Checking out the competition (well, not really)...at the Saratoga Farmers Market. Bravo to them for keeping the local produce coming this late in the season...and for providing a nice, warm indoor venue!

NYTimes: Getting the Crunch From Cilantro http://nyti.ms/f6Jevu

Sorting Onions

Oh what a lovely bunch of radishes!

Heirloom Tomatoes

When the tomatoes are good, they are oh, so good.

Livestock

Lush herbs...basic, rosemary, chives.

The Art of the Cart

onions drying

Drying Garlic

Rose grows the cleanest garlic.

Skaneateles Farmers Market

Nice article about the market in Skaneateles. I would post the photo of Zach selling at Rose's booth, but the newspaper has the wrong photo on their website. :-(

Breakfast Frittata

zucchini, sweet onion, eggs - topped with feta and sungolds

Patriotic Potato Salad

Ok. So now I am digging into the NPR recipe section. Rose grows these purple/blue potatoes. I'm going to try out the vinegar trick to see if that helps them keep their brilliant color.

Susan Russo for NPR

Susan Russo for NPR

This red, white and blue potato salad will be the star attraction at any Fourth of July cookout. All-blue potatoes are slightly starchier but the same color as purple Peruvians, which are technically fingerling potatoes — smaller, thinner potatoes. Both work well, and both get their brilliant color from iron. Once cooked, the color will fade, but try this trick to minimize fading: Add a couple of splashes of white vinegar to the cooking water.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 pounds total Yukon gold, red bliss and all-blue or purple Peruvian* potatoes, with skins

A couple of splashes of white vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar**

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons parsley, thinly sliced

6 to 7 cranks of freshly ground black pepper

A generous sprinkling of salt, to taste

2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)

4 radishes, very thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)

Scrub the potatoes well, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to a medium-size pan of water (with a couple of splashes of white vinegar, if desired). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, yet still hold their shape, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool.

Meanwhile, whisk olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, water, herbs, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl. Add celery and radishes. Pour vinaigrette over the potatoes, and toss gently until well-coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

*Blue and purple potatoes are available at specialty markets as well as many major supermarkets.

**White balsamic vinegar is made from white wine vinegar and grapes. Because it is milder than traditional brown balsamic vinegar and doesn't stain food, it's preferable for this colorful salad. It can be found at specialty markets and many major supermarkets. Rice vinegar can be substituted.

It's definitely salad weather. Low on lettuce? Not to worry: any bowl of raw veggies and fruit can be a salad. Chop and/or shred a bit of this and that (cukes, zukes, beets, carrots, onions, chard, parsley, radishes) in a variety of colors and throw it together with some vinaigrette and maybe a bit of cheese, grains, chicken, etc. Decorate the top with raisins, sunflower seeds, dulse, and chopped herbs. You won't miss the lettuce a bit. And if you make a big batch (hold the vinaigrette until serving time) you'll have easy food for a few days.

Colorful Carrots

Drying Garlic

Roasted New Red Potatoes

Oh boy! I've never grilled at lunchtime before, but it was just too hot to cook anything inside. Sure, I could have just had a salad with Rose's delicate and delicious lettuce, but I was thinking that my body was lacking potassium and since I had some red potatoes from Harvest Home...I fired up the grill at noon. I cut the larger potatoes in half (note: it's very important to have a pretty uniform size for all the taters) and drizzled with olive oil and mixed with rosemary, salt and fresh ground pepper. I used my grill wok and let them "bake" for a good 40 minutes. Some of the smaller ones were a bit overcooked (see note above), but the overall result was just what I was looking for. In fact, despite the fact that no bacon was used in the cooking of these reds, there somehow was a full-flavored bacon taste, especially in the uncut potatoes. Yum-o-licious!

Sunflower

even prettier before it opens

Love that Lovage

a stand in for celery

Popcicle time!

Rose's veteran helper, Morgan, takes a quick popcicle break in the cool barn.

This isn't the recipe I was thinking of, but this Chard Gratin from the NY Times looks good. If you haven't followed the recipes of Martha Rose Shulman it's time to check them out.

Swiss Chard

I've got a great recipe for Chardikopita that I'll post later.

very good lettuce weather

pretty cabbage

that pretty red and blue combo again

you need some heavy equipment on this hill

Jammin' at the Aurora Market

Aurora loves its jams and jellies. The Market carries a full array of sweet, organic spread from Harvest Home Organics.

Farmers Market Week of June 21

This is what you will find at market from Harvest Home Organics this week:

Broccoli, Red and Italian Specialty Beets, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Baby Loose Leaf Lettuce, Red Cabbage, Sweet Pearl Onions, Kohlrabi, Dill, Parsley, Delphinium Bouquets and Fresh Lavender. 

Skaneateles Farmers Market

This is where you can find Rose this year:
Thursdays 3:30-6:30pm
Saturdays 10:00am -1:00pm 
Skaneateles Community Center, 97 State Street

Chiogga Beets

The foundation of an artful salad.

Garlic

part of the "grow what ya know" at Harvest Home

wind is your friend

delphiniums

generally not happy with wind but these look fine

abundant lavender

good peony weather

chard going to Pumpkin Hill Bistro