Local Foods - Red and White Cafe

I few weeks ago I attended the Cortland Women Working Together (WWT) luncheon. The focus was on buying and eating local foods and included keynote speaker Lisa Lickona, co-founder of the East End Farmers Market. While there I was introduced by Chris Applegate to Chris Glave, co-owner of Red and White Cafe in DeRuyter. Since then my husband and I have visited the cafe for breakfast and dinner. It is a delightful place. Chris has established a wonderful atmosphere, keeping the historic tradition of the building, the old Red and White Grocery store, while providing high quality and healthy local foods, coffee, and homemade baked goods. Chris tries to purchase as much as she can from local providers to serve in her Cafe. For instance, she said that a local farmer she has been working with let her know he had lots of beets, so borscht became the menu special (and she said she sold out!) Chris has also been bringing in local musicians to the Cafe, including Colleen Kattau and Mark Zane. In addition to the cafe, Chris has designated an area as a local products showcase, selling handmade items, local soaps and creams from Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton, and other items.

September Garden Update

Well here it is September 18th and we haven't had a frost yet (probably going to jinx us now). We don't consider it fully fall until the Hummingbirds have left. We did see them yesterday, but not today. We'll have to be more observant tomorrow to see if they are still around. Last year, September 8th was the last day we saw them.

Our garden is still producing pretty well as a result of the warmer September weather. Our popcorn is the tallest we've ever had, onions are all harvested now and are huge. We've pulled up all the late cabbage and have two big crocks full of sauerkraut. The early cabbages that we cut off (leaving the roots and a few leaves) have put up fairly decent sized additional cabbages. Brussels Sprouts are "sprouting", pole beans and eggplant are still coming in pretty strong, and the fall veggies I planted (carrots, turnips, beets, peas, lettuce, kale, spinach, and swiss chard) are doing fairly well. The cucumbers, zucchini and bush beans are all still producing some, but the end is near for them. The winter squash got a very late start, but we now have some pumpkins ripening, a few butternut, few spaghetti, and thanks to some "volunteers" several acorn squash. The leeks are still sitting in the raised bed, waiting for a frost before I pick them for storage. And I probably need to yank up the celery and get it into some sand for storage soon, too. Despite the late blight which hit most people's tomatoes and potatoes, we managed to get some potatoes and enough plum and cherry tomatoes to can enough juice and sauce for us.

It will be time soon for us to get the garlic planted and to also plant several daffodil bulbs around our apple trees. We are trying a permaculture technique that Paul Knapp (Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble) told us about. An organic farmer friend of his from Wisconsin has planted daffodils, mint and comfrey around his apple trees and is seeing some real benefits - so we also decided to give it a try. We were able to get some comfrey from Karl Frost (Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton) and have that planted. We are hoping it helps out our struggling apple trees which are having a hard time in our horrid soil and windy location.

Sunday we are looking forward to gathering with some other Cortland County gardeners to talk about our successes and failures this gardening season and what we might need to consider with the late blight for next summer.

Eat Local, Buy Local, Be Local

This afternoon I had the pleasure of attending my first Cortland Women Working Together (WWT) luncheon. The theme of this month’s luncheon was “Eat Local, Buy Local, Be Local”. The luncheon was held at Linani’s in Homer where they took care to use many local foods in their preparation of our meal. Lisa Lickona, co-founder of the East End Farmers Market located in Cortland, was the guest speaker. Lisa focused her talk around some of the many reasons she has become a local foods advocate. The ideas Lisa shared in her thought provoking presentation initiated many discussions and encouraged several individuals to stay and chat afterwards.

One of the ideas that came to light was the idea of local women sharing their knowledge about growing, purchasing, and preserving local food. Several questions (some shared below) were asked by different attendees during these discussions. I have had (and are still asking) many of these same questions. Some, I have addressed in previous blog entries and other resources that I have provided on this blog. However I, too, would enjoy hearing additional responses to these and other questions. I haven't been gardening in Cortland County for very long. I am still learning quite a bit about what grows well in my very wet clay soil on top of a windy hill. I am continually experimenting to find out what varieties of vegetables to grow, how many to grow (oh - I guess 12 zucchini plants might have been a few too many) and what soil additives (like compost, and SAND - LOTS OF SAND) I need to add to help things grow well (like straight rather than crooked carrots). The questions I share below are meant to encourage further discussion and to elicit responses, comments, and additional questions posted here on this blog. This way we can all learn together.

To get us started, some questions include:

- What varieties of vegetables that grow well in different parts of Cortland County?
- How do I know what soil conditions I have?
- What planting zone am I?
- Where should I buy seeds?
- What kind of plant seeds should I buy?
- How many seeds do you plant to feed your own family?
- Where are the local farmers markets and farm stands located?
- How can I find and sign on with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)?

Then once we gather the local produce other questions arise such as:

- How do I cook new types of vegetables?
- How can I preserve my produce?
- How do I can, freeze, dry, and pickle produce?
- Do I need a root cellar to store vegetables long term?
- Where can I go to learn these skills?
- What books and resources are there to help me?


Luckily for our community, there are plenty of women in Cortland County who have expertise in these areas. For example, Heather Birdsall, of the Cortland County Cooperative Extension shared at the luncheon that they have a staff member who has gone through extensive training on proper techniques of food preservation and their office will be providing workshops.

As i said before, I’d like to also offer up this blog as a mechanism for sharing success stories, failures (like the late blight that took so many of our tomatoes this year), ideas, expertise, and a device for offering up encouragement to each other as we each work to better our community. Along the right side of the blog I have been listing local food sources as I locate them. I would encourage anyone to write that has additional resources and local food sources. Also please post things in the comment section of this and any other entry and feel free to - ask questions, post answers, and add comments.

Monica’s Scones and other East End Farmers Market Goodies

My friend Marcia, visiting from PA and neighbor Dottie found quite a few things at the market last weekend. We chatted with Karl Frost of Frosty Morning Farm and purchased a couple of perennials for our yards, I picked up some lettuce and Japanese cucumbers from Buried Treasures, picked up some young lettuce from Sean Duffy, I also checked in with Kristin of Lime Hollow Naturals where my friends picked up some of her furniture polish. They’ll let me know how it works. I also have tried her dish soap and laundry soap. The laundry soap goes a long way – I can do 64 loads with one bag of soap using my front loader machine. I also purchased some gardeners soap from Tom Quinn of Quinn’s Irish Farm. His wife, Pat, makes the soap. I had purchased their mechanics soap last visit, and it worked great getting varnish off of my husband's hands. I also purchased another beautiful fresh flower bouquet from Lisa Lickona of Red Rose Farm. It is nice to have some locally and sustainably grown flowers to brighten up my house. Tammie Whitson of Coldbrook Farm was doing her free wool workshops and we also purchased some of her products - like coconut lip balm!

Edgewood bakery had the macaroons again (quite a weakness for me – reminds me of visiting the Jersey shore with my Granddad when I was little). And something new I tried that will become a regular purchase: Monica’s scones. Monica is the daughter of Lisa Lickona and is selling buttermilk and chocolate chip scones at the Red Rose Farm booth. If you haven’t tried Monica’s scones, make sure you do. Two weeks ago my neighbor, Dave, picked up a few of her scones and highly recommended them to me. This past Saturday I purchased some of her buttermilk scones, and was Dave right. They are very good. In addition to Monica’s scones, neighbor Dottie tried some of Gladtime Market’s fresh corn and said it was the best she’d had all season.

