News and blog

Update for Saturday January 7th

On behalf of all the farmers and vendors, we wish a happy new year to all of our customers.  We thank you for all of your support last year and look forward to serving you in 2012!

The market is open this Saturday, and all four of the farmers will be open and fully stocked- Kistaco Farm, J.L Kennedy Meat Stand, Zang's and Greenawalts.  I spoke with all the farmers this week, and here is a summary of what will be available:

• Locally raised meat (J. L. Kennedy Meat Stand)
• Locally raised apples and apple cider (Kistaco Farm)

There will be a variety of other fruits and vegetables available throughout the market from Zang's, Greenawalt and Kistaco stands.  Some are still locally grown items and some are "imported."

• Potatoes
• Mushrooms
• Squash
• Celery
• Carrots
• Onions
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Green beans
• Broccoli
• Citrus such as lemons, oranges and tangerines
• Cherries
• Grapes

Other vendors in the market will also be open.  So keep in mind that this includes many locally made offerings such as hummus from the Greek Gourmet, fresh baked items from Rebecca Plum, and fresh made donuts from Better-Made Donuts.  Also, pasta from Fontana Pasta.  Many Amish made prepared items are available at Greenawalts.

We will be a little short staffed this week at the Kew Park Coffee, California Olive Oil Connection and PA Made Cheese.  We have several school events for our children and are not able to be there.   We are working to get some friends to stand in for us, so I expect that the Kew Park Coffee Bar and California Olive Oil Connection will be open, but not the PA Made Cheese stand.

Hand-made items from Uganda

Last, but not least, I want to highlight a new vendor that we have at the market.  

Thanks again for your support!

David

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please 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/

*********************************************************

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 December 31st- New Years Eve

I hope everyone had a nice holiday break.  I want to let everyone know that the market will be open tomorrow, December 31st- New Years Eve.

I have been away this week so I don't have a specific update.

See you tomorrow and have a happy New Year!

David

****************************************************Please 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/

*********************************************************

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 December 24th- Christmas Eve

The market is open tomorrow.  I expect all vendors to be there and fully stocked.  I got so tied up in my holiday preparations yesterday that I did not get a chance to talk to the farmers.  I think some of the special items will be similar to last week, so see below.  And remember also that there are lots of last minute gift opportunities at the market.

See you tomorrow and have a happy holiday!

David

****************************************************
Update for Saturday December 17th

We will be open this Saturday, and will have a full contingent of farmers and vendors available.  

I spoke to a few of the farmers so read below for an update.

But one thing I would like to mention is to think about the Farmers Market as a source of holiday gifts and house warming presents.
 
Some of the ideas I have are....  A smoked pheasant (they come vacuum wrapped) from the JL Kennedy Meat Stand, A fresh potted flower from Zang's Greenhouse, a pound of coffee beans from the Kew Park Coffee Bar, a bottle of olive oil from the California Olive Oil Connection, a piece of local cheese from PA Made Cheese, home made baked goods from Rebecca Plum, a jar of local honey from flower and bee, a fruit basket from Kistaco Farm, a jar of all-purpose sauce from Mrs. Jones, hummus from the Greek Gourmet, a jar of amish made pickles from Greenawalt Farm.  You can use your immagination and put together a nice basket of items from the market.  I think people really appreciate getting locally made and grown items.  

Kistaco Farm 

Kistaco will have 12 varieties of apples this week.  They will also fresh cider.  Kistaco will also have ready made holiday fruit baskets.  They will have them this week and next week.  If you want to be sure to get a specially made backet, you can order them this Saturday for next Saturday.

*********************************************************

Zang's Greenhouse

Rick from Zang's Greenhouse will still have some local vegetables, including potatoes, mushrooms, leeks, onions, celery root and shallots.  Chestnuts are imported from Italy.  In the flower department, Rick will have poinsettias, cyclamen, and Amaryllis.  Rick also has some really nice locally made wreaths.

*********************************************************

Greenawalt Farm

Locally grown items include potatoes and squash.  Of course eggs are always available. 

Brian picked up quite a bit of pine greens for decorating the house for the holidays- varieties include Blue Spruce and White Pine.

Greenawalts also have lots of prepared items like jellies, pickles, mustard and beets.  All are locally made, and some are Amish made.  They carry locally made frozen pasta and dried egg noodles.
 

