With a great deal of sadness, I must inform you that WPSU Local Food Journey is ceasing publication as of today. This is the blog’s final post, and it’s probably the hardest one I’ve had to write. First off, I want to thank all who have read our posts over the years. I also want to thank our writers, who have volunteered to share their expertise with all of us. And finally, I want to thank all of the farmers, prepared food producers, restauranteurs, and others who allowed me to share their stories.

Alert readers will detect the faint whiff of irony and sarcasm in that introduction. You would be correct. So what might there be to do in late January and early February at Jade Family Farm?

Growing herbs indoors can be a bit of a challenge but not as hard as you may think. Here’s some helpful tips to get you started with growing herbs indoors:

Soup is actually rather fun to make, and fairly simple. There’s really no limit to variety when it comes to soup, there are the standards like chicken noodle, ham and bean, tomato, etc. but there are some really unique and fun soup recipes out there. In fact, over the years, here at Local Food Journey we’ve gathered quite a selection!

Going to the Farm Show is an educational trip for people of all ages. You get to learn a lot about what Pennsylvania farmers produce, and the challenges inherent in that production.

There’s also lots of fun things, like the sheep-to-shawl competition, baby farm animals, and of course, lots of fantastic local food.

But that doesn’t mean that farmers market time is over for the season. Far from it. Farmers market fans have several indoor options in our region to get their fix.

The event will feature poster sessions by student teams and will offer an opportunity for members of the public to learn about community sustainability initiatives and perhaps get involved themselves. Among subjects covered will be workforce recruitment strategies, water quality monitoring, climate messaging strategy, waste and recycling, and human health. Of interest to Local Food Journey readers, the event will also highlight local food, sustainable food systems, and community gardens.

A few things the Boalsburg Market recommends include delicious pies from Ardry Farms, Nomad Kitchen’s soups (great starters for your meal!), and Katina Baklava. But, see below for the complete list of what you will find there today. The market is open in the winter months every Tuesday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the St. John’s United Church of Christ on 218 N. Church Street in Boalsburg.

They are also an underrated example of why local food can be better than supermarket food. If you grow parsnips in your garden or buy them this time of year from a local farmer at say a Farmers Market or via Friends and Farmers Coop’s online market, they have a distinct advantage over the supermarket ones. Why? It’s simple…cold weather exposure.

There are certain chores that you need to do before the ground freezes and is covered in snow. These are chores that help ensure a successful 2018 gardening season by preparing the soil and helping to prevent diseases.

There have been numerous open meetings for Halfmoon Township residents concerning the type of development envisioned for the portion of Halfmoon Township East of Sawmill Road. Way Fruit Farm has allowed the township to utilize our facility for these meetings because we truly believe that the more voices that are heard, the better our community becomes.

Entries may be dropped off at Way Fruit Farm on Friday during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Saturday by 10 a.m. The event is sponsored by First National Bank.

A great example of this is celeriac. You may have seen it at the grocery store or farmers’ market. Its rough, brown, kind of hairy exterior causes a lot of people to scrunch up their face and move on.

But ignoring the celeriac based on looks means you are missing out on a delicious vegetable.

The choices this weekend are plentiful, so get ready to stroll among the leaves and check out the crafts, live music, people, and of course, local food that makes a Central Pennsylvania fall festival so much fun. Here’s a list of local fall fests to help you plan your festival time, and make a day of it.

And no, I don’t count pumpkin spice products. Those are often just something with nutmeg and cinnamon in them to make them taste sort of like a pumpkin pie with zero actual pumpkin.

- How long has your business been in existence?

Apples really are good for us. They are a good source of vitamin C and fiber, and there is evidence they may prevent certain cancers.

Plus, they are delicious. You can eat them out of hand, or bake them into pies. But what if you go a little nuts at the farmers market and have a ton of apples that you need to use up? Then keep reading, and you will find six unusual, and fantastic, uses for apples…

This time of year, you can find pumpkins sold by them at North Atherton Market, Bellefonte Farmers Market, and Boalsburg Farmers Market, including varieties that are good to eat. Along with pies, you can also make other tasty things with pumpkins, including pumpkin butter. Many people rave about Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter, but Andry Farms has a recipe for it that is even better than ol’ TJ’s. And, it’s very easy to make!