So if you haven’t ventured out to any of the Cortland County farmers markets, make sure you do. And get their early - as I'll be hitting Red Rose farm for those scones first thing!

Mid-August Garden Update and the Deadly Late Blight

Well, we thought we had been struck by the late blight on our potatoes. But after talking with a few farmers at the East End farmers market last Saturday, we may just be experiencing an early die-back of the potatoes – meaning they are already ready for harvest. Once it dries out a bit from all our rain, we’ll be digging those potatoes up. The early blight and septoria seem to be doing a job on our tomatoes –but we don’t think they have the deadly late blight as of yet either. Cherries and yellow pear tomatoes are coming in – a couple of handfuls a day now, and a few romas are ripening. The larger tomatoes – I’m not sure those will ripen before we get the Late Blight. It has been confirmed in a few locations in Cortland County – so it is only a matter of time. If you haven’t heard about the late blight, here is a fact sheet put out by Cornell Cooperative Extension. Another good resource is the Vegetable MD Online, also from Cornell Cooperative Extension which lists fact sheets and photos for other vegetable diseases.

Cucumbers have finally begun to come in – hopefully they will continue to produce. Winter Squash is having a hard time, but I have learned that apparently I’m not the only one from talking with other gardeners around the area. The zucchini is beginning to hit its stride, meaning I end up with giant ones before I get a chance to harvest them. Celery is looking good, although the slugs and snails are starting to get to it – so another round of iron pellet slug bait will be needed.

Beans are doing well and we’ll be canning some this evening. I’m excited as I finally purchased a bean frencher, to make French style green beans – I hope it works well (OK – so I get excited about odd things). Fall plantings of carrots, beets, turnips, lettuce, chard, kale, spinach, and peas are all up and growing well in some new raised beds.

In addition to harvesting potatoes for storage, the garlic tops are dying back – so it is time to harvest that for storage also. A few of the “giant” onions tops are also starting to fall over, indicating it is near harvest time them as well.

We are still getting a few raspberries, blueberries, and mulberries. We ate our 1 plum – yes giant harvest on those this year she says oh so sarcastically – thank you DEER. It was really sweet though. Unbelievably, our everbearing strawberries are giving us giant berries still – so they must be liking the unusual summer weather this year. Now, do I make a pie, strawberry shortcake, or . . .

Food, Inc.

As the news covers yet another food recall, food safety issues again come to mind. To learn more about these issues, we traveled over to Ithaca to the Cinemopolis Theater on the Ithaca Commons to see the movie Food, Inc. If you get a chance, I strongly recommend that you see this movie. It is a documentary about the industrialized food system we have created. There are only a few large agricultural companies that pretty much control our food supply. The movie covers issues of food safety, food nutrition, and animal cruelty. In addition, they offer some solutions and share what some are working on to improve and change the system.

One main message from the movie is that we can make quite a difference by simply making careful food choices. This includes growing a garden, no matter how small (maybe even on a truck bed?) as well as continuing to support our local small farmers. Purchase your meat from small, local farms that take care to treat their animals with the respect they deserve. When you go to local grocery stores, continually request local foods and ask that they clearly label the ones that they have. For example, I was pleased to see at the P & C in Cortland they are now carrying Windy Ridge Farm cheese made in Cazenovia. It was hidden in with all the Wisconsin specialty cheeses, but I was able to find it. As a former resident of Wisconsin, I find that our local NY cheese is just as tasty, and hasn't had to travel as many miles to get to us.

If you go to the Food, Inc website they have links to other advocacy opportunities including improving school lunch nutrition. Also, please contact your politicians to let them know that food quality and food safety are a concern for you and you want them to work on these issues.

Saturday Market Visit

My stop at the East End Farmers Market was a quick one as we had company on the way yesterday. I did manage to touch base with Tammie Whitson of Cold Brook Farm, one of the market organizers. She has been quite busy adopting 3 children from Russia. Beginning next Saturday, she'll be teaching short wool workshops at the market, introducing people to the process of turning a sheep's coat into someone's sweater.

Since I was short of time, It is was especially helpful to have all of these venders in one place. With one stop, I was able to get great looking steaks and ground beef, a variety of fresh veggies, a fresh loaf of whole grain bread, cookies, and potted herbs; all grown/made within 30 miles of Cortland! By the way, the East End Farmers' Market is able to take the EBT card for customers on food stamps, so pass the word!

To help you see the variety of products available at the market, here are my purchased from this week:
- Finally it is corn season in Central NY, so I was able to get a dozen ears of corn from Gladtime Farm Market located in Little York, NY. I also picked up a head of buttercrunch lettuce.
- More delicious organic carrots were on my list from Buried Treasures Organic Farm.
- I noticed that Tom Quinn of Quinns Irish Farm in Freetown had some nice looking blueberries – tempting, but we have plans to do our own picking at a friend’s place next weekend.
- From Sean Duffy of Rising Moon/Setting Sun, a new CSA in East Freetown, I purchased up some young leaf lettuce and mixed new potatoes (included white, red and blue potatoes). Sean has plans to put in a renewable power system to eventually power a walk-in cooler for all his produce.
- From the Coombs family of Shiloh Valley Farm, I picked up some peanut butter cookies. Their son was a great sales person, encouraging folks to try their samples.
- From Edgewood Bakery and Farm, I purchased a loaf of fresh whole grain Oatmeal bread.
- From Dayspring I picked up cucumbers. They also had a ton of great looking yellow squash and zucchini.
- From Karl Frost of Frosty Morning Farm, I picked up Elderberry Syrup (might come in handy this fall during flu season) and the herb Tansy which I’ve read is a great companion plant for potatoes (repelling potato beetles), can be dried and used to repel all those cluster flies I get in the fall and spring in my windowsills, and has pretty yellow button flowers, too!
- I also had time to meet Danielle Upton of Upton Farm in Cincinnatus. They raise pasture fed dairy beef that are at least 90% lean, with no antibiotics, hormones or steroids. I decided to try a couple of their steaks and some ground chuck. According to their website, they have a variety of ordering options from whole to split halves; to small, medium, and large bundles of meat that range from 15 to 40 lbs; and you can choose the time of year you would like your meat ready for pick-up.

Chicken Pickup Day

Friends and colleagues have often asked me where to go to find locally grown meat in Cortland County. As I’ve mentioned in earlier postings about our pork purchases (pork part 1 and pork part 2 ), we purchase most of our locally grown meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble, NY. The Knapp family provides us with local, healthy, humanely raised beef, pork, chicken and turkey.

Today’s visit to Cobblestone Valley Farm was to pick up our freshly processed organic chickens. I'll be cutting up these whole chickens into pieces to use for making chicken salad, chicken speidies, and fried chicken before I put any of the meat in the freezer. I'll also be making a large pot of chicken stock with some veggies to freeze for making soup later in the season. If you've never cut apart a whole chicken before, here is a YouTube video that shows you how to do it. (BTW - my chicken pieces tend to look a little mutilated after I cut them up. But each time I do it, the pieces look a little more recognizable.)



