Beets at the farmers market. (
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Garlic scapes at the farmers market. (
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Jersey Girl Cheese, named after its herd of Jersey cows — not the famous Tom Waits eponymous tune — displayed some of its delicious gourmet homemade fresh and aged cheese at the Lakeside Farmers Market in Greenwood Lake during a hot and humid Saturday when the temperature reached near 90 and the humidity reminded residents of what the summer temperature is like in south Florida.
Located in beautiful Branchville, New Jersey, in the heart of Sussex County, the farm uses the milk from grass-fed Jersey cows to make its cheese. Its “Jersey Girls” graze luscious, green pastures during the warmer months, and are fed a non-GMO diet of silage and hay grown on our farm. Its unique cheese cave, dug into the hillside, houses all of its aged cheese, including the traditional Italian cheeses like Mozzarellone, Canestratto, Toma and Scamorza. What attracted many visitors this day was its fresh mozzarella and burrata.
Fresh Mozzarella: A southern Italian, white semi-soft, non-aged cheese made with cow’s milk from sliceable curd, mozzarella is stretched by hand and shaped into balls. It is then packed in brine. High moisture with a mild tang and slightly salty.
Burrata: Originating from the Italian word burro (“butter”) burrata is a fresh mozzarella shell, with a thick, rich cream center called stracciatella. Burrata is one of their most popular cheeses, burrata is used in salads, pizza and even pasta dishes.
Meanwhile, J&A Farms was introducing two of its currently harvested items: garlic scapes and rainbow beets:
Garlic scapes: are the green stalks that extend from the base of hardneck garlic plants, resembling oversize chives or scallions. Garlic plants will usually sprout tiny purple or white flower buds at the tips of the scapes, if left alone to grow naturally. Farmers are more likely to trim them, however, because they draw energy away from the forming bulbs, whose size they prefer to grow. “They taste sweet, like a chive or scallion, with a mild — but familiar — garlicky zing. Finely sliced, scapes can be used just the same as garlic cloves, such as sautéed with vegetables, puréed into pesto and hummus, or roasted with meats and vegetables,” reports Food52.com.
Rainbow beets provide us with both the beetroot and the beet greens to consume. Each part of the beet plant has its own nutrition profile, including the stems which are also edible. Beets contain high fiber, vitamin, and mineral content, yet are low-calorie while providing essential nutrients. “In one cup of cooked beets, you’ll get 12% of your daily fiber, and 7% each of daily vitamin C, iron, and vitamin B6. You also will be taking in 34% of your daily folate, 11% daily potassium, and 9% of your daily magnesium...” says verywellfit.com.
Joining these vendors were The Original Laker Baker; Shannon’s Eyes on the Pies; Locust Grove Orchards; The Flower & Dough; Cornell Master Gardener and NASA Ambassador Jim Hall; Grow Local Greenwood Lake, collecting food waste compost; Peggs Eggs and Hillery Farms, featuring freer-range chicken; Lowland Farm grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and lamb; and Flower Cakes by Nadine.
The Lakeside Farmers Market, sponsored by the Village of Greenwood Lake [GWLNY.org] is available each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Windermere Ave., across from Chase Bank. Its vendors accept Market Bucks, a $5 supplemental certificate that enables the recipient to redeem it for $5 worth of fresh and/or prepared foods from participating vendors at the Lakeside Farmers Market each week until the end of October. Lakeside Farmers Market vendors are committed to providing foods from local farms at competitive prices with higher nutritional value than traditionally sourced mono-culture varieties sold in big box stores.