I scour the land for great farms in search of purple potatoes, brown eggs, endamame, and u-picking of any kind traveling every back road imaginable. Along the way, I’ve met women who herd chickens, GirlCooks who taught me how to make Elderberry pie, maple syrup maidens, third-generation u-pick farmers and an Amish woman who gently showed us how to properly pull carrots and hoe potatoes out of her very own garden. I am virtually obsessed and will share my wanderings here.

America is in love with farmers’ markets and farms again, hallelujah! I travel these roads with Mom and Bobby, they indulge me as I yelp with delight at the sight of a jumbo, just-laid brown egg or swoon over the smell of a freshly-picked warm, ripe black raspberry or a just-pulled white donut peach. I can’t get enough and as Mom and Bob always say, if it’s covered in dirt, Linnie will like it even more!!

The Farmer’s Wife

Whenever I am near Geneseo, I make sure to stop here at this great market on Route 63, just North of the town of Geneseo. The proprietor is so wonderful, friendly and tells you about where everything comes from. Today, we found a big pile of pea plants just picked that morning and loaded with small pea pods filled with supersweet peas…just fill a big paper sack. I also found big, fat, but super tender asparagus and locally grown hydroponic tomatoes. Day-old locally picked strawberries and sacks of southern potatoes rounded out our purchases. We also found a terrific trellis made of twigs, New Hope Mills pancake mixes and farm fresh brown eggs. I don’t know whether it is the fun of discovering what the day may bring or the sweetness of The Farmer’s Wife that brings me back time and time again…or both!

P.S. take a quick trip down the road to the abbey where Monk’s Bread is made. We stopped late on a Saturday and the loaves were all freshly baked that day, most cost $1.75 per loaf with sunflower, raisin, whole grain and many other choices. The storekeeper pointed out that late in the afternoon is the best time on baking days since it takes time for the loaves to cool after the morning bake. Check it out at www.geneseeabbey.org.

Canandaigua Farmer’s Market

We visited this market in the little town on the north end of Lake Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes. It is located between Main and Lafayette Streets in the middle of town in a parking lot. This is a small market with a handful of vendors. There were some highlights: several vendors of locally produced honey; the girls from Italy Hill Produce in Branchport, New York selling tender greens, garlic ramps, and freshly made pink-colored grape juice; locally grown perennials; and Amish baked goods.

We also visited Sonnenberg Gardens while there which was completely disappointing, so run down and poorly kept that it was a tremendously sad to see especially because the bones of the place are so extraordinary.

The highlight of our trip (aside from the beauty of the lake) was Artiques (43 South Main Street), a wonderful consignment shop filled with antiques and all sorts of delectable heirloom finds. This was a total treat, I’m still thinking about the stenciled, painted chair in the window; old farm table laden with enamel pots; turn of the century parasol; 50’s double makeup mirror with pearl backer; and glass beaded purse that was so heavy with beautiful geometric patterned beads. Owner Cynthia Burt is terrific and this shop alone is worth the trip! This apron I bought is extra special, all handmade and Cynthia gave me this tip: clean old linens with Oxyclean. I also bought this great old butter paddle and glass beaded plate. Prices are so reasonable. What a treat.

Patty’s diner is a great spot for a down home country breakfast complete with homemade breads.

Elderberry Pond Country Foods
A Story of Phyllis and The Elderberry Pie

Near Skaneateles, New York, down winding roads nestled in the hills where dogs run free sits Elderberry Pond Country Foods, a certified organic farm. Purple potatoes, endamame, broad beans, giant red cabbages and itsy bitsy elderberries, every kind of gorgeous field-picked produce piled high on wooden tables fill a delicious tiny barn with rafters two-feet wide where a dog lazes outside by the willow and sweet Phyllis, wearing an apple-covered apron, holds court.

Phyllis convinced me that picking tiny elderberries off their stems with a tweezer was worth the pain for the gain and Merby gave me an “Apple Elderberry Pie” recipe. I promised I’d take a picture of the pie and send it to Phyllis which I will definitely get around to doing because it was worth it…it was uniquely delicious and both of us (me and the pie, that is) now grace my GirlCook pic. I even made elderberry sauce for a pork roast with those berries, I wasn’t about to waste a single one after spending more than an hour cleaning and de-stemming them, just as Phyllis said I would with a shrug that reminded me that a GirlCook should not be phased by such a thing…after all, this is the kind of time that turns cooking into love made tangible.

And just in case you’ve never seen an elderberry:

Coming Soon:

Hurd Orchards: Aye! Too much beauty in one place!
Thorpe’s Family Farm: Where carrots grow purple
Baker Farm: Tricolor apples
D.H. Cloy & Son: Country Butchers and the case of the giant pumpkin
Greg’s U Pick: Three Gens & The Crazy Coincidence
The Philly Market: What even Yankee Bob says New York can’t rival
Goehler’s, My Boston Brown Egg Girl: and “Girl,you should have a farm”
Maple Syrup Maiden: Plays with the big boys in E. Otto

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