eco-LOCAL 2011 Harvest edition

HARVEST 2011 Issue 22 • FREE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Eran Wasserman & Eva Lamiano of the Route 67 Country Store and Café PLUS: Capriccio Saratoga Adirondack Folk School Nettle Meadow Farm Saratoga Apple

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Stop in and see what all the buzz is about…

TAKE A BREAK! Enjoy a picnic lunch from our Boars Head Deli in our newly redone BACKYARD under a shady tree, overlooking the beautiful Mourning Kill Creek

NOW SERVING Espresso, Lattes, and Cappuccinos.

LOCALLY-MADE BAKERY ITEMS CHARLTON BEER ALLEY Create your own six pack from over 170 choices of world class beer!

FREE WI-FI UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS: EXPLORE CHARLTON - September 17th SIXPOINT BEER TASTING - September 22nd • 7 PM to 9 PM

UPCOMING EQUINE EVENT: PEACEFUL ACRES - October 6th • 7 PM to 9 PM peacefulacreshorses.org Please check the website for additional upcoming events

Worth the trip from anywhere.

We look forward to your visit

518-882-7347 1958 Amsterdam Rd. (Rt. 67) Charlton 4 miles west of Ballston Spa

www.rt67cafe.com

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On the Cover Meet Eva Lamiano and Eran Wasserman of the Route 67 Country Store and Café, our cover eco-localizers for this Harvest 2011 edition. These two have been quietly transforming an old roadside gas station and convenience store into a contemporary country store for the 21st century. Once a chain gas-n-go, they’ve re-localized the place inside and out, from the specialty gas provided by John Ray and Sons of Troy to the eclectic gourmet foods crafted by local artisans. Plus, Eva and Eran have shared their place for community events such as car shows, equine events and beer tastings. Speaking of beer, there are 170 flavors available, and you can mix and match to create your own six pack. Homer Simpson never had it so good! It’s a one-of-a-kind place that only a local entrepreneur could create, and its proof that a good idea supported with drive and passion can thrive, even in a recession.

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

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News and Views The Wellness Doc Ask the Energy Expert Holistic Medicine Fall Farmers Markets LOCAL DESTINATIONS Town of Thurman EcoLocal People

FARM TO TABLE Capriccio Saratoga 20 MUSICIAN IN THE SPOTLIGHT Ben Karis-Nix 22-23 WASHINGTON COUNTY 24 COVER STORY Route 67 Country Store & Café 30 Adirondack School 34 SARATOGA APPLE Nutrient Dense Farming 40 NETTLE MEADOW FARM Big Cheese in Thurman 44 COOPERS CAVE ALE CO.

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Letter from the Publisher

PUBLISHER / EDITOR / SALES David Delozier 518-858-6866 ecolocalliving.com

It’s been pretty tough watching the news of late, as the Great Recession rolls on, and the talking heads continue to try to persuade us that our mighty national government can provide us with jobs and recovery. I’ve trained myself to not even bother turning on the tube, so my mind does not have to deal with the constant negativity. Instead, I find inspiration in the communities around me here in the Upper Hudson Valley. Despite the gloom and doom reporting on the 24 hour news cycle, there is actually a lot of real hope and change happening in our midst.

And it’s happening not because of some government program or artificial stimulus; it’s happening because the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive, and it’s the best way to create jobs and economic growth.

And the opportunity is all around, if we could just open our eyes to see it. Where some see decline, other see opportunity. Some of those visionary people are found within these pages.

People, like in our cover story, Eva Lamiano and Eran Wasserman, who took over a defunct gas station, of all things, and have breathed their own creativity into it, turning it into something altogether different than anything else you’ve ever seen. And the locals love them for it!

People like Lorraine Lambiase and Sheila Flanagan of the Nettle Meadow Farm in Thurman, a small Adirondack community. With a good idea and a few hungry goats, they’ve turned a dilapidated old farm in the mountains into a production facility for some of the best damn goat cheese you’ll find anywhere. The cheese is real good, but the barn is still dilapidated. For those of you who want help them build a new barn, there’s an investment opportunity for you right there. The ROI will have your taste buds shouting OMG! And then there’s Nate Darrow and Marie Christine Gaud of Saratoga Apple. They bought a large commercial apple farm in Schuylerville a few years back, and went against the industry standard of wholesaling apples to instead sell them retail at local Farmers Markets and at their own store. At the time, their peers thought they were crazy, that they never make it. Make it they did, and many of their peers have not. Sometimes doing what everyone else won’t do is the path to success. The folks at Coopers Cave Ale Company know about going against the grain. They’ve been operating their micro micro-brewery for more than a decade now. The Bethel family continues to reinvest in their little enterprise, and it keeps drawing in the customers. The adjacent bike path inspired them to make ice cream. You can grab a cone on your way to Lake George.

When the wholesale end of the business went flat (no pun intended) they opened up a pub next door. Their new outdoor deck is now open, so now you can stop back after your ride to the lake and have dinner alongside the bike path. Running a restaurant business is never a sure thing; running a restaurant in Saratoga Springs can be especially frustrating. While summertime is easy money, it’s the off season that has killed many a restaurateur. But when the Dine Restaurant on Henry Street closed, Jim Rua of Café Capriccio in Albany saw opportunity. Together with his son Franco and family friend Henry Ciconne, they launched their sister restaurant Capriccio Saratoga in July. Another restaurant, off Broadway, selling pizza?

Like that’s going to work. Actually, judging from the full house practically every night this summer, yes, it’s going to work out just fine. Good food always attracts good business. So the evidence is in…there is no recession for good ideas, gumption, and a can-do spirit. The best opportunities are all around us…and inside…of you.

DESIGN / PRODUCTION Centerline Design 518-883-3872

-David DeLozier, Publisher Every effort has been made to avoid errors and misspellings; however, if you see an error, please accept our apologies.

We welcome your ideas, articles, and feedback so that we can give you the best service possible. Eco-LOCAL Living does not guarantee nor warrantee any products, services of any advertisers, nor will we be party to any legal or civil claims or promises. We expect advertisers to honor any claims or promises. We reserve the right to revise, edit and/or reject any and all advertising with or without cause. Liability is limited to the cost of the ad space in which it first appeared for printing errors of the publisher's responsibility or if the publisher fails to print an ad or article for any reason. We reserve the right to edit articles if needed for content, clarity and relevance. Unless otherwise noted, we use the Creative Commons License (in place of standard copyright), which allows anyone to freely copy, distribute, and transmit all content, although it must be attributed in the manner specified by the author or licensor, and no one may use it for commercial purposes, or alter, transform, or build upon it.

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PHOTOGRAPHY David Delozier, Tracey Frisch, Persis Granger, Christopher-Robin Healey CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Jessica Davis, Tracy Frisch, Persis Granger, Christopher-Robin Healey, Stacey Morris, Nancy Muldoon, Franesa Pyle, Kathleen Quartararo, Dr. Michael Quartararo, Greta Yakel, Johanna Sophia SUBSCRIBE Eco-LOCAL Living is the free bi-monthly magazine for people choosing to lead sustainable, intentional lifestyles in New York's Upper Hudson Valley. It can be found throughout the region at independent retailers, shops, restaurants and other high traffic locales. Visit www.ecolocalliving.com to find a location near you. If you would like to receive a subscription, send $24 along with your name and address to: Eco-LOCAL Media 38 Tamarack Trail Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. If you would like updates and information by email, please sign up at our website.

SUPPORT We seek to transform this special region of upstate New York into a local living economyof vibrant towns, productive farmlands andhealthy open space. By reading eco-LOCAL, you become part of our cause. But more is needed - we need you to take an active role, by engaging in the commerce that will create the living economy of our future. This magazine is brought to you solely by the advertisers found within. Please tell them you appreciate their support of eco-LOCAL Living.

We are all in this together, and we must support each other. Thank you!

News and Views

By Kathleen Quartararo

If You Can Read This….

For crine out loud! That's how I heard my grandmother say it! You heard me.. I guess I mean, “for crying out loud”. So now my point.

And by point, I mean my incredulous realization that I am no longer completely invincible. OH MY GOD! I can't see a flippin' thing! This is how it happens? One day you can read everything, the next day you need readers for the crossword puzzle! OK, that I handled relatively well. Then I couldn't read

the screen on the register without backing up a bit.. then I needed more light! Really, if you have been in Virgil's, seriously, how can you see ANYTHING in the dictionary!! Light, we need light!! Now for the killer.. I am at Price Chopper 3 days a week. Love, and I do mean LOVE, the self-check out. In control, getting to do all the cool check out stuff! I totally rock the self check out. Spin the wheel of codes to get any produce number I need. Monday I have to look up 2 codes, no stickers. Master that I am, no problem. Tuesday I go in for broccoli crowns. Look up code, a little blurry, but I enter it. Auto attendant asks me for the quantity. Realize I must have entered the code for a bunch of broccoli, because crowns are by the pound. Try to back up, get new code. Enter a bunch of numbers straining to see what I need to do. Is that a 6 or an 8? YEAH! It takes!

I look up. I have purchased 50 navel oranges at $1 a piece. Call to girl - can she help? I need broccoli crowns!! She tries, someone else comes over, a manager gets called in... there's a $50 produce void at self check out apparently that is an issue- finally, oranges are gone, they give me the code for crowns I am good to go! I am done, I choose “Cash”. It won't take my money. Again, I have to yell to the girl. “Can you help me?” “you have to pay up here” Apparently you are no longer trusted

This September, NOFA-NY is launching its 2nd Annual NY Locavore Challenge. The NY Locavore Challenge is a first of its kind, monthlong campaign aimed at engaging consumers across the state in actively supporting the local organic food movement.

