News and blog
Update for Saturday, September 28th
Hello farmers market fans. This Saturday should be another great day at the market.
Last week was the first week for fresh pressed cider from Kistaco Farm. The taste was excellent. I always say that Kistaco's is the best in the region because of its balance of sweet and tart flavors. So stop by and pick up a jug for you and for a friend.
Special visit- One of our regular customers Sylvia Lynch recently started selling some wonderful aged balsamic vinegars at the outdoor farmers markets. She calls her business Pastamore'. We invited her to stop by our market to sell some of this excellent vinegar. I have had lots of different balsamic vinegars and must say this is some of the best I have ever had. So please stop by and try some. Of course vinegar goes very well with all of the California olive oils that are also available at the market.
The Greenawalts in the news- For those of you that may have missed it, our local NPR radio station, WESA 90.5 FM did a story this week on gleaning. Featured in the story was our very own Greenawalt family. They participate in a gleaning program that gets excess vegetables from their farm into the the hands of needy people through local food banks. You can read and hear the story by clicking on the following link:
http://wesa.fm/post/how-ancient-practice-gleaning-still-getting-food-needy
Cheers to the Greenawalt Family.
See you at the market.
David Lagnese
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The Update....
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND
Special items for this week:
-SMOKED HALF HAMS AND HAM SLICES
-CANADIAN BACON
-BABY BACK RIBS
-EYE OF ROUND ROAST
-ROLLED RUMP ROAST-
The number at the farm is 724-898-2316.
I expect he will have water mellons, rhubarb, green beans, sweet corn, onions (several varieties) leeks, hot peppers and green peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, cukes, pickles, peaches, nectarines, fresh garlic, cabbage, tomatoes (several varieties), new potatoes (white, yukon gold and red), and fresh herbs. Brian also has freshly grown, dried herbs. Also Brian will heve several varieties of shelling beans and grapes- concords and other varieties.
A full line of winter squash is now available, as well as fall items like decorating squash and pumpkins.
The Kistaco Farm stand will have:
Apple varieties:
- Gala
- McIntosh
- Jonathan
- Cortland
- Red Delicious
- Golden Delicious
- Jonagold
- Macoun
6 kinds of peppers
eggplant
kale
collards
broccoli
cabbage
tomatoes
zucchini
And bread from Wood Street Bread Co.
Zang's Greenhouse...Rick will have watermellons, several types of peppers, shallots, tomatoes, pickles, cukes, candy onions, fresh garlic, green beans, beets, several varieties of lettuce, micro greens, zucchini, 2 varieties of cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, plums, sickle and bartlett pears. Concord grapes from Erie County will be available.
California Connection- We started selling the California dried fruit and nuts last week and folks seemed to really like them. The dried figs were the most popular item. New items this week include apricots from Van Dyke Ranch and dates from Flying Disc Ranch. This Saturday we will have the following at the market:
Apricots (organic)
Dates (organic)
Peaches
Cherries
Figs
Plouts
Raisins
Raw almonds
Pistachios (organic)
Bella Viva Orchards
As mentioned, most of the fruit is coming from Bella Viva Orchards. I discovered them when I was out there in March I did not get to visit the farm, which is located in the Central Valley near Modesto. Instead, I met them at the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. They were selling an incredible array of dried fruits- cherries, apricots, pluots, peaches and nectarines to name a few. I was really impressed by how beautiful looking the fruit was and also how moist and tasty it was. The farm is operated by the Martino Family. Named for their daughters, Vivian and Belle, Bella Viva means beautiful long life in Italian. What sets them apart in my mind, is that they have become quite expert at the processing and drying of the fresh fruit. It is very difficult to master this, and at Bella Viva it is all processed and dried naturally under the California sun. I really think you are going to enjoy this fruit.
Click on their website and watch the little video about their farm and the great shots of the large racks of fruit drying in the sun.
PA Made Cheese- We will have aged sheep and goat milk cheeses that were ageed in the cheese cave. Unfortunately the Bylers will not be able to make it in for a visit but we hope that they will in the near future.
The Greek Gourmet- will have homemade spinach and meat pies at the market each week- in addition to 20+ flavors of hummus. Stop by and talk to Jack at the booth.
BANDY Woodworks BANDY Woodworks will have will have a new batch of honey locust serving boards and end-grain cutting boards this week. All items are made in their shop using local reclaimed and salvaged wood and non-toxic finishes. Their booth is on the right when you walk in the front door from N. Sheridan, directly across from Greenawalt's. Preview some of the items carried at the market by visiting:
*****************************************************
Visit the market's website for information on the market and all the vendors. You can sign up for a weekly email update.
http://www.farmersmarketcooperativeofeastliberty.com/
Also, check out the video about the market produced by Ths folks at East Liberty Development (ELDI). It was directed and produced by local film maker Michael Pisano. So a great big thanks Michael and ELDI's Margaret Graham for producing the video. So please check out the video and share it with others.
