Harvest Blog - Adirondack Harvest

Adirondack Flower Farming Businesses Are Cultivating Pollinators and Agritourism

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Don’t let those bright spring flowers waving in the breeze fool you. Behind the lovely, carefree blooms is a serious ecological and…

Incorporating Locally Produced Foods into School Cafeteria Menus Through Farm to School

To a student armed with a lunch tray and an appetite, a cafeteria line looks deceptively simple. The food magically appears, with no hint of the legalities, formulas and…

Spring Foraging in the Adirondacks Brings Bountiful Harvests, If You Know Where to Look

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Our species has gotten good at strolling through supermarket aisles, ordering off menus and even growing neat rows of peas in…

School Cafeterias Present Opportunities for Everyday Nutrition-Based Learning

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer On a chilly Monday morning, educators, administration, and school lunch staff at Boquet Valley Central School’s Lake View Campus came…

Knitting Communities Together: Adirondack Fiber Arts

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Two hundred years ago, Merino sheep wandered the North Country like they owned it, and hundreds of small family cabin…

AuSable Forks Elementary Students Get A Sweet Introduction At The Uihlein Maple Research Forest

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Freed of the walled confines of AuSable Forks Elementary School, 19 second graders sprinted up a snowy hill to explore the sugarbush where…

Celebrating International Women’s Day: North Country Women Farmers Share Their Experience in Agriculture

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Courtney Grimes-Sutton’s grandfather was quite proud that he had clawed his way out of farming to become a dignified, suit-and-tie…

The Home-Scale Forest Garden: New WPBS Original Show With Adirondack Harvest Member, Dani Baker

Since 2023, WPBS has been working in collaboration with Adirondack Harvest member, Dani Baker, to produce a weeknight show based on her book, The Home-Scale Forest Garden. The…

Adirondack Apiary Management: Sustainable Practices for the Future

By Bruce Kilgore | Contributing Writer Logo of the Northern Adirondack Beekeepers Association. Celebrating the Apibus Milliferis Dedicati spirit. This month we consider our…

New Food Hub to Provide Farm-Fresh Food To Rural Adirondackers

In this region of northern New York, access to local food is often limited by remoteness, transportation costs, a short growing season and other challenges. A new food hub will…

Statewide Environmental Stewardship Award Presented to Champlain Valley Farm

By Isabella Susino | Adirondack Harvest Program Lead The New York Beef Producers Association and New York Beef Council have awarded the 2025…

Ag in the Classroom Sprouts Success with Microgreens

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer The second graders in Elizabeth Donahue’s classroom know what it’s like to grow their own food. Granted, they didn’t have to deal with…

Essex County Communities, Organizations Meet Direct Food Assistance Needs Amid SNAP Benefits Pause

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Three weeks before Thanksgiving, a traditional time of bounty, food was a big topic of discussion in Essex County for all the wrong…

Parker Family Maple Farm Recipient of 2026 New York State Agricultural Society Business of the Year Award

By Isabella Susino | Adirondack Harvest Program Lead Photo provided by NYS Agricultural Society Adirondack Harvest member Parker Family Maple Farm is the New York State…

Beekeeping in Deep Winter: Bees Sensing Change Amidst the Frost

By Bruce Kilgore | Contributing Writer As a beekeeper, February always makes me feel like I’m sitting on go. Normally, we get a few days where our bees get out to fly.…

Educators Reflect on the Impact of Agriculture in the Classroom

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer Reading, writing and rutabagas aren’t part of the classic curriculum that most educators signed up for, but teachers who have added food…

Agriculture in the Classroom Grows Roots in Essex County

Sometimes all it takes to start a revolution is a cherry tomato. By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer As agricultural educators with Cornell Cooperative Extension of…

Successful summer programming with the Power of Produce Club

POP Club gives kids a chance to engage with local producers and growers within Essex County. By Ellie Hoffman | Local Food Educator Kids gather around the POP Club…