The Locavore challenge starts with the theory “vote with your dollar,” and takes it a few steps further, by appealing concerned citizens to

participate in a wide variety of events and challenges that support their local economies, encourage organic and sustainable growing practices and propel the movement forward.The aim is for 5,000 people state-wide to participate in the challenge this year, bringing the concepts of local, organic and sustainable more into the forefront of the general public's minds.

First, participants choose a level of commitment. A Bite-Sized (3 mini-challenges), Meal-Sized (6 mini-challenges) or a Feast-Sized Challenge (9 mini-challenges). Second, choose mini-challenges from three fun categories: Grow, Cook, Eat; Join the Movement; and Take Action. Registration FREE and is available online at www.NYLocavoreChallenge.com or by calling the NOFA-NY office at (585) 271-1979 ext. 512.

By signing up, you can be part of a movement that is hungry, active and ready to change our food system.

to continue at self check out when you purchase 50 navel oranges in error. Seriously, it's not my fault!! Those freakin codes are a 2 font at the most! Who can read that? And how was I able to read them yesterday and not today?!?!?!

Jump to yesterday... need printer ink. Grab empty cartridge. Go to Staples. Pull out cartridge. Look at label. OH MY FLIPPIN' GOD, it is all a blur! Absolutely nothing. I have no glasses, I cant see anything on the cartridge. I walk over to a cashier. I ask her to please tell me the number. She takes it, looks at it, looks at me and says “please.” (I picked someone my age apparently) She calls across the aisle to Mark - We both go walking over, he takes .025 seconds to read it out loud with a big grin.

NOW I apparently have to be WALKED OVER TO THE EXACT SPOT. I am 48 years old. THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME. I can already hear you. “So just bring your readers!” Seriously, I can barely keep track of my cell phone, and forget the ear piece. (I've already lost 3). Now I am supposed to carry glasses around? And remember where they are? And remember to take them places? Isn't there an app for this?

Kathleen is the Owner of Virgil’s House, 86 Henry Street in Saratoga Springs.

If you can read this coupon,

you are welcome to 50% off any item you see that you would like…

NO READERS ALLOWED FOR THIS COUPON!

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The Wellness Doc

By Dr. Michael Quartararo of Adirondack Advanced Chiropractic

Fluoride, like it, or not?

Fluoride, our front line defense in fighting tooth decay. So safe, we have been using it in toothpaste, mouthwash, adding it to our water supply, and even giving it in pill form to our children. Well, research has been done over the past 10 years and the results may surprise you.

The studies are conclusive and report that fluoride damages your bones when ingested every day over long periods of time. Millions of Americans now suffer from skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease caused by excessive fluoride. Nearly 40 percent of all children in the U.S. have dental fluorosis, while millions more have mild fluorosis. Of course, these conditions are mainly caused by high dose fluoride exposure but here’s the problem, fluoride accumulates over time.

To fully understand your fluoride exposure risk, let’s explore how fluoride is handled in your body. First, up to half of ingested fluoride accumulates in your bones, while the other half is excreted in the urine. Second, once

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fluoride enters your bones it is removed very slowly. The biological half-life of fluoride in bone (the time for half of it to be removed) is as long as 20 years. Third, most people have constant low level exposures to fluoride, and are taking more fluoride into their bones than is being removed. As a result, the fluoride level in bone increases steadily with time. We are slowly being over exposed to fluoride and are all at risk for fluorosis.

You may be wondering, why is fluoride being recommended in the first place?

Fluoride increases the density of trabecular bone and has been shown to reduce dental cavities. A study from 1940 showed a 60 percent reduction of dental cavities in areas where water was treated with fluoride.

However, recent studies don’t show such a drastic difference between fluoridated areas and non-fluoridated areas. Mainly due to dental practices among individuals and eating habits. This new found evidence, and the overwhelming evidence that over exposure to fluoride carries risks such as fluorosis, cancer, and bone fracture, have sparked some controversy. In Canada, for instance, The Fluoride Action Network have made a major push to end water fluoridation all together. Currently 60 percent of Canada has stopped fluoridation and it seems the rest of the country will follow. Locally, New York City councilor Peter Vallone has introduced legislation “prohibiting the addition of fluoride to the water supply." If this legislation passes, it would spark the rest of our country to follow.

Despite the fact that 170 million Americans now drink fluoridated water every day, we

continue to have little understanding on how the consequent contamination of our food and water with fluoride is affecting bone health. While we know that fluoride at high doses clearly harms bone, and while there are several worrying indications that similar harm is occurring at the lower levels that Americans regularly ingest, the absence of competent research by U.S. health authorities has enabled many basic, fundamental questions to remain unanswered. Until researchers feel free to report adverse findings on fluoride without fear of losing their funding, this situation is likely to persist, to the possible peril of millions of American's bone health.

So why don’t you know about this issue?

Why hasn’t fluoride been in the media, to warn us of this obvious health concern?

One thing is certain, the risks of fluoride exposure outweighs the benefits. Inform yourself; check out www.mercola.com and our website at www.aacfamilywellness.com for more on fluoride and other current health issues. Stay up to date; join us on facebook at www.facebook.com/aacwellness and Twitter at www.twitter.com/aacwellness. We are committed to educate our community and bring health and wellness to you and your family! As always Be Well!

Dr. Michael Quartararo has been a chiropractic wellness practitioner for 17 years in Saratoga Springs. He is the CEO and founder of AAC Family Wellness Centers, a Milton family and pediatric wellness center. He is a member of the New York State Chiropractic Council, International Chiropractic Council, International Pediatric Chiropractic Council and World Chiropractic Alliance. He can be reached at www.aacfamilywellness.com or aacdocs@adirondackchiropractic.com.

The Saratoga Native American Festival

By Nancy Muldoon

Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd 10am-6pm • SPAC This year’s Saratoga Native American Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd from 10am-6pm. The focus of the festival is as always, the Northeast Indian tribes like the Algonquian, Iroquois, Mohican and Abenaki.

Joe Bruchac, local author, Abenaki Indian, storyteller and organizer of the event (his son Jim Bruchac founded the event in 2006) says that a lot of effort and planning go into this event.. “I start planning in February,” said Bruchac.

Bruchac is pleased that Mohawk elder Tom Porter will be officiating this year’s opening ceremony which will begin at 11am on Saturday October 1st. More than 40 Vendors will be on hand at the Festival. All vendors are American Indians that actually make the goods they are selling. There will be baskets, pots, clothing, jewelry and more.

Bruchac makes it clear the event is not just for American Indians.

“American Indian Culture is American [Culture]. All people are encouraged and welcome,” said Bruchac.

All Rights Reserved © Eric Jenks

Bruchac credits such sponsors like the Adirondack Trust Company and Stewarts and the volunteers who help put this event together. Bruchac is especially appreciative of vendor and coordinator Jeanne Brink who he describes as ‘a big part of the festival.’

Bruchac is also grateful to Saratoga Spa State Park for allowing the Festival to be at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center grounds and only charging a minimal cost. “The Saratoga State Park has been a tremendous supporter and is an excellent fit,” said Bruchac. Bruchac feels that the State Park is a fitting place because of all of the different springs that are in the park. The Springs are what attracted Indians to Saratoga long ago. “I think of the Festival as having a healing presence,” [because of the springs] said Bruchac.

In addition to having demonstrations of Indian dances and flintknapping (the making of arrow heads) there will be traditional and affordable Indian cuisine. Corn soup, Buffalo burgers and Indian tacos will be just some of the goodies for sale at the festival. Also on hand will be Mohawk women singers and traditional Indian storytellers and games for kids to partake in.

There will be a large children’s tent with games that are fun and educational.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for kids over the age of 5 years old. Under 5 are free. For more information you may call 518-583-1440 or you may go to the website for a list of all the activities: saratoganativefestival.com. ecolocalliving.com 9

Ask the Energy Expert

By Greta Yakel, Adirondack Solar

How to Make Solar Work for You

Despite a struggling economy, the United States solar photovoltaic (PV) market has grown leaps and bounds. When comparing the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, the US solar PV industry grew 66%. Industry experts are expecting the market to double by the end of 2011 and for the US to become the third largest solar PV market, behind Germany and Italy. In the recent days of high unemployment and an uncertain economic future, you may be asking yourself, how could any industry be experiencing double digit growth? The answer is simple; consumers across the nation are taking advantage of generous state and federal incentives for renewable energy systems such as solar PV systems. Then, these consumers are teaming up with a variety of financial institutions to assist in the investment of these systems. The rise of creative financing solutions is helping customers realize their dreams to go green while making their solar system monthly payment equal to their electric bill. The following points will show how today's consumers are making solar work for them.

1) INCENTIVES State and federal governments have programs in place to drastically reduce the price of solar PV systems. For residential customers in New York State, there is a rebate of $1.75 per watt up to 7kW system size. New York also offers a tax credit of 25% of the contract price, capped at $5000. The federal government offers a 30% tax credit with no cap. All in all, incentives can total 60% of a PV system's total cost.

2) FINANCING The key is a variety of options that allow a homeowner to find the right payment plan. a) Unsecured Loans An unsecured loan is a loan that is based

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on one's creditworthiness. There is no collateral or lien placed on the borrower's assets. b) Manufacturer Financing It is typical for design and install companies to offer a variety of panel manufacturers. Therefore, many panel manufacturers offer their own financing with special rates and terms. This give customers options for payments that fit their lifestyle. c) Same as Cash In the solar industry, Same as Cash offers allow customers to borrow the amount of the tax credits. The customer faces no payments and no interest until they are able to recoup the money in the coming tax year. d) Traditional Financing Using one's home as collateral with a home equity loan is a traditional financing option. Customers can shop around for the best rates from a variety ofbanks and financial institutions. Lastly, paying cash is always a possibility.

