Sustainable Saturday-The Icy Fingers of the Winter to Come

After this Saturday, all but two local farmers' markets go into hibernation until late next spring.

This morning, an icy breeze whipped through the Otsiningo Park farmer's market, as vendors huddled in the 40 degree cold.  One vendor was even wrapped up in a blanket in the bed of her truck.

Even the savoy cabbage was purple with cold. (We bought one of these, and will report on their taste.)

We are still adjusting to the cold here.  The coats have come out, and they won't be going back in their closets until April.

Yet, shoppers were out, looking at cabbage, radishes, turnips, green peppers, honey, cheese, and frozen chickens.

We moved on to a farm stand that will be closing for the season Thursday.  Russell Farms is located in Pennsylvania, across the border from us in the Southern Tier of upstate New York, and it has a satellite farm stand in Vestal, NY.  Next to a farmer's market, Russell Farms is the next best thing.  Although they don't grow most of their veggies this time of year, they do have their own apples, and they are selling produce from southern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Dutch country.

For example, this head of savoy cabbage (objects in back of it let you judge how big it is) set us back $1.00.

They had Romanesque cauliflower, a heirloom from the 16th century.

We also picked up some green cauliflower.

Next week, our small twice a month indoor winter farmers market begins in downtown Binghamton. And, the farmers wishing to brave the cold for one more month will huddle in the parking lot of the Vestal library.  Now, that's dedication.

Will your farmer's market be going indoors for the winter?