All Over Albany

The organic milk shortage

A sign on the dairy case at the Hannaford in Albany.

Over the last month or so we've noticed signs popping up on dairy cases at both Hannaford and Price Chopper noting that there's an organic milk shortage. And the shelves in the case have appeared rather bare at times. (We were the ones who took the last half-gallon of organic milk at the Slingerlands Price Chopper the other day. Sorry about that.)

So, what's going on?

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Interesting in 2011: Sarah Gordon

Sarah Gordon and FarmieMarket's delivery van.

All this week we'll be highlighting some of the interesting people we've gotten to know over the past year.

We have a lot of respect for people who start something new from scratch. And that's just what Sarah Gordon did last year when she launched an online farmers' market connecting farms and customers in Albany County. Even more impressive: she's figured out how to grow it -- this year Sarah expanded the concept to become FarmieMarket, which includes farms and customers in all four of the Capital Region's core counties.

The idea for FarmieMarket comes from a very personal place for Sarah: her own family's farm in Knox. After using her digital savvy to help grow the family's grass-fed beef and hay farm, she realized she could also help other local family farms trying to carve out a spot in the market. This isn't just a business -- it's a cause. And a worthy one. Think about it: for every local family farm that's able to find its place in the modern world, there are ripple effects: open space preservation, economic development, better tasting food.

So, it's safe to say we're impressed. And we think after you hear a little bit from her, you will be, too.

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Brunswick

Debuting soon: Brunswick, a documentary by Nate Simms about the tension between development and farming in the Rensselaer County town. From the blurbage:

Brunswick is a film about landscape change, told through the personal story of a farmer's lifelong connection to his now-threatened land. The film weaves together the plight of Sanford Bonesteel, an aging farmer in his 90s, with the dynamics of small-town politics as a residential development is planned on Sanford's former land.

The film takes place in Brunswick, New York, a small country town facing the challenge of balancing economic growth with the preservation of its rural character. It is a story both specific to Brunswick and yet recognizable to rural communities all over the United States.

All we've seen of the doc is what it's in the trailer embedded above, but it appears to be about the proposed Highland Creek development, that was to be built on farmland acquired in a deal involving the town supervisor. The development was the subject of multiple lawsuits and allegations of conflicts of interest. Bonesteel passed away at the end of 2008. [Troy Record 2008] [Wikipedia] [Troy Record 2006] [Troy Record 2008]

The first screening of the doc will be December 7 at the Spectrum. Tickets are $6.

Bonus bit: The soundtrack for the documentary was composed and performed by Matthew Carefully, who will be performing the music at Caffe Lena on December 4.

Turkey time at Coldwater Creek Farm

Gobble. Gobble.

James Kromer doesn't talk turkey.

So as he was driving 200 squawking, day-old chicks by car from a 50-year-old turkey farm in Boston to his Coldwater Creek Farm, his family's 26-acre property in southern Rensselaer County, he just cranked up the tunes.

"They just chirped the whole time. After about an hour and a half it bothered me so I turned up the radio and opened up the windows for some white noise," laughs Kromer, an accountant by day, who is marking his second year raising antibiotic-free, pasture-raised white Broad Breasted turkeys for Thanksgiving.

So, how does an accountant end up raising 200 turkeys?

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Shaker Mountain Canning Co.

Kristen Greer wanted to to help increase access to fresh foods in New York City.

That's how it all began.

Greer, a New York City food policy advocate and part-time Rensselaer County resident also had a background in finance. She was volunteering with the board of Just Food to help bring more fresh foods into the city, when she discovered a need: a way for farmers and food entrepreneurs to turn their bounty into products that would last well past the growing season.

The idea for Shaker Mountain Canning Co. was born.

Today this small company near the Rensselaer County/Columbia County line cans everything from tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to fruits, jams and butters and it's opened up a valuable conversation between farms and food producers.

