Meghan E. Murphy's Blog (172)

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 15, 2013) – Susan Grove is leaving her role as Executive Director of the Poughkeepsie Farm Project at the end of March. Grove will continue to work with the Poughkeepsie Plenty initiative incubated under her tenure at the PFP, including coordinating the Poughkeepsie Community Food Coalition that has been created. 

The PFP’s Board of Directors has begun a search for a new Executive Director. 

“The PFP’s efforts to…

What’s more rewarding than growing your own vegetables? How about sharing your extra produce to help feed the hungry in Ulster County.

The vegetable growing season is in full swing, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardener program is looking for gardeners like you to help feed people who are hungry in our community by joining our Plant-A-Row for the Hungry (PAR) campaign. Each year we ask vegetable gardeners to grow a little extra or share their…

NESAWG Farm Bill Action Alert

from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group…

Sullivan County farmers will be taking an old bridge and bringing it to life with a farmers market, according to this Times Herald Record report.

Now David Markovits and Asher Rothman are proposing to give new life to the unused Denniston Ford Bridge, which crosses the Neversink River at an area long popular with swimmers and fishermen.…

Would you like to know the answers to questions that come along with planting and growing a magnificent flower bed, a bountiful vegetable garden, or flourishing fruit trees and everything in between? Then you should consider becoming a Master Gardener and sharing your experience and knowledge with the inquiring public. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardener Program is currently accepting applications to become a Master Gardener for their 2012-2013…

Tuthilltown Distillery will release its latest homage to  Henry Hudson and his adventurous spirit, HALF MOON GIN, named for the vessel upon which Hudson explored the New York river that now bears his name.



Tuthiltown uses tradition not as a restriction, but as a springboard to modern possibilities. Half Moon Gin breaks new ground by going beyond gin makers’ typical approach of flavoring neutral spirit with a blend of botanicals, to actually innovate in the base spirit…

Master Gardeners are just a call away to help you plan for the 2012 growing season. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardeners hotline is open for the spring season!

Experts at the Master Gardener office located at 232 Plaza Road in Kingston will be available to answer home horticulture questions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00am to 12:00pm through October. The phone number is 845-340-DIRT (3478).

The Horticulture Hotline…

CORNWALL, New York, March 7, 2012–Edgwick Farm, a small family-owned and -operated farm in Cornwall, NY that makes farmstead goat milk cheese, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 348 Angola Road in Cornwall on March 21, 2012, beginning at 11 a.m. to celebrate the opening of their recently constructed microdairy and creamery.

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine, representing Governor Cuomo, and other dignitaries will join in the dedication of the…

Do you know of a tri-state area K-12 teacher who is interested in environmental initiatives, nutrition, school gardens or healthy food systems? You can nominate them to spend a professional development day at Stone Barns Center in Westchester County learning from farmers and educators about sustainable food and farming.

Stone Barns Center has partnered with Whole Foods Market’s Northeast region to offer professional development to 24 K-12 teachers in the tri-state area. The day will…

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardeners has a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and evergreen seedlings available for pre-order to pick up at their annual spring sale.

Click here to check out what's available and help raise money for this organization.

Orders are due March 9, 2012. This event is a fund raiser for the Master Gardener Program of Ulster County.

The…

Located in Pocantico Hills in Westchester County, the Stone Barns Center’s Farm Camp is entering its eighth season.

Registration is now open for camp sessions for rising first graders through rising eighth graders.

Campers have the opportunity to see how the farm works and get their hands dirty by pitching in with farm chores and learning alongside our farm staff. In addition to activities focused on a specific theme, every camp session includes garden work,…

Dutchess County Cooperative Extension is offering a 5-week class on the fundamentals of growing vegetables and there are only a few slots left.

The class will cover selecting varieties and planting seeds and transplants, to growing and harvesting. They will look at how to protect your garden from pests both big and tiny and cover techniques such as growing beds, mulching, watering, crop rotation and garden design. This information will help experienced gardeners take their garden to…

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County has moved its offices to the former Blockbuster Video Store located at 232 Plaza Road in the Kingston Plaza.

“Relocating our offices to this new site has many advantages,” explained Lydia Reidy, CCEUC Executive Director. “It’s a retail location in a high-traffic area – in the heart of the Kingston Plaza. This fosters greater connectivity with the community, which is critical to an agency charged with educating the public on a…

Congratulations to Hudson Valley Food Network's Julia Sforza, whose Half-Pint Preserves have won her a national Good Food Award.

Julia has shared her knowledge of canning and jamming on the site through…

I was contacted this week by Ryan Foley, who is organizing a wing tour of the Hudson Valley.

This got me thinking: Who has the best local wings out there?

I've really only seen these at one restaurant, Aroma Thyme in Ellenville.

Are there others out there with farm-raised meat that are creating this dish?

During the holidays I spent much time searching the internet for sugar-free baking recipes. The result? Much to my dismay it was a lot of Splenda-infused, Stevia-spiked cookies and quick breads.

I've learned from making roasted apple sauces, that fruit has plenty of its own natural sugar to lend sweetness to desserts. But from my Google-ing, I also discovered that "sugar-free" in…

Now More than 1,200 Locations for Fresh Local Foods

WASHINGTON - Americans are growing an greater number of winter farmers markets, with New York leading the nation. 

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced Thursday that the number of winter farmers markets increased 38 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the updated National Farmers Market Directory.

"Consumers are looking for more ways to buy locally grown food throughout the year," said Merrigan.…

BOUNTY OF THE VALLEY HARVEST SHARE PROGRAM

A New CSA in Poughkeepsie

A new CSA is starting up in Poughkeepsie for the 2012 season called Bounty of the Valley.  It originated with Temple Beth-El in Poughkeepsie and has expanded to the entire community.  The distributions will be on Thursdays at 4-7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center on Grand Avenue.  It will run for 22 weeks, beginning the first week of June…

Cheese makers earn license

Edgwick Farm, a small family owned and operated farm in Cornwall, was licensed on November 22 by the state department of agriculture to make farmstead goat’s milk cheese in its recently constructed microdairy and creamery.

The cheese making…

Local food professionals are joining together on a campaign to oppose gas drilling in New York and its potential negative affects on farming.

Chefs for the Marcellus are writing to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asking him to ban…