As an avid gardener, I often become overwhelmed with a surplus of peppers, especially the hot ones since they are so prolific. At first I either gave them away until people were sick of seeing me with them, then I started to freeze the peppers. Then one day I got an idea: smoke them.

There is nothing quite like going to a farmers market on a relaxing Saturday. Everyone seems to be in a good mood, there’s always something new to find, and you just can’t beat local food.

Here’s a list of local Saturday markets…maybe there’s one on this list you’ve never been to before?:

While the human cost is great, much of it has been focused on urban areas. Meanwhile, farmers in southeast Texas and Louisiana have suffered greatly and can use our help.

Check out the upcoming events at Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery for September through October:

It took the three of us working hard about three hours to go through the process. We used organically certified seed starting mix to which we addd organic fertilizer and mixed in a big tub. Each of the 47 flats needs to be filled loosely to the top of each cell, putting one flat on top of the other and pressing down so there is room to put in the seed, inserting the seed, making a marker with the date and variety for each flat, filling the cells in the seed flats loosely to the top, and watering the seeded flats.

If you are a gardener, you know how quickly you can be overwhelmed with a big harvest. Zucchini is a prime suspect, as having as few as three plants can quickly lead to too many zukes.

After awhile, your neighbors and coworkers are tired of all the cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. you try to share and begin to run from you when they see you coming with a wheelbarrow of produce, o you’re stuck with tons of veggies. What to do? Here’s five ideas…

But then reality hits—everyone is happy by the time you ditch the traffic and smell that sea breeze, but everyone is also ravenous! Waiting time for a meal at a restaurant will not work for little people who have been done with the day before dinner arrives. Even waiting for a pizza seems too long. What to do?

Visitors to Pennsylvania Organic FarmFest 2017​, the two-day organic agriculture and sustainable living event, will enjoy a full slate of interactive family activities, live entertainment, local, organic food and craft vendors, and speakers, educational workshops and demonstrations at the Centre County Grange Fairgrounds, Centre Hall, PA, July 28-29.

FarmFest is free and runs Friday, July 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Parsnip

The parsnip, children, I repeat,
Is simply an anemic beet.
Some people call the parsnip edible;
Myself, I find this claim incredible.

We like parsnips, and we like to grow them. It ain’t easy. The seeds are very small and it’s difficult to space the seeds properly when sowing. Usually they are too far apart to produce a profitable crop, tempting John to mutter his intention to plow them up.

That said, farm owners JoAnn and John Sengle sent a request to let people know that this week, starting at 6:00 p.m. until dusk daily, blueberry picking is available. And these are fantastic blueberries, tasty, sweet, and large.

Of course, part of this is maintaining and managing your garden to make sure it doesn’t falter at any point. Here’s six July garden chores to help ensure a great harvest through the summer and into the fall:

Our deviled egg recipe is more about land than sea, more specifically, the farm. Local eggs that you can get from farmers markets, etc. are often better than their supermarket cousins. Not just in flavor, but in color, as the deeper yellows and oranges of farm-fresh eggs make for an attractive deviled egg visual. To give an even bigger flavor boost, a few strips of local bacon, chopped fine, is added to give it a smoky kick.

Not only does the farm offer “standard” berries like strawberries, red and black raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but other types you might not find in a grocery store, such as gooseberries, elderberries, and currants. While the farm is a berry lovers’ dream, it is also the realization of a dream of its owners, Mark and Laura MacDonald.

It’s a great way to get delicious local strawberries that are so much better than the ones in the supermarket in December. Of course, your eyes are bigger than your stomach when out in the field picking strawberries, so you might overdo it and have lots of leftover strawberries. So what to do if you have extras?

