Watermelons everywhere!

Lots of watermelons at the Beaver Farmers' Market yesterday ...... my first local watermelon of the season is a red seedless melon. Next I'll try the yellow melons. Will anyone bring an orange fleshed watermelon to market? Haven't seen those in W PA, but then again, I don't get to EVERY market ......... ;~)

Check out this site for recipes and even information for educators! http://www.watermelon.org/

Just for fun .......... http://www.snopes.com/photos/odd/watermelon.asp

They're not food (at least these ones weren't edible), but the flowers were really looking good at the market too. Sunflowers, zinnia, cockscomb, glads, and a whole variety from the market cut flower grower. More on the BCF&VGA cut flower grower when I can get some good shots of her flowers in afternoon lighting. AND the hardy fall mums have shown up in the last week or so ......... while parking, we saw several being carted off by their new owners.

You never know where Local Food will show up!

We stumbled upon this Local Food cowboy hat at the Canfield Fair on Friday. http://www.canfieldfair.com/index.html It was part of a display put on by the Ohio Farm Bureau. Each Ohio county Farm Bureau submitted an artistic version of a cowboy hat representing their county agricultural heritage. Fairgoers vote on their favorite hat. The Portage County entry headlined "Buy Local".

A couple of other sights that you're not likely to see often are the Grange competitions with their fresh & canned food displays and the local orchard apple variety classes. Look at the variety of apples available ...... beautiful! http://www.ohioapples.org/ohio_apple_orchards_by_county.php

Also, a nice detail shot of pepper varieties from the Grange display.

More Pics from Waynesburg

Here are a few more pictures from the Waynesburg Farmers' Market yesterday. The market, like most of the markets around here, is a "producer only" market. The vendors only sell what they grow or produce from materials on their own farm. In the case of food products, they are produced by the vendor who brings them to market, usually in the vendor's own state certified kitchen.

HINT: For those of you looking for farmers' markets, be aware that sometimes you will see vendors set up near a market on market day, but not in the market proper. There are those who will take advantage of the "following" culivated by the market and set up nearby on market days to attract some of the patrons. They do not contribute to the work of organizing the market and in some instances they are not selling in season produce that they've raised themselves. The choice is up to you, but I go to the vendors who've been there at the market week after week, rain or shine.

Waynesburg PA Farmers" Market Visit

We had a trip planned to the Waynesburg area, so I tied it in with the Wednesday farmers' market, of course. It was overcast today --- the first rain that we've had in nearly a month. The market vendors set up in the rain, but it cleared up until the market closed. The Waynesburg Farmer's Market is sponsored by Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful and is located on High Street in the First Baptist Church parking lot. This is one of the markets that I worked with in the past, so I knew Carol, the on-site market manager. She opens and closes the market by ringing a school bell. I got to ring the bell at closing today --- thanks Carol! Today was "Senior Day" so there were some added booths providing information, blood pressure checks, etc. Look closely at the picture of my market goodies and you'll see the tomato stress ball "squeezie" ...... today's featured freebie! The stuff you can pick up at the market, eh? I also bought a copy of the market "Recipe Collection" cookbook, available for $10 at the market or by ordering from WP&B. http://www.waynesburgpa.org/index.html

This is one of the markets in the area where you can purchase meats including pork and beef. The beef is from Strath an De' Farm --- they raise Scottish Highland beef cattle. http://www.strathande.com/

There were some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Stewart's Farm. Couldn't resist picking up a piece of fudge .......

Here's a Local Foods Podcast

Here's an interesting podcast on local foods that I just stumbled upon. It's out of Oregon - just click on "Are You Gonna Eat That?". It's 52 minutes long and there's a thread to follow with some discussion from listeners. http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/posts/list/976609.page

Maybe now's the time for a little background on my interest in local foods and local farms. I've always shopped at farmers' markets and my parents used to go out to a local farm stand for sweet corn and other veggies when I was growing up. My grandfather had a farm and I can remember getting tomatoes from him. Of course, we had a garden in the backyard like a lot of folks in our neighborhood. In 2005, I had a great opportunity to take a position with Penn State Cooperative Extension as a "Community-Based Agricultural Development Educator". The local food movement was really taking hold nationwide. My work covered the 11 county Southwestern Pennsylvania region and there was a large demand for information on "value-added" agriculture ...... and farmers' markets, in particular. I got to interact and provide reference materials to many farmers' markets in the region. I also worked with other educators to provide more in-depth training & facilitation to several specific farmers' markets. The economic & community development angle kicked in when we received requests for assistance from Main Street managers. Main Street managers view farmers' markets as a component of a vibrant community and a way to bring people back downtown. They also see the benefit of providing access to fresh fruit & vegetables to a less mobile population in town. SO ...... that's how I got involved with local food and farmers' markets on a larger scale. I tell people that I became somewhat of a produce snob since I was constantly visiting and working with the markets. The fresh food was just great! I no longer work for PSCE, but the habit of swinging into farmers' markets & on-farm stands when I see them continues ...... you just never know what you'll find!

Anyway ---- I'll occasionally post other references, links, and research tidbits that I find as we blog on.

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!

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.