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Sowing oats (and wheat and rye) in urban Troy

Howard Stoner sows his oats, wheat and rye on a plot of land in Troy.

Howard Stoner is ready for winter. One look at his basement and you can tell. The place is stocked with 75 pounds of potatoes and other root vegetables from his community garden and 16 pounds of rye he grew on a small plot of land in downtown Troy.

Yep. Stoner is growing his own wheat, oats and rye on a 350 square foot plot near the RPI football field.

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Concord grape season

Very... grape.

We were at Samascott Orchards this past weekend stocking up on apples when we noticed they also had concord grapes available for pick-your-own. We walked over to rows of vines and that's when it hit us: the strong aroma of grape -- and not just grape, but grape.

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Old Chatham Sheepherding Company's Kinderhook Creek cheese

Sheepy.

Did you know that we had the largest sheep dairy in the United States fewer than 25 miles outside of Albany? And did you know that they make some of the finest sheep milk cheeses around?

I first learned about Old Chatham Sheepherding Company many years ago from an article in Saveur magazine on the splendor of their flock, the magnificence of their restaurant, and the comforts of their inn. It was a dream to eventually travel to their farm in northern Columbia County for dinner, but sadly all the other arms of the enterprise were shuttered before I could make the trip. Honestly, it's one of the great regrets of my life.

But it's September, and that means it's time to eat local. So I'm putting my regret aside -- with one of Old Chatham's newest offerings.

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Touring Washington County's cheeses

Washington County -- cheesy... in the good way.

Back in the 90's there was this DuckTales cartoon where Uncle Scrooge goes swimming in his vault full of money. My childhood dream was doing the backstroke through that vault-- except it was completely filled with cheese -- though it probably would've been generic American.

These days my tastes are much more refined. Oh, I still would bathe myself in cheese if I could, but it would probably be aged in a cave somewhere off the coast of Spain instead of being manufactured in a plant in Boise.

And last weekend I found my cheesy bliss on a trip through Washington County.

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Where to pick apples

They're waiting for you.

We're right in the middle of prime apple picking season in upstate New York. So we've pulled together a map/listing of places in the Capital Region where you can pick your own.

Of course, apple picking isn't just about apples -- it's also about cider donuts (of course). So we've also noted which orchards are selling those, plus a few other bits of helpful information.

Is there a place you like to go that's not listed? Please share in the comments on this post. We'll add it.

photo: Flickr user Random Tree

Finding a connection to local farms at the fair

Prize-winning pumpkins from last week's Washington County Fair

I had plans this week to write about a time honored summer tradition -- the county fair. Then Hurricane Irene decided to set its sights on much of the East Coast. Now, that rivers and creeks have invaded our living spaces, our roadways, and our farmland, the topic becomes so much more poignant.

As we wave goodbye to summer through the haze of what nature's fury leaves behind, I'm thinking a lot about the people who make their living off of the land, and in turn provide so much for us. Their daily lives are a sacrifice, and things just became so much more complicated for them.

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Signs of the times at the Columbia County Fair

The poultry barn at the Columbia County Fair

They hop-skipped through the entrance gate and high-tailed it to their favorite place at the fair, the 4-H Cloverbuds barn at the Columbia County Fair, where all life's questions boil down into one chirping, downy-fluff yellow argument:

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

But in place of the newborn chicks we expected to find huddling under heat lamps in the familiar plexiglas pen, there were only two tiny bantams strutting about in the diminutive exhibit space.

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FarmieMarket is now open

The expanded version of the local online farmers' market Heldeberg Market -- FarmieMarket -- opened today. The market now covers the four core counties of the Capital Region. ("Farmie" is a play on "foodie.")

Heldeberg Market started just about a year ago. It and FarmieMarket are the creation of Sarah Avery Gordon -- she's an environmental consultant, and grew up on her parents' farm in Knox.