Regardless of the weather, many of us have kicked off the summer gardening season and have plants in the ground. This early stage, when the plant is small, is vital for later gardening success. You need to protect the plant as much as possible, and keep in mind some things that will help ensure your garden is bountiful later this summer. Here’s five tips for early season gardening success.

Guests will enjoy food samples from some of the area’s local chefs and food vendors, including Otto’s Pub and Brewery, World’s Fare Catering and DelGrosso Foods. Wine, craft beer and hard cider tastings will also be available to anyone 21 or older with valid identification.

The more than 200-year-old, 8th-generation Clan Stewart Farm, located roughly between Huntingdon and State College in Huntingdon County, was one of the victims of Monday’s severe weather that spawned a confirmed tornado near Rebersburg and brought down trees and wires throughout the county. Straight-line winds were likely what hit the Clan Stewart Farm, and they did plenty of damage.

People have to eat every day, and for those of us lucky enough to be able to afford sufficient food, we have the opportunity to make a difference through the choices we make about what food to purchase and eat.

Our food purchases and eating habits are so ingrained and routine that their implications for the climate in particular and the health of earth’s life-sustaining processes generally go unnoticed. But making conscious food choices can have profound effects.

However, a Millheim entrepreneur has products that will change your concept of ketchup, and maybe even convert some ketchup haters. Linn Auman runs Garden Secrets, a maker of fantastic sauces that include chili sauce, mustards, pepper relish, barbecue sauce, and of course, homemade ketchup.

Asparagus, onions, spinach. Such delicate vegetables. Soon we will start to see these spring vegetables at the farmers markets. So many people don’t know what to do with these veggies. Steam or boil them is usually the answer I hear from my cooking class students at Happy Valley Learn to Cook. But, to really get all the flavor out of these delights, feature them in a main course like this Crustless Spring Quiche. Added to ingredients you probably already have in your refrigerator, this is an easy recipe that anyone can make.

Mike’s show is like an hour-long clinic on organic gardening and lawn care. People call his show with questions about pest removal, sick plants, best kinds of tomatoes, etc. He will be here for two events, which include a Friday evening dinner and Saturday morning talk. Tickets are still available. This is going to be a great weekend for Central PA gardeners, and here’s five reasons why:

Then become a volunteer writer for WPSU’s Local Food Journey! We are looking for people with a passion for local food to help us share the news about the tasty stuff made/grown right here in Central PA.

You can start your journey with Local Food Journey by emailing Jamie Oberdick, editor, at jco11@psu.edu.

Thanks!

The plant is believed to have been brought here in the 1800s by settlers from Europe, and it has quickly spread. If left unchecked, garlic mustard can take over an ecosystem, and greatly harm native species. Deer do not care for it, so they end up eating competing plants, allowing it to spread even more efficiently.

Most biologists encourage removal of this plant when you see it on your property, and a great way to do that is harvest it to eat it, as garlic mustard is actually edible. And one way to do that is make a spring pesto with it.

Dear Neighbors,

At WPSU we believe in the example set by the words of Fred Rogers. We believe in communities working together, and we are committed to providing Central Pennsylvanians with the programs that you count on each and every day. But right now we have a need and are asking you to respond.

We are grateful for the financial gifts of support that we received during our March TV fundraising campaign. But unfortunately, we fell short of our goal and need to raise an additional $20,000. These dollars are critical for us to continue to pay for the best programming for children and adults across the arts, science, and news, as well as telling stories from our own neighborhoods.

If you are new to growing plants from seed, it may seem a little intimidating, but it’s really not that difficult. A successful seed starting operation does need a little advance planning. Here’s five tips to help you get started sowing a successful garden:

Friends & Farmers Cooperative will hold its Souper Sunday Soup Swap at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Meetinghouse on Atherton in State College. A shared meal will be provided by Tap Root Kitchen.

While you might be shivering quietly cursing Punxsutawney Phil and lusting for spring, the local farmers we rely on for locally grown food are already getting to work. Decisions about what to grow in 2017 are nearly complete, seed ordering is largely done, additional fruit trees and berry plants ordered, and CSA brochures for the coming season printed. The list of uncompleted tasks on the winter “to do” list is barely shorter than in December. The problem is that most of the items are “too far down on the to-do list.”