As evidenced by the PV market growth data, consumers are taking advantage of the great incentives and financing options mentioned above for solar systems, regardless of the struggling economy. A recent customer in Schenectady, NY, utilized a combination of financing options to make solar work for him. He is now powering 100% of his home with solar PV and paying a monthly loan payment that is equal to his old electricity bill. The investment is now in his home and his pocket as opposed to the utility company. Solar is more than possible, solar works! Can you rise to the challenge and see how solar can work for you?

Adirondack Solar is a New York-owned, family business that prides itself on offering the best quality and service backed by years of experience. For more information, please call (866) 452-7652 or visit us at www.adksolar.com.

SUSTAINABLE & STYLIZED SUCCESS

By Johanna Sophia They’re dancing? OMG, all of them? Yep, they are all dancing! Young, old, nimble, and clumsy… everyone is on the dance floor.

Success! That’s what the Life Stylized Center claims to be all about: success! This ‘grand opening’ party at Life Stylized Success Center has as its goal to support everybody in enjoying more success - personally and professionally.

Coaxing or coaching people to put away their inhibitions to join in the dancing seems to be a good demonstration of the fact that these people can get it done. People can learn how to have fun. People can be coached to have fun. People can be coached to enjoy life. But do we really need another lot of gurus?

Aren’t we already in overkill mode when it comes to self-help books, feel-better workshops, seminars to find ourselves and courses about making money? Aren’t we in overload from personal development services claiming to coach us in our life (like we need to be coached in breathing?), telling us how to run our business, what to eat and what supplements to swallow? Do we really need advice to proceed with life or to believe that our business can be successful?

I was full of skepticism when I came to this grand opening of what I thought was ‘yet another life coaching service’ springing up on every street corner like shrinks in New York City in the 1970’s. After all, we sit in schools, colleges and universities to learn how to get into the game of adult life, business or careeroriented employment. But seeing is believing and here I am holding hands with total strangers who are shaking their shoulders and behinds in unison, laughing.

Then it hits me… We DO need this! The more we pursue our own ideas, the more we need to invest in the support that would traditionally come from a family business or long-term employer. These days, the doctor’s son does not necessarily hang out in his father’s practice to absorb how to become a doctor himself. A mason’s son does not necessarily become a mason. And the pride of the family is the first daughter to attend college or open her own business without the family fall-back. As we individualize in society 12 ecolocalliving.com

and deviate from our parents’ or our family’s trade or philosophy, we need help to keep the confidence and stay on track. The more we are dependent on our own drive because we cannot rely on an old tradition – if only because there is no tradition for this computerized world - the more we need mutual and multiple support. We need to be continuously encouraged. So here I am: a coaching convert! I want to participate.

Next, I find myself talking to Sierra Sullivan, one of the four partners of this new venture.

She’s buoyant and full of enthusiasm. She worked and studied with ‘the best’ of coaches and marketing consultants in the nation and has helped to develop Life Stylized’s unique approach to raising the confidence of their clients. This includes many modalities to empower success including movement and yoga-type exercise offered by her partner, Karen Carey. I’m liking this. When we move, we relax and come into our own.

I am particularly interested in the Life Stylized Success Center’s full calendar of group courses and also in connecting with their eclectic community of clients who are on a green, more conscious and sustainable path to success . Maybe I’ll meet you there. You can find Sierra, her husband Rono and their business partners Karen and Kevin in downtown Saratoga at 444 Broadway, Suite 302, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, Sign-up for their email list and receive a free class pass by visiting www.LifeStylized.com/eco. To connect with Johanna Sophia, 607-229-2308.

Holistic Medicine

By Dr. Jessica Davis

Creating A Medical “CSA” How does it work? Both CSAs and direct practices generally have a membership based system. Instead of a share of vegetables, you pay for a share of medical care. Membership is limited to a few hundred people. Instead of supporting the traditional, complicated agribusiness/insurance system where the corporate middlemen make the big profits, you pay the farmer/doctor directly for their services.

Why would I join this type of practice? Think of the reasons you might join a CSA instead of just going to the grocery store. Here's some examples of the benefits you can get from joining a direct practice: • Health and Wellness. Membership payments allow me to shift the focus from acute sick care to prevention and proactive wellness care. It frees up my time so I can offer longer appointments, truly listen to your issues, and think through problems and solutions instead of reflexively ordering tests and medications.

• Connection and Relationships. This is the ultimate foundation of my practice. If you are my patient, I work directly for you, not your insurance company. I want to have lasting, meaningful relationships with my Many of you reading this article are probably patients and their families. Often the most CSA members too. As this season draws to effective healing comes from that caring an end, think back over the past year. Why relationship, not a prescription, procedure or did you join? What keeps you coming back? referral.

I'm a big fan of Community Supported Agriculture. I love the food, the sense of community, and the people and principles involved. A few years ago, I moved back to this area after finishing my medical training. I had a one year-old son, it was too late to start a garden, and I figured that joining a CSA would be a great way to get a regular supply of healthy veggies and meet some likeminded people at the same time. I researched www.localharvest.com and joined Denison Farm before we even made the move!

• Quality. By keeping the practice small, I can deliver better quality medical care and 'customer service'. I start with evidence based care and customize it to your personal needs. Studies are starting to show that direct primary care can reduce hospitalizations, emergency room visits, specialist referrals, and surgeries by significant amounts (often great than 50%).

• Value. Direct primary care is surprisingly affordable, on par with a CSA membership!

Get more for your money by paying directly for primary care and looking for a lower cost or 'catastrophic' insurance plan for those true emergencies • Sustainability. Times are changing, and healthcare is in the midst of a huge transformation. By bringing my practice back to the basics of relationship and quality care, and disconnecting from the dysfunctional insurance industry, I have created a practice that will not just survive the changes, but allow me and my patients to thrive!

Want to join me? If you are interested in more information on Direct Primary Care and other sustainable health care solutions, please visit the Philosophy section of my website: www.jessicadavismd.com Jessica Davis, MD practices in Stillwater NY as “The New Mom's Family Doctor”. She is board certified in Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine, and also practices Medical Acupuncture.

For more information call 877-664-6116 or visit www.jessicadavismd.com.

If you're like me (and most other CSA members), you are someone who appreciates healthy living, connection and relationship, sustainability, quality over quantity, getting a good value for your money, and supporting local independent businesses.

When setting up my own independent medical practice, I chose to align with the values and principles I live by in the rest of my life, including those that drew me to join a CSA. Hippocrates said “Let thy food be thy medicine”. Great philosophy… why not take that a step further?

There are so many interesting parallels between food, medicine, and the systems that deliver them. Here's how my style of direct practice is like a “medical CSA”. ecolocalliving.com 13

Farm to Table

CAPRICCIO SARATOGA THE TASTE OF CAPRICCIO COMES TO SARATOGA SPRINGS

STORY BY STACEY MORRIS PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DELOZIER

Cafe Capriccio, the award-winning southern Italian restaurant that has been wowing Albany's dining elite for nearly three decades now has a second location in Saratoga Springs.

Owners Jim Rua and his son Franco opened Capriccio Saratoga in July, along with new partner Henry Ciccone, who is part owner and chef of the new location.

The second location has a smaller menu (for now) but models itself after the solid reputation Cafe Capriccio has built by using the simplicity of Neapolitan cuisine, hallmarks of which include fresh herbs, imported pastas, opaquely thin wood-fired pizzas, sautéed or marinated fresh vegetables, and the alchemy of San Marzano tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil that have been simmered into the pitch-perfect sweetness of a chunky marinara.

"We keep our recipes simple, traditional Mediterranean. We don’t do nouvelle and that's kind of revolutionary these days," said Franco, who said that using local produce, 14 ecolocalliving.com

handmade cheeses, and house-cured meats align perfectly with the Neapolitan philosophy that structures the menus of both Capriccio locations.

In addition to heirloom tomatoes from Franco’s own vast home garden (used in salads and on pizzas), Ciccone said that twice-weekly trips to thenearby Saratoga Farmers Market are made for fresh produce, herbs, meats, and cheeses for menu items like Risotto with Mushrooms, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Marinated Zucchini, and Eggplant with Four Cheeses.

Helping steer the ship at Capriccio Saratoga is Spa City native Gregory Ciani, a veteran of the restaurant business, who has been friends with Ciccone since childhood.

He usually arrives at the restaurant’s empty dining room by 11 a.m. to down his Styrofoam-encased breakfast (a vegetable omelet and fresh fruit) at the bar before fielding questions and requests from vendors, electricians, and the occasional passerby wanting to see a menu or make a reservation.

“Henry’s my best friend and I really believe in Capriccio Saratoga and want it to work,” said Ciani as he scanned a small stack of invoices in the kitchen while a Jacuzzi-sized pot of hot water (for making the mozzarella) simmered behind him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work.”

And during peak track season, that usually means 12-hour days. After 5 p.m., Ciani’s tshirt and shorts give way to black and white waiter attire as he takes on the role of Dining Room manager to manage not only the wait staff, but gangs of boisterous tourists who descend on Capriccio Saratoga for platters of the caper-laden Octopus Carpaccio, Rapini with White Beans, and Spaghetti alle Vongole.

So while Ciccone, a certified Neapolitan pizza-maker, oversees cooking orders of Rigatoni, Gnocchi, and pizza to perfection, Ciani handles the local orders for food, whether it’s a few blocks away at the farmers market or from the import stores on Arthur Avenue in The Bronx.

Henry and Lindsey Ciconne with their three kids

“All of our flours are from Naples,” explained Ciani. “Flour is milled differently in Italy, especially the 00 variety which gives pizza a nice crust with a soft interior.”

All pasta on the menu is traditional semolina pasta imported from Italy. Italian bread and mozzarella are made in-house, and the Italian dessert menu (Tiramisu, Orange Ricotta Cheesecake, Flourless

Chocolate Cake with Amaretto, and Sfogliatelle) are made by a woman in Schenectady.