Farewell to summer: Thank you for supporting Adirondack farmers’ markets

By Isabella Susino | Adirondack Harvest Program Lead Taken by Isabella Susino. As autumn colors are painted across the Adirondack Park, we say goodbye to another amazing…

Thank you for a successful 2025 Adirondack Harvest Festival

By Isabella Susino | Adirondack Harvest Program Lead The 2025 Adirondack Harvest Festival was a great success, bringing together farms, food producers, and community members…

Farmland Access and Affordable Housing – Feeding Two Birds With One Scone

by Tim Rowland | Dan and Kimmy Rivera started out to solve a problem. If all goes according to plan, they may wind up solving several. In middle age and feeling the effects of a…

Egg Price Volatility Makes a Strong Case for Local Food

by Tim Rowland | Farm supply stores are normally noisy places in the early spring, filled with the chirps and cheeps of layer chicks bound for backyard coops. But…

The Quest for Food Justice in the Adirondacks

by Tim Rowland | On their way to the dollar store to buy cheap, easily consumed and ultra processed foods such as instant noodles, hot dogs, sweet rolls, and mac and cheese,…

Agritourism, Buzzword or Bust?

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Leader | Agritourism can be considered a dirty word to farmers who really just want to care for their animals, grow their crops,…

Farm to Festivity: Buy Local This Holiday Season

Christmas shopping doesn’t have to be a dutiful trudge to the mall or a soulless lonely crawl through endless shopping websites promising that if you just spend another $10…

Farming for the Future: Navigating Climate Resilience in the Adirondacks

By Tim Rowland | Contributing Writer A genre of 20th century agrarian artists loved nothing better than a pastoral scene with a stream tranquilly meandering through a neatly…

Thank You For A Successful 2024 Adirondack Harvest Festival!

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Leader | Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made our 2024 Adirondack…

Where to Pre-Order A Local Thanksgiving Turkey

There is no sugarcoating it: a locally raised turkey will cost more money than the big birds at the grocery store. So why spend more on something you can get so cheaply? The…

What Do Certifications Mean For Small Farms & Consumers in the Adirondacks?

Food labels and certifications such as “natural,” “organic,” “cage-free” and “pasture-raised” are time-consuming for the producer and confusing for the consumer — so are they…

Noris Village Market a Cornerstone for Local Farmers & Locavores

By Tim Rowland There is the taste of savory chicken salad, the sound of chattering customers, the smell of freshly roasted coffee, the feel of smooth, artisanal soaps, and all…

The Pandemic Caused Some Farms to Pivot, Now What?

An overriding theme of the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic is that it might not by itself have created permanent change, but it speeded up trends that were already in motion. In the…

2024 FMNP Coupons Now Available to Seniors

Through the FMNP Program, each eligible senior can receive five $5.00 coupons to total $25.00 that are valid through November 30, 2024. To be eligible, the senior’s income…

Adirondack Region Farmers Working in Harmony with Wildlife

By Tim Rowland | Syncing farmland with wildlife habitat makes so much sense that Kia-Beth Bennet sometimes wonders how conventional farms can succeed without doing so. At…

Farmers’ Markets Are a Labor of Love

On a bright summer day when the sun catches it just right, few scenes are as idyllic as a bountiful farmers market, with mounds of scarlet radishes, cascades of saffron summer…

Grafting Heritage Fruit Trees at Mace Chasm Farm

By Tim Rowland Armed with pruners and a clipboard, Courtney Grimes-Sutton surveys row upon row of young apple trees, none of which are named Red Delicious or McIntosh. The…

Spring is an Egg-cellent Time to Buy Local

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Leader | Eggs are an integral part of traditions, celebratory dishes, and the everyday diet around the globe. Historians estimate…

This Spring, Landscape and Garden Local

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Leader | Nothing says SPRING quite like the gardener’s urge to plan out the garden for the year ahead. Are you champing at the bit…

