Farmers' Markets 2021—

FauxPas · July 24, 2021

It's Lavender Harvest time at Shamrock Farm! They do have some culinary lavender (dutifully included in one photo below) and they are harvesting lots of veggies and flowers. A quick visit this week.

Still quite a bit left in the field, despite all that they have already harvested.

The barn contains lavender, lavender products, a flower bar to make your own bouquets, lots of garlic and various veggies.

Lavender hanging from the rafters! The sign is from their Spring plant sale, also a very popular event, especially their heirloom tomato and pepper varieties.

Lavender buds, French or English.

Lots of garlic curing.

Various flowers. They had some amazing sweet peas.

Culinary lavender and various lavender products.

Those cherry tomatoes look out of place, that's because I was reorganizing my basket and set them down for a minute!

The lavender wall.

Some of the veggies they sell. I didn't photograph the tomatoes or the various greens at the right end.

heidih · July 25, 2021

What a treat! Thanks

FauxPas · July 25, 2021

Forgot to mention that in the back of this photo is what I think is part of the copper still that the farm uses for lavender distillation.

As they say:

Stop by and view the art of lavender distillation. Our copper still is set up and running every day during our Lavender Open Farm Days.

Today we are distilling our most fragrant Lavandula angustifolia English lavender. We use steam distillation to extract the essential oils from the lavender flower buds. Steam causes the plants oil glands to erupt and the oil evaporates into the steam. At this point, the steam is routed through copper tubing on its way to the condenser where cold water running through the coils cools the steam, which condenses it back to a high-grade liquid of oil and hydrosol. Passing steam through copper tubing helps to achieve sweet, higher quality lavender oils and hydrosols. The best time to view the process is in the afternoon, when the lavender water is flowing. We have been distilling lavender for well over a decade so we’re getting pretty good at it. We’re also most happy to explain the process to anyone who is interested. Just ask for Mike or Shannon (me) when you are here.

Our lavender essential oils and hydrosols are available for sale in the Barn Shop.

https://www.shamrockfarm.ca/

JoNorvelleWalker · July 25, 2021

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

Forgot to mention that in the back of this photo is what I think is part of the copper still that the farm uses for lavender distillation.

As they say:

Stop by and view the art of lavender distillation. Our copper still is set up and running every day during our Lavender Open Farm Days.

Today we are distilling our most fragrant Lavandula angustifolia English lavender. We use steam distillation to extract the essential oils from the lavender flower buds. Steam causes the plants oil glands to erupt and the oil evaporates into the steam. At this point, the steam is routed through copper tubing on its way to the condenser where cold water running through the coils cools the steam, which condenses it back to a high-grade liquid of oil and hydrosol. Passing steam through copper tubing helps to achieve sweet, higher quality lavender oils and hydrosols. The best time to view the process is in the afternoon, when the lavender water is flowing. We have been distilling lavender for well over a decade so we’re getting pretty good at it. We’re also most happy to explain the process to anyone who is interested. Just ask for Mike or Shannon (me) when you are here.

Our lavender essential oils and hydrosols are available for sale in the Barn Shop.

https://www.shamrockfarm.ca/

That's what they tell the revenuers.

weinoo · July 25, 2021

I know how everyone thinks the prices in NY are very expensive. But those prices at Shamrock Farm are right in the ballpark!

**Shelby** · July 25, 2021

13 hours ago, FauxPas said:

It's Lavender Harvest time at Shamrock Farm! They do have some culinary lavender (dutifully included in one photo below) and they are harvesting lots of veggies and flowers. A quick visit this week.

Still quite a bit left in the field, despite all that they have already harvested.

The barn contains lavender, lavender products, a flower bar to make your own bouquets, lots of garlic and various veggies.

Lavender hanging from the rafters! The sign is from their Spring plant sale, also a very popular event, especially their heirloom tomato and pepper varieties.

Lavender buds, French or English.

Lots of garlic curing.

Various flowers. They had some amazing sweet peas.

Culinary lavender and various lavender products.

Those cherry tomatoes look out of place, that's because I was reorganizing my basket and set them down for a minute!

The lavender wall.

Some of the veggies they sell. I didn't photograph the tomatoes or the various greens at the right end.

Absolutely gorgeous. This is my kind of place. I love the tea cup that they use to scoop the buds.

rotuts · July 25, 2021

like the ' pallet ' room deviders

clever

I was into palletoloy a while ago.

made lot of items for outdoor drckusr

heidih · July 25, 2021

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

I know how everyone thinks the prices in NY are very expensive. But those prices at Shamrock Farm are right in the ballpark!

Pretty close to the FM reality here as well.

@rotuts Pallet re-conditioning for commercial purposes is pretty big here. No cheap freebies lying in the warehouse alleys

rotuts · July 25, 2021

@heidih

Appreciate that. I was going to build a few

patio items for my parents way back

and it was very difficult to find free pallets in CA

I enjoyed those days.

FauxPas · July 25, 2021

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

I know how everyone thinks the prices in NY are very expensive. But those prices at Shamrock Farm are right in the ballpark!

Well, it is Canadian dollars, so there's that, ha. But actually, that's the one complaint I have about them, their prices tend to be too high on several things. It's not always the case, their usual farmstand offerings are sometimes pretty reasonable. And they have deals at the farmers' markets as well.

weinoo · July 26, 2021

18 hours ago, FauxPas said:

Well, it is Canadian dollars, so there's that, ha. But actually, that's the one complaint I have about them, their prices tend to be too high on several things. It's not always the case, their usual farmstand offerings are sometimes pretty reasonable.

