Browsing Category

Elderberry Pond

Return of the Nerdy Locovors

Thursday trip to the market
We’re doing that thing again, the one where we spend the summer eating only fresh food produced within a 10-mile radius of our house and what we forage from our own garden [queue the laugh track for that last part, not even I can say it with a straight face].
I recently read an excellent piece of advice posted by my personal life coach Pinterestthat, aside from being a mash-up of stuff Michael Pollan has been saying for years, gets to the heart of it:
“Avoid eating anything with an advertising budget.” 
Yep, that.
Yesterday was the Skaneateles Farmer’s Market and here is the resulting simple meal:
Feta and Spinach Burgers
Feta & Spinach Burgers
           1 October Rose Farm egg (our girls have mysteriously suspended laying at the moment)
1 pound Byrne Black Angus beef
2 cups chopped Elderberry Pondspinach
2 cloves Good Karma Russian Red Garlic, diced (we’re down to our last bulb from the Fall harvest and eager for the new stuff to come in!)
                                                                                                       4 ounces crumbled feta (comment         below if you know a local source)
Buy these.
Directions: Mix ingredients; form into patties; throw on the grill. Top with slices of Horsford Farms onion and place on a SkaneatelesBakery roll; serve with a side of Navarino Orchard pickled tomatoes.
On the topic of Navarino Orchard Pickled Tomatoes which I impulse purchased and may or may not have subsequently eaten half the jar thereof using chopsticks: I am prepared to release a statement at this time informing the public that These. Are. Yum. That is all.
And, continuing in that spirit of preparedness, I rolled a few meatballs after dinner for today’s TGIF bento box:
http://onegirlsbento.blogspot.com
Happy Friday!

by

January 1st Thanksgiving

January 1st. I dearly love the first day of a new year. Before us shines self-fulfilling prophecies, the link between Belief and Behavior so clear on this day that it blazes like the sun and beckons for us to follow.
Thank you, October Rose Farm,
for all the sage advice.
More importantly, hardly any of us have had time or opportunity to really screw the year up yet. It really is a very good feeling.
New Years is my Thanksgiving and on this day I give thanks for the good people and things that 2012 brought into my life:
I am so thankful for my husband, daughter and brothers who are also friends and for friends who have become like family.
Thank you, Elderberry
Pond Farm, for the
gardening tips.
I am thankful for the people who grew or produced the food that nourished us so deliciously this year, and for the friendships we have forged with each of them. 
I am grateful that we live in a place where fresh local food is abundant. I am thankful for the little seeds of change that are slowly shifting our thinking about food. And I am thankful for a husband who loves to cook, the obvious disadvantages of this fact notwithstanding.
My NB 510’s: a.k.a. life changers.
For which I am so thankful.
I must also give thanks to the New Balance 510 cross trainer running shoes I bought in August at the Bass Pro Shop for undoing 10 years of burning Achilles pain caused by a pair of badly fitting pink sneakers I bought off the internet a decade ago. To be free of foot pain after so many years is life altering, and certainly one of this year’s highlights. Yes, I bought a second pair of the NB 510’s to replace this pair when it wears out.
Thank you, Wake Robin Farm, for 
putting family and community first.
Thank you, Owen Orchard, for
growing our favorite apples.
And I am thankful for the restless internal voice that keeps reminding me I’m not there yet; urges me to keep going; helps me visualize the link between belief and behavior when it doesn’t seem nearly as real nor blaze quite as brightly as it does on the first day of a new year.
Thank you, vendors at the 2012
Skaneateles Farmers Market. 
So onward and upward. Vacation is over and the grind is at hand. What better way to get through the awfulness of a New York winter than by preparing for its inevitable concession to Spring? Did you know we northerners have just six weeks before our garden seeds must be started indoors? There are many choices to be made between then and now!
Thank you, Good Karma Garlic,  for
turning your hobby into a product
we cannot live without.
I spent the last two days of 2012 plotting and scheming our 2013 Heirloom garden. And I have plans, people, big ones. It is time to find out if we can actually grow stuff in the back yard.
Thank you, Byrne Black Angus Farm,
for raising happy cows.
Of course there is always the possibility that we will look back on these ambitions in September over a glass of wine and guffaw. But just in case, a quick, final note to The Husband concerning our new garden: you know the bench in the corner of the yard that’s all set in cement? We’ll need to yank that out.
Quite possibly the maple tree, too.