Time to Sign Up for CSA Shares

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Leader | What is a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a model where a member pays for a “share” of a farmer’s offerings in…

Seasonal Harvest: Medicinal Herbs & Herbal Products in the Adirondacks

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Program Coordinator, CCE Essex | For centuries, humans across the globe have used plants for food, medicine, and ceremony. Herbs have been…

Local Farm Stores are a Great Spot for Holiday Shopping

By Tim Rowland This Christmas I’m giving the gift of garlic. No, really — plump and pungent bulbs of Adirondack-grown garlic, snow white with faint veins of purple, along with a…

Seasonal Harvest: Embracing the Autumn Bounty of Pumpkins & Winter Squash

By Mary Godnick, Communication Coordinator for CCE Essex Adirondack Harvest Program. This article originally appeared in the September issues of Northern HGL Magazine. Pumpkins…

Celebrating Another Successful Year for the Power of Produce Club!

By Emma Crowningshield, Americorps VISTA Volunteer. 2023 Marked the fourth consecutive year of hosting the Power of Produce (POP) club in person, and once again, it was a…

Small Town Cultures Provides a Fresh Take on Fermented Foods

When it comes to versatile, yet delicious plant-based ferments, Small Town Cultures is the way to go. Founded by Lake Placid native Cori Deans, Small Town Cultures was built on…

Blue Pepper Farm Offers a Glimpse into Adirondack Farm Life at Farmstay

When signing the mortgage paperwork a decade ago for land in the Town of Jay that would become Blue Pepper Farm, Tyler Eaton had a thought. He and his wife Shannon could vacate…

Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers’ Market Celebrates 25 Years of Bringing Local Food to Warren County

The Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers’ Market is celebrating its 25th season this year with full line up of special events, live music and activities for their community. In 1998…

The Future of Farm to School in the Adirondack Region

Most local activists will tell you they’re not out to save the world. Julie Holbrook and K’Cee Leavine will admit to no such thing. They see child nutrition in schools as a…

Better Quality Food is Key for Helping Students Thrive

By Tim Rowland Supporters of Farm to School had battled the conventional wisdom that food in its natural state was too costly and too hard to prepare. They’d won that fight,…

Local Food Saves Area Schools Money

By Tim Rowland If children can be particular when it comes to food, school administrators, out of necessity, can be just as fastidious when it comes to their annual…

Schools Purchasing Local Food Helps Local Farmers

By Tim Rowland Those who study global hunger note that the world produces plenty of food, the problem rests with getting that food to people in need. Something similar has…

Local Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day

If you’re celebrating a parent in your life this month, consider doing so with a gift that supports local agriculture. While everyone loves a bouquet of fresh flowers, their…

Farm to School Movement Gains Ground in the Adirondack Region

By Tim Rowland In the United States, school lunch programs began in 1933 as a piece of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal agenda for combatting the Great Depression. Feeding…

In Schroon Lake, Pine Cone Mercantile Has All the Comforts of Home

By Tim Rowland The first instinct of some vacationers popping into Pine Cone Mercantile and North Woods Bread Co is to apologize. Surely this must be the exquisitely decorated…

Seeking Paid VISTA Volunteers for Summer 2023!

Enjoy farmers’ markets and organizing educational activities for youth? Enthusiastic to support local farmers and food systems? We have TWO Americorps Summer VISTA positions open…

3 Benefits of Supporting Your Local Tree Nursery

By Allyssa Hardiman of St. Lawrence Nurseries Do you want to spend more time outside? Grow your own food? Eat healthier? Make memories with your kids? Reduce your carbon…

Another Successful Season for the Power of Produce Club!