Some friends, Cindy Benton, Susan Stratton and her daughter Kendra met us at the farm to look around, learn the process, pick up some meat, and meet Maureen Knapp. Pat and John Pinto, also friends of ours, happened to stop by while we were there to pick up their chickens.

In addition to picking up our fresh chickens, we also purchased eggs, a “grilling special” which included 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 lb. of hotdogs, and 1 lb. of hamburgers, and a additional 3 lbs of hot dogs (can you tell we are expecting a LOT of company of the next few weeks – and I plan on grilling outside?) The hot dogs are new this year and in addition to being high quality, healthy beef, are nitrate free (oh and they are real tasty, too). We also picked up a new item they are offering - ring bologna, that is also full of flavor. It is precooked and tastes a lot like beef stick or summer sausage.

In addition to getting our meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley, we also pick their organic strawberries and get organic compost for our garden. It is wonderful that we have famers such as Maureen and Paul Knapp in our area. They are wonderful resources for connecting local foods advocates, and have hosted a number of NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) activities and school field trips to their farm.

If you are interested in purchasing from the Knapps, please take a look at their website and send them an email.

ADK Sustainability Course and July Garden Update

This month, we took a little time away from the garden and spent a week in the Adirondacks teaching a field-based graduate course that included sustainability topics - things the students can use in both their personal and professional lives as well as what to include in their classroom (since most of the students were teachers). To see what we did, you can look at the course blog. We had a great group of students/teachers who, as you can read from their blogs which are linked to the course blog, are excited about focusing more on local foods, looking to join a CSA, and thinking about ways to incorporate the outdoors and sustainability topics into their classrooms.

So far it has been a fairly cool, damp summer. Our garden along with the fruit trees and shrubs are keeping us occupied. While walking the paths through our fields to pick wild raspberries, the scent of milkweed was sweet in the air. The wild flowers, especially the daisies, are having a banner year!

In addition to lots of weeds (most inedible) that seem to always grow well, we are managing to get a few things to eat from the garden. This is what is available to eat from the garden today:

Onions
Early Cabbage
Carrots
Beets
Peas
Broccoli
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Turnips
Kohlrabi
Radishes

Coming in soon we should be adding:
New Potatoes
Zucchini
Red Cabbage
Royal Burgundy Beans

And a little slower this year:
Tomatoes (will they ever turn red?)
Eggplant
Cucumbers (I got a late start on these)
Brussels Sprouts
Pole Beans and Bush Green Beans (having a hard time this year and also a late start)
Winter squash (also having a hard time this year and also a late start)

Celery, late season cabbage, garlic, potatoes, shallots, and popcorn are all doing very well. This week I need to plant our winter or storage root vegetables. This would include beets, carrots, and turnips. And I also need to plant some late season broccoli and peas.

Our blueberries are just starting to come in. Especially those we just transplanted which were given to us by our friends Rand and Sharon Johnson in Chenango County. Along with the wild raspberries, our cultivated raspberries and black raspberries are ripening. Mulberries have been ripening a few at a time for the last week and we still have some strawberries ripening as well.

Because of the weather, which climate scientists predict will be come the norm for Upstate New York (as wetter, cooler summers are predicted as our climate changes), we are considering high tunnels and a larger greenhouse to get things going sooner and longer. By the way, as you can see by the article I linked to above, it is predicted that our winters will be what warms more significantly, less snowfall, less days below freezing. For some, you are probably saying, "Great, I don't have to move to Virginia for the milder winter weather. It will come to me". But along with these milder winters, we'll see more ticks and other insects and more invasive species. We'll see less blueberries, less maple trees, and even less apples. And also wet summer weather may be pretty dramatic, in other words more flooding, more often. That isn't even discussing the ocean level rise, which will force the relocation of millions of people downstate to probably, well, here I guess . . .

Lots of Cortland Activity Today!

The Cortland area was hopping today with quite a bit going on. It is Alumni Weekend for SUNY Cortland. For downtown Cortland it was the sidewalk sale, the downtown farmers market, and "Taste of Downtown". In Homer, it was their annual "Holiday in Homer". And of course being Saturday morning, I made my usual trip down to the East End Farmers Market in Dexter Park.

Once again I found wonderful purchases, listed to some great music, and was able to catch up with a few friends while there. I bumped into Kathy Arnold of Twin Oaks Dairy (where you can go in Truxton to purchase organic raw milk) who was going to give the natural cleaner from Lime Hollow Naturals a try and was hitting up Buried Treasures Organic Farm for some organic strawberries. I found some great tasting carrots from Buried Treasures Organic Farm from Groton, NY; purchased some cucumbers (also very tasty) from Dayspring farm out of Locke, NY; captured some cheery sunflowers from Lisa Lickona of Red Rose Farm in McGraw, NY; and choose some organically grown coffee beans from Coffee Mania. I also purchased a Pennyroyal plant from Karl Frost of Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton. Karl has a great selection of perennials and herbs. Pennyroyal has a great scent and as Karl explained, is used as a natural insect repellent. I am looking forward to planting it and giving it a try. In addition, I picked up some more of the granulated maple sugar from S & S Syrup of Marathon, NY; and touched base with Sean Duffy of Rising Moon/Setting Sun, a new CSA in East Freetown. He plans to invite potential customers out to the farm in a few weeks to have an "open house" so people can see the operation. He had some nice looking new potatoes and other items for sale at the market this week.

I also chatted with Kristin Avery of Lime Hollow Naturals about how word is getting out that there is a "green" community in Cortland that want locally made and natural products and local organic and gently grown/raised produce, dairy, eggs, and meat. I think the East End Farmers Market is helping us to find each other. From Kristin I choose to purchase some great smelling natural soap (Eucalyptus and Lemon Grass) and a "refill" bottle for the natural cleaner (rosemary and lavender scent is my favorite) that works so well.

To end this entry, I'd like to thank Tom Lickona for letting me use the photos he took at the East End Farmers Market on my blog.

This Week’s Farmers’ Market Visit and June Garden Update

Another visit to the East End Farmers Market this past Saturday, and I found a flurry of activity, more wonderful music, community members catching up, and I also found some great items to purchase. After trying out the rosemary and lavender natural cleaner I purchased last week from Lime Hollow Naturals (and finding how well it worked cleaning my iron stained, soap scummed tub), I purchased 2 more bottles. One bottle was citrus scent to use in the kitchen and another rosemary and lavender bottle to give to my mother-in-law while they visit with us this week. They both smell so good, I think it might encourage me to clean a little more regularly:) In addition, I purchased 2 dozen eggs from Tom Quinn of Quinn’s Irish Hill Farm. He indicated that business has been doing very well; selling out very quickly of both the eggs and chickens he brought to the market. Edgewood Bakery and Farm tempted me with a coconut macaroon, one of my favorites - and it was very good, too! I was also able to visit with Susan Dellow of S & S Syrup to learn how she makes granulated maple sugar and purchased a pack to try in my baking. A stop at Lisa Lickona’s booth, and I just had to purchase one of her beautiful flower bouquets sold to me by one of her daughters. A representative from Cornell Cooperative Extension had a sample of Skillet Lasagna made with beef from Ably Acres. It was tasty, and inspired my own version for dinner last night. Following my visit to the market, I walked across the street to the East Side Bakery and found some raspberry turnovers, that apparently, were calling my name.

