We’ve just finished the last of the spinach we bought at last week’s Market – just in time to shop for fresh veggies at this afternoon’s Farmers’ Market.  Here’s what our favorite Market will have for us today:

Early Summer Bounty From The Farmers

Freshly picked radishes, lettuce, spinach, and strawberries, all early summer crops and all will be available at this afternoon’s New Hartford Farmers’ Market from 4 p.m. till 7 p.m.  But remember, the early bird gets the best pickings…

This Week’s New Additions To The Market

Returning to the Market this week will be Salsa Loca.  If you tried their fresh salsas last summer or you’ve treated yourself to them at Marandino’s, then you know what a treat their salsas are!  Look for their featured Salsa Verde.

And a brand-new addition is Sandy’s Candy Haus, specialty candy makers whose store you may have already discovered on Winsted’s Main Street.  Need we say more?

Market Staples That Keep You Coming Back

Fresh-baked bread, pies and desserts from our two market bakers, Better Baking By Beth and the Planted Feather.  Also check out the baked goods available this year from Anita of Barden Farm and Gina of Beckwith Brook Farm;

Fresh Poultry – ducks and chickens – from Kenny and Joanne Dahill of MarWin Farm.  The best-tasting poultry we’ve ever eaten, the NewHartfordPlus crew.

Maple syrup, maple candy and the most delicious maple butter from Sweet Wind Farm;

Exotic and Heirloom rice, grains and beans, as well as organic Herb and Spice Blends from Boxed Goodes;

Vegetable Garden Plants and Herbs ready to take home and plant.  What could be easier?

Flowering Garden Plants & Shrubs:  Native plants grown right here in New Hartford by Dan LaPlante of Dan Dee Acres – the best!

Chefs Demos

Every week the market will be hosting a Chef who will be demonstrating simple, delicious recipes prepared with fresh produce available at this week’s Market.

The Chef this week will be Pamela Dunn of Boxed Goodes.  Pamela will be preparing fresh radishes and spring greens.

Children’s Activity

Always a special activity happening at our local, child-friendly Farmers’ Market.  This week there will be six different varieties of Heirloom Chickens.  Learn about these exciting, hand-raised breeds from their ten year old owner.

This Week’s Music

This week’s musical entertainment will be provided by Hannah’s Groove, a Market favorite band!

Come down to the Pine Meadow Green and be part of our local Farmers’ Market: The place to shop for great food and visit with friends, new and old. See you all there!

Vendor Of The Week: Barden Farm

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“Ed, you’re blessed, you really are.” Our reporter called out to Ed Barden as she waved goodbye to him across the field. “You think so?” He called back, as he carried another tomato plant ready to be transplanted. “I know so! Just look at that beautiful view.” “I would if I had the time!” Ed answered with a laugh and then turned back to his planting.

Ed Barden

You get the feeling though, that Ed knows that view very, very well: It’s provided the backdrop for his entire life. “How long has your family been farming here, Ed?” Our reporter had asked earlier on her visit. “Since 1911, when my grandad bought this land.” He’d said, going on to explain that his granddad had sold the land he owned in Campbell Falls, near the Massachussetts border, to the state for a state park and with the money from that sale he’d come down to New Hartford and bought the land on Burgoyne Heights where the farm is located. “In 1943 the barn burned down,” Ed continued. “The town held a fundraiser for the farm, and they raised $1,700. With that they paid two men $7 a day to work 7 days a week to rebuild the barn.” “Was everything gone?” “Everything, the livestock, everything.” An extraordinary act of community for a family that’s so rooted in this community.

Ed is a third-generation farmer, and you get the feeling that he’s a man who knows who he is, and what he does and he is totally comfortable with himself. And together with his wife, Anita, Ed earns a living from the farm, something that’s becoming more of a rarity as farm land is ceded to developers.

Over the years, as their family has grown from two children to four, the Bardens have also added to their business: They’ve built a separate building where customers can go at any time to pick up fresh produce; they’re selling at Farmers’ Markets, including our local Farmers’ Market in Pine Meadow which Anita helped to start; last year, with daughter Cara’s help, they launched a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program; and this year, Anita has just gotten a commercial kitchen licensed at the farm.

Ed and Anita welcome their customers to their farm, and more often than not, their customers will stop and visit for a while, sitting on the front porch of the farmstand, enjoying the view, looking at the farm animals, or throwing the ball for Buddy, their irrepressible Border Collie, while Barnabas, their large, white dog looks solemnly on. The rhythm of life on the farm is peaceful, and their customers carry some of that away with them when they leave. It’s no wonder that they have a growing number of loyal customers – the NewHartfordPlus crew among them – who look forward to their visits to the Barden’s farm, where they know they will find the best local produce, and a sense of kinship and community.

With 90-degree weather, the Barden family does the only reasonable thing: they hang out on the porch of their farmstand. Photo: Maria Moore

Ed Barden transplanting his tomato plants into the field of his family farm. Photo: Maria Moore