears from the stalk directly to the pot of boiling water? I still prefer a good old fashioned open pollinated variety. The kernal actually holds up and there's something to chew! I guess I'm in the minority and the new super sweet varieties hold up longer for the growers and buyers ..........