Based on the large attendance to yesterday's Saratoga County "Sundae at the Farm" event, it appears that farmers are the new rock stars. The road leading to the Koval Farm in the Town of Stillwater was lined with cars, and a field turned parking lot was jam packed as well. People came far and wide, not to hear music, but for a chance to see a working farm up close and personal.
Two horse-power carriages shuttled attendees from the parking lot to the event grounds. A farmers market area offered some farm-fresh crafted foods. Argyle Cheese Farmer Dave Randles showed off his new yogurt availabe in reusable, refillable glass jars. It's been a huge hit," said Randles. "But for some reason, the jars aren't coming back like I thought they would. I had to order another case of jars because I didn't have enough coming back to refill!" I mentioned that the sturdy jars are a nice sounvineer, and people like myself reuse them for other things. "Whatever the use, they're remaining functional. Now there's no waste generated!" I assured.
Beyond the usual cows you would find at a working dairy farm, there were other interesting animals on display, from Llamas, to a rare breed of horse unique to Canada - the Canadian Horse, of course!
Of course, Sundae on the Farm would not be complete without that most favored of dairy products, ice cream. What was unique about this event is that host farm, The Koval Brothers, sells their milk to the local Stewart's processing plant, where it gets made into the very ice cream that was being served. It was a unique opportunity to see the full circle of raw material to production to product to consumption!
My son and I opted for the Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie a-la-mode. The pies were supplied by Smith's Orchard Bakery of Charlton. Over 100 pies were made for the event, everyone handmade with fresh local ingredients. Mmmm, delicious!
Everybody was having a good time, taking in the sites, smells and sounds.
Another great product of our local farms is the world's best Cheddar, made by Cabot. A couple of our Dairy Ambassadors were handing out samples. Say cheeeese!
The Saratoga County Dairy Princess Emma Heritage was present:
Emma was very pleased with the turnout. "It's great to see so many people coming out to support our local farms," she said. "The dairy industry is very important to our economy, and this event is a great recognition of its valuable contribution to our community."
The next Sundae on the Farm will take place in Charlton in June of 2010. See you then!
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