The Saratoga County Fair is wrapping up this weekend, so if you haven’t had a chance to go yet, now’s the time. The rain has passed and the sun is out, so head on down to Ballston Spa and check it out! The Fair may conjure up images of cheese fries, dizzying Midway rides and tractor pulls, but the Fair is also a showcase of the locally made and locally grown. I went into the Townley building and found displays featuring an amazing array of food and other products made right here in our region.
The Pride of New York Table showcases the bounty of our region: Thomas’ Poultry Farm Eggs, Casa Visco spaghetti sauce, Colebrook Country wines, Battenkill Valley Creamery Milk, Ballston Lake Apiaries Honey,
Stewart’s Ice Cream, Slyboro Hard Cider, Mapleland Farms Maple Sugar and candies,
Argyle Cheese Farmer yogurt and cheeses, Garden Works dried flowers, Smith’s Pies, and many more items, all locally made. Of course you can buy many of these items direct from the producers, but you can also find them at the many independent grocers and farmers markets (see previous post “Buying Local From Local Grocers). Speaking of Farmers Markets, the Saratoga Farmers Market set up a table displaying items and information from their vendors. It’s amazing to see the quality of food items that we have available to us at the Market.
The Saratoga County Dairy Pricess, Emma Heritage, was presiding over the Dairy Bar, where you can buy some fresh milk, provided by Stewarts Shops.
Stewarts buys their milk from local dairy farms, so it is not only fresher than the stuff in the big box store, your milk and ice cream purchases at Stewarts helps keep our local farms working and presering the open space in the region.So while at the fair, go check out the Townley Building and all see all the Local Bounty! And when out shopping, look for the Pride of New York label, and buy local!