SHOPberkshires
PICNICS
Bizalion's Bruschetta (top left); Tarte Tomate (top right); Salade (bottom right); and Pissaladiere (bottom left.)
Very French, Bizalion's in Great Barrington (south end of Main Street) makes beautiful food for a picnic: Baguette and focaccia sandwiches, salads, quiche, Pissaladiere (a type of French pizza with onions, olives, garlic and anchovies,) Tarte Tomate and Bruschetta (proscuitto, mozzarella, tomato and basil on a baguette.) Delicious bread, cheese and pate de campagne also make an elegant meal, and Bizalion's is a great source.
Rubiner's Cheesemongers on Main Street in Great Barrington has an exceptionally rich selection of ripe cheeses – gorgeous. You can get sandwiches from Rubi's behind the cheese store, and the grilled sandwiches are delicious, especially the hot Italian with proscuitto, mortadella, salami, speck, asiago fresco and hot peppers. But, for a picnic, cold choices might be better, like roast beef with cheddar and horseradish cream on a baguette.
Haven Cafe & Bakery in Lenox is new and a good source for sandwiches and salads: House Roasted Turkey sandwich with arugula, tomatoes and potatoes; Croque Monsieur with ham, Gruyere cheese, Dijon mustard and sliced pears; Haven Cobb Salad with grilled chicken, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, blue cheese and greens.
Nejaimes in Lenox and Stockbridge has a good selection of bread, cheese and wine, as does Guido's in Lenox and Great Barrington. Remember to bring your picnic basket!
COOKING CLASSES
2010 Locavore Way Cooking Class Series
Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way, is teaming up with Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY, to offer the following classes in the Farm's new teaching kitchen.
Labor Day: On the Farm Outdoor Locavore Harvest Feast/ Sunday, Sept. 5 (Labor Day weekend), 11am-3pm (family style)
For information, contact amy@freshcotler.com (413.232.1774)
FARMERS MARKETS
Sheffield Farmers Market (left); Great Barrington Farmers Market (right).
Most farmers markets in the area have a website so you can find a list of vendors, as well as hours and directions. Many farmers featured on this site attend the markets (listed below.)
Great Barrington Farmers Market
Saturdays, 9am-1pm
(Markristo Farm, Indian Line Farm, Leahey Farm, Berkshire Mountain Bakery, 3-Corner Field Farm)
Fridays 2pm-4pm
Saturdays 9am-1pm
(The Farm at Miller’s Crossing)
Hillsdale Farmers Market
Every other Saturday, 9 am to 1 pm
Routes 22&23 on the ball field in Hillsdale, NY
(Earthborn Garden, Markristo Farm)
Fridays 3:30pm-6:30pm
Rte 7 – Main St.
Old Parish Church parking lot
A to Z Farmers Market
Wednesdays 3pm-6pm
94 West Street, Great Barrington
@ Nutrition Center
Williamstown Farmers Market
Saturdays 8:30am-12:30pm
Spring St. parking lot
GARDENING/ BEDDING PLANTS
Jess Savory (left), Senior Gardener for Berkshire Botanical Garden; Christa Stosiek (right), Co-owner of Markristo Farm.
Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, MA, kicked off the 2010 season with a bedding plant sale in May. The Markristo Farm sells gorgeous bedding at their farm in Hillsdale, NY, and at the Great Barrington Farmers Market, open Saturday mornings, May-October. Taft Farms in Great Barrington is stocked with a greenhouse full of bedding plants. Ward's Nursery & Garden Center in Great Barrington unveils its new greenhouses in spring and carries vegetable and flowering plants; trees and shrubs; bird feeders, flower pots, seeds and garden boots. Windy Hill Farm, on upper Stockbridge Rd. in Great Barrington, carries bedding plants, trees and shrubs, and the shop is charming with gardening books and garden statues. The Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington also has vegetable plants in season from local farmers, as does Wild Oats Co-op in Williamstown.
See interview on this site: Markristo Farm.
MARKETS
Brian and Aleisha Gibbons (left), Berkshire Organics; Germana Sachs (right), Mazzeo's Meat & Seafood at Guido's.
The Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington is a magnet for local food enthusiasts, with beautiful seasonal vegetables and a café that draws local regulars. Andrei, the Produce Manager, has a good reputation among local farmers for including produce from a variety of local farms. Guido’s features local salad and greens in summer, as well as local coffee, milk, yogurt, ice cream, pastries and cheese. In Guido’s, the Marketplace serves a nice selection of prepared foods, and Mazzeo’s Meat & Seafood has an exceptional selection of meats – several varieties of sausage, chicken breasts breaded and stuffed, pork stuffed and cut for roasting or grilling, gorgeous beef and fresh raw and prepared seafood. Germana, one of the butchers, is so warm and helpful, she has become like family, remembering what we bought the last time and wanting to know how we cooked it; she, along with Rob, and Rudy Mazzeo’s entire team keep the beautiful display of cuts irresistible. Williamstown’s Wild Oats Co-op Market is highly supportive of local farmers, and its list of local products is long, including large and small producers from the region. Berkshire Organics, located just outside Pittsfield in Dalton, MA, is owned and operated by Aleisha Gibbons and her husband Brian. They stock the store with beautiful local produce, meat and local products. Berkshire Organics delivers baskets of locally-produced food to hundreds of subscribers – a popular, much-appreciated service.
ARTICLES FROM AROUND THE WEB:
A Paean to Germana: The Guido's Butcher/ Rural Intelligence/ June 2008
Berkshire Organics: Fresh Produce Plus, Delivered to Your Door/ Rural Intelligence/ November 2009
EGGS
Black Java hens (left) at River Valley Farm in Lenox (photo by Lisa Dachinger); Lynda Fisher of The Inn at Sweetwater Farm in North Egremont (right) with one of her hens.
Local farms market their eggs through farmers markets, stores, and through their farms. Food writer Judith Lerner's* story LOCAL EGGS: Symbol of Spring, Renewal and Hope provides stories of backyard egg producers, such as The Inn at Sweet Water Farm (photo above) as well as larger egg farms, such as River Valley Farm (photo above). For a listing of all places to get delicious eggs, Judith has published an extensive list, including breeds and farm locations: LOCAL EGGS: The Taste and the Quality.
*Judith Lerner has been writing about people and their food traditions for 23 years. Her articles have appeared in the Berkshire Eagle, The Boston Globe, The Advocate, The North Adams Transcript and other publications.
CHEESE
Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (left); Rawson Brook Farm's Monterey Chevre (right).
Two cheesemakers in the Berkshires are featured on this site: Rawson Brook Farm produces Monterey Chevre, and the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company produces cheeses and a variety of sheep milk products.
See interviews on this site: Rawson Brook Farm and Old Chatham Sheepherding Company.