*********************************************************
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, September 28th...
-SMOKED HALF HAMS AND HAM SLICES
-CANADIAN BACON
-BABY BACK RIBS
-EYE OF ROUND ROAST
-ROLLED RUMP ROAST
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
Update for Saturday, September 21st
Hello Farmers market fans. This Saturday should be another great day at the market.
You know fall is here when the fresh pressed apple cider shows up. I am happy to report that fresh cider will be available at the Kistaco stand. So stop by and pick up a jug.
Good news, bad news. The bad news is that the local peach season is over. That alwasy makes me sad. But we did have a really good and long peach season this year, so I guess we can't complain. The good news is that the dried fruit from California has arrived and is available at the California Connection stand. We have some wondewrful dried peaches that are large and moist. See below for an update.
See you at the market.
David Lagnese
***********************************************************************************************
The Update....
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND
- SIRLOIN TIP kabobs for grilling or roasting
- BONELESS PORK LOIN ROASTS OR CHOPS
- PORK TENDERLOINS
A full line of winter squash is now available, as well as fall items like decorating squash and pumpkins.
The Kistaco Farm stand will have:
Gala
Honeycrisp
Cortland
Red Delicious
Prune Plums
Nectarines
Kale
Collards
Eggplant
6 kinds of peppers
Pickles
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Cider!!
And bread from Wood Street Bread Co.
Zang's Greenhouse...Rick will have watermellons, several types of peppers, shallots, tomatoes, pickles, cukes, candy onions, fresh garlic, green beans, beets, several varieties of lettuce, micro greens, zucchini, 2 varieties of cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, plums, sickle and bartlett pears. Concord grapes from Erie County will be available. Chambersburg peaches are done for the season.
California Connection- As mentioned above, the dried fruit and nuts are coming in from California. Most of the fruit is comong from Bella Viva Orchards. I discovered them when I was out there in March I did not get to visit the farm, which is located in the Central Valley near Modesto. Instead, I met them at the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. They were selling an incredible array of dried fruits- cherries, apricots, pluots, peaches and nectarines to name a few. I was really impressed by how beautiful looking the fruit was and also how moist and tasty it was. The farm is operated by the Martino Family. Named for their daughters, Vivian and Belle, Bella Viva means beautiful long life in Italian. What sets them apart in my mind, is that they have become quite expert at the processing and drying of the fresh fruit. It is very difficult to master this, and at Bella Viva it is all processed and dried naturally under the California sun. I really think you are going to enjoy this fruit. This Saturday we will have the following at the market, with more to come in the next few weeks:
Peaches
Cherries
Figs
Plouts
Raisins
Raw almonds
Pistachios
Click on their website and watch the little video about their farm and the great shots of the large racks of fruit drying in the sun.
PA Made Cheese- We started selling the sheep milk cheese last week and people seemed to really like it. We will have more ths week. In fact Sam and Susie Byler will be making a long overdue visit to the market next Saturday, Spetember 28th. It will be a short visit as they will only be there from about 8 to 9 am.
The Greek Gourmet- will have homemade spinach and meat pies at the market each week- in addition to 20+ flavors of hummus. Stop by and talk to Jack at the booth.
BANDY Woodworks BANDY Woodworks will have will have a new batch of honey locust serving boards and end-grain cutting boards this week. All items are made in their shop using local reclaimed and salvaged wood and non-toxic finishes. Their booth is on the right when you walk in the front door from N. Sheridan, directly across from Greenawalt's. Preview some of the items carried at the market by visiting:
*****************************************************
Visit the market's website for information on the market and all the vendors. You can sign up for a weekly email update.
http://www.farmersmarketcooperativeofeastliberty.com/
Also, check out the video about the market produced by Ths folks at East Liberty Development (ELDI). It was directed and produced by local film maker Michael Pisano. So a great big thanks Michael and ELDI's Margaret Graham for producing the video. So please check out the video and share it with others.
*********************************************************
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, September 21st...
- SIRLOIN TIP kabobs for grilling or roasting
- BONELESS PORK LOIN ROASTS OR CHOPS
- PORK TENDERLOINS
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, September 14th...
- LAMB...please order ahead if you can!! last offering until end of October
- SMOKED PORK CHOPS
- EXTRA-LEAN GROUND TURKEY
- BONELESS PORK LOIN ROASTS OR CHOPS
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, August 31st...
- FRESHLY-SMOKED KOLBASSI AND SMOKED SAUSAGE from the Kennedy show hogs
- HICKORY-SMOKED CANADIAN BACON from show hog loins
- PASTURE-RAISED ROASTING CHICKENS ...this is a new, fresh batch offering and will sell until all are gone...last of this group until holiday season
- KENNEDY KIDS’ SHOW BEEF...all cuts available if called in early enough
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, August 24th...