*********************************************************

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee visit

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee in Jamaica visited the market last Saturday.   Peter had a great time visiting the market and talking to customers.  We spent the afternoon visiting coffee roasters.  We met with Sam Patti from La Prima, TJ Fairchild from Commonplace, and David DiOrio from 19 Coffee.  It was really an excellent day and we learned a lot from our meetings.  We asked each of these roasters to do a test roast for us. So we will be offering coffee roasted by each of them over the next few weeks.  We encourage input from our customers so that we can make a final decision on who to partner with to roast our coffee.  This Saturday we will be brewing the beans that were roasted by La Prima.

I visited Peter on the farm in Jamaica back in April.  I wrote a little story about my visit.  If you are interested, give it a read...

http://sfc.smallfarmcentral.com/dynamic_content/uploadfiles/1108/Kew%20Park%20Farm%20Visit.doc

TANA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

Tana set up shop at the market last Saturday, and we expect them to be back this Saturday.  Tana is a neighborhood restaurant located in East Liberty at 5929 Baum Blvd., a few doors down from the Carnegie Library.  Restaurant Owner Seifu Haileyesus will be there.  They will be serving food from 9 to 11. 

If you have not tried TANA yet, you need to get over there for a visit.  Our family goes there regularly.  The food is very well prepared and flavorful.

Cook Books for sale

We continue to sell cookbooks that were written by my father- Joe Lagnese. The book is called "Cookin"- and is a book on food and life.  My father, was a big part of my inspiration and passion for food.  So I am really glad that he spent the time to put together his thoughts on life and food into a book.  The Post-Gazette ran a nice little article on the book.  Check it out.  

 http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11325/1190905-34.stm

Proceeds from sales of the book goes to a foundation that our family established to benefit people afflicted by Cystic Fibrosis.  We lost our sister-in-law, Muriel to CF last year, so we call the fondation Muriel's Breath of Life...  We will be selling books at the market.  They are only $10, and we will donate an additional $15 to the foundation for each book sold.  They also make great holiday gifts.

David Lagnese

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please 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/

*********************************************************

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.

Saturday December 24th- Christmas Eve

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the market will be open this Saturday, December 24th.  We will be open normal hours- 5 am until noon.  All farmers and other vendors will be there.

I will send out more detials later this week.

David Lagnese

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please 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/

*********************************************************

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 December 17th

We will be open this Saturday, and will have a full contingent of farmers and vendors available.  

I spoke to a few of the farmers so read below for an update.

But one thing I would like to mention is to think about the Farmers Market as a source of holiday gifts and house warming presents.
 
Some of the ideas I have are....  A smoked pheasant (they come vacuum wrapped) from the JL Kennedy Meat Stand, A fresh potted flower from Zang's Greenhouse, a pound of coffee beans from the Kew Park Coffee Bar, a bottle of olive oil from the California Olive Oil Connection, a piece of local cheese from PA Made Cheese, home made baked goods from Rebecca Plum, a jar of local honey from flower and bee, a fruit basket from Kistaco Farm, a jar of all-purpose sauce from Mrs. Jones, hummus from the Greek Gourmet, a jar of amish made pickles from Greenawalt Farm.  You can use your immagination and put together a nice basket of items from the market.  I think people really appreciate getting locally made and grown items.  

Kistaco Farm 

Kistaco will have 12 varieties of apples this week.  They will also fresh cider.  Kistaco will also have ready made holiday fruit baskets.  They will have them this week and next week.  If you want to be sure to get a specially made backet, you can order them this Saturday for next Saturday.

*********************************************************

Zang's Greenhouse

Rick from Zang's Greenhouse will still have some local vegetables, including potatoes, mushrooms, leeks, onions, celery root and shallots.  Chestnuts are imported from Italy.  In the flower department, Rick will have poinsettias, cyclamen, and Amaryllis.  Rick also has some really nice locally made wreaths.

*********************************************************

Greenawalt Farm

Locally grown items include potatoes and squash.  Of course eggs are always available. 

Brian picked up quite a bit of pine greens for decorating the house for the holidays- varieties include Blue Spruce and White Pine.