Our home garden is doing well in some areas and not as well in others. The weeds are doing terrific; which it always seems they do no matter what the weather! Our tomatoes are doing well, with plenty of little green ones on there – none ripe as of yet of course. The potatoes recovered pretty well from their nip from the frost on June 1. The garlic, onions, shallots, and leeks are doing great and the garlic has scapes, which I used to make dinner with last night. Carrots are having a time of it – first batch didn’t germinate well, and those that did were eaten by some small varmit. I am hopeful that this batch will come out OK. Our peppers seem to be just sitting there, but the eggplants are putting out lots of healthy looking leaves. The celery, cabbages, broccoli, turnips, most of the Brussels sprouts, and lettuce are loving the wet weather and those few beets came in are also doing well. Some of my beans did not germinate, so I need to replant those. The Royal Burgundy Beans (first time trying these) all germinated and are quite healthy looking.

Our popcorn is looking pretty healthy this year so far as well; Mr. Scarecrow nearby seems to be doing his job. The peas, well they were doing terrific, and those that are still standing after some young rabbits cut the rest of them off at the base are still doing pretty well. My husband and I did get some new fencing around them last evening and hope that will keep the little buggers out of them at least for a while. Hopefully with munching on those and some of the turnip tops they are growing too big to fit through the main garden fence. I do know how Mr. McGregor felt with Peter Rabbit in his is garden!

I got a late start with seeding my zucchini and cucumber this year. So to move things along some, I stopped by Dave’s Veggies this week to get some of his plants to add to my garden. Dave always has time to chat and enjoys sharing about his love of herbs, perennials, and produce. While there, he shared with me his techniques for raising such great looking Stevia plants. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute that has been used for years in the natural foods arena, and has finally received FDA approval. Dave says that several of his customers like to just pick a few leaves off and let them air dry for a few days. Then they simply crumble one of the leaves in a cup of tea to sweeten it. While at Dave’s, I also asked him if he knew of local restaurants that use local foods on a regular basis. He indicated that he knew that Doug’s Fish Fry purchased blueberries from him, and he understood that they also purchased local strawberries both for use in their ice cream sundaes. I am interested in finding out which restaurants in Cortland do purchase and serve local foods, so next time you eat out, please ask if they are using local foods, and then let me know!

Local Foods Abound!

Well despite the rainy weather, we had a nice visit to the East End Farmers Market today. Musicians playing (which sure did help keep everyone’s spirits up), kids under a tent snacking on fresh baked goods, people chatting and catching up, and oh yeah – lots of local foods and products, too. Here are some of our “finds” from this week: from Adam, Amanda, and their kids of Shiloh Valley Farm (McGraw, NY) we purchased yummy baking powder biscuits; from Ably Acres (Marathon, NY) we purchased some grass fed ground beef; some cucumber and melon soap and linen spray were purchased from Tammie Whitson of Cold Brook Farm (Marathon, NY); from Sean Duffy of Rising Moon, Setting Sun, a new CSA in East Freetown, we purchased some great looking red lettuce; and from Lime Hollow Naturals we are eager to try the rosemary and lavender natural cleaner and dishwashing soap.

We had a nice visit with Lisa Lickona of Red Rose Farm in McGraw, NY (with lots of beautiful flower bouquets and tempting scones at her booth). My husband and I also had a great discussion with Karl Frost of Frosty Morning Farm in Truxton, NY. He had some great looking perennials and herbs and we had been looking for some comfrey. Paul Knapp (of Cobblestone Valley Farm) had let us know about a friend of his that uses comfrey and daffodils as companion plants for his apple trees to great success – so we also wanted to give it a try. Karl has plenty and we will be contacting him next week to pop up to his farm and get some. He also generously offered to bring it to the market next week, but we don’t live that far from him, and now we have an opportunity to see his farm.

After leaving the East End Farmers Market, we headed to Paul and Maureen Knapps’ Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble. Today was their NOFA-NY (Northeast Organic Farmers Association of New York) Picnic on the Farm. Again the weather wasn’t too cooperative, but they also had a good turnout. For lunch, we ate Cobblestone Valley Farm hotdogs and hamburgers. Also there was free Organic Valley chocolate milk and string cheese to snack on. In addition to tours to visit their dairy operation, and meeting the pigs, chickens, turkeys and goats; several information booths were set up. These booths had representatives from Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation, Cooperative Extension, Organic Valley and NOFA. Also there were students from the Future Farmers of America with their teacher Derek Hill who runs a great agriculture education program at Tully High School. It was a bit damp to do our strawberry picking, so we’ll have to save that for another day.

It was certainly great to see so many people from the Cortland area working to provide healthy local foods and products at both locations. Thanks to all of the farmers, NOFA folks and other vendors for working so hard for us!

Cortland’s own "Local only" farmers market opens tomorrow June 13!

Yes – The day has finally come. The East End Farmers Market, Cortland’s new “local only” farmers market is set to open, tomorrow, June 13th . The market will run from 8:00-1:00 every Saturday through October 24 and is located at Dexter Park on the corner of Franklin and Elm Streets. Lisa Lickona and Tammie Whitson have done a superb job pulling this together.

There are a number of venders that will be at the market offering everything from fresh coffee and baked goods, soaps and potted plants, pasture-raised chicken and salad greens, maple syrup and flowers, and much more. For a complete list of venders and an update of what to expect each Saturday at the market, please refer to East End Farmers Market website

This week, in addition to all the venders, three special events are planned. This includes seasonal cooking demonstrations from Susan Prier of Cornell Cooperative Extension, chair massages from Holistic Hands Therapeutic Massage and Aroma Therapy, and for musical entertainment, “Amy and Allen" will performer fiddle and guitar music at 10:30.

AND, just in case you need some reminders why you should go to the farmers market – remember purchasing and eating local foods:

• Helps the local economy,
• Provides you with tastier and fresher food,
• Provides you and your family with healthier food,
• Helps the environment by cutting down on transportation emissions which contribute to global climate change,
• Helps preserve area greenspace and farmland,
• Helps build stronger community relationships, AND
• Promotes local food safety – you know WHO grew your food and can ask HOW they grew your food!

Spring Garden Update

As you can tell with my last posting being over a month ago, May is an especially busy month for a gardener who is also an academic. So to catch up with the garden updates, we are on about week 5 (or 6) of enjoying asparagus and perennial herbs from our garden. We are also now eating lettuce, radishes, and a little spinach (some of the lettuce was started inside and transplanted). The beets, turnips, carrots, swiss chard, shallots, and peas planted from seed are all up and growing. Onions, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, and shallots seem to be thriving in the cooler, damp weather. Unfortunately, the potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and basil did not like the freezing temps we had on Sunday night. Even though things were covered as best we could manage, we still lost about a 1/3rd of our tomatoes and all of our potatoes got “nipped”. We are hopeful that the potatoes will recover.

