The Artisans are Here! (press release)

The Amenia Winter Market is thrilled to debut a carefully curated selection of local artisans this Saturday, from 10:00 to 2:00, at the Amenia Town Hall.  The artisans all live and work in the local area, and are all handcrafting their wares.  Present this Saturday will be Kathryn Crippen Shapiro of CrippenWorks (Millerton, NY) with her quilted knitting needle cases, tote bags, diaper bags and other accessories; Dana Brandwein Oates of dbO Home (Sharon, CT) with an amazing assortment of handmade porcelain plates, cups, bowls and other vessels – all with hand-pressed nature motifs; Dawn Cassara of Artful Treasures (Amenia, NY) with hand-painted floorcloths and placemats, as well as an assortment of pinecone ornaments, and her signature dragonfly broaches; and Robin Somers Capers of Sunset Hill Farm (Millbrook, NY) with farmstead roving and knitting wools in all weights and colors.  The local artisans will be selling at the market for our three December dates – 12/4, 12/11 and 12/18.  Joining us next week will be Martha Belardo of Baskets at Home (Pine Plains, NY) with hand-woven shaker-style baskets, and Randi Foreman (Millbrook, NY) with a whimsical assortment of upcycled cashmere stuffed animals and Christmas trees, as well as ornaments, tote bags, cloth napkins and more.

Farm and Food will also make a strong showing at this Saturday’s Amenia Winter Market.  We will feature two new vendors this week – one selling a selection of local cheeses and the other selling local honey and beeswax candles.  All of our regular vendors will be back after some were away for the Thanksgiving holiday, so it will be a full house in the gymnasium!  Our regular vendors include The Amazing Real Live Food Co., Berkshire Mountain Granola, Best Creations Bakery, Bread Alone Bakery, Cascade Mountain Winery, Cedar Hill Farm, Clear Water Aqua Farm,  Dashing Star Farm, Farm Country Soup,  Krazy for Kazu’s, Meili Farm, Moonbeam Farm, Perry Hill Farm, Ronnybrook Farm Dairy and Sol Flower Farm.

We look forward to seeing you at the Amenia Winter Market, in the new Amenia Town Hall (former Amenia Elementary School) on Saturdays through December 18^th from 10:00 to 2:00 (and every second Saturday in January through April).  For more information please visit our website – www.ameniafarmersmarket.com.  

Market Update - 11/27/10

I hope everyone had a truly delicious Thanksgiving yesterday!  How wonderful is it to take a day out from the regular routine to be with family and EAT and think of all the things we each have to be thankful for?  Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all.  As I sit down to write the Market Update for tomorrow's market, I want to give thanks for a few of the market-specific things that have happened this year.  

First, the Amenia Farmers' Market got off the ground to begin its first season in May.  What a great outdoor season it was!  I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a congenial and supportive group of vendors, and to help run a market that has been supported by so many wonderful and loyal customers!  As early as June, we already had many repeat customers, many of whom I now think of as friends.  What a wonderful thing to be able to meet so many new people each week, and to catch up with new and old friends!  To all of the people who have made this market happen - especially our vendors and our customers, thank you a million times over.

I am extremely thankful that the Town of Amenia had the incredible foresight to agree to purchase the former Amenia Elementary School building to use as the new Town Hall.  Although there may be those in town who think this was not a wise decision, I think it was brilliant.  Not only is it a perfect example of enlightened municipal recycling (upcycling, one might say!) which will forever prevent a historic and beautiful building from falling deeper into disrepair, it is also symbolic of the forward progress of the Town of Amenia as a whole.  We now have a Town Hall to be proud of - in a true place of pride - and one which has such wonderful potential for the entire community.  The Amenia Winter Market is just the first of what I hope will be a long string of events to be held in the common areas of the Town Hall (there is a fabulous auditorium, too, just waiting for creative minds to plan Big Things).  For the use of the gymnasium, and for the support of the entire Amenia Town Board, I am deeply grateful.

Specifically, I would like to thank Rudy Eschbach of Cedar Hill Farm for having the idea to start a Farmers' Market in Amenia in the first place, and for all the hard work he has put into the market.  Vicki Harkness of Perry Hill Farm has volunteered a great deal of time to build for us our excellent website.  Alex Camillone, husband of Pattie Camillone of Berkshire Mountain Foods, put together the artwork for our eye-catching posters and signs.  Moore & More Printing helped to design the posters, and donated the first batch to the market!  (As Stacey said, "I'm a farmer's daughter.  I know how hard you all work".)  Marshall Miles at Robinhood Radio has done a great deal to help us spread the word about the market, as have the Millerton News, the Millbrook Independent, and WQQQ FM Lakeville.  Thank you all!