We've been interested in Heldeberg -- and now Farmie -- Market because it looks like an interesting bid to help develop the local food economy. So we bounced a few questions to Sarah today to hear about how things are going -- and where the market is headed.

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Pick your own strawberry season 2011

Berry good.

It is now, officially, strawberry season in New York. This year's season seems to be a little later than last. Many local farms are just opening for pick-your-own berries. But don't wait too long -- the season only lasts a few weeks.

Here are a handful of places in the greater Capital Region that you can pick your own strawberries. Know of a good place not on this list? Please share!

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FarmieMarket

Heldeberg Market, the online farmers' market that's been serving Albany County, announced today that it's expanding to the rest of the Capital Region -- under the name Farmie Market.

The website says it will start taking orders in July. (And it explains that "farmie" is a play on "foodie.")

Heldeberg Market started last summer. It's the creation of Sarah Avery Gordon -- she's an environmental consultant, and grew up on her parents' farm in Knox.

Wellington's herbs, spices and community

Wellington's

Carolyn and Frederick Wellington are passionate people who love to share their passion.

Twelve years ago they retired from their jobs in health care and higher education to open Wellington's Herbs and Spices - a 45 acre farm, store and tea shop in Schoharie. And they haven't stopped working since.

Now they grow and sell fresh and dried herbs, certified organic vegetables, baked goods and lots of specialty items (think lavender vinegar and lemon verbena sugar). They also build community.

They converted one of their barns to a showroom for local artists, and transformed another part into meeting space for local non-profits.

Their newest program, one that they're starting this year, allows other people to work on the farm, in exchange for organic vegetables.

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The cabbage patch

As the debate over whether onions or corn should become the official state vegetable plows ahead, the New York Farm Bureau interjects with this important fact: the state's biggest vegetable crop is actually... cabbage, at $110 million per year.

The Empire State's annual cabbage harvest ranks second in the nation, according to the Farm Bureau. The primary cabbage producing counties are in western New York.

The state's number one crop? Apples, at $185 million per year.

By the way: While we're on the topic of an official state vegetable, why can't we pick something cool like Romanesco broccoli (you know the fractal one). Or, give a nod to the growing small organic farm movement here with something like heirloom radishes or pea shoots. Even cabbage shows a certain desire to be different. Anything but corn.

[via @nickconfessore]

photo: Flickr user Nick Saltmarsh

Milk delivery options in the Capital Region

I grew up with a milk-box on my front steps, and it was an incredibly useful thing. It was my oven when I played house: The grey metal box baked pebble cakes to perfection. When the porch was my covered wagon, the box was the driver's seat.

It also held milk.

The milkman would come by in the afternoons once a week. He had a '70s mustache -- it was the '70s, after all -- and a yellow cap. If we were home when he came, we could buy chocolate milk from him, right off the truck. Barefoot in the grass, and someone drives up and brings you chocolate milk: That's the way childhood is supposed to be.

I always liked getting milk delivery. It made milk somehow more special than the other foods. It was the only one, after all, that came straight to my house.

I haven't pulled my pebble cake recipe out of the files for a long time now. But as the owner of a porch, it seemed right to me that the porch have a milk-box. The milk we have delivered is sweet and fresh and flavorful like no milk I've ever had -- including what I remember from my childhood. (New York cows, I salute you.)

It's also more expensive. We think of it as our weekly contribution to the Support A Local Farm fund. And we love that it comes in heavy reusable glass bottles -- and that we don't have to throw a plastic gallon jug into the recycling bin every week.

The Capital Region's home milk delivery options have expanded in recent years. What follows are some dairies that bring the milk from the cow to your porch -- and a little about how they do it.

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100% real maple syrup

Real maple syrup. That's what we're talkin' about.

People are passionate about maple syrup. Take these comments from the AOA crowd in Crystal's post about the best diner breakfasts:

Lfox18 says: "If you need to - charge me more but give me the real maple syrup."