Still to put in, are celery, several varieties of beans, sweet corn, popcorn, winter and summer squash, cucumbers, and melons. We are also going to try planting some quinoa this year.

Our strawberry bed, a new addition to the garden this year, is doing pretty well. We planted Earliglow (early berry), Jewel (mid season berry), and Seascape (mid through late season berry). These will hopefully be summer long treats. For the big amounts to make jam with, we’ll be heading in a few weeks to Cobblestone Valley Farm located in Preble to pick their organic berries.

We also have a few cherries, mulberries, and maybe some pears, plums, and apples coming in this year from the fruit trees that we’ve planted over the last 4 years. They are still pretty young, and don’t expect too many fruits yet – but are hopeful we’ll get to taste a few anyway.

North Country Sustainable Energy Fair

On Saturday, my husband and I trekked up to Canton, NY (in our Prius) for our third annual trip to the North Country Sustainable Energy Fair. This conference, hosted at SUNY Canton, has been going on for 14 years. It offers great exhibits and wonderful workshops and presentations in lots of topics including renewable energy, alternative transportation, homesteading, peak oil, bio-diesel, transition towns, alternative housing, climate change, etc.

Last year we were pleased to be able to meet keynote speaker Richard Heinberg. Heinberg is the author of 8 books including Powerdown and Peak Everything and is senior fellow of the Post Carbon Institute.

This year the conference included a presentation by noted peak oil blogger and author Sharon Astyk. Sharon conducted a presentation about the need for 100 million farmers based on her recent book with Aaron Newton called A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil. I’m in the process of reading her book now. I find it informational and I enjoy the somewhat sarcastic tone. Sharon and her family live in the northern Catskills and are homesteading as much as possible.

Interestingly, at all sessions I attended this year, each presenter early in their presentation had a graphic or slide about Peak Oil. And each time they arrived at the slide asked if anyone in the audience didn’t understand Peak Oil. Each time, everyone – yes EVERYONE indicated they had a pretty good understanding. This is a significant change from even 2 years ago. Word does seem to be getting out, and many people are at different stages of working toward solutions to a post carbon world.

Excuses for Eating Meat?

OK - I admit it. I eat meat. I know for some, eating a vegetarian diet is a means to improve their health, reduce their environmental impact, and show their concern over the treatment of animals. However for me, going vegetarian is not really what works best for my health and overall well being. Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way. This article discusses how some former vegetarians are again eating meat and some reasons why.

Even to me though, it makes sense that eating lower on the food chain is more ecologically sustainable than those diets that include meat. In fact, studies have found that a person who eats a lot of meat will need 3-7 times the amount of land to support their diet than a low-fat vegetarian. Meat production, especially that from grain fed cows and pigs in large confined animal feeding operations (CAFO), uses lots of fossil fuels in the process and emits lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Knowing this, I have reduced the amount of meat I eat and have minimized eating grain fed meat from CAFOs. Instead, we purchase locally grown, pasture raised meat as much as possible from farmers we know and trust to treat the animals (and the environment) with respect and care.

Although eating lower on the food chain seems to make sense, some recent research indicates that vegetarian diets may not be the best for central New York. A study by Cornell University found that eating a diet that includes dairy and meat may be more ecologically sustainable in this part of the country. How is this possible? The issue comes down to what type of land (and climate) is needed to grow vegetables versus meat and dairy. In central New York, it would take a lot of energy to produce and store enough vegetables year round to support our population and it would be hard on the land. The study indicated that a mixed farming approach with animals providing the needed compost and grazing on land that would be unsuitable for vegetable growing would provide a more sustainable local food supply. Keep in mind that the amounts of meat/eggs per day recommended in the study are small, only 2.2 oz. versus the 5.8 oz. that most Americans eat each day. Luckily for me, I have a few friends in the area who are vegetarians, so I have offered to eat their 2.2 oz. portions every now and then to help make them part of a more sustainable central New York☺

Getting our Locally Grown Pork, Part 2

Friday afternoon, we received word from Maureen Knapp of Cobblestone Valley Farm that our 1/2 pig processing was complete and that we could stop by at our convenience to pick it up. So we set up a time to head up over to Preble, NY for the pick up this past Saturday. Our pork had been processed to our preferences by Purdy and Sons. In a previous post, I shared how the process worked. Below I shared what we received in our order:

23 pork chops (of which half were smoked)
3 smoked ham steaks
4 varying sized smoked hams
7 - 1lb packs of smoked bacon
8 - 1lb. packs of breakfast sausage
2 - 3 lb pork butt roasts
1 – 2.5 lb. pack St. Louis Style ribs
2 – 2 lb. packs of country style ribs
1 - 4 lb. sirloin pork roast

From the Knapp family, we also purchase our Thanksgiving and summer turkeys and chickens when they are processed. We have found all the meat to be tasty and of high quality. The chicken, and turkey are certified organic. The Knapps do not certify their pork or beef, but they follow organic and humane principles to raise animals. For more information about their products and how to purchase, please go to their website.

East End Farmers Market - Go Local!

In earlier posts (post 1 and post 2), I mentioned information about community members working together to bring a new “local only” farmers market to Cortland. The earlier postings indicated that, at that time, they were thinking of having the market at the former Cortland Corset Factory parking lot. Things have firmed up a bit more and the location has settled on Dexter Park in the East side of Cortland. The aptly named “East End Farmers Market” will run 19 Saturdays beginning June 13. They already have vendors signed on that will provide local meats, organic vegetables, flowers, and other local products. All vendors have to be within 30 miles of Cortland and are encouraged to use sustainable practices. In addition, Coffee Mania will run a kiosk to provide coffee and prepared foods for market patrons. Tammie Whitson, co-owner of Cold Brook Farm in Marathon, will also offer fiber workshops at the market for those who would like to learn the processes of taking wool from sheep to finished garment.

I encourage individuals who might be thinking about being a vendor to contact Tammie Whitson or Lisa Lickona (contact info on the East End Famers Market website). In addition, both Tammie and Lisa have contact info on the other Cortland County Farmers markets, Downtown Cortland Farmers Market, Virgil Farmers Market, and the Cincinnatus Famers Market.

I’m sure Tammie and Lisa would also like to hear from those of you who, like me, are waiting anxiously for June 13th to be a patron of this new weekly Cortland event. This expanding support can provide them with contacts and additional vendor possibilities. As Cortland continues to "grow" in providing a more local food supply, it will improve not only our health and the health of the Earth, but also improve our ecomomy. Take a look at this report from Illinois that found how increasing local foods increases local jobs and revitalizes rural economies.

The 8th Annual Cortland Educators’ Conference Goes Green

On Saturday March 14, 2009, I attended the 8th annual educators conference sponsored by area teacher centers held at Homer High School. This conference for area educators with the theme, “It’s Easy Being Green”, was planned by Bonnie Calzolaio (Cortland/McGraw/Homer Teacher Center), Bobbi Krout (Dryden Teacher Center) and Pat Rice (Cincinnatus Teacher Center). I'd like to thank them for putting together a great opportunity for area educators.

I just thought I’d highlight a few of the sessions to share what “green things” area teachers are doing and some of what they learned about by attending the conference.

