Small Bites

Hello all, guest blogger Margaret Nafz here reporting on the Tarrytown Farmer’s Market.

Opening every spring on May 29th, the Tarrytown Farmer’s Market small but bustling.  Located in Patriot’s Park on Route 9, it offers the towns of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow the opportunity to sample wares from farms in the Hudson Valley and beyond. The market features 11 regular vendors selling everything from baked goods to fresh produce to wine. A list, and more photos, after the jump.

Vendors:

Dines Farms-All natural meats(poultry, rabbit, lamb, pork, beef) and eggs

Bread Alone- Breads and Pastries

Calkins Creamery-Cheese

Benmarl Winery- NY State winery

Monkshood Nursery- garden plants, herbs, cut flowers

Pika’s Farm Table- Salsa, soups, quiche

The Orchards of Conklin- Cider, doughnuts, fruit pies, produce, flowers, cookies

Gajeski Produce- Vegetables, Herbs

Tierra Farm- Organic nuts, nut butters, dried fruits, chocolate-covered fruit and nuts

Meredith’s Bread- Breads, pies,  jams, pastries

Picklelicious- Pickled vegetables, olives, dipping sauces

Many of the vendors are tried and true having been a part of the market since I’ve been going for the last five years. Bread Alone has a wonderful selection of breads, cake, cookies as well as packaged goods such as chocolate covered granola.

A sure sign of Summer, piles and piles of beautiful berries!

At Monkshood Nursery out of Stuyvesant, NY gardeners can pick up potted herbs and vegetable plants to add to their own backyard farms.

Dines Farms, another T-Town Market mainstay, offers a wide selection of all natural meat and eggs along with sausages and bacon. Barbara Carr, who was working their stall the day I visited said Dines has been with the market since it first opened and along with their Farmer’s Market offerings they also accept delivery orders for their products.

The market is organized by Community Markets who also has a stall. Aside from giving general information on their organization along with a list of markets it organizes they also offer seasonal recipe cards which give market guests helpful hints on how they can prepare their goodies.

In addition to the regular farmer’s stalls the market also offers a calendar of different events such as demonstrations by chefs, live music, and tastings.

A rather modest haul from my first market outing of the season; although to be fair that bag of apple cider doughnuts in the photo from The Orchards of Conklin (a family favorite) is the second one, the first was devoured  in short order by my husband and daughter while we were still at the park.

The baguette from Bread Alone proved to be a perfect sop for the homemade Bolognese sauce I made that evening and the fresh radishes from Gajeski Produce had a date the next day sliced up and mixed with some sour cream (don’t make a face until you’ve tried it!).

I think on this weekend’s outing I’ll give one of Benmarl’s wines a try, along with nabbing more of those addictive apple cider doughnuts.

The Tarrytown Farmer’s Market runs from May 29th through November 20th on Saturdays from 8:30am-1pm and is located in Patriot’s Park on Route 9 (right next to the Warner Library) there is ample street parking.