- SMOKED HAM SLICES
- SMOKED HAM HOCKS
- KENNEDY CHILDREN’S 4-H PROJECT SHOW BEEF
***For the next several weeks we will be offering the most very top quality show pork, lamb, and beef from the Kennedy Kids’ show animal 4-H projects...We hope you enjoy the long hours and hard work the kids have put into hand-raising these meats for you. See you soon!
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
Update for Saturday, August 17th
Hello everyone. We will have a great selection of locally grown items this week.
As mentioned last week, peaches are here, so get them while you can at the Zang, Kistaco and Greenawalt stands.
The farmers tell me that the weather is really hurting the tomato crop this year. They are slow to ripen, and this recent cool weather has not helped. But the farmers tell me that this week they will have tomoatos in sufficient quantities for canning. Yeah! Check out the Kistaco, Greenawalt and Zang stands.
Please see below for a cheese update and an update from Bandy Woodworks.
See you at the market.
David Lagnese
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The Update....
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND
Well it's that favorite meat time of year when the Kennedy Kids' 4-H livestock projects have come to fruition and are freshly available for you all to purchase in our meat stand over the next 2 months.
- PORK...loin chops...shoulder/butt...sausages...
- LAMB..is limited so please call w details of what you need
***We were both successful at and grateful for the past Butler Farm Show week's events. Lots of stories and great meat projects as Taylor won reserve grand champion market beef steer....first place in beef showmanship...first place lamb in class and placed in top 6.... supreme breeding gilt hog...Jake had 2nd place in class steer...a 3rd place in class steer...first place in dairy showmanship...market hogs in 1st-3rd place...and 2nd in class lambs. We thank all you well-wishers and want you to know what a privilege it is for this farm family to be able to bring you the most top-quality meat projects.year when the Kennedy Kids' 4-H livestock projects have come to fruition and are freshly available for you all to purchase in our meat stand over the next 2 months.
The Kistaco Farm stand will have:
Paula Red Apples
Earligold Apples
White Freestone Peaches
Yellow Freestone Peaches
Blueberries
Kale
Collards
Broccoli
Tomatoes (lots of volume and variety)
Peppers (also lots of volume and variety)
Eggplant
Zucchini
And bread from Wood Street Bread Co.
Zang's Greenhouse...Rick will have Chambersburg peaches, watermellons, blackberries, swiss chard, shallots, leeks, tomatoes, pickles, cukes, candy onions, fresh garlic, green beans, beets, several varieties of lettuce, micro greens, zucchini, 2 varieties of cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, blueberries.
New items for this week include Roma tomatoes, satuma plums and kidney beans.
Kew Park Coffee Bar- We have a fresh batch of beans that were roasted by Commonplace Coffee Roasters. I spoke with Peter Williams the proprietor of Kew Park Estate and he said that the coffee is doing really well this year. He said it will be a very large and high quality crop this year. That's great since we are almost out of green beans and pretty close to being ready for a new shipment. He thinks harvest will start on the next month or so.
PA Made Cheese- This week I visited Birchrun Hills Farm. The farm is located in Chester Springs, PA which is in Chester County. We were visiting relatives in Reading so it was only a short distance away. The farm is in a beautiful area that has many 19th and 18th century buildings. Part of the farm house itself dates to the early 1700's. Its just a beautiful part of Pennsylvania, very different from the western side of the state with so many old and historic buildings.
My wife Cristy and I spent some time with farmer, and cheese maker Sue Miller. Her's is a typical story of a farming family that got into cheese making as a way to keep the family dairy farm going. Well Sue has developed into quite a cheese maker. I first tried it at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. I tried the Fat Cat, which is a washed rind cheese, and it was love at first bite. I have received a few shipments for the market, but the problem is that its become so popular that she can't make it fast enough. So I thought a personal visit would help. Sure enough, Sue agreed to send me a monthly shipment of the Fat Cat and the Birchrun Blue. So I hope to have a pretty steady supply of this wonderful cheese. Please stop by and try some and check out their website:
In additon, we will have a wide assortment of locally made cheese including aged sheep milk cheese and Halloumi made by Riverview Dairy. I visited the sheep cave last week to inspect the cheese. We now have about 140 wheels of sheep and goat cheese in the cave. The hydrometers are still showing perfect conditions- 55 degrees and 95% humidity. The cheese is reacting well to the environment. It is growing a fuzzy white mold, which is a good thing. The wheels are staying moist and not cracking. The first batch of "Young" pecorino (sheep milk cheese) will be ready in mid September.
The Greek Gourmet- will have homemade spinach and meat pies at the market each week- in addition to 20+ flavors of hummus. Stop by and talk to Jack at the booth.