The conference kicked off with a keynote “Its Imperative to Go Green!” by Kurt Schmidt, Cincinnatus High School Science Teacher. Kurt has been awarded the New York State Environmental Educator of the Year, and is well known in the area.

Below are a few of the green workshops the area teachers attended:
- Kurt Schmidt, Cincinnatus HS Science Teacher - “You Can’t Spell SUSTAINABLE without US”
- Penny James: Doctoral Candidate, North Carolina State University - “The Changing Nature of Childhood”
- John Steedle, Homer HS architecture teacher - “Schools of the Future: What a Green School Might Look Like”
- Karl Klein, Onondaga Community College – “Green Jobs for the 21st Century”
- Beth Klein, SUNY Cortland, and John Pinto NYSERDA Teacher Trainer – “Reducing your Carbon Footprint, What You, Your Students and School Can Do!”
- Jennifer Fee, Cornell Lab of Ornithology – “Going Global: Exploring Biodiversity on your School Yard and Beyond”
- Jeanne Stevens & Karen Shirley, Reading Teachers – From Truffula Trees to Kapok Trees”
- Elaine Norris, Master Gardener volunteer with Cornell Cooperative Extension, had a display on school gardening and provided information about the assistance she and the Cornell Cooperative can offer schools.

Making Yogurt

Having had recent success making both butter and cheese, we decided to try making yogurt with our raw organic milk from Twin Oaks Dairy in Truxton. We looked online at several recipes, and decided to try this one in the crock pot for our first attempt.

We used our 6 quart oval crock pot and 1 gallon of raw organic milk and upped the yogurt starter to a cup. Because we had left the house to run a few errands while it was in the initial warming process, our time was more like 4 hours than the recommended 2.5 hours. Then we let it sit for the recommended 3 hours, mixed 2 cups of the warm milk with the 1 cup of starter and then mixed it with the rest of the warm milk still in the crock pot. We then put the lid back on the crock pot and wrapped it with a towel to sit overnight. 

In the morning, we scooped it out into 1 cup containers to put in the refrigerator. It was a little soupy compared to store bought yogurt, but certainly smelled and tasted like yogurt. We are mixing it with strawberry jam (made with organic berries from Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble). The next time we make it, we will probably add a little honey and vanilla to add a little more flavor. It was a fairly easy process over all.

Getting our Locally Grown Pork, Part 1

This is our second year to order a locally raised hog from the Knapp family at Cobblestone Valley Farm. We are indeed very lucky to have met Maureen and Paul Knapp a few years ago. Currently we buy most of our meat and eggs (and strawberries) from their farm. They are wonderful stewards of the land; provide superb local and organic products; generously share their knowledge with area school groups, college classes, and the general public; and take great care in tending and nurturing their pigs, cows, chickens, and turkeys.  

A half hog provides our family and visitors with more than enough quality, locally grown pork for the year. This year was very exciting as the Knapps decided to work with a new processor, Purdy and Sons’ Foods, Inc. located in Sherburne. Purdy and Sons’ Foods, pride themselves in having daily USDA Federal Inspections; using smaller sized delivery trucks to reduce their carbon emissions; and providing fresh, local, and organic meats to the area.

The Purdys also use nitrite free smoking methods for the ham and bacon. From what I have read, it seems that there is evidence to connect increased cancer risk with consuming meats preserved with sodium nitrite/nitrate. Apparently this preservation method makes the product pink (think SPAM), supposedly improves the flavor, and to some degree will prevent botulism. According to this 1992 article, some believe the benefits of using nitrates in food preservation out-weigh the potential risks. However more recent articles, such as this published on the Organic Consumers Association website, seem to indicate that there may be more connection to cancer than previously thought. We were very pleased to hear that we had the option to go nitrite free for our smoked hams and bacon this year.

So what might you need to know about having half a pig processed? Here is a synopsis of what we did. Several months ago we sent Cobblestone Valley an email requesting ½ a hog. Maureen then put us on the list. A few days ago, she emailed with some directions about getting it processed, information on processing prices, and a copy of the Purdys’ processing form (with lots of decisions and cuts of meat indicated). In other words, we had to make some decisions as to what to do with the loin, the shoulder butt, the belly, the shoulder picnic, etc. She also gave us contact information so we could speak directly to the butcher at Purdys. This is what I did today. Dan was wonderful to talk with and walked me through each question I had and helped me complete the form. He was gracious in spending so much time to educate me about the process and not once did he sound even the slightest bit exasperated with my lack of meat processing knowledge. He helped me determine what meat to smoke and what to keep fresh, and what sections to use for chops, ribs, roasts, ham steaks, sausage, etc. He even mentioned that since they are a USDA inspected processor, that we could resell the meat.

Soon we will be receiving an email from Maureen letting us know that our processing is complete and will then pick up the meat order. Once that happens, I’ll be sharing that part of the process in another blog entry.

Making Butter

Feeling confident after the success of our first attempt at making cheese, I decided to give making my own butter a try using some of the organic raw milk we purchased from Twin Oaks Farm in Truxton.  Googling “Making butter from raw milk” led me to several websites with directions. This one has great photos of the process.

After letting the quart jars of milk sit for a few days in the fridge for the cream to separate, I carefully dipped the cream out of a few of them.  I put the cream in a separate container and back in the refrigerator to chill. Meanwhile I placed my steel mixing bowl in the freezer to also chill.  This is apparently a mistake.  According to this website, it strongly recommended that the cream be very cold in order for the process to work. Having always chilled my bowl before making whipped cream topping, I assumed it would also help the process of making butter. It did not. 

After several minutes of my mixer going full speed, it stayed in the whipped cream stage. I had nice peaks of whipped cream.  It just wouldn't "seize" and become butter. I decided to turn off the mixer and just let it all sit for about 15 minutes before I tried it again. It still stayed whipped cream. At this point I was getting a little frustrated, but I persevered and decided to wait another 15 minutes or so and tried it again. Hurray, I had butter! After squeezing out the buttermilk and washing it a few times in ice water, I added a little kosher salt and kneaded it in. Apparently homemade butter (especially by novice butter makers) does not keep too long, so most of the butter I wrapped up and put in the freezer. I think it tastes pretty good, although that could be just me trying to rationalize the effort.

Potential Green Development for the Town of Solon

Earlier this evening I attended a Town of Solon Information meeting held at the Solon Sportsman’s Club. The topic of discussion was the proposed Hathaway Condo and Spa Resort. Brig Brown, a successful hotel developer originally from Germany, has proposed developing 150 acres surrounding “Tinelli’s Hathaway House” on Rt. 41 in the Town of Solon. At the meeting this evening, Ms. Brown showed a short video about her proposed project and answered questions from local residents.

You can go to the project website (http://hathawaycondoandspa.com/) to get specifics for yourself. Some of the aspects of the proposal include: construction of 304 condominiums in a gated community, a hotel, a conference center, a German-style barbeque restaurant and micro-brewery to be housed in a renovated Hathaway Barn, a German bakery and café, a jellorium (to sell jams, jellies, and syrups), a pool, recreation hall, and a full service spa including the what would be the nation’s only Himalyan Salt Floating Pool. Also according to the plans, Tinelli’s would become a full-service restaurant, still owned and run by the Tinelli family.