By Olivia Swanson, Power of Produce Club Lead and Americorps VISTA Volunteer 2022 was the third year CCE has operated the Power of Produce (POP) Club in person; and we’d call…

New Focus on Cooking From Scratch & Local Ingredients at Plattsburgh City Schools

Plattsburgh City Schools now saves over $100,000 a year by making pizza from scratch instead of buying pre-made frozen pizzas. By…

Why Has the Price of Eggs Increased So Much?🥚

The cost of everything has increased in the past year. But the rise in egg prices has been particularly notable. The average cost of a dozen commercially produced…

Upcoming Agritourism Workshops for Farmers

There are two new upcoming programs for farmers to learn more about implementing agritourism activities on their farms. See the two workshop series below: Building an…

Do You Think Beets Taste Like Dirt?

There are many reasons to love locally grown beets, they are affordable, easy to prepare, and available almost year-round. Beets are full of nutrients and vitamins not commonly…

2022 Adirondack Harvest Festival a Success

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County Adirondack Harvest team would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made the 2022 Adirondack Harvest Festival a…

A Look at Open Farm Weekend 2022

A huge THANK YOU for all that came out to the 2022 Adirondack Cuisine Trail Open Farm Weekend this weekend! Over 1,000 people participated in events throughout the weekend. …

Power of Produce Club at Saranac Lake and Elizabethtown Markets This Summer

CCE Essex Volunteer Olivia Swanson leads an activity with a group of kids at the Saranac Lake Farmers’ Market The Power of Produce (POP) Club is a free kids’ program that…

A Sweet Family Tradition of Maple in the Adirondacks for Whitney’s Maple Spring Farm

Ned and Wade Whitney are a father-son duo making maple in Adirondacks. It’s a family affair, and during the busy maple season the whole family is involved, including Ned’s wife…

Have a Pint for the Planet | All About Mead

By Ricky the Meadmaker, Co-Founder of Groennfell Meadery Honey is amazing stuff. If you’re reading this blog, I obviously don’t need to tell you, but I’m going to…

What Wild Edibles are in Your Backyard?

An exciting part about early spring is the emergence of wild edible plants you may know as “weeds.” Collecting wild edible plants in the spring can be a really lovely way to…

Meet the Maker: Meier’s Artisan Cheese

https://youtu.be/8lwUrIwOw5E Meier’s Artisan Cheese is a dairy farm and artisan cheese plant in Fort Covington NY that makes cheese with milk from their own Holstein and…

How the Sausage is Made at Mace Chasm Farm

Courtney Grimes-Sutton, Owner, Operator, Farmer and Butcher of Mace Chasm Farm in Keeseville, NY. Courtney offered a presentation at the 2022 New York Organic Farming Association…

5 Ways to Advocate for Local Food & Farms

You buy as much local food as possible. You’re a regular at the farmers’ market, and you have a CSA membership. You bring your own reusable bags, you have a bumper sticker that…

Science-Based Art Project Seeks Adirondack Fiber Producers and Artists

By Michale Glennon, Adirondack Watershed Institute Do you like science? Art? Water? Wool? You can join a unique project showcasing scientific data and local fiber arts…

Spotlight On Local Food at the Adirondack Medical Center

Carl Bowen, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at the Adirondack Medical Center has been working hard to focus the hospital’s food offerings around locally sourced…

Behind the Scenes With Harmony Hills Farmstead

D&D Meats Earns Competitive USDA Grant to Reduce Pressures on Local Producers

By Tim Rowland At the quiet intersection that marks the hamlet of Sciota, where the Adirondack mountains give way to the Canadian plains, Shane Dutil is armed with a knife.…

Generous Acts Grant and CCE Essex Paying the Bill so Schools Can Serve More Local Food Through Pandemic Challenges

By Meghan Dohman, CCE Essex Farm to Institution Educator The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County (CCE Essex) Farm to School program is an educational outreach…

Shady Hill Farm Steps Forward, and Backward, in Time

December 13, 2021 By Tim Rowland Roger Hastings still has the hand-tooled wooden yoke his grandfather used to drive oxen. It’s not decorative. It will be fitted on Lewis…

