Things to do, places to eat, shows to see, places to stay in Madison County, NY      

As found this morning on the Madison County Courier website:

Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean that Central New Yorkers can’t enjoy locally-produced foods. Meadowood Farms and Circa Restaurant of Cazenovia have organized a “Fourth Saturday” Winter Farmers’ Market.
On Saturday Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to noon, a group of local producers will gather at Circa Restaurant to sell their farm-raised products. Meadowood Farms will offer pasture-raised lamb and beef, wool blankets and sheepskins. They will be joined by several other local producers, including Ingallside Meadows Farm, selling pastured pork, beef, and eggs; Dutch Girl Cheese, selling artisan goat and cow’s milk cheeses; and Owen Tallman, selling gourmet mushrooms.
In addition, Alambria Springs of Lebanon will share information about their Community Supported Agriculture program.
Bee Tolman, manager of Meadowood Farms, explains that in past winters, her customers have had to come to the farm to pick up their lamb and beef.
“They risked life and limb, leaving the tropics of Cazenovia and Manlius, to brave the blasts of frozen precipitation up here on the ridge,” Tolman said. “Now our customers can pick up their meat in a warm place, even relax and have a cup of Alicyn’s coffee if they’d like.”
Furthermore, she says, it’s a nice environment for the farmers in the winter.
“Winter can be isolating,” Tolman said. “Now we get to chat with one another. I talk to Daniel [of Ingallside Meadows] about his pasture management and visit with Renata about her experiences making incredible cheese.”
Circa Restaurant’s chef and owner, Alicyn Hart, has long been a supporter of locally-produced food, Tolman said. All of the farmers at the Fourth Saturday market also supply her restaurant with menu ingredients.
“I like hosting this market because it offers my customers and the larger community an opportunity to meet the farmers who grow our food,” Hart said. “It’s an extension of the farm-to-fork initiative that I’ve been part of for the last four years.”
The Fourth Saturday Winter Farmers’ Market at Circa Restaurant will also be held Saturday, March 27 and Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to noon. Circa Restaurant is located on Main Street by the traffic light in the center of Cazenovia.
The farmers at this new market invite everyone to come and discover the variety of local farm products available, even in the depths of winter.