Franco said that many of the Capriccio Saratoga clientele are spillovers from the Albany restaurant who have long been waiting for a Saratoga Springs location. He said that those experiencing the Capriccio menu for the first time are uniformly impressed.

“Good taste is all about simplicity of ingredients,” said Franco. “That’s what most people who visit Italy for the first time are struck by and that’s what we’re bringing to this region. We’re not reinventing anything, we’re keeping it simple, and that’s what makes us unique.”

Capriccio Saratoga is located at 26 Henry St. in Saratoga Springs. Call (518) 587-9463 for more informationor visit www.capricciosaratoga.com. ecolocalliving.com 15

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At Capriccio Saratoga we are committed to serving homemade, homegrown, local, fresh, and seasonal ingredients. We make our own bread, cured meats, cheeses, sausage, and grow much of our own produce; and we work with the finest purveyors locally and internationally to bring the finest food to our Neapolitan table.

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AUTUMN IN THE UPPER HUDSON VALLEY EVENTS NOT TO MISS: September 10-11 Washington County Cheese Tour www.washingtoncountycheese.com September 10 S.A.W. Harvest Fest at Salem Art Works www.salemnychamber.com September 10-11 Discover the Hilltowns, Self guide tour of Berne Knox Rensselaerville and Westerlo, call 872-2082 September 10 Gathering of the Tribes Native American Pow Wow, 890 Luther Rd. E. Greenbush call 477-4872 September 17, LARK FEST, you know where September 17-18 Capital Region Apple and Wine Festival, Altamont Orchards, www.appleandwinefestival.com October 1-2 Saratoga Native American Festival @ SPAC www.saratoganativefestival.com October 1-2 Warrenburg Garage Sale, exit 23 of the Northway October 1 Vegetarian Expo, Empire State Plaza, www.nyvegetarianexpo.org October 1 Cambridge Apple Festival www.cambridgenychamber.com October 2 Local Harvest Festival, Washington Park, Albany call 482-3312 ext. 128 October 8-9 Thurman Fall Farm Tour, town of Thurman. www.thurman-ny.com October 8-9 Gore Mountain Harvest Fest www.goremountain.com October 15 Chowderfest, Downtown Troy October 29 Regional Farm and Food Project Farmer Mixer, Bethlehem Grange, Selkirk, Albany County call 858-6866

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BEN KARIS-NIX Musician in the Spotlight OPENS STORE DESIGN IT TOGETHER IN TROY, NEW YORK INTERVIEW & PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRANESA PYLE

Recently I sat down with my good friend and cohort Ben Karis-Nix a.k.a. BenKN, talented musician, artist and now the new store owner of Design it Together in Troy, New York.

We spoke about the collective of creativity that drives the mission of Design it Together, the passion for creating imagery focusing on green concepts such as renewable energy and life also as a musician.

FP: Congratulations on your new business!

What date did you open your store? Will there be a grand opening?

BenKN: We opened the store on June 25th, which was Troy Night Out. It was funny and terrifying at the time, we were literally sanding and painting right up to the last few minutes before we opened! But we made it and had a lot of encouraging feedback. Since then we've expanded our inventory quite a bit, and decided to make our grand opening Friday, September 30, 2011, which is also Troy Night Out. FP: Can you give a bit of an overview of Design it Together for our readers?

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BenKN: Design it Together is a design studio and print shop, and also a store that sells apparel, cards, art prints, and music. We make most of our products but also carry work from friends we admire. We're also starting to book some bands to play in the store, too, which is going to be a lot of fun. We put all of our display pieces on wheels so that we can transform the space into a tiny music venue.

FP: How would you describe what you offer in your store?

BenKN: We offer art, posters and apparel that convey imagery spanning everything from renewable energy, yoga, space exploration, animals, and social issues close to our heart. Most of the current clothing designs feature animals, natural imagery, and images that promote wind and solar power.

Basically, anything that we care about and we feel is constructive, positive, funny, or beautiful in its formal qualities. We just make it and figure someone out there will like it.

FP: How are your products conceived?

BenKN: Generally, our strategy is to try out a design idea as an art poster or card first, and

if it becomes popular we'll upgrade it to an apparel design, which is more expensive to produce, but probably the most appealing to customers.

However, that said, we've been having a lot of luck selling our Risograph prints, probably because they're kind of novel. (A Risograph is type of stencil duplicator machine intended as an energy efficient document printer, but there's been a growing trend among artists and studios to repurpose these funny machines to make art prints because the Riso company offers a huge variety of colors. So you can repurpose the machine to create art prints by running each color separately, not unlike the process of silk screening, and just try to get each separate run to register together as best you can. The end result is a "vintage" type print, each unique from each other in the way the ink has settled on to the paper. It's a tactile artistic medium, and it's awesome the machine itself is energy efficient, and uses renewable and non-toxic materials for the ink and stencils. The ink is soy based and the stencils are created on a

film of banana paper that wraps around the color drum).

FP: Is there a theme with the artists whose work you sell and display in the store?

BenKN: We generally curate the work of our friends and our own stuff in terms of the themes I mentioned earlier, that they celebrate natural forms, promote causes and ethics we care about, like green energy, or that are just plain beautiful or impressively rendered. Lately, some new work we're creating and curating are prints that celebrate the city of Troy. I've lived here over a year now and have really fallen in love with this old city, its history and architecture. It's a special little city with a lot of potential!

FP: You carry your own apparel and prints for purchase in the store supporting green technologies and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy as well as advocating for local farming. What prompted the idea behind the imagery of your own designs?

BenKN: When I was making a living as a touring musician, one year my band was playing the Warped Tour, and it was there that I encountered independent clothing lines for the first time. The guys who were at the

tables selling their designs were mostly dudes just a little older than me, many used to be in bands, and were touring as vendors with their cool screen printed designs on tees and hoodies, etc.

Encountering those guys planted the seed that that was something I could do, too!

However, one thing that stuck with me was that the designs were often really dark, and on the tour I met so many young kids who really look up to you as one of the performers, or an artist of any kind, and, so I found that it was important to me to convey something constructive with these young kids upon whom, whether you mean to or not, you'd be leaving an impression onwhether it's from your artistic output, itself, or just a short conversation.

With my music, art, etc., both myself and my design partner, Taylor, we try to maintain an ethic of creating things that make people feel good. With that in mind, the first designs I made were images that were spattery, youthful, energetic abstractions of nature.

Following that were designs promoting wind and solar energy. Our posters and tees pretty much cover anything and everything we feel like trying, but there's still a big nature

component to our work.

FP: In addition to the storefront, Design it Together also offers services in multi-media design and video production provided within a creative collective of individuals. How does this work?

BenKN: Design it Together is a sister company to our friend's promotion company and record label, Do it Together Records. Both D.I.T. entities pool resources among our various contacts to create opportunities for each other, whether it's a website, a tour, or a new clothing design. It's a great system, and for Design it Together, it allows Taylor and I spread out into other artistic fields that require expertise or people-power beyond what just two of us can manage.

FP: How does such a collaborative benefit the clients you work with?

BenKN: We feel that this kind of collaboration benefits clients because we can offer a large breadth of styles and strengeths, and we tailor those strengths to each project.

FP: How would one get involved as a collaborator with Design it Together?

BenKN: Just send us your stuff to info@designittother.com!

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Route 67

Country Store & Café FINDS SUCCESS BY RECONNECTING TO IT’S PAST STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DELOZIER

In ‘the old days’ the Country Store was a place where you could find just about anything. The ‘anything’ then was nothing compared to the choices we have in the world of retail shopping today. And what was once a local shopping experience now has become regional. The big boxes and chain stores have replaced the local community mercantile. Even the little roadside independently run gas station has been replaced by the ubiquitous chain gas-n-go store, where the cookie cutter has been main design tool. These familiar yet rather bland stores that dot the landscape offer little stimuli for the multi-sensing human being, aside from satisfying our chronic addictions for gasoline, coffee, cigarettes and lotto scratch-offs. The center-of-the-community ma-and-pa country store is sadly but a memory of our grandparents, lost to the machinations of efficiency and corporate consolidation.

But wait! All is not lost. One local entrepreneur has set about rescuing one 24 ecolocalliving.com

almost lost piece of history and is reinventing it for the 21st century. A reluctant entrepreneur, I might add, who did not necessarily choose this new path, but rather, it chose him.

THE COUNTRY STORE AT HARMONY CORNERS IN CHARLTON, SARATOGA COUNTY On the high speed section of route 67 west of Ballston Spa, the sleepy hamlet of Harmony Corners is easy to miss. The old country store between the fire house and the historic grange hall was once the go-to place for the small community to acquire basic provisions and to catch up with neighbors.

But in recent years, the old store more or less morphed into one of the ubiquitous and generic gas-an-go convenience stores.

Changing hands several times, none of the owners did anything to differentiate it from the typical modern convenience store format; thus, it was often overlooked as traffic sped by. All the while, the store lost its

connection to the community it once served.

Locals didn’t go there, and the speeding cars had little reason to stop. The old country store at Harmony Corners almost breathed its last breath in 2008, when a stroke of irony occurred that, like the Phoenix , allowed the place to rise from its ashes and be reborn.

ACCIDENTAL ACQUISITION FORCES INVESTOR TO REINVENT THE COUNTRY STORE, AND HIMSELF Eran Wasserman of Westchester, NY is used to changing careers – an engineer by trade, he then got into the high finance of the booming real estate market in the early 2000’s. One of his clients wanted to buy a gas station up in Saratoga County, and when he couldn’t get a bank loan, Wasserman decided to fund the property. In 2008, the investment went sour along with the economy, and Wasserman had to foreclose on the property. Now the owner of a gas station in a town in which he was a stranger, Wasserman was in a pickle, to say the least.