Third Year of the Power of Produce Club a Success

By Olivia Swanson and Rebecca Williams, Americorps VISTA Volunteers What a season it has been! For 16 weeks this summer into fall, the Power of Produce Club proved to be a lively…

Bringing High-Quality Farm-to-Table Dining to Malone, NY

Interview with Executive Chef & Operating Partner Jesse Badger at the Hearth of Malone By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Communication Coordinator at Cornell Cooperative…

A Look at Farming in the Southern Adirondacks at the Thurman Fall Farm Tour

By Mary Godnick, Adirondack Harvest Communication Coordinator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County The Thurman Fall Farm Tour is a tradition in the Southern…

Recap from the 2021 Adirondack Harvest Festival Open Farm Week

Thank you to everyone who made it to Open Farm Week! We are so glad that so many folks were able to get out and tour farms, attend workshops, enjoy local food and drinks, and…

Adirondack’s Small Town Cultures Provides a Fresh Take on Fermented Foods

By Cori Deans, Owner of Small Town Cultures Small Town Cultures was built on the passion to heal with plant-based probiotics that are accessible and vibrantly fresh. We are…

New Creamery in the Works at Meier’s Artisan Cheese

By Tim Rowland | September 1, 2021 In Dan Meiers’ native Switzerland, land is more beautiful than it is plentiful, a fact that drove him, along with his wife Helen and four little…

5 Recipes to Keep Enjoying Zucchini All Summer

Zucchini and summer squash are inexpensive and abundant all summer long in the Adirondack region. They are versatile and can be used in a wide range of preparations from…

A Quick Guide on Local Tomatoes

What is an “Heirloom” Tomato? “Heirloom” tomatoes are from plants grown from seeds that have been passed down from season to season for 50 years or more. They are…

Have You Heard the Buzz About the Power of Produce Club?

By, Oliva Swanson and Rebecca Williams, AmeriCorps Vista Volunteers Attendees of the June 26th Saranac Lake Farmers’ Market likely ran into excited children buzzing around the…

Four Ways to Enjoy Fresh Herbs This Summer

Fresh herbs can add flavor, color, and nutrients to pretty much any dish and drink. Fresh herbs transform any meal from something ordinary into something special. Next time you…

The Village Meat Market: Boon for a Small Community

By Carly Summers After driving by Lake Champlain along forest-lined roads, then through the village of Willsboro in Essex County, NY, you stop at one of the only gas stations…

How Farms and Fine Dining Grow Together

By Tim Rowland “Green shoots” has come to be synonymous with new beginnings, and for chef Jarrad Lang it was figuratively and literally how he introduced locally grown foods…

What Makes Eggs Different Colors?

Why do some chickens lay different color eggs? The color of an eggshell is determined by the breed of chicken that laid it. As an egg travels through the chicken’s oviduct, the…

5 Spring Asparagus Recipes to Try

Asparagus is a perennial flowering plant that is eaten as immature shoots. Humans have been cultivating asparagus for thousands of years, and it has been known as an indicator of…

Is Corned Beef and Cabbage Actually Irish?

Americans with Irish roots have been celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day for hundreds of years. For many Americans, it is a day to gather with friends and family and celebrate…

Four Maples Vineyard Takes Advantage in Changing Climate, Tastes

By Tim Rowland A grape is a fickle thing. It wants the right soil, the right climate, the right orientation to the sun — so when Erwin Kalmar and his wife Norliah Asma-Kalmar…

Love Local this Valentine’s Day

It’s been almost a year since the Coronavirus spread to communities in the Northeast and the pandemic began to influence our day-to-day lives in the Adirondack region. Some things…

Books to Inspire You to Shop Local

Perhaps eating healthier or doing more to support your community is on your list of resolutions for 2021. Or maybe, you’re just focused on simply staying home…