Greenawalts also have lots of prepared items like jellies, pickles, mustard and beets.  All are locally made, and some are Amish made.  They carry locally made frozen pasta and dried egg noodles.
 

*********************************************************

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee visit

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee in Jamaica visited the market last Saturday.   Peter had a great time visiting the market and talking to customers.  We spent the afternoon visiting coffee roasters.  We met with Sam Patti from La Prima, TJ Fairchild from Commonplace, and David DiOrio from 19 Coffee.  It was really an excellent day and we learned a lot from our meetings.  We asked each of these roasters to do a test roast for us. So we will be offering coffee roasted by each of them over the next few weeks.  We encourage input from our customers so that we can make a final decision on who to partner with to roast our coffee.  This Saturday we will be brewing the beans that were roasted by La Prima.

I visited Peter on the farm in Jamaica back in April.  I wrote a little story about my visit.  If you are interested, give it a read...

http://sfc.smallfarmcentral.com/dynamic_content/uploadfiles/1108/Kew%20Park%20Farm%20Visit.doc

TANA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

Tana set up shop at the market last Saturday, and we expect them to be back this Saturday.  Tana is a neighborhood restaurant located in East Liberty at 5929 Baum Blvd., a few doors down from the Carnegie Library.  Restaurant Owner Seifu Haileyesus will be there.  They will be serving food from 9 to 11. 

If you have not tried TANA yet, you need to get over there for a visit.  Our family goes there regularly.  The food is very well prepared and flavorful.

Cook Books for sale

We continue to sell cookbooks that were written by my father- Joe Lagnese. The book is called "Cookin"- and is a book on food and life.  My father, was a big part of my inspiration and passion for food.  So I am really glad that he spent the time to put together his thoughts on life and food into a book.  The Post-Gazette ran a nice little article on the book.  Check it out.  

 http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11325/1190905-34.stm

Proceeds from sales of the book goes to a foundation that our family established to benefit people afflicted by Cystic Fibrosis.  We lost our sister-in-law, Muriel to CF last year, so we call the fondation Muriel's Breath of Life...  We will be selling books at the market.  They are only $10, and we will donate an additional $15 to the foundation for each book sold.  They also make great holiday gifts.

David Lagnese

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please 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/

*********************************************************

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 December 10th

We will be open this Saturday, and will have a full contingent of farmers and vendors available. We will also have a few special events this Saturday, please see below for details. 

I have been traveling this week and did not get to speak with all the farmers.  I did hear from Val Kennedy from the J. L. Kennedy Meat Stand with an update of items for Saturday.  So in addition to the items mentioned in yesterday's email update, the Kennedy's will have:

FRESH WHOLE QUAL

FRESH WHOLE RABBITS

Both of these items are unique, so please get to the market to try them out.

I would expect from the other farmers- Kistaco, Greenawalt and Zang's to have similar items as last week.  They will offer a combination of locally grown items other select fruits, vegatables, and flowers.

Special Events

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee visit

Peter Williams from Kew Park Estate Coffee will be visiting the market this Saturday.  It has been over a year since Peter has visited, so we are really excited to have him.  Jamaica is a long way off, so we really appreciate when Peter visits.  Peter will be at the market from 7 AM until  about 10 AM.  It is a great opportunity to meet the person that grows the coffee we serve at the market.

I visited Peter on the farm in Jamaica back in April.  I wrote a little story about my visit.  If you are interested, give it a read...

http://sfc.smallfarmcentral.com/dynamic_content/uploadfiles/1108/Kew%20Park%20Farm%20Visit.doc

After market, Peter and I plan to meet with a few local coffee roasters so that we can begin roasting the raw (green) beans locally here in Pittsburgh.  We are very excited to reach this milestone.  I will have more details in next weeks update.

TANA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

Tana is a neighborhood restaurant located in East Liberty at 5929 Baum Blvd., a few doors down from the Carnegie Library.  We invited Tana to come for a few weeks to set up a both to share their delicious Ethiopian cuisine with us.  Restaurant Owner Seifu Haileyesus will be there.  They will be serving food from 9 to 11. 

If you have not tried TANA yet, you need to get over there for a visit.  Our family goes there regularly.  The food is very well prepared and flavorful.

David Lagnese

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please 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/

*********************************************************

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.