My Diabolical 2013 Heirloom Gardening Plans.

by

How Does Your Garden Grow?

A pallet garden, under construction.

Let me tell you about a serendipitous chain of gardening events that happened to us last weekend: we got an Ace Hardware post card in Friday’s mail announcing free gardening work- shops in Skaneateles Saturday morning. We already had plans for Syracuse First’s CashMob in the city at noon so squeezing in a workshop beforehand was just crazy talk. But, darn it, the Ace line-up included a demonstration by Jackie Coyle on pallet gardens and I’ve been super curious about those things. So we went with crazy.
Jackie Coyle describes the
process of constructing a
pallet garden at Ace Hard-
ware in Skaneateles, NY
Jackie Coyle loves what she does,
and it shows.
     What a cool last-second decision that turned out to be! Jackie, an Ace staff member and an ornamental horticultural student at SUNY Oswego, showed us how to use an inexpensive weed blocking fabric to form the base of our pallet garden and gave us tips on the types of plant that would flourish in this environment. Lettuce greens, for example, would be happily at home in our box, Jackie said.
Lou Lego gives a spring
gardening class at Elderberry
Pond Farm, Auburn NY
     As fate would have it we were already RSVP’d for Elderberry Pond’s spring garden workshop on Sunday afternoon and that lesson focused on – what else – growing spring salad greens! Far be it from us to ignore the Universe’s call to get moving with our own spring garden. We worked this week on putting together our pallet garden and planting basil and lettuce. 
The Husband and I try our hand
at pallet gardening.
     Thank you, Skaneateles Town Square Ace, for the complimentary pallets, and thank you, Jackie Coyle and Lou Lego, for the excellent gardening tips. We’ll keep you posted on how things progress with our Pallet Gardens On The Deck. 
     To be continued…

GARDENING TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS


Lou Lego, Elderberry Pond Farm, Auburn, NY

“Plant smaller batches of the same vegetable in succession – about 10 days apart – and have a continuous supply of fresh produce all summer long.” – Lou Lego

Jackie Coyle, Ace Hardware,
Skaneateles, NY

“Lettuce plants have shallow roots and want to live in soil that holds moisture well, making them perfect candidates for a pallet garden. Don’t forget to water them daily!” – Jackie Coyle

            
by

Earth Day at Elderberry Pond Farm

Elderberry Pond Farm, Auburn NY
To commemorate Earth Day The Husband, The Girl and I traveled four short miles to attend an “Early Garden Treasures” workshop at Elderberry Pond Farm. If you’re unfamiliar with Elderberry Pond you are missing out on one of the most beautiful, pristine farms in all of Upstate New York. More important than its loveliness, the farm is a superb example of how high quality sustainable food is grown. Elderberry is certified by the Northeast Organic Farming Association and what is immediately clear to anyone who visits is the passion Lou and Merby Lego – the He and She of the place — feel for what they do.
The Country Food Store at Elderberry Pond Farm
The workshop began with a presentation in the restaurant dining room where Lou discussed the differences between commercial farming and highly diversified organic farming. He shared with us tips for reducing the impact of common garden pests without using pesticides and which plant varieties work best in our region in his [considerable] experience.  Afterward we walked over to the barn to take a look at the onion and leek starters waiting there to be planted and at the tomato plants Lou had grafted to produce a plant that is both root-hardy and flavorful. Finally, he took us to the greenhouse where spring vegetables for the restaurant are growing.
Sampling the greens
The workshop brimmed with sage gardening advice and we left feeling inspired to get our own garden going. You need not miss out: there are two more workshops scheduled in May. Check out the details here.
You can eat what they grow! The Elderberry Pond Restaurant is now open for spring. View a sample menu, learn about the chefs and find reservation information here.
The Country Store opens in June. Should I tell you the basil grown on Elderberry Pond Farm is the best on planet Earth? Only if you promise to leave me enough for my pesto.
by