Some of the green aspects of the project include the use of renewable energy for the electrical and heating needs of the facilities. The condos are planned to incorporate passive solar design with green roofs, and tile wood stoves. The restaurants, jellorium, and bakery will be using locally grown organic foods. The plans for the grounds include walking paths, gardens, and edible landscaping.

When asked about how the project was going to interface with the local community, Ms. Brown indicated that all of the services including the restaurants, shops, walking trails, and spa, recreation hall would be open to the public. In addition, Ms. Brown’s vision is to provide a community gathering spot where local musicians can play, local artisans can sell their creations, and locally and sustainably grown products would be available to all community members not just the resort members. The project also proposes to have about 130 job opportunities when complete with first consideration going to qualified local individuals. She invited Solon residents to email her with any additional questions and suggestions for the project. Her contact information is available on the project website.

Members of the Town Planning Board indicated that additional information meetings would be held. One of the meetings will include the county tax assessor to discuss the questions about whether the project would raise taxes for community members (it does not appear to do that as it is proposed), and another would be with the county planner to address issues about the process.

As for a timeline, Ms. Brown is hoping to start as soon as all the approvals are set and complete the construction of all the components within 24 months.

Most of the individuals sitting around me seemed in favor of the proposal and said the benefits of the proposed project far out-weighed any negatives. And personally I agree with them. Some of the potential benefits I see with the project include: increased demand for local organic foods, “green” jobs and perhaps creating demand for green technology businesses to establish in Cortland County, increased opportunities for public transportation to this part of the county, and an opportunity for increased community connection. There is also the potential for growth of businesses in downtown McGraw and also in the City of Cortland to provide services to the visitors and new residents of the project.

Making Cheese

I know many local food advocates have been making their own cheese for a while now, but we just made our first cheese. After a few “creative differences” between my husband and I, we produced some rather tasty mozzarella cheese from our recently purchased organic raw milk from the Arnold’s Twin Oaks Farm in Truxton. Our next quandary was what do with all of the whey left over (especially with no pigs or body-builders to share it with). We decided to freeze some for use in cream-based soups, and use some in bread making. Making homemade focaccia bread was our first attempt at using the whey in our bread baking. We sprinkled our focaccia bread with some herbs, garlic, and our just made mozzarella.

In order to make our own cheese, we had purchased the mozzarella cheese making kit from Lehmans. Based on this successful experience, we intend to purchase some additional cheese making supplies and plan to extend our learning experience with making other kinds of cheese.

Sustainable Cortland: We're on Our Way!

There is a strong feeling of positive momentum in Cortland County. Great local people are working on improving the quality, quantity, and accessibility of local foods and are working with area children to develop school gardens. Others are looking at improving the access and convenience of the county public transportation system and working on a renewable energy plan. While still others are trying to improve the local economy and quality of life in the area with green projects such as the river trail. All these are exciting, and also fall into line with a movement that was started about 3 years ago in the UK called Transition Towns.

The Transition Initiative is “Tackling Climate Change and Peak Oil. Bringing the Head, Heart and Hands of Communities together to make the transition to life beyond oil.” The movement is spreading worldwide and quickly in the US. Already, Transition Towns US has developed an online social networking system for each state. Several Cortland area individuals have already joined to begin communicating with each other and those elsewhere in New York.

It is my hope that using this network and support system that Cortland and the surrounding area can become an official Transition Town. The process we will need to go through is outlined on the Transition Town websites based on what has worked well in several towns in England. I will be finding out if it will be possible to bring a Transition Town trainer to the Cortland area to get us started. If anyone is interested, please either contact me directly, or go ahead and join the Transition Town Network for NY and connect with me there by joining the Sustainable Cortland group.

Regardless if we become an official “Transition Town” or not, it appears that we are moving toward a comprehensive sustainable vision and framework for Cortland County. And that is something I plan to continue to help move forward.

Local Organic Raw Milk Available in Truxton

For those of you waiting for fresh organic raw milk, the wait has ended. Twin Oaks Dairy along Rt. 13 in Truxton has acquired a license to sell their milk at their farm. We just stopped yesterday to have co-owner, Kathie Arnold, fill our jars with the fresh milk. (Click here to see a Cortland Standard article about Kathie and the Twin Oaks Dairy).

What can you do with raw milk? We are planning on using the milk to make our own cheese. (For supplies and directions you may wish to go to this website: http://www.cheesemaking.com/). Others enjoy making homemade yogurt, butter and other dairy products. I just used some in my butternut soup I made for dinner this evening. I’m told it also freezes well.

If you are interested, contact Kathie about setting up a time to get your fresh organic raw milk. Her email address is: randkarnold1@juno.com.

Upstate Agri-Economic Development Summit

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the 7th Annual Free Upstate Agri-Economic Development Summit. It was wonderful to see so many Cortland area farmers as they discussed ways to promote local foods and local products.

Jerry Cosgrove, Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, gave a great talk about how farmers can be a big part of the solution to climate change issues. They can be both local food providers (reducing the carbon footprint of food production and transport) and also use their property to provide localities with renewable energy (methane, biomass, solar, wind, etc.). He was very positive about the long-term future of farming in central New York, but did indicate that the next few years could be tough during the Country’s economic crisis. This to me indicates that we as Cortland residents need to be even more vigilant in buying local products to help keep our local food supply.

Mike McMahon, owner of E-Z Acres in Cortland County and board member of the Cortland County BDC/IDA made a presentation on the economic impact of agriculture in Cortland County. He shared some great statistics – such as the number of farms in the County – 567. He also shared information about how these farms and the support industries provide quite a bit of positive economic impact for the County, while using few tax supported services.

The most enthusiastic and interesting presentation for me, was when some members of the County Ag promotions committee (Kathie Arnold, Lisa Lickona, and Donn Hewes) each spoke about the ideas and progress of the second famer’s market that I wrote about in an earlier entry. Donn, co-owner of Northland Sheep Farm in Freetown, shared his dream of a Farmers' Store in the Cortland Foundations Building (the site of the new farmers' market) where Cortland County farmers could offer local foods, and local artisans could sell their products. The idea is for the consumers to get a great price for these locally grown and made products, and the famers and/or artists don’t have to spend a great deal of their time selling their products. The best news for the Cortland consumer is the “one-stop” local food shopping potential of the year-round farmer’s store. Lisa shared her dream of a Farmers' Market that is more of a destination/attraction where Cortland County residents gather to build community, chat with farmers and artisans about their products, connect with our neighbors, listen to great music and, and spend dollars locally. Keep in mind that each $1.00 spent on a local product will provide the community with $1.26 as it is re-spent in the area. All these ideas are exciting for Cortland County and again, I’d like to thank these individuals for all of their work to provide Cortland County residents with quality local products.