And a huge thank you to all of the people who have received this email and simply passed it along to friends.  Such a simple act with such a HUGE impact!  Thank you thank you thank you!

This week the market will have nary a turkey in sight!  But we will have loads of delicious foods to help fill your week with tasty homegrown and homemade treats.  Our vendor line-up for this week will include The Amazing Real Live Food Co. (cheeses), Berkshire Mountain Foods (granolas), Cascade Mountain Winery (wines and olive oil), Cedar Hill Farm (meats, pumpkins), Dashing Star Farm (lamb, eggs, wool, baked goods), Farm Country Soup (quiche, soup, baked goods), Krazy for Kazu's (Japanese marinades & dressings), Meili Farm (meats and eggs), Perry Hill Farm (soaps, tinctures, salves, trees), Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (milk, yogurt, butter), and Sol Flower Farm (veggies).

We hope to see you at the Amenia Winter Market, this Saturday, in the Amenia Town Hall, from 10:00 to 2:00.

Come thank a farmer!  And let us thank you, too! 

Market Update for November 20th

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and the Amenia Winter Market will be filled to the brim with delicious foods for your holiday feast!  Berkshire Mountain Foods will be back with Breakfast in a Basket - gift baskets filled with handmade granolas and granola bars - perfect hostess gifts!  Paired with Ronnybrook yogurt, breakfast is covered!  More time for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  You'll be able to find a beautiful assortment of autumn vegetables and fresh greens at Sol Flower Farm and Clear Water Aqua Farm.  Krazy for Kazu's will be back with their hand crafted Japanese marinades, sauces and dressings - a perfect counterpoint to all the rich Thanksgiving dishes.  Be sure to have a taste of their salad dressing while you're at the market.  If you need bacon for your stuffing (or your dessert, as the trend seems to run these days) both Meili Farm and Cedar Hill Farm will be well stocked.  Don't forget to plan for hors d'oeuvres!  Pair Amazing Real Live Food Co. cheese with Moonbeam Farm flatbreads, and top it off with caramelized balsamic onion jam from Farm Country Soup.  The delicious Bread Alone Bakery baguettes and peasant loaves will look beautiful on the holiday table, and will put bagged mix to shame in stuffing.  Also available at Moonbean Farm will be cranberry chutney - a more tart and sophisticated alternative to cranberry sauce or jelly.  Don't feel like baking?  No need to worry!  Between Farm Country's pies and tarts (listing attached below - please call ahead to reserve), Bread Alone's pies, and Best Creation's small cakes and holiday cookies, you'll keep your oven free for the turkey.  Be sure to put out a few bags of Dashing Star Farm's sweet and salty caramel popcorn, just to be sure nobody leaves the dinner table hungry...  And, of course, what holiday meal would be complete without our fabulous local wines from Cascade Mountain Winery? 

Among the splendor of baked goods and vegetables and meats and eggs and milks and cheeses and chutneys and soups and quiches and oh my goodness I cannot wait for tomorrow's market! you will also find lovely gifts to bring along with you in your visits to family and friends.  Perry Hill Farm will have autumnal soaps aplenty, already packaged and tied with a bow!  If there are any knitters in the family, Dashing Star wool makes a thoughtful gift.  If you're lucky, the gift may come back to you in the form of a toasty hat or sweater!  Moonbeam Farm will have hand-painted lazy susans, perfect for helping everyone get a share of the bounty filling the holiday table.  

Thinking ahead for a moment (don't moan - I know, let's get through Thanksgiving first!!), this weekend is the perfect time to start planning for The Other Holidays Coming Up.  Dashing Star Farm is taking orders for fresh lamb, and Cedar Hill and Meili Farm will be taking orders for pork and beef roasts.  Also, keep in mind that our bakers and soup makers are generally very happy to take custom orders, if given enough advance notice.  

Last, but certainly not least, we are thrilled to tell you that we will have LIVE MUSIC this Saturday from 11:00 to 1:00.  Amenia-resident Super Star Diana Herold will be playing her marimba for us, just to put us into over-the-top holiday cheer mode!  Diana has played with Yo Yo Ma and They Might Be Giants, just to name a few.  We are so excited to welcome Diana this weekend.  Even if you will be out of town for Thanksgiving, and don't like good food (are there really such people??) come to the market just to hear some great music (and have a bowl of hot soup, to boot)! 

In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, and on behalf of all of the vendors at the Amenia Winter Market, we want to thank everyone for the outstanding support we have received this year.  Way back in the beginning of April, the Amenia Farmers' Market started out planning its first season with just four vendors accounted for.  We watched the outdoor market grow over the course of the season, and we met many new friends in our loyal customers.  After a great season, we decided to take a risk and try to run the market year-round, thanks largely to the great location we have in the new Town Hall.  And now, the Amenia Winter Market is booming!  Thank you so very much to all of our customers, to everyone who passes this weekly email along to friends, to everyone who has taken the time to tell someone about the market.  And thank you for caring about where your food comes from!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and all very best wishes for a joyful and delicious Thanksgiving.

