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June 16, 2007

New farmers market planned

By LAUREN VILBERT

PLATTSBURGH -- A new farmers market will have an especially green slant.

Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market will offer a wide variety of locally grown organic farm products.

The new market focuses on products including fresh produce, meats, eggs, cheese, flowers, maple syrup and ready-to-eat foods "that reflect good stewardship of the Earth and of our bodies," said Beth Spaugh, chief organizer of the green market.

The market will offer healthy alternatives to processed foods.

"Our way of helping people be good stewards of their bodies is to provide great-tasting, whole foods," Spaugh said. "We grow vegetables for their flavor, not for mechanical harvesting or long shipping."

The Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market is a producers-only market. That means the customer knows exactly where the products come from and who produced the food they are buying, Spaugh said.

Customers are able to "get straight answers about how it was produced and support the product and their families directly. No one is allowed to buy from wholesale markets and resell it at this market."

Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market will be open Thursdays, June 21 through Oct. 25, at the Plattsburgh Church of Nazarene. The hours are 3 to 6 p.m.

"I think that this time is convenient for people to stop by after work to get something for dinner," Spaugh said.

She has been working since late April with local farmers from Clinton and Essex counties to get the project under way once the location became available.

Many vendors have already committed to the market.

Atwood Maple Products will be there with fresh maple syrup, cream and maple sugar.

The Black Sheep Barn and Gardens will supply fresh-cut flowers, dried-flower arrangements and organically grown vegetables.

Campbell's Greenhouse has bedding plants, hanging baskets, blueberries and raspberries and no-spray vegetables.

Clover Mead Farm will contribute free-range eggs and chicken, as well as certified naturally grown vegetables and fresh-cut flowers and baklava.

Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market is designed to demonstrate the freshness and quality of locally grown and harvested foods.

It is a project of the AuSable Valley Grange's Foodshed Coalition and is hosted by the Plattsburgh Church of Nazarene.

"Both organizations share a commitment to stewardship of the Earth and its resources," Spaugh said.

One of the concerns of the farmers is to produce healthy, organic products. All of the farmers at the Green Market use minimal or no pesticides in their crop production and have adopted wholesome organic methods of farming of their products.

"We try to keep our plants fairly tough, meaning we hold back some on fertility. We may not get as high a yield as we would with fertilizers and pesticides, but we aren't having to deal with those things, which I think is a good trade-off," Spaugh said.

It is a challenge to organically produce vegetables and especially fruits. To prevent insects from destroying the plants, Spaugh said, farmers sometimes cover them with a cloth that is burned into the soil.

Another way farmers deal with the insect problem is to plant and harvest during seasons when the insects are not around, but this limits the marketing season.

"In small plantings of potato, you can handpick Colorado potato beetles," Spaugh said, illustrating the challenges. "I handpick until we get too many. Then I spray with a soil-based bacterial extract that is approved for organic production."

Several farms, ranches and orchards in the North Country grow and develop great-tasting organic foods, she said. Healthy foods are the goal of the new Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market.

"We look forward to providing a convenient market for people to get the best-tasting, freshest local foods they can get," Spaugh said.

"We want to show folks that if they start with the best ingredients, grown and picked for superior flavor, it is really simple and quick to prepare great-tasting snacks and meals."

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