Community Coming Together in Essex, NY

By, Rose Kaszuba, Executive Chef of Essex Eats Most folks know Essex, New York as a place to catch the ferry to cross Lake Champlain into Vermont. I know Essex as a…

That $25 Locally Raised Chicken is More Economical Than you Think

By Tim Rowland Curtiss Hemm teaches foodies how to prepare gourmet meals, but also has an eye on economics and locally produced foods. Curtiss Hemm thinks about food in…

Meet the Makers

Watch the series Meet some of the folks that bring local food and products to the Adirondack region. With our Meet the Maker Series, you get to know the folks behind each…

Adirondack Harvest Challenge Accepted! Meet the Winners

On Saturday, September 19 we hosted the Adirondack Harvest Festival. Due to COVID-19 precautions we took the opportunity for a new format for the annual festival, and went “Free…

Churning up Gold in the Adirondacks

By Kelsie Meehan Making Gold Bar butter is a two-day process that begins early on Saturday mornings. The morning begins with a dawn drive to Au Sable Forks to use the creamery…

FREE RANGE Adirondack Harvest Festival 2020

We are excited to announce this year’s FREE RANGE Adirondack Harvest Festival! By this we mean exploding our traditional festival at the Essex County Fairgrounds and…

During Pandemic, North Country Food Co-op Offers Both Comfort and Food

An attentive grocer can tell a lot about the public psyche by glancing into their customers’ shopping carts. If people are buying pinto beans by the case and rice by the…

DIY Projects Keep ADK Saws Humming

Dave Warner Jr. saws rough cut lumber at the Wood Grain Sawmill in Keeseville. He said the mill he runs with his dad has been busy with orders this year, as people who are home…

Survey Results: Local Food & COVID-19

Beet season is nigh. Photo from Fledging Crow Veggies. Survey results time! First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who took the survey and who shared it! One thing is…

Farmers Adapt Quickly to the New Normal

By Tim Rowland When Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the executive order in March that shut down state commerce, Katie and Brandon Donahue, owners of Donahue’s Livestock Farm in North…

Saranac Lake transitions from Farmers’ Market to Farmers’ Park-It

Volunteers load pre-packed orders into cars at the Saranac Lake Farmers’ Park-It. Customers order online from 10 local farms. By Tim Rowland By early March, Adirondack…

Please take our survey: Local Food and COVID-19, Learning Through Experience

*Please take our quick survey here* Curbside pick-up at the Saranac Lake Farmers’ Park-It. During this unprecedented pandemic, local farm and food businesses in the…

Franklin County Farm Tour

Shady Hill Farm owned by Roger and Linda Hastings Franklin County Cooperative Extension held a Franklin County Farm Tour, organized by Jessica Prosper, Agriculture…

Snapshots from the 2019 Adirondack Harvest Festival!

What a festival! A day designed to bring farms, local businesses, and the community together! To celebrate local farms and food, support our local economy, and give community…

Highlights from the 2019 Power of Produce Club!

“Yay Vegetables!” Kids made ‘thank you’ cards for farmers during the last week of the event. In the corner of my eye, I saw a small blur of blonde hair running…

Power of Produce Club

Adirondack Harvest is working to bring more community members to the local food scene. This summer we launched the Power of Produce Club! We’re in the middle of a 7-week…

It’s a Wrap!

On June 30, 2019, after three years of funding, Adirondack Harvest completed work on its Department of Environmental Conservation Adirondack Smart Growth Grant. This grant was…

Festival Held at Warrensburg Farmers Market

Southern Adk Local Food and Craft Beverage Festival Features Adirondack Harvest Members Bob Barody of Blackberry Hill Farm and Sanctuary Photo by Paul Post Recently, the…

Farm to Chef Meet and Greet

This year’s Farm to Chef Meet & Greet was a huge success! This year’s event was graciously hosted by one of our restaurant members, Big Slide Brewery in Lake…