Market Update for Nov. 13th

First, I would like to thank everyone who made it to Amenia for the opening day of the Amenia Winter Market!  Both shoppers and vendors had a great day, and it would never have been such a success without your support.   

My second thank you is to everyone who received an email about the Market, and sent it on to other friends!  I tried to ask most of my customers how they had heard about the Market, and most had heard via email.  So it works!  For a small, grassroots effort like ours, there is no more effective form of promotion than word of mouth, and we are so grateful for all of the help we have received in this department.  So, again, please pass this email along to all of your friends, visit our website (www.ameniafarmersmarket.com) and follow us on facebook for the most current updates of all. 

Finally, thank you for being passionate about locally grown and produced foods!

For this Saturday, we will have four additional vendors!  We're growing already...  Bread Alone Bakery will be bringing their delicious breads and pastries.  Sol Flower Farm from Ancramdale, NY, will be joining us for the first time.  Sol Flower specializes in vegetables grown according to organic and biodynamic methods, and will have a beautiful assortment of veggies this week, including beets, carrots, cabbage, winter squash, onions, garlic, dried flowers, and greens.  Clear Water Aqua Farm will be back with their aquaponic salad greens and tender herbs - as well as fresh cucumbers and other vegetables.  Best Creations Bakery from Millbrook, NY, will be bringing cupcakes, carrot cakes and 21 varieties of holiday cookies.

Familiar faces from last week will be: Amazing Real Live Food Co., Cascade Mountain Winery, Cedar Hill Farm, Dashing Star Farm, Farm Country Soup, Meili Farm, Moonbeam Farm, Perry Hill Farm (from 10:00 to 12:00) and Ronnybrook Farm.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, at the Amenia Town Hall, from 10:00 to 2:00.

A very sincere thank you for your support of the Amenia Winter Market!

Information about the Amenia Winter Market

The Amenia Winter Market – an indoor farmers’ market for the winter season - will be held on Saturdays from 10:00 to 2:00, beginning November 6th and running weekly through December 18^th, in the new Amenia Town Hall (formerly the Amenia Elementary School) on Route 22 in Amenia, NY.  For the month of December, the Amenia Winter Market will also feature local artisans who work predominately with natural or recycled/repurposed materials. 

For the months of January through April, the Amenia Winter Market will meet once monthly, on the second Saturday of each month, and then will move outdoors in the middle of May to resume operations as the Amenia Farmers’ Market, meeting every Friday afternoon.

Food and Farm vendors currently scheduled to attend the Amenia Winter Market include:

·      Berkshire Mountain Foods, Amenia, NY (handmade natural granolas and granola bars)

·      Best Creations Bakery, Millbrook, NY (21 varities of holiday cookies, assorted cupcakes, cakes and iced pastries)

·      Bread Alone Bakery, Boiceville, NY (breads, pies, pastries)

·      Cascade Mountain Winery - Ronnybrook Farm - Amazing Real Live Food Co. (wines, milk & yogurt, probiotic cheeses)

·      Cedar Hill Farm, Amenia, NY (beef, pork, pumpkins)

·      Clear Water Aqua Farm, Wassaic, NY (aquaponic salad greens and herbs, assorted vegetables, fish coming soon)

• Dashing Star Farm, Millerton, NY (lamb, eggs, spun wool, sheepskins, wool-stuffed pillows, baked goods)
• Farm Country Soup, Southfield, MA (soups, stews, quiches, frittatas, tarts & pies, baked goods, selection of local cheeses)
• Krazy for Kazu’s, Millbrook, NY (Japanese sauces, dressings and marinades)
• Meili Farm, Amenia, NY (beef, pork, eggs, honey)
• Moonbeam Farm, Wingdale, NY (autumn vegetables, jams & chutneys, flatbreads)
• Perry Hill Farm, Amenia, NY (potted trees, herbal salves, lotions, tinctures and balms, herbal soaps)
• Sol Flower Farm, Ancramdale, NY (autumn vegetables – potatoes, carrots, onions and more)

Irving Farm coffee and Harney tea will be served at the Amenia Winter Market for a donation to the Market of $1.00 per cup.  Milk and half & half will, of course, be from Ronnybrook Farm.

Any questions or suggestions, please contact Sophie Meili – meilifarm2@gmail.com, or (845)373-4411. Please see our website for more information: www.ameniafarmersmarket.com, and follow the Amenia Farmers Market on facebook for updates and news.