Local Goat Cheese

Last weekend my husband and I made a visit to the Side Hill Acres Dairy Goat Farm in Candor, NY over in Tioga County. For those who are geographically challenged, Tioga County is adjacent to Cortland to the southwest. Side Hill Acres raises goats and chickens and sell goat cheese, goat fudge, goat yogurt, goat milk, and goat milk lotions and soaps in their farm store. All of these products are made from the milk they get from their goat herd. Upon entering the store, we were greeted by the owner Rita Kellogg. She was extremely friendly and pulled out some goat cheese for us to try. Each was delicious, but I our favorite was the rosemary garlic. We purchased some of their reasonably priced cheese, fudge and soap to sample. 

As we were leaving, her granddaughter called out to us. She had just finished helping in the birth of twin baby goats (does) and asked if we’d like to see them. And so we went in to a small, warm utility room and there we saw two, surprisingly large, baby goats still wet from their birthing experience. Together she and her grandmother continued to dry them off and stimulate their blood circulation. Then she offered to show us the rest of the goats so we headed to the barn to be greeted by several very gentle goats. The young girl shared with us information about the herd and what she does around the farm. It was obvious that she enjoyed the farm and seemed, at age 11, to have already decided that she was going to be a goat farmer herself in a few years. This is great news for us to have such a bright, young person interested in being a farmer. 

I recommend that you give Side Hill goat cheese a try. In addition, the fudge is also highly recommended:)  You can go to the website to get directions and visit for yourself. To pick up some cheese a little closer to Cortland, you can find it at Ludgate Farms on the east side of Ithaca, and for those in southern Cortland County, you can find it at Giant in Binghamton. 

Garden season has begun!

This week marked the beginning of our own garden season. Yes, I know it is only February and that we live in Central New York. But it was already time to start our leeks. Leeks seem to take FOREVER to grow so you have to start them very early (unless you buy the sets from a supplier). We’ll be starting a few other kinds of plants in March and more in April. By then, the dining room and guest bedroom (rooms with the best sunlight) will look like a greenhouse. Hopefully by late April we can transport most of these started plants into our outdoor hobby-sized greenhouse. Then these plants will get a much better dose of sunlight and begin to get used to being outside.

I also planted some lettuce seeds a week or so ago in a planter in the windowsill. It is coming up nicely and we will be eating some of our own fresh lettuce in a few weeks for salads and on sandwiches. I will continue to supplement our lettuce desires with Finger Lakes Fresh which is available at the P & C and Tops grocery stores in Cortland. I like purchasing from them as they are a “social enterprise” based in nearby Ithaca that provides jobs for individuals with disabilities.

Good news about the Cortland farmers’ market

If you happened to read today’s Cortland Standard, you may have seen the article about a second farmers’ market. Kathie Arnold, organic farmer and County Legislator, has been chairing the Cortland County Local Agriculture Promotions Subcommittee. This committee was charged with looking into the issue of expanding the current Cortland farmers' market. It seems that they have located a great place for a second market (the first will, for the time being, remain on Main Street). This second market will be located, pending an agreement yet to be signed, in the parking lot of the Cortland Foundation building on East Court Street. This building has a lot of history as it was the former Cortland Corset Factory (as in "foundation garmets") and apparently prior to that was part of the wagon making industry in Cortland. This is even more exciting as there is the additional possibility of future expansion into the building for a year-round farmers market/co-op store and the building is even heated with waste vegetable oil.

This is great news for Cortland County residents, both those that produce local products, and those that need to purchase these products. I look forward to hearing more good news about this project and would like to thank Kathie, Lisa Lickona, Tammie Whitson, and the other individuals responsible for working on this project.

Calculating Your Carbon Footprint

In our last post we discussed why we should eat local foods.  One of the reasons was to lower our carbon emissions, or carbon footprint.  Direct and indirect emissions of carbon is the main contributor of global climate change.  So reducing our carbon footprint will help reduce the effects of climate change.  To do our part, my family has reduced our travel, purchased fuel efficient cars (one is a hybrid Toyota Prius), put in a 4 KW photovoltaic system that provides about 80% of our electricity, reduced our consumption, buy local and bulk as much as possible, and we use organic methods to grow most of our vegetables.

To figure out your carbon footprint, there are several online calculators.  The Nature Conservancy has a nice one located here.   There are also several hints there on things you can do such as switching out all your incandescent light bulbs for compact florescent (CFLs) bulbs. Switching out even one bulb saves 500 pounds of coal which reduces CO2 pollution by 1430 pounds over the lifetime of the bulb!   Don't forget to "buy local" and support your local businesses.  This is particularly critical during this economic downturn.  Your neighbors need your support and your planet can use the lower carbon emissions:)

Why eat locally grown foods?

Eating locally grown foods is a great idea.  Why?  One reason is that the fresher the produce, the higher the nutritional value of that produce.  So locally grown foods should have more nutrients than those that are shipped from miles away.  Now lets look at some of the ecological costs.  How much energy is used to transport that food to our table?  According to David Pimentel, a professor emeritus of Cornell University, lettuce traveling to New York from California requires at least 1.4 times the energy to ship it than is used to grow and harvest it.  Keep in mind that the average distance our food travels to get to our table is 1500 miles!  

What can we do and what is happening in Cortland to address the local foods issue?  Grow your own!  There are lots of gardens throughout Cortland County including some that are CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture).  Farmers markets and local stands are another way to buy local foods.  Local grocery stores (Like P & C and Tops) have begun putting up signs letting you know some of their produce is locally grown. Please see the links below for some places where you can find locally grown and locally made products in Cortland County.

Archive of Local Food Menus

Below is an archive of local food menus.

June 27, 2009 local dinner menu:

BBQ Cobblestone Valley Chicken (with Dinosaur BBQ sauce from Syracuse, NY); salad from our garden including lettuce, spinach, turnips, and radishes; and dessert from the East Side Bakery.

April 27, 2009 local dinner menu:

Roasted Cobblestone Valley Chicken (marinated in Salamida's State Fair Lemon Garlicious Johnson City, NY), broccoli from our 2008 garden (frozen), and fresh asparagus from the 2009 garden.

March 13, 2009 local lunch menu:

Grilled Cheese made with homemade mozzarella cheese and butter from Twin Oaks Dairy raw organic milk (Truxton, NY) and olive and herb bread from Lisa's Pane di Casa (Cortland, NY). Minestrone Soup made from canned, frozen, and dried veggies from our garden.


February 22, 2009 local breakfast menu:

New Hope Mills Buckwheat pancakes (Moravia, NY) with local blueberries picked last summer; Delavan Farms Maple Syrup (Cincinnatus, NY); and Cobblestone Valley Farm pork sausage (Preble, NY).


January 25, 2009 local dinner menu:

Homemade Cuban rolls using flour from New Hope Mills (Moravia, NY); Pork BBQ using Cobblestone Valley Farm pork (Preble, NY) and Dinosaur BBQ sauce (Syracuse, NY); butternut squash grown in our garden; broccoli (frozen) also grown in our garden; and Applesauce made from NYS Cortland apples purchased from Hollenbeck's Cider Mill (Virgil, NY).

Green Cortland - Our First Post

Welcome to Green Cortland.  This blog focuses on sharing many of the good things that are happening in Cortland County, NY toward a sustainable future.  This includes sharing where to get local and organic products, relocalization efforts of community members, and what "green" activities are germinating:)  We'll also share some of our trials and tribulations as my family continues to work on lowering our ecological footprint.