Trying to make the best of the situation, Wasserman saw opportunity in the old general store, and decided to leave the hustle and bustle of New York City for the bucolic lanes of Charlton.

SUCCESS OF THE FUTURE LIES IN THE PAST Curious about its history, Wasserman began searching for clues at the Charlton Historical Society. There, Wasserman met local historian Howie Eskin, who tutored him in the colorful past of the old store. Formerly know as Harmony Corners Country Store, it was a gathering place for the local townspeople, in a time when everybody knew each other. “It’s still a small town where everybody knows everybody,” explained Wasserman. “I knew that to be successful here I would have to have the locals embrace the store once again.” The future of the store, then, would lie in it’s past. Wasserman set about cleaning up the place and giving it a facelift. He became infatuated with all things local, and found

that in his midst there were all kinds of gourmet food producers. “I decided to give the local producers a place to sell their wares, so that my success would bring them success, too,” said Wasserman. Perhaps the most pivotal decision came when he decided to offer a unique selection of craft-made beers.

He negotiated with his supplier to acquire the obscure names and the odd lots – a case here, a six pack there – and began selling them as single bottles in a make-you-own six-pack display. The eclectic brands and styles were placed on display racks in narrow section in front of the store, which he dubbed “Charlton Beer Alley.” “People are enjoying these kinds of beer for the flavor, much like wine,” commented Wasserman. “In the Beer Alley, customers can sample different bottles and find new favorites. A lot of my customers put together a mix of beers and give them as gifts, too. It’s the perfect gift for the craft beer lover,” he said.

The transformation made quite an impact.

What was a rundown generic gas-n-go, with

an emphasis on ‘go’, became a destination place for great brews and cool local flavor.

Neighbors began stopping in, curious about to find out about the new guy running the place. Nearby resident and horse trainer, Eva Lamiano was particularly intrigued by Wasserman’s ideas. Wasserman talked about wanting to do events, like car shows and beer tastings. Lamiano asked “What about equine events?” Wasserman did not know anything about horses, so he asked Lamiano to run with it herself. Impressed with Lamiano’s knowledge and ambition, he ended up hiring her to help him run the store.

CAR SHOWS, EQUINE EVENTS, COMMUNITY EVENTS…OH, MY! One of the surprise treasures of the location was it’s bordering the Mourning Kill in the rear of the property. When Wasserman first acquired the property, the back yard was filled with junk and debris. With the help of Charlton contractors Phil Bartz Excavating and JRG landscaping, the yard clean up and

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locals, and you’d be surprised who you’ll meet. On one such encounter, Wasserman met a couple from his former hometown in Westchester County. Deborah and Glen Petruzzelli and Eran Wasserman were practically neighbors, but did not know each other. They met, ironically, at the Rt. 67 Country Store. Now friends, it took a small town store in small upstate town to connect people, who, in another time and place, were but mere strangers.

Through Wasserman’s vision, The Route 67 Country Store and Café has become what he refers to as a “contemporary country store” for the 21st century. Like the country stores of old, it’s a place where you know who runs the place, can ask for something unique and he’ll get it for you, and a place where your individuality is treasured and appreciated.

Next big event: Don’t miss the Explore Charlton Day is on September 17, from 11am-4:00pm, when the Route 67 Country Store and Café will showcase the best of Saratoga County independent businesses.

Come out and meet craft food producers and other local vendors of the region.

Rt. 67 Country Store and Café is located at 1958 State Route 67, approx. 4 miles west of Ballston Spa • 882-7347 • www.rt67cafe.com

landscaping was completed. A picnic area was set up along the banks of the creek. It’s a peaceful setting; a great place to take a break and enjoy a sandwich from the Boars Head Deli in the store. It also became a natural place to host the special events that have become part of the Rt. 67 Country Store phenomenon. Route 67 Country Store and Café has hosted several equine events, beer tastings, cruise-ins, and car clinics. These have been received with overwhelming enthusiasm. Rt. 67 Country Store was also a featured stop on this past summer’s Trolley Tour series. Initiated by Wasserman, the idea of bringing the Saratoga locals and tourists on a country side tour with Horsin’ Around Trolley Tours began. The series featured the flavors of the nearby Saratoga Countryside, with stops at The Saratoga Winery, Johnston’s Winery, and Smiths Orchard Bakeshop. The final stop for lunch at the Rt. 67 Country Store backyard picnic area was the perfect setting to sit back, relax and enjoy the social sensation of the tour. “The backyard has been a big hit with all of our events,” said Wasserman, “…and I am very happy to share it with the community” A PLACE FOR THE COMMUNITY The community that once shunned the place has now embraced the Rt. 67 Country Store as a place of their own. The locals have taken ownership of the place, and have contributed their personal touches.

Charlton historian Howie Eskin made some pictures from old photos and donated them to the store. Local florist John Wagenaar comes in every day with a bouquet of fresh cut flowers, for free. “This is my store, and I want it to look beautiful,” remarked Wagenaar. The regular rosters of beer tastings and other events keep everybody checking in to see what’s coming next. And with Wasserman, there’s always something new coming.

Wasserman has recently added an authentic espresso machine, and now serves premium coffee drinks to your liking. Grab a latte and one of the locally made baked goods and set a spell, chew the fat with one of the 26 ecolocalliving.com

From Ben Karis-Nix Page 21

FP: Are there any projects that you are currently working on that you would like to share with Eco Local Living readers?

BenKN: We've been getting a lot of requests from folks who are interested in having us design and print things like wedding invitations with our Risograph printer. I think eco local readers would be excited that the printer uses soy based ink, and that our house paper is a recycled stock. People seem to really dig it and we enjoy that kind of work a whole lot!

FP: All this, and you still find time to be a musician? How do you describe your music to someone who had never heard you perform?

BenKN: Yeah, still playing music! Not touring around like I used to, but I've been performing around New England for past few years, and lately I've been creating art prints to accompany songs which are available at shows and at our store. The music I write these days is guitar-driven, but swamped with electronic and sampled sounds to create more texture and atmosphere. I would describe the songs as indie-pop tunes that are sent to outer space.

FP: Any shows coming up?

BenKN: Albany's September in the City on 9/7 and Larkfest. We also are starting to book bands in our store, which is awesome! It's fun to have a space where you can do whatever you want!

FP: Any parting notes of wisdom...

BenKN: Do what you love but keep an open mind. If the wind starts to change your course, don't fight it but see if you harness it to take you in a new direction that's congruent with your goals. There may be undiscovered continents to explore just over the horizon!

FP: Thank you, Ben! For more info about Design it Together visit www.designittogether.com and for information about BenKN, the musician, visit: www.BenKN.com.

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Make us YOUR Market!

2011 FALL FARM Altamont Farmers Market Orsini Park, Altamont Train Station, Altamont, Sat 9AM-1PM

Amsterdam Downtown Farmers Market Roosevelt Apartments, Division St, Amsterdam, Thurs 9AM-1PM

Ballston Spa Farmers Market Wiswall Park, Ballston Spa, Thurs 3-6PM; Sat 9AM-noon

Brunswick Farmers Market Rt. 7 Town Office, Sat 9AM-1PM

Burnt Hills Farmers Market 772 Saratoga Rd. (Rt. 50), Sat 9AM-1PM

Cambridge Farmers Market Cambridge Freight Yard, Cambridge, Sun 10AM-2PM

Canajoharie Farmers Market 2 Erie Blvd, Canajoharie, Sat 10AM-1PM; Wed 4-7PM

Capital District Farmers Market 381 Broadway, Menands, Sat 8AM-1PM

Central Avenue Farmers Market 339 Central Ave, Albany, Sat 10AM-1PM

Cohoes Farmers Market Parking lot next to Smith's Restaurant, Cohoes, Fri 4-7PM

Farmers Market at The Crossing 580 Albany Shaker Rd, Colonie, Sat 9AM-1PM

Delaware Area Neighborhood Farmers Market 391 Delaware Ave Albany Tues 4-7PM

Delmar Farmers Market, 428 Kenwood Ave, Delmar, Tues 2:30-6PM 322 Kenwood Ave, Delmar, Sat 9AM-1PM

Downtown Albany Farmers Market Tricentennial Park, Broadway, Albany, Thurs 11AM-2PM

Duanesburg - Canal Street Station Farmers Market 2100 Western Turnpike, Duanesburg Wed 4PM-7PM; Sun noon-3PM

Empire State Plaza Farmers Market Opposite the Capitol Albany, Wed and Fri10AM-2PM

Fort Edward Farmers Market Route 4, Fort Edward, Fri 10AM-1PM

Fort Plain Farmers Market Legion Street lot behind Haslett Park, Thurs4-7PM

Gansevoort Farmers Market Village Park Main St at Catherine St, Thurs 3-6PM

Glens Falls Farmers Market South Street Market Pavilion, Glens Falls, Sat 8AM-noon

Gloversville Farmers Market Bleeker Square, pavilion behind Church, Gloversville Sat 8AM-noon

Granville Farmers Market Main Street, next to the old train station, Granville, Mon 2-5PM 28 ecolocalliving.com

MERS MARKETS Greenfield Farmers Market Middle Grove Park, Middle Grove, Fri 4-7PM

Greenwich Farmers Market 70 Main St, Greenwich, Wed 3-6PM YMCA parking lot, Thurs 3-6PM

Hudson Falls Farmers Market, Sutherland Pet Store, 1161 Dix Ave, Hudson Falls Tues 10AM-1PM

Johnstown Farmers Market 55 E. Main St, Johnstown, Tues 3-6PM

Lebanon Valley Farmer's Market 501 Route 20, Sun 10AM-2PM

Middle Granville Farmers Market Middle Granville Rd, Granville, Mon 2-5PM

New Baltimore Farmers Market Wyche Park, New Baltimore Rd, New Baltimore, Sat 9AM-1PM

