By John Hall for Blue Mountain Town & Country Gazette
As we progress through the summer we are going to have some fun content on summer activities, excursions and more. In this issue we will pay a lot of attention to farmers’ markets, but first a detour to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day! We hope you each have a great one and maybe you and your kids can visit a local farmers’ market to celebrate.
The farmers’ market is a great place to be. While enjoying the outdoors (they are generally outdoors), you will sometimes find produce you never see at the grocery store. That’s particularly true when you speak about a greater variety of certain types of produce. But produce isn’t the only thing you’ll find at a farmers’ market, you’ll also find baked goods, farm-raised meat and poultry, prepared foods that can reflect the cultures of the area, and more.
The specific farmers’ market we’re going to look at in this issue is actually the very first public farmers’ market established in our country. It is still completely active and it just happens to be very close by. See “America’s First Public Farmers’ Market” for all the details. You will probably want to go visit it sometime this summer.
Now as the days get warmer, we start to yearn for lighter fare. That’s when it’s time to start adding fresh vegetables to our meals. See “14 Great Vegetables for Flavor” to learn which veggies you can be on the lookout for at farmers’ markets to bring healthy flavor to your meals and snacks.
In terms of baked goods, a regional favorite you can definitely find at many farmers’ markets is the shoo-fly pie. We are going to highlight one recipe, as well as give you the historical significance of the pie and highlight information you may not know about three of its basic ingredients. Be sure and read “Horse & Buggy Wet-Bottom Shoo-Fly Pie” for all that information.
For this issue’s “Short Getaway:…” we thought it would be appropriate to focus on the Amish Country. The Amish culture is unique, their lives are all about farming – especially dairy farming and the Pennsylvania Amish Country is very nearby. It’s a great summer daytrip or weekend getaway, so in “Short Getaway: Amish Country” we give you a bit of Amish history and just some of the things you can do during your trip.
And finally on a much more serious note, we look at something called “dry drowning.” It is something to know about as we enjoy the summer months ahead, which will very possibly include fun in and around water. See this important information in “Dry Drowning: What to Know this Summer.”
So that’s our issue! We look forward to seeing you next time when we switch our focus to straight-up summer fun, from roller coasters to white-water rafting, but we also give you some important summer thunderstorm safety tips as well.