BANDY Woodworks BANDY Woodworks will have will have a new batch of honey locust serving boards and end-grain cutting boards this week. All items are made in their shop using local reclaimed and salvaged wood and non-toxic finishes. Their booth is on the right when you walk in the front door from N. Sheridan, directly across from Greenawalt's. Preview some of the items carried at the market by visiting:
*****************************************************
Visit the market's website for information on the market and all the vendors. You can sign up for a weekly email update.
http://www.farmersmarketcooperativeofeastliberty.com/
Also, check out the video about the market produced by Ths folks at East Liberty Development (ELDI). It was directed and produced by local film maker Michael Pisano. So a great big thanks Michael and ELDI's Margaret Graham for producing the video. So please check out the video and share it with others.
*********************************************************
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
Update for Saturday, August 10th
Hello everyone. We will have a great selection of locally grown items this week.
I want to highlight peaches this week, because they are really coming into their prime season. Rick Zang will have peaches from Chambersburg, Kistaco will have peaches from their Armstrong County farm, and Greenawalts will have some from Somerset County. This is the time to buy in bulk and preserve them for winter. I plan to make home made peach fruit leather. Its very easy to do, so just stop by the PA Made Cheese both and I can tell you how to make it.
The farmers tell me that all of this rain is slowing down the growing season. Thats why things like tomatoes and peppers are late to arrive in large quantities.
Last weekend I was in DC on a college tour with my daughter Maria. I was able to visit the Eastern Market. Eastern Market is located in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington DC. This was my "first love" in terms of farmers markets as I lived in the neighborhood in the mid 1980's when I worked as a Congressional aid. Its been around since 1871, so it has about 70 years on our East Liberty market. I had not been there in almost 30 years, but am happy to report that it is doing very well. Although they had a fire a few years ago, they renovated the inside and its now full of vendors of all sorts- meat, fish, baked goods, produce and flowers. They have a lunch counter that serves great fish and crabcake sandwiches. If you are in DC for a visit, please consider visiting the market. Its open every day except Monday. Its easy to get to as it has its own Metro stop on the BlueOrange line. Check it out:
www.easternmarket-dc.org
***********************************************************************************************
Please see below for an update on the market.
See you at the market.
David Lagnese
**********************************************************************************
The Update....
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, August 10th are...
- BABY BACK RIBS
The number at the farm is 724-898-2316.
The Kistaco Farm stand will have:
Peaches
Blueberries
Cherries
Plums
Kale
Collards
Bell Peppers
Sweet Banana Peppers
Cubanelle Peppers
Hungarian Sweet Peppers
Eggplant
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Sweet Corn
Broccoli
Green Beans
Yellow Beans
And bread from Wood Street Bread Co.
Zang's Greenhouse...Rick will have swiss chard, shallots, leeks, tomatoes, pickles, cukes, candy onions, fresh garlic, green beans, beets, several varieties of lettuce, micro greens, zucchini, 2 varieties of cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, blueberries.
New items for this week include watermellons, blackberries, red rasperries and Chambersburg peaches.
Kew Park Coffee Bar- We have a fresh batch of beans that were roasted by Commonplace Coffee Roasters. This week we will have iced coffee and regular hot coffee. Also, will have fresh squeezed Valencia orange juice and fresh lemon aid.
PA Made Cheese- We will have a wide assortment of locally made cheese including aged sheep milk cheese and Halloumi made by Riverview Dairy. I visited the sheep cave this week to inspect the cheese. We now have about 140 wheels of sheep and goat cheese in the cave. The hydrometers are still showing perfect conditions- 55 degrees and 95% humidity. The cheese is reacting well to the environment. It is growing a fuzzy white mold, which is a good thing. The wheels are staying moist and not cracking. The first batch of "Young" pecorino (sheep milk cheese) will be ready in mid september.
The Greek Gourmet- will have homemade spinach and meat pies at the market each week- in addition to 20+ flavors of hummus. Stop by and talk to Jack at the booth.
BANDY Woodworks will be back next week with some new items. Please stop by and check them out.
*****************************************************
Visit the market's website for information on the market and all the vendors. You can sign up for a weekly email update.
http://www.farmersmarketcooperativeofeastliberty.com/
Also, check out the video about the market produced by Ths folks at East Liberty Development (ELDI). It was directed and produced by local film maker Michael Pisano. So a great big thanks Michael and ELDI's Margaret Graham for producing the video. So please check out the video and share it with others.
*********************************************************
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.
J.L. KENNEDY MEAT STAND special items for Saturday, August 10th are...
- BABY BACK RIBS
The number at the farm is 724-898-2316.
J.L. Kennedy Meat Stand
The Farmers' Market Cooperative of East Liberty is located at 344 North Sheridan Ave., adjacent to the Home Depot parking lot. The market operates year round- and is open from 5 AM until 12 noon every Saturday of the year.