North Creek Farmers Market Railroad Place Pavilion, Thurs 3- 6PM

Queensbury Farmers Market 23 Cronin Road, Queensbury, Mon 3-6 PM

Salem Farmers Market Salem Village Park, Salem, Sat 10AM-1 PM

Saratoga Farmers Market High Rock Ave, Saratoga Springs, Sat 9AM-1PM; Wed 3-6 PM

Schenectady Greenmarket Jay St, Schenectady, Sun 10AM-2PM

Schenectady Farmers Market Jay St, Schenectady, Thurs 9AM-2PM

Schenectady Union Street Farmers Market Upper Union St behind Trustco Bank, Sat 9AM-1PM

South Glens Falls Farmers Market Village Park, Glens Falls, Mon 10AM-1PM

State Campus Farmers Market Harriman State Office Campus, Vendor Park, Thurs 10AM- PM

Voorheesville Farmers Market 68 Maple Ave (Rt. 85A), Voorheesville, Fri 3PM-6PM

Thurman Station Farmers Market Train Station Pavilion, Stony Creek Rd, Athol, Wed 3PM-6PM

Troy Waterfront Farmers Market Broadway in front of the Atrium, Wed 3-6PM or Riverfront Park, Sat 9AM-1PM

Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers Market River St, across from Curtis Lumber, Fri 3-6PM

Waterford Farmers Market Waterford Visitors Center, One Tugboat Alley Waterford, Sun 9AM-2PM

Watervliet Farmers Market 13th St and 2nd Ave, Watervliet, Tues 2-5PM ecolocalliving.com 29

Adirondack Folk School Inspired by Tradition

CRAFTING A WAY TO PRESERVE THE ADIRONDACK FOLK TRADITIONS STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DELOZIER

“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, These words became an obsession for Lake Luzerne resident Jim Mandle. Owning and running a national marketing firm, Mandle exemplifies the American Dream. His successful company was a job creator, and the financial rewards of his hard work allowed him the opportunity to live on his beloved Lake Luzerne. But while the view outside his kitchen window was beautiful, the view in the town of Lake Luzerne was not so pretty. Many of the small mom and pop shops were gone, and the town was reduced to selling the three P's as he put it: Pills, Pistons, and Paintings.

“You can get pills at the drug store, pistons at auto parts store and paintings at the one art gallery in town,” Mandle lamented. “But other than that, there wasn't much left commercially to draw people in.”

All for the want of an Adirondack Pack Basket Mandle became concerned about the future of his town, and the fact that old Adirondack craftsmen who had the wisdom and experience of the great woods were diminishing in numbers. Enamored by the 30 ecolocalliving.com

in the thrill of creative effort.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt beauty and function of traditional Adirondack crafts, Mandle set out to make an Adirondack Pack Basket, which is unique to the region. In his quest to find a craftsman who could tutor him, he found that the men who had the skill and knowledge were few and aged. When these men die, their knowledge may very well die with them, he thought. A sense of urgency took over him, and Mandle began to think of ways that he could preserve these Adirondack crafts.

While these thoughts were going through his head, the old town hall on Main Street became vacant due to the town moving their offices to a larger space up on Rt. 9N. Mandle began to think of ways that the building could be used to help revitalize downtown. The former town hall building was originally an Odd Fellows lodge built in the 30’s. Through its history, the building was already once used as a school. It was used for elementary school classrooms around 1949. After tossing

around several ideas, Mandle thought that the old town hall might be the perfect site for a folk school. Folk schools began in Denmark about 1844 and were schools that taught life and traditional skills to help people enrich their lives, all without grades, tests or competition. It was learning for just the fun of it.The site set along the shores of the last freeflowing section of the Hudson River and just above the beautiful Rockwell Falls, was a metaphor for what was to become the Adirondack Folk School - a place where the free flow of ideas and wisdom of the Adirondack craftsmen could thrive and be shared.

A New Beginning for an Old Building With a folk school in mind, Mandle set out find an example to pattern his vision after. He found one at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN and went out to visit their operation and share his vision for a school in Lake Luzerne. There he learned that every dollar that comes to the school generates twelve dollars for the community. This is what Lake Luzerne needs, he thought. Inspired by

their success, he returned with the idea of the Adirondack Folk School.

Through the efforts of dozens of volunteers, the support of the Town of Lake Luzerne, NY, the Adirondack Community College and the Adirondack Museum of Blue Mountain Lake, NY (adkmuseum.org) a seed of Mandle's idea became a reality. With endless support and encouragement from the staff at North House, AFS opened its doors for their first classes on June 5, 2010. Their first summer saw AFS offering over 90 classes to nearly 300 students taught by over 30 instructors. “What has been extraordinary to witness firsthand has been the outpouring of support from the local townspeople within our greater community, the elected officials of our local government, community college, and merchants - all willing to pitch in and see our seed germinate,” Mandle remarked.

This historic building now houses a number of classrooms for Fiber Arts, Basketry, Woodworking, Weaving, Woodcarving, Felting, Quilting, Fly Tying, Gourd Art and more.

Directly behind the school between the woods and the Hudson River, there are numerous picnic tables for outdoor classes, leisurely lunches and quiet reflection and an outdoor amphitheater and fire ring that hosts our Saturday evening special programs. New this year, a volunteer crew has built a pavilion that is now the site for the blacksmithing, boatbuilding, and children's classes.

An Economic Multiplier AFS started out with three primary goals: 1) to keep the arts and crafts of the Adirondacks alive, 2) to keep the artists and craftsmen alive by providing an additional income source and 3) to revitalize the economy of the Adirondack region. It appears that all three are taking shape. “We've had 350 students take classes so far this year,” Mandle said. “And over 1200 people have been impacted by our programs and classes since January this year.” He continued, “That's 1200 people coming to Lake Luzerne and interacting with our community.” The UpRiver Café next door is just one example of the beneficial relationship.

Opening their doors a year later, the Upriver Café has fed many of the hungry students at the school. They'll even deliver meals to the school so that students can continue working on their projects without having to leave to satisfy hunger pangs. “They've had a wonderful season,” Mandle commented, referring to the summer of 2011. “We really support the local businesses. Many of our students stay overnight at the local motels and

inns, and they're buying things from our local merchants,” he said.

The People's School AFS would not be what it is without the support from the community and its people.

All the tools and labor for the rehabilitation of the building were either donated or paid for with donations. But what really makes the school work is all the volunteers. Jim Mandle operates as executive director, unpaid. Local resident Patricia Goldberg is an example of the dedication that is given towards the cause.

She has become an invaluable component of the day-to-day activies at AFS. She helps out in the office, takes notes at meetings, does calendar updates on the website, and helps out anywhere else a hand is needed. She is also one of the instructors, and a student as well! Goldberg stresses the importance of fun at the school. “We provide people with a fun thing to do, no credits, no exams, no stress, we just have fun,” she said. “In all cases, we try to give them something they can take home with them.” Students, who have had no prior skill have been taught how to weave using one of the floor looms, carve birds out of a block of wood, make rustic furniture, and of

course, make an Adirondack Pack Basket. Plus, the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with a true master of their craft is a real honor. “One popular workshop is photography with Carl Heilman II,” explained Goldberg. “He's one of the great Adirondack landscape photographers, and his class quickly sells out every time,” she said.

In just a short year and half, AFS has achieved its mission of inspiring the hands, heart, and minds of its teachers, students, volunteers, and the community as a whole. It's already been a catalyst for community growth and economic renewal. But like any school, it needs students that want to take its classes. Students are the lifeblood of the school, and it is their energy it needs most. Fortunately, the pool of potential students is quite large - in fact, you, the reader of this story, are a potential student. The only pre-requisite is the desire to learn something new. AFS will take care of the rest. Chances are, you too will become smitten by the place, and become a supporting member, volunteer, or even the teacher of the next new class.

The Adirondack Folk School is located on Main Street in downtown Lake Luzerne, Warren County, NY, 518-696-2400 • www.adirondackfolkschol.org ecolocalliving.com 31

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Saratoga Apple Nutrient-Dense Farming EXPLORING DIFFERENT WAYS TO NOURISH CROPS STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRACY FRISCH

Driving east from Saratoga Springs on State Route 29, motorists will come to Saratoga Apple near Schuylerville. Flanked by the farm's orchards on both sides of the busy road, the popular landmark is hard to miss.

In the roadside farm store, owners Nate Darrow and Marie Christine Gaud sell the apples they grow and their own freshly pressed, additive-free cider year round. In season you'll also find other fruits and vegetables raised on their farm in addition to the other foods they stock, many from local producers. During the fall, the farm becomes a fun destination for pick-your-own excursions.

On the surface, Saratoga Apple seems like a fairly ordinary apple orchard. Actually though, this farm deserves special notice.

Nate has been quietly making important changes in his farming practices to improve the quality of his already distinguished fruit.

His ambitious aim is to grow the most "nutrient-dense" food possible. Nate has been studying how to do this through a series of intensive workshops, and applying his new knowledge.

What is nutrient-dense all about?

Growing organic apples commercially in the Northeast is considered very difficult because of the large complex of serious apple pests and diseases that thrive here. The region has only a very few organic apple orchards that sell fresh eating-quality fruit.

Proponents promote nutrient-dense farming as the next frontier after organic. It's also garnering interest as an effective approach to producing food organically.

This common-sense yet revolutionary approach starts with the premise that a functioning soil ecosystem teaming with life will make more nutrients available to plants.

Organisms like bacteria, fungi and earthworms break down organic material and minerals into forms that plants can absorb. Therefore healing the soil is a key to packing more nutrition into fruits and vegetables (and other crops).

"We can assume that most farm soils have been abused," said Nate, who grew up on Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, Vermont, a traditional large apple farm that

his brothers now own and manage.