Oh, I knew that. But even $1.60 for a cucumber would be a lot here.

I have no problem with real farmers charging what they do; and when stuff is in abundance, and it’s time to clear out space for new harvests, even the prices here come way down.

BeeZee · July 27, 2021

Not a Farmer's Market (we have a small one in my town on Tues. night) but my favorite secret farmstand had ripe tomatoes today. I spied them on the way to an appointment, so I stopped on my way back. Got 2 nice specimens for $1 each. He had a little bit of okra, and one pint container of multi-hued cherry tomatoes. It's not on my usual route, so I'll have to remember to check back in 2 weeks to see what veggies start to show up, last year he had some nice eggplant.

heidih · July 27, 2021

Oh i got twitchy when we passed the Sunday FM yesterday and could not stop. My heart melted that the pop-ups were many and it looked like a decent crowd These farmers come from south as far as almost San Diego and north as far as Fresno. it is a swath of our farmland.

chromedome · July 27, 2021

23 hours ago, weinoo said:

Oh, I knew that. But even $1.60 for a cucumber would be a lot here.

In my neck of the woods a cuke ordinarily runs $1.49 to $1.99 at the supermarket, though they can certainly top $2/ea in mid-winter.

blue_dolphin · July 27, 2021

Stopped at a local farmstand this AM. They used to sell only their own produce but during the pandemic, they started adding some other items. I found this helpful as I was trying to limit my shopping trips. Everything is clearly labeled as to whether it's home grown (green labels) or not. In some cases, the grower of stuff they bring in is cited. The garlic that's on the far right of the bottom shelf below is from Christopher Ranch. Potatoes and onions weren't credited.

Their homegrown cukes are 75 cents each, 3 for $2. Sweet corn was the same and I bought 3 of each. Also garlic and shallots.

Tomatoes. I got a basket of mixed cherry tomatoes and a few of the heirlooms

Greens, crucifers and some of the salad-y stuff. I got flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, green onions, radishes

Beets with beautiful fresh greens

Peppers

Forgot to take pictures of all the tables as my cart got heavier. Melons are coming in so I got a small red watermelon and a Galia melon.

Edited July 27, 2021 by blue_dolphin (log)

rotuts · July 28, 2021

Galia

when ripe

The Best

Edited July 28, 2021 by rotuts (log)

weinoo · July 28, 2021

Californians never stop showing off with the produce and shit.

gfweb · July 28, 2021

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Californians never stop showing off with the produce and shit.

Half of it probably came from Jersey

heidih · July 28, 2021

17 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Half of it probably came from Jersey

Surely you jest. Mexico or Ecuador maybe

gfweb · July 28, 2021

We have a big orchard and veg grower near here. They sell their own stuff which is very nice.

But they are open all year with a full selection....

weinoo · July 28, 2021

This has been an ongoing, fun argument for years, amongst various friends of mine.

NYC's greenmarket program has rules. Like these:

Quote

REGION 1. The Region is defined by a circle, extending 120 miles to the south, 170 miles east and west, and 250 miles north of New York City. (See map in Appendix B.) 2. Producers from outside the Region are not eligible. The restriction to the Region does not apply to Producers who attended Greenmarket prior to 1998 and who have continuously attended each year since and including the 2005-06 market year. 3. Ocean Fishers must dock within the Region and catch fish from Mid-Atlantic waters. (Mid-Atlantic as defined by the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976.)

LAND and PLACES of PRODUCTION 1. Land. a) All land used for production must be within the Region. b) Producers must own or lease land they use for production. c) Producers that choose to lease land are encouraged to secure written long-term lease agreements, written with provisions that are beneficial to the Producer, and that provide protection for the Producer’s improvements.

So anything bought at the greenmarkets here is, in essence, "local." Don't look for oranges, lemons, limes (sorry, @JoNorvelleWalker), pineapples, etc. They're not available. Nor is salmon from Alaska (or anywhere, for that matter - I've certainly never seen salmon).

Does that mean everything is in season? Of course not; the growing season here is not as long as California's (which, for some vegetables, in some locations, is year round).

So I know that the potato or onion or apple I buy at the greenmarket in January wasn't harvested yesterday; it came from storage. I also know it didn't come from California.

Farm stands (which I believe @gfweb is referring to in the preceding post) are totally different animals. I used to stop at a farm stand on my weekly drives to DC, on the DelMarva peninsula. In summer, from their fields, great corn, tomatoes, etc. But they were also selling, you guessed it, lemons and limes and bananas and...

As with most consumer purchases, caveat emptor.

Edited July 28, 2021 by weinoo (log)

Anna N · July 28, 2021

16 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Stopped at a local farmstand this AM.

Wow! We need a “green with envy“ button.

liuzhou · July 28, 2021

16 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Stopped at a local farmstand this AM.

Nice selection.

What, please, are these? I can't quite make them out. Thanks.

weinoo · July 28, 2021

They're called fruits, vegetables, and baskets.

blue_dolphin · July 28, 2021

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Nice selection.

What, please, are these? I can't quite make them out. Thanks.

Sorry there's a bit of a reflection. They are homegrown sweet onions @ $1.99/lb

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