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Farmers'
wares
move
out
into
fresh
air
by:
LEE
COLEMAN
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May 5,
2010
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The Saratoga Farmers' Market,
which opened its outdoor season
on Wednesday, has become busier
and more popular in the past
year or two. Jeffrey Bowers, the
current market president,
attributes the increased traffic
to the "buy local" trend that
encourages people to buy foods
grown and raised in their town
or region.
"The 'buy local' trend is
gaining more and more steam as
time goes on," Bowers said.
Many health and nutrition
experts maintain that foods
grown locally and naturally,
without preservatives and other
additives in them, are better
for a person's overall health.
Saratoga Springs Mayor Scott
Johnson and Jeffrey Clark,
president of the Saratoga
Springs Downtown Business
Association, joined Bowers in
cutting the ribbon Wednesday
afternoon for another outdoor
season at the Saratoga Farmers'
Market pavilions in High Rock
Park on High Rock Avenue.
Wednesday's steady rain and cool
temperatures in the upper 40s or
low 50s kept the crowd unusually
sparse. But that should change
as the weather improves.
The farmers market had been held
all winter on Saturday mornings
in the Division Street
Elementary School gym.
About 20 vendors were selling
their early spring vegetables,
such as leaks and swiss chard,
and locally produced cheeses on
Wednesday, as well as early
season plants such as pansies
and marigolds. As the growing
season develops in late spring
and summer, as many as 40
vendors will be selling their
products in the open-air
pavilions.
Gabriel Anthony Bifano, the
executive chef at Wheatfields,
was demonstrating the way to
incorporate the early garden
vegetables, such as leeks,
fiddleheads and kale, into a
dish that also includes pasta.
Bifano, using the locally raised
products he gathered at the
market, was frying the
vegetables in a pan with olive
oil before mixing them with
cooked pasta.
Michael Kilpatrick of the
Kilpatrick Family Farm in Middle
Granville, Washington County,
provided Bifano with the leeks
and fiddleheads.
The fiddleheads, which cost $12
per pound, are gathered by
members of the Kilpatrick family
on land along the Mettawee River
in Washington County through an
agreement with the people who
own the land.
Fiddleheads grow wild and cannot
be cultivated, Kilpatrick said.
Lisa Porter, formerly of Wilton
and now owner of a farm in
Argyle, was selling her
Homestead Artisanal Cheeses that
include both goat milk cheese
and cheese using cow's milk.
Porter said she and her husband
don't make goat cheese during
the winter because their goats
don't make milk in the winter.
But they do make cheese using
cow's milk all through the year,
Porter said.
Bowers, farmers market
president, also makes goat
cheese at his Sweet Spring Farm
in Argyle, Washington County.
All of the people involved in
the Saratoga Farmers' Market
volunteer their time and elect a
new president every two years,
Bowers said.
The outdoor market in Saratoga
Springs will be held from 3 to 6
p.m. Wednesdays and from 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m. Saturdays under the
High Rock Avenue pavilions until
November. A market will also be
held from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursdays
in Clifton Park starting on June
23.
All members of the farmers
market must raise their products
and animals within a four-county
region that includes Saratoga,
Schenectady, Rensselaer and
Washington counties.
"I
think the Saratoga Farmers'
Market is the tops in the
region," Bowers said.
Copyright (c) 2011 The Daily
Gazette Co. All Rights Reserved.
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