What’s Fresh This Week – July 23, 2017

What’s Fresh This Week – July 23, 2017

Happy Summer! This is what‘s fresh for July 23.


Schenectady Greenmarket
Sundays 10:00am – 2:00pm
Around City Hall

What’s For Dinner?

We are SO lucky to have such amazingly delicious vendors here at the Schenectady Greenmarket.  The market has been looking tastier than ever with all the fresh produce that is peaking now in the middle of summer.  Best part?  You don’t even need to step foot in a grocery store because the market has everything you need for dinner!  Grab some fresh meat, zucchini, some cheese, bread, and don’t forget flowers to decorate the table and you got yourself a meal!  Bon appetit!

Music Schedule

10am-12pm
Henry Fernandez
12-2pm
The Doghouse Carpenters

Special Items From Our Vendors This Week

Bouchard Farm II: Is it too hot to cook? How about a nice London broil or pork roast in the crock-pot, we’ll be offering both this coming Sunday, along with our full line up of grass-fed beef and pastured pork.

Cherish Natural Soaps: We are featuring our amazing bug repellent and herbal after bite and natural flea and tick repellent for dogs.

Hope Valley Farm: TOMATOES, lettuce, radishes, napa cabbage, swiss chard, kale, sugar snap peas, broccoli, zucchini, squash, cukes, garlic products, plants, perennials, herbs, & more.

Mariaville Farm: Fresh chicken, whole and parts, pasture raised Black Angus beef, Berkshire Hogs, pasture raised and Fresh eggs.

Maynard Farms: White Nectarines make their market debut! We will also have peaches, plums, raspberries, blueberries, beautiful eggplant, colorful sweet peppers, cucumbers, and field ripened cherry tomatoes!

Puckers Gourmet: A fresh batch of our international award winning vegan Kim chi will be at the market this weekend!  Try this rockstar Kim chi on a burger, mix it with those scrambled eggs, or how about Kim chi fries??!

Children’s Activity:

Glenville YMCA

Local Expert: 

Celebrate ice cream month with us! 

Come enjoy a free cone of delicious Battenkill Valley Creamery ice cream, while supplies last!

 

*Header photo courtesy of Mikayla Ganswith.  Thank you!

Vendor Spotlight: Ayelada

ayelada-vendor-spotlightAyelada is a new vendor this winter season. They produce fresh, local frozen yogurt daily at their two locations in Latham, NY and Pittsfield, MA. Unfortunately, they won’t be moving outside with us, so make sure to stop by and visit them on their last market THIS Sunday (which is also our last indoor market).

How did you get started?

By accident! We happened to be in Northampton MA on a regular basis from 2011 to 2013 and came across a store called GoBerry. GoBerry does what we do in that they make their frozen yogurt each day with skim milk and low fat yogurt from small local independent farms with real ingredients and flavors. They helped us to open our first store in Pittsfield MA in April 2013.

What is your favorite product of yours?

We only make frozen yogurt but if I had to pick a go to flavor it would Original. It’s our base flavor and is really what we are all about in being Fresh, Local and Real. Fresh Dairy and Real Flavors come together in Original. From that we can add any flavor we like. For example Raspberry is Original with real raspberry puree. There is nothing artificial-ever.

What do you feel makes you unique?

Other than GoBerry and maybe a few others (none in the Capital District) no one makes frozen yogurt from scratch each day like we do. Everyone else uses a prepackaged mix. Aside from working with local farms we also work with local artisans for flavors and toppings. See our website under Farmers and Partners.

What does the Schenectady Greenmarket mean to you?

Two things – it allows us to expand our reach and brand as well as meet locally-minded people who are looking for good-quality, locally-produced food. Plus, we are meeting new artisans for flavors and toppings.

What do you love most about what you do?

To be honest we love our business. We are lucky to have a cool group of employees, customers, farmers, and suppliers. We also find looking for new flavors and artisans is also enjoyable.

Vendor Spotlight: Hope Valley Farm

Hope Valley FarmThis coming Sunday is the last week that one of our produce vendors, Hope Valley Farm, will be at the market until the spring. To kick off our new series of blog posts spotlighting vendors, our intern Jenna spoke with the owner, Rich Rugen. Here is their conversation:

How did you get started?

“We started Hope Valley Farm 25 years ago as a result of a desire to move from Long Island to the Adirondack mountains and do something positive to make a living.  We found out people would buy flowers readily and we put up a greenhouse.  Then we added another and another until we got to eight.  And we kept adding to our open field production of vegetables.”

What is your favorite product?

“We have several favorite products including 6 varieties of Garlic, Tomatoes, Lettuce, and of course, the Annual and Perennial flowers!”

What do you feel makes you unique?

“Our “Uniqueness” is centered around our vegetables being “Certified Naturally Grown” and free of “GMO” contamination. We are also the only flower and vegetable farm located in Hamilton County.”

What does the Schenectady Greenmarket mean to you?

“The Schenectady Greenmarket is our favorite market because of its great diversity and the extensive interest of the attendees in the way we grow and in our ecological principles.  The loyalty of so many faithful customers week in and week out is especially gratifying!  Also, the market has a policy that doesn’t allow vendors to “buy in” products from other sources, so that makes Schenectady Greenmarket a pretty honest farmers market.”

What do you love most about what you do?
   
“Aside from treading lightly upon the earth and growing food without the use of chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers, we love interacting with our customers about how we produce their food and how to use those veggies.  We are particularly proud to say that we do NOT grow any of our vegetables using genetically modified seed or seed treated with chemical fungicides.  No foolin!”

Thanks Jenna & Rich. Make sure you check out their awesome produce (they’re located under the stairs on the lower level of Proctors) and say hello THIS Sunday!

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