So the time has come to start getting to work. Onions are “day sensitive,” which means that in order to bulb up, they have to be already growing as the days begin to lengthen. At Jade Family Farm, John and daughter Evelyn began seeding onions in January with lettuce to begin soon.

David Hopey, farm manager for Tait Farm, has lots to do in the winter months. Thanks to high tunnels, Tait Farm can grow more cold-hardy plants and harvest them weekly. “We are a four season farm meaning we grow and harvest crops year round,” Hopey said. “Crops grown in the winter are mainly leafy greens, such as spinach, arugula, mustard greens, claytonia, kale, collards as well as scallions and leeks. All of these crops can be grown in winter in our climate without supplemental heat. These crops are able to grow through winter so long as they are grown in hoop houses or low tunnels.”

While not as popular as it once was, sauerkraut is still a big part of the Pennsylvania diet, even if it’s just as part of a good luck meal at New Year’s. But sauerkraut doesn’t have to be just for special occasions, it can be part of easy-to-make winter weeknight meals.

Sauerkraut goes well with pork, of course, but especially goes well with another Pennsylvania staple, kielbasa. The Polish sausage has a nice smoky flavor that does well with sauerkraut’s sourish tastes.

Taproot Kitchen is a community of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, their families, and friends who meet regularly in State College to cook and garden. They grow, pick, glean, preserve, cook, and serve healthy local food.

On January 23, 2017, Hannah Smith-Brubaker became the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA). After an extensive national search lead by the PASA board of directors, Smith-Brubaker became the third person in the organization’s 25 year history to serve as executive director, following Brian Snyder and Tim Bowser (Lamonte Garber and Ted LeBow served as interim directors). The organization’s 5,800 members are excited to take this next step forward on the journey to meet their mission of “promoting profitable farms that produce healthy food for all people while respecting the natural environment.”

Smith-Brubaker leaves her position of Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, having served with a focus on agricultural markets and economic development, farmland preservation, and the charitable food system. During her tenure she served to ensure a place at the table for everyone, developing a reputation for inclusion and open dialogue that led to several significant achievements impacting family farms throughout the state.

Valentine’s Day Wine & Chocolate Pairing
February 11-12, 2017

You and your Valentine are invited to attend Wine & Chocolate Pairings at the Winery. Treat your sweetheart, friend, or come as a group and enjoy Mount Nittany’s award-winning wines paired with delicious Asher’s Chocolates. Special event hours are Saturday, Feb. 11 & 12 from noon to 5:00 p.m.  Cost is $8.95 per person; reservations are required. Call the winery at (814) 466-6373. This event sold out last year so reserve now!

While comfort food for many Pennsylvanians is a pot of stew or a roast chicken dinner, for some Pennsylvanians it’s food from their much warmer homeland. Pennsylvania has relatively large population of Puerto Ricans, and this includes my hometown of York. I had Puerto Rican friends growing up who introduced me to food from their sunny island, such as mofongo, tostones, and arroz con pollo, which means chicken with rice in English.

Arroz con pollo is a caldero dish, which means it is made in a large pot or dutch oven. A caldero, a kind of dutch oven, is a standard item in the Puerto Rican family kitchen.

They are resolutions to try some new things, and branch out your support of our region’s local food. Here they are, and here’s to a great 2017, and Happy New Year to you, our faithful Local Food Journey reader:

The first step to baking apples is making sure you choose one that can hold up to baking, otherwise they’ll fall apart. The best firm baking apples include varieties such as Granny Smith, Jonagold, and McIntosh. Very important to choose the right variety if you don’t want to deal with a real mess. You can definitely still find apples from local sources like Way Fruit Farm.

Once you have the right apples, then you core them. You can use a paring knife if you have the skills, otherwise an apple corer can be had for cheap. The key is to get all or most of the core out, and not cutting the bottom to allow the melted butter/brown sugar mix to stream out the bottom during baking.

