Yes, it's true! Local vegetables and farm products are available all year long, even when snow inevitably falls.
Harvest season is here and farmers’ market stalls overflow with produce. But we all know that cold and snow and empty fields lurk just around the corner.
Snow-covered fields do not signal the end of local farm products, however. Several farms in central New York offer winter CSAs, which provide weekly boxes of produce throughout the winter months. Plus, the Ithaca Farmers Market runs until December and starts up again in early spring. And, Garden Gate Delivery sources local foods all year long as well.
Here are some local farms offering winter CSAs. Contact them directly for information. If you know of a winter CSA that is not listed here, please contact ithacasfoodweb@gmail.com.
But how do they grow food when the ground is frozen?!
ReplyDeleteGood question! Actually most of the veggie farms plant late fall crops and harvest before the ground freezes. The veggies are then kept in cold storage and are good throughout the winter. Some farms also harvest certain crops, like kale, right from the ground in winter.
ReplyDeletePigs do well over winter on local hay and small grains. They actually seem to prefer the cold of winter to the heat of summer.
Thanks, Heather! That's great info. It's amazing what people can do with cold storage. And, I didn't know that pigs like the cold.
ReplyDelete