Pies, Produce and More Promised on Pleasantville Farmers' Market Opening Day

on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. when the Pleasantville Farmers' Market begins its 15th season. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. 

Live music at the market will be provided by Dlus, a jazz trio featuring guitarist Takeshi Ogura, and vocalist/guitarist Miss Rhea who will entertain the children.

Here's a sampling of what vendors will be offering on opening day:

Meredith’s Bread of Kingston, NY, will introduce an onion/cheese bread to its baked goods line—a product it debuted upstate last week. The bakery had an onion/cheese bread in its line a few years ago but a different recipe and new ingredients are being used for the 2011 product.

Amazing Real Live Food Company of Pine Plains, NY, a new vendor, will unveil its latest product—described by co-founder Peter Destler as an eight-month-aged Hudson Valley version of gruyère, a famous Swiss cheese.

Raaka Chocolate, a Manhattan-based chocolate bar maker and also a new vendor, joins the market with exotic chocolate products including a blueberry lavender (67 percent cacao) bar, a vanilla/green Rooibos tea bar and editable fermented cocoa beans for grinding and sprinkling on ice cream.

Feather Ridge Farms of Elizaville, NY, provides "Omega 3" brown eggs and roasting chickens. Its owners, the Bogdanffy family, have raised chickens since 1938 when the farm was started in Elizaville, located in Columbia County, NY.

Each Feather Ridge Farms egg contains 350 mg of Omega 3 and is said to provide six times more vitamin E than an ordinary egg. Its hens are fed flaxseed and alfalfa and the eggs they lay are hand-gathered from nests, washed, graded and packaged in biodegradable pulp containers. No antibiotics or hormones are involved.

Kiernan Farm owners Marty and Thelma Kieman from Gardiner, NY, will offer grass-fed beef, nitrate free grass-fed beef sausages, all pork cuts, honey from their hives and maple syrup at their market stand.

In addition to shiitake and oyster mushrooms, Owner said Wiltbank Farm of Saugerties, NY, will also sell sunflower and radish shoots, cut fresh at the market. 

Lots of luscious pies

Meredith’s Bread also offers apple, blueberry and cherry pie;  blueberry and raspberry jams; and blueberry banana bread and muffins. Later in the season, it will bring custard, mince and pumpkin pies to the Pleasantville market.

Pies of many kinds will be available in three sizes from Dutch Desserts of Kinderhook, NY. “We are bringing a truck full of pies,” said Co-Owner Marjan Beebe, “but, anyone can call us ahead to reserve what ever they would like.”

The selection includes apple, blueberry, peach, raspberry and strawberry-rhubarb. Pecan and pumpkin will be added later in the season. The pies are priced at $7.50 (5-inch), $15 (7.5-inch) and $20 (9-inch).

Little Seed Gardens of Chatham, NY, will sell cleaned salad ingredients for customers who like to create their own salads. Ready-to-eat washed choices available on opening day will include arugula, baby spinach, Chinese cabbage, garlic scapes, lettuce, spicy Asian mix, sun shoots (new for this year), pea shoots, radishes and turnips. Customers can mix ingredients to their heart’s delight as they self-bag items and sampling is permitted.The weight of the bag's contents determines the cost.

Later in the season, Little Seed Gardens will also offer cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, leeks, parsnips, peppers, squash, tomatoes and more. 

Mead Orchards of Tivoli, NY, will sell several varieties of apples including Mutsu, Idaho Red, Fuji, and Stayman Winesap. it will also sell green garlic, honey in one or two-pound containers and tomato sauce in 24-ounce jars.

Pika's Farm Table's Pika Roels said, "We are bringing back our all-natural quiches and tarts, and our chicken, lobster and crab potpies. Also returning are our chowders and lobster bisque, nut free basil pesto, fresh salsa, bruschetta toppings and empanadas."

Bialas Farms will offer varied products including herbs, basil, sorrel, mints,
rosemary, green spring garlic, spinach, radishes, greens such as broccoli rabe, chard and arugula, strawberries, potatoes and popcorn.

Besides pickles, Pickle Licious of Teaneck, NJ, will sell olives, pickled products, sauces and dips at its stand.

Chocolate products are made by a new process

Raaka Chocolate Founder and Owner Ryan Cheney had studied chocolate making for many years while working as a computer animation engineer. After experimenting with a wide variety of cacoa beans, he settled on beans supplied by the Conacado Cooperative, an organization of small farmers in the Dominican Republic, formed to improve wages and protect farmers from fluctuations in global cocoa prices.

Instead of roasting cocoa beans (the conventional way to make chocolate bars),Cheney uses low-temperature, bean-to-chocolate preparation techniques similar to food preparation processes he observed and studied while living and traveling in the Orient.

The market is managed by Ossining-based Community Markets with assistance and event planning provided by the Pleasantville Farmers' Market Committee whose members are Peter Rogovin (chairman), Amanda Dundas (family programming), Ali Serebin (family programming), Sarah Rogovin (culinary programs), Andy Goodman (music programming), Stuart Vance (music programming) and Toni Emerson (Chamber of Commerce liaison).

Check back for photos from opening day at the market.