Below is an old recipe for these tasty cookies that you can easily do at home. The ingredients are simple, but key to a great sand tart is rolling them thin. Otherwise, they’re not sand tarts!

The event will feature a variety of holiday gift ideas and local food. The crafts on sale will include handmade, locally sourced ceramics, wood block prints, hand-knit clothing, baby toys and mobiles, holiday ornaments and cards, specialty foods, and more.

For whatever reason, in my experience it seems that many people feel that cranberry sauce is beyond their cooking abilities. This is something I really don’t understand, because cranberry sauce is extremely easy to make.

While Cranberry Sauce a la Bart (aka Bart Simpson’s name for cranberry sauce out of a can) is pretty much as simple as can be, homemade cranberry sauce (surprise surprise) is so much better. You can up your cranberry sauce game with a variety of additions, such as raisins, currants, nuts, etc. This cranberry sauce recipe gets some flavor from traditional holiday flavors, and toasted walnuts.

If you grew up in York, Pa., like me, then you grew up around a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch food. A lot of this stuff is not found elsewhere in the country, or even in parts of Pennsylvania away from Amish country. When I lived in Pittsburgh, I looked forward to family holiday visits because I knew there would be at least a few PA Dutch items on the table, and one of these was baked corn.

Baked corn is actually a sort of savory hot custard, and to some it may seem a bit odd (like many PA German dishes). However, it is absolutely delicious, slightly sweet, and buttery. It is made with dried corn, a culinary treat that is not found outside of our region. John Copes is the brand we used, and the cartoon Amish man on the package makes me instantly think of family Thanksgiving dinners. Dried corn’s flavor is a bit more intense than regular corn, and is best described as nutty.

Plus, it’s very easy to make. If you can mix things together in a baking pan and put it in the oven, you can make baked corn.

Swiss chard is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish. A truly cold-hardy vegetable, Swiss chard can be still found as a fresh vegetable, and it’s a staple of many fall gardens.

It’s also a very tasty vegetable, and in fact, is sort of two vegetables in one. The stems of the Swiss chard leaf looks a lot like celery, and you can chop them up and cook them much in the same way. The leaves are quite delicious, sort of in a sweet spot between the delicateness of spinach and the toughness of kale. The slight bitterness of chard is an absolute plus.

The NHS School provides educational programming for autistic students. They are partners with Penguin Packs, a weekend food backpack program started via a partnership between the State College Food Bank and the Faith United Church of Christ.

It’s always better to know who your candidates are so you can make an educated choice, and Friends and Farmers have made that easy for you.

Second, pumpkin chili sounds strange and counter intuitive, but it’s actually quite tasty. You can’t really taste “pumpkin” in this recipe, just a subtle sweetness, and a very nice thickness added to the chili.

Co-op members will vote on their democratically elected board. For a full list of candidates, head to http://www.friendsandfarmers.coop/2016_board_elections.

So, you’re at your favorite farm-to-table/local food hotspot, awaiting your meal. Let’s say you ordered grilled rainbow trout, raised at a fish farm 15 miles down the road. On the side, you got garlic smashed potatoes made with ingredients that first sprouted at a farm 11 miles away, and a mixed sauteed vegetable dish that features veggies from a farmette just five miles down the road.

Sounds good and now you’re hungry, right?

To help you figure out which one (or which two, three, or four) to check out, we put together a handy list of them:

WPSU’s Conversations Live recently had an episode where host Patty Satalia was joined by Tom Butzler, a Penn State extension horticulture educator; Rob Crassweller, a horticulture professor at Penn State; and Carla Hass, a member of Penn State’s Master Gardener program and senior lecturer in Penn State’s Eberly College of Science. The four of them discussed how to get your garden ready for fall.

In all wine and food pairings, there are four basic components to consider: sweet, sour, salt, and bitter. The trick is to find one component in the dish and then either find a wine that contrasts or emulates it. Here goes, and enjoy!