Bob adds: "Pancakes just ain't pancakes without the real maple syrup."

And our favorite by Leigh: "I feel a little odd admitting it...but I actually carry real maple syrup in my purse when going out to breakfast."

Crystal even said within the story: "We can't emphasize enough to every diner out there how gross it is to try and pass off corn syrup as maple syrup. Not the same, not even close!"

We agree.

And this is the time of year when it's made. So in honor of the delicious, sticky, perfect-topping-for-pancakes-and-french toast, we took a visit to the Nightingale Maple Farm in Amsterdam to see how it's done.

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Right to Farm law

So the other day I was heading down Route 50 near Ballston when I saw the sign above.

I'd never seen one before -- and I wondered what it meant. I asked around -- but no one else I checked with seemed to know either. So I did a little digging.

It turns out it's a concept that's been around for awhile, and it's meant to preserve rural character and give farmers rights when new development moves in.

It's likely enacted in a town near you.

Even if you don't live near a farm it's interesting and worth understanding.

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Chicken sale at local online farmers' market

Heldeberg Market -- the local online farmers' market -- has a sale on chicken this week. "All-natural ... anti-biotic, hormone and preservative free" whole chickens from Mountain Winds Farm are roughly $3/pound.

Sure, that's more expensive than what you'd pay for a "regular" chicken in the supermarket, but for a local "all natural" bird, that seems like not a bad price. And if you're wondering what you'd do with a whole chicken, we have one word for you: soup.

If you want a chicken this week, you have to order by the end of today (delivery is on Thursday).

Speaking of Heldeberg Market... Has anyone used this online market? How was the experience? Were the products good?

Earlier on AOA:
+ Details from Heldeberg Market's launch this past summer.
+ Changing Albany's chicken laws

Good corn mazes?

With an eye to the season, MattW emails:

Where are the area's best corn mazes?

I'm looking for a challenging, elaborate, whimsical, no child's play corn maze in the area.

Got a suggestion for MattW? Please share!

photo: Flickr user Art Institute of Portland

Peachy

Tastes like summer.

Before the taco this weekend, we stopped at Golden Harvest in Valatie for some peaches. They were great -- juicy and sweet, not like the peach-like objects we often find in the supermarket. (Say all you want about the advantages of local food, sometimes the best selling point is that it just plain tastes better.) We're looking forward to scoring some more peaches this weekend at the farmers market.

We would normally be right in the middle of peach season, but it -- like a lot of crops -- is about two weeks early this summer. So don't sleep on the peaches.

The early warm weather this year has also apparently moved the apple crop along, too. The New York Apple Association reports that some early season apples should be ready by mid-August (so, maybe this weekend). And all the sunny weather should result in sweeter apples.

It has us thinking about apple picking...

Beautiful -- and cheap! -- local flowers

EAC emails with what sounds like a great deal on local flowers:

I commented a couple of days ago regarding pick-your-own-vegetables in the area, and mentioned the $5 bouquets at Oreshan's on Route 9.

Today I got the kid out of the house early enough to snap one up! At the stand they sit on a picnic bench in old tatty labeled large cans... I wish I had something like that at home. There were several cars there first thing this morning. Took a photo of the bouquet on the back deck.

See? Oreshan's is the best. I'm also enjoying the 40 cent gladiola stems in vases all over the house.

Oreshan's is at 1242 Loudon Road (Route 9) in Latham.

Click on the flowers for a better look.

Pick-your-own vegetables?

Brian emails:

Any suggestions on pick your own veggies? My garden sort of pooped out this year and I want tomatoes, cukes, zukes, beans...

Hmm... there are a bunch a pick-your-own fruit places, but we're not sure about PYO vegetables.

Your best bet is probably to just hit up a farmers' market or a farm stand. Of course, that doesn't give you twisting-off-the-vine experience.

So, anyone have suggestions for Brian? We'll expand this a bit to include good farm stands (quality, selection). Please share!