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are responsible for much of the problem. These fertilizers harm soil microorganisms and destroy organic matter and soil structure. By definition, pesticides are toxins, and many of them are deadly or even deleterious to certain life forms. Nate points out that Roundup, the world's most widely used herbicide, acts as a powerful chelating agent. That means it binds up minerals, making them less available to nourish crop plants, while killing weeds.

Nate has begun thinking of his orchards "as a giant worm farm." That makes his challenge being able to produce good fruit without harming the worms!

"We're trying to learn to grow higher brix apples, by having more microbial activity in the soil," Nate said. Brix is a measure of soluble solids in the juice of a fruit or vegetable or the sap of the plant itself.

Winemakers measure brix in grapes with an instrument called a refractometer that uses the refraction of light to determine their

ecolocalliving.com 35

sugar content. Now nutrient-dense practitioners have picked up this tool to assess how well their farming methods are succeeding.

If you ask Nate, he'll make it absolutely clear that he hasn't yet arrived at his goal.

And though we've been acquainted for over a decade, he modestly tried to decline my request for an interview. But despite having a long way to go, there are tangible indications of Nate's progress: • After progressively weaning the orchard of herbicides, Nate no longer uses herbicides of any kind on the farm.

• He also decided to refrain from all "skull and crossbones" insecticides - the ones that are the most acutely toxic. He has been able to do so while continuing to produce good crops of unblemished apples.

• He has given up using conventional chemical fertilizers. In their place he has gone to organically acceptable soil amendments such as rock powders, sea minerals and compost.

• For about eight years, Nate has been experimenting with organic practices in a small portion of the orchard and what he learns there is influencing his orchard management practices overall.

• To mark his 60th birthday, Nate invested in new equipment so he can make a more rapid transition to a chemical-free, nutrient dense orchard.

Eventually, Nate thinks he won't need chemical pesticides anymore. According to the theory, once you get the brix in the sap of your crops high enough, the plants become immune to fungal diseases and unappealing to insect pests.

"Insects and disease come in to clean up unhealthy plants. They're nature's garbage disposal," Nate said. As an avid gardener, I have observed that plants growing under adverse conditions are often more prone to the ravages of hungry bugs and slugs and the attacks of the various blights, wilts and mildews.

The fallacy of chemical fertilizer Most apple growers and other farmers use concentrated chemical fertilizers on their land. Nate says that using these quickacting, water-soluble materials is "almost like feeding rocket fuel." Typically they deliver the three nutrients plants need in the greatest quantities -- nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, known for short as "NPK" after their chemical symbols.

Crops fed with such chemical fertilizers 36 ecolocalliving.com

tend to grow big and fast, but may lack a balance of essential micro-elements. A typical chemical fertilizer regime doesn't allow crops to attain their potential as far as vitamin, mineral and beneficial phytochemical content.

(Phyto-chemicals are the compounds that plants produce to deter insects and protect themselves from some diseases. These diverse plant chemicals also give foods their distinctive flavors. This category of chemicals includes anti-oxidants, heart-healthy and cancer-fighting compounds, and precursors to vitamins.)

Exploring some different ways to nourish crops Saratoga Apple stores the orchard's apples long-term so customers can buy them year round. Biologically, stretching the apple season that long is "pushing the limit," Nate noted. Over the years, he found that using rock dusts and sea minerals on the orchard land has given his apples better keeping ability. And these soil amendments also make the apples tastier, too.

About eight or nine years ago, Nate started using various rock powders to remineralize his land. These minerals become available to plants extremely slowly, in a timeframe calibrated in years. They also are extremely bulky, and different equipment is required to spread it, which Nate acquired this year.

"We were bringing in finely ground rock dust from the west coast," Nate said, but he had second thoughts about the cost and the environmental impacts of having two tractor-trailers drive "clear across the country." Now that he has the means to spread larger amounts, he can get coarser rock powders more locally. Quarries in the business of selling sized stone "practically give away" their leftover dusts. Trucking remains the main expense.

Besides rock dusts, Nate uses smaller amounts of sea minerals to his soil. This product is sold minus the sodium and chloride, which hardens clay soils.

"The reason we use sea minerals is that there are over 100 elements in the Periodic Table. In our human artifice, we're not smart enough to know what micro and pico nutrients crops need," Nate said. He also suggests other ocean products, such as kelp meal or seaweed.

Even in liming his soil, Nate is unconventional. He selects a lime product for its microelement profile and the proportion

of calcium to magnesium.

Most farmers just want lime for its pH effect. Lime is used to reduce acidity in soil, thus raising the pH. "Nutrient dense farming says put on the amount of nutrients you need and the pH will take care if itself," he explains.

This year Nate tried a pelleted organic fertilizer on the entire orchard and it worked well. Customers can buy a bag of it at Saratoga Apple.

No more herbicides Take a look at most orchards and you'll notice a brown strip under each row of trees.

That dead zone is the result of the now almost ubiquitous practice of spraying herbicides around orchard trees to kill weeds and grass. Such vegetation competes with the apple trees for water and nutrients and it's also a nuisance at harvest and for other orchard chores. Only orchards that still have traditional, standard (full-size) apple trees tend not to use herbicides.

When Nate was a boy, his family had "a grassed orchard" where no herbicides were used. Eventually they started using herbicides. Everywhere these chemical applications had become a normal part of growing fruit. "When I did the project in South Carolina, we used herbicides on everything," Nate recalled. This project was a thousand-acre Granny Smith orchard that a group of French investors hired him to plant and manage in 1980s.

He told me a story to explain why he quit using herbicides, a major step away from toxic chemicals. Apples are stored in giant wooden bins. Each one is labeled so they can keep track of which section (or "block") of the orchard the apples was picked in.

Nate said they noticed that some apples coming out of long-term, controlled atmosphere storage had more decay than the others. They had a significant amount of black spots and a lot of fruit was lost to internal decay. He noticed that the affected apples came from the blocks where they used herbicides.

"It made quite an impression on me. I just decided to stop using herbicides," said Nate.

He has committed the extra labor to mow six times a year rather than spraying with a cocktail of long-lasting herbicides once annually. Every time they mow, they are also mulching and in effect fertilizing the trees.

Rejecting herbicides also has created a need for expensive, specialized equipment that can mow close to the tree trunks. This

year Nate purchased a couple of European offset grooming mowers.

These mulching mowers have bumper wheels that allow the operator to mow between trees. "You have to be careful that it doesn't eat the baby trees," Nate warns.

Nate's organic experiment Since around 2002 or so, Saratoga Apple has managed five acres of apple trees according to organic principles. This "bio" block, short for "biologique," the French word for organic, is part of a section of the farm where the trees had been abandoned when Nate reduced the size of the orchard. Nate said the fruit quality of the bio apples has been improving, though it still can be better Given the shift in horticultural practices at Saratoga Apple, there is no difference in the fertility program in the bio block and the rest of the orchard.

Organic does not mean pesticide-free. But in the bio block only pesticides allowed under the National Organic Standards are applied. Nate has used kaolin clay, copper, sulfur, dormant oil and a blend of plant essential oils there for controlling insects and diseases.

The catalyst for this ongoing experiment has been Christine, Nate's wife of almost 30 years. She's French, though that is not the source of her interest in pure food. She would prefer that the farm used no pesticides of any kind, but she also understands the present realities of growing apples for a living.

This year, Nate attended the first organic apple school for growers in Ballston Spa that Cornell University has held. He said that Michigan State University held its first annual organic apple school three or four years ago.

A foundation of good employees None of these changes would be possible without a capable, dependable workforce of both local and Caribbean employees. Like most orchards, Saratoga Apple relies on foreign employees for picking and much of the pruning. But here, the Jamaican crew that comes through the federal H2A foreign worker program is "the same six guys every year," Nate said. Joseph, his son Damien, and his halfbrother Clive come in the spring and are joined by Austin, Junior and Alvin for harvest. Some of these men have been working at Saratoga Apple for about fourteen years. For a number of years, Nate also traveled to Jamaica for a winter vacation, hosted by Joseph and his family who he compensated.

Growing for their customers As the farm manager on a huge South Carolina apple plantation, Nate discovered the beauty of direct marketing. "We were in an apple deficit area and people came knocking on the door wanting to buy apples," he said. But despite taking in thousands of dollars a day from on-farm sales, that orchard ultimately failed because the owners had located it in an unsuitably hot climate where many of the apples got sunscald.

When Nate was ready to purchase his own orchard, this experience made him want a retail orchard. In 1994 he found the Schuylerville orchard in the inventory of the federal government. The former owner had defaulted on the mortgage, which was held by a branch of the USDA. When the Darrows purchased the farm and renamed it Saratoga Apple, it had 126 acres of apple trees. Over the years Nate downsized the orchard plantings to just under forty acres of the best trees and most desirable varieties. This total includes the 6 acres of newer

varieties Nate has planted such as Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonagold, Gingergold, Fuji and Braeburn. Having less trees to care for helped him achieve his goal of selling all his fruit direct.

Since then, Saratoga Apple has evolved into more than an apple orchard. They grow sweet cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots as well as small fruit like raspberries and they have put in blueberry bushes. In the spring they have lots of asparagus and rhubarb, and peonies in June. Besides vegetable crops grown in the field, across the road from the farmstore, Saratoga Apple has put up two high tunnels (greenhouse-like structures) in order to have more vegetables early and late in the season.

The September and October apple harvest is Saratoga Apple's busiest season. The orchard is open for U Pick apples seven days a week. On weekends they provide live music. Country fiddlers play on Saturdays from 11 to 2, and Robanic, a reggae calypso band from Saratoga Springs, performs on Sundays from 2 to 5. Customers who come to pick on weekdays get a discount.

Saratoga Apple can also be found at a number of area farmers markets. They sell at the Troy, Saratoga Springs, and Glens Falls year round farmers markets, which Nate calls "the gold standard" as "producer-only, grower-administered markets." The orchard also participates in an almost year round farmers market in Dorset, Vermont, as well as others in Queensbury, Cambridge, Warrensburg and Manchester, Vermont, and at Skidmore College.

Saratoga Apple 1174 Route 29, Schuylerville, NY 12871. 518/695-3131.

Open year-round: 9AM - 6 PM, with daily hours extended to 7PM in September and October. www.saratogaapple.com. To find out more about nutrient-dense farming, see www.realfoodcampaign.org ecolocalliving.com 37

Local Destinations

An Adirondack Community Showcase

Thurman Fall Farm Tour This southern Adirondack town will once again welcome guests over Columbus Day Weekend, October 8th & 9th to their community of sustainable-living enterprises. The town hall area will be humming with activity.

You'll find a quilt show, with locally made treasures, and a home show, with business owners available to tell you about their goods and services. Along the way, you'll see old tractors and fabulous foliage. Somewhere you'll find tables full of regional authors signing books. There's too much to see and do for one day, so plan on two. Be sure to register for many of the gift basket drawings, and take time to visit with hosts at the many sites.

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Whitefield's Farm (where poultry and pumpkins abound at the farm stand), Valley Road Maple Farm (site of the famous 9am pancake breakfast), Toad Hill Maple Farm (with the new environmentally-friendly sugarhouse), Nettle Meadow Farm (Say, “Cheese!” for tasting and touring), Adirondack Ambiance (the art and rustic furniture gallery), and Martin's Lumber & Lucyann's Jewelry and Stepping Stones (sawmill and craft demonstrations and guided woods walks galore). Now, rounding out the offering, tour-goers will also find Wolf Pond Stables (pony rides, petting farm, horse training demonstrations), David Kenyon's Christmas tree farm (a small, but “growing” operation, as he likes to say), a craft show at The Glen Lodge, where one may also see an equine logging demonstration, ask about Wild Waters Outdoor Center's rafting, or catch the brand new Saratoga and North Creek Railway with a special Thurman Fall Farm Tour Pass good for a ride to Thurman Station, grab a bite of lunch or browse for end of season deals in the gift shop. Down on River Road, seek out Billy Smith's natural horsemanship demonstrations at Potter Mountain Farm.

Travelers in the Thurman Station area may stop in to learn about geocaching with Chris Parker, who is spearheading a scavenger hunt that day. Like traveling off the beaten path? Follow the map, available online before the event or in brochures during the event to Hilltop, where twicedaily guided garden walks will be offered an noon and two p.m., taking you through woods trails and concluding in the art studio of Diane Golden.

The Thurman Fall Farm Tour tips its hat to local musical tradition with a Saturday noon concert at Kenyontown Methodist Church and a 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday barn dance featuring round and square dances by Adirondack Gold and old fashioned chicken barbecue at Veterans' Memorial Field, both hosted by the Thurman Volunteer Fire Company.

Watch the web at www.persisgranger.com/Thurman_Fall_Farm_Tour.htm for event updates, including the tour map and timetable.

VISIT THURMAN, NY Visit these Thurman Businesses during the Thurman Fall Farm Tour or anytime...

Martin's Lumber & Lucyann's Jewelry and Stained Glass Stepping Stones

Diane Golden, Artist

Lumber, siding, signs & slabs; jewelry & stepping stones

www.dianegolden.com

www.PersisGranger.com/Adk_Martins.htm

Hilltop

Billy Smith Horsemanship at Potter Mountain Farm

Toad Hill Maple

Upstate NY horseman, horse training, clinics & lessons

Pure Adirondack maple syrup, cream & candy

www.billysmithhorsemanship.com

www.toadhillmaple.com

Valley Road Maple

Nettle Meadow Farm and Artisan Cheese

State awards for maple candy; international award for light amber syrup

Natural ingredients; happy, healthy animals & hand-crafted cheeses

www.thurman-ny.com/Directory-all.asp

www.nettlemeadow.com

The Glen Lodge & Market

Wolf Pond Stables

Adirondack Bed & Breakfast ~ Lodging at its very best!

Providing all amenities for horse & horseman in wilderness setting

www.theglenlodge.com

www.wolfpondstables.com

Wild Waters Outdoor Center Whitewater rafting and Adirondack kayaking, spring through fall

www.wildwaters.net

This advertisement is made possible by Warren County occupancy tax money granted by the Town of Thurman, and by the Thurman businesses listed above.

Photo by Helen Bechard

ecolocalliving.com 39

Nettle Meadow Farm

The Big Cheese in Thurman CAREFULLY HAND-CRAFTED ARTISAN CHEESES STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY PERSIS GRANGER

The Adirondacks are full of people who were raised elsewhere, but have been inexorably drawn to these mountains to start new lives and fulfill old dreams.

Sheila Flanagan sat at her computer in the office of a California law firm, idly clicking on real estate websites, wishing she were somewhere else, doing something different.

Suddenly across her monitor flashed images of an Adirondack goat farm. It spoke to her.

She and her partner, Lorraine Lambiase, had enjoyed raising a few goats, and both had been raised in the East and had family ties here still. One visit to the fifty-acre farm on South Johnsburg Road in Thurman made up their minds. In July of 2005 they purchased Nettle Meadow Farm.

This property had been farmed since the Johnson family bought it from John Thurman, the town's founder, back in the late 1700s, and old newspaper clippings attest to the fact that “Meadow Brook Stock Farm,” as it was known in its early years, was a well-respected operation. Generations of Johnsons and a 40 ecolocalliving.com

handful of successive owners proved that with hard work and dedication, an Adirondack farm could succeed.

Sheila and Lorraine had a fine tradition to honor, so they rolled up their sleeves and got busy. The home, which the previous owner ingeniously had created from the old cow barn, needed work, and, with the help of an area craftsman, renovations were begun. They had a new house constructed on the property for Sheila's mother and her dog. But house projects soon had to take a back seat to farm projects. A new goat barn needed to be built, and an existing greenhouse was demolished in favor of a housing unit for retired goats. A sheep barn was built and enlarged twice. The farm manager constructed a good sized pole barn for the adolescent goats. He reclaimed seven more pastures on the land out behind the old barn and helped create a rotational grazing pasture for the farm's bucks.

Of all the structures, one towers over the farm. A landmark in Thurman since its construction by Edmund Barber, this turn-of-

the-century barn boasts a gambrel roof, atypical of those in the area. It was Meadowbrook Stock Farm's horse barn, in an era when good horses were the currency of farming.

Today that barn sags dangerously. Kids in some bygone era fired bullets through the roof, creating innumerable leaks. Until that damage is repaired, all other barn rescue efforts are futile. Years of invading weather, neglect and misuse have taken their toll. A local builder was engaged to do considerable shoring up, and efforts continue by the farm manager. “But still,” says Sheila, “when the wind blows hard, we expect to wake up and see that barn in a heap on the ground.” She and Lorraine have sought grants for historical barn restoration to help them bring this barn back to the condition it enjoyed in the heyday of the Stock Farm, but in these economic times, those sorts of funds simply are not available. Initially it seemed to need just some bracing, a little new siding, paint and windows on the west side. However, the

weather has continued to rot boards and timbers, and this summer the tremendous inverted hull that is the barn's roof developed alarming ripples. Nettle Meadow is now working with Adirondack Architectural Heritage, a nonprofit historic preservation organization, to construct a year-by-year rehabilitation schedule for this beautiful landmark.

Once the home of prize livestock, that old barn is now home to Flanagan and Lambiase's Joseph F. Kemp Memorial Animal Sanctuary, housing animals too disabled or old to be productive. The cast of rescue animals who have lived there parade through Sheila's memory. There were Izabella and Draco, geriatric donkeys that had been found wandering in Brooklyn. They were delivered to Nettle Meadow and lived out their final years among friends, Draco welcoming each morning with exuberant braying. Now picture Floyd, a frail juvenile Alpine buck brought to the farm in a declining state, He was adopted by their young Jersey bull calf, Henry, who slept with Floyd curled up in the protective circle of his husky frame. And then came Blinky and Kinky, injured turkeys who became fast friends despite her blindness and his lameness. All these-and more-have been nurtured and housed beneath the compromised gambrel roof at Nettle Meadow.

The job of rescuing the barn is huge and money is limited.A fundraising effort has been launched to save this structure from collapse so the remaining restoration can be accomplished over time. The farm's financial investment and work required to manage the goats and sheep, and to produce, market and distribute the cheese has side-tracked repairs on the historic barn. Resources have, of necessity, been channeled to growing the business. The herd has increased from fifty goats to three hundred goats and forty sheep, along with guard llamas, friendly chickens and ducks, dogs, cats, kittens and the assorted sanctuary animals. In addition to expending seemingly endless hours of their own labor, they have several farm and cheese room employees, including Stephen Hitchcock, their farm manager. Sheila's mother, Joan Flanagan, moved to the farm from her home in Iowa, trading in a leisurely retirement for a seven-day-a-week job helping with the operation.

Photo courtesy Robin Croissant ecolocalliving.com 41

Progress has been appreciable. Flanagan and Lambiase's cheese production has more than tripled, yielding 75,000 pounds in 2010/2011. They make many types of fresh chevre with exotic names like “Tellicherry Pepper & Lemon Verbena; Horseradish, Maple Walnut; Pumpkin Spice. They also produce Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc; and Rosemary Infused Fromage Blanc. Four semi-aged cheeses complete the product line. Crane Mountain is an all goat cheese. Three Sisters uses sheep, goat and cow milk, and Simply Sheep uses all sheep milk.

Nettle Meadow Kunik™ is made with a combination of goats' milk and Jersey cream. All are produced in the cheese room built into one end of the house, and the cheeses are aged to perfection in the cellar which once housed the butter room of the original Jersey cow dairy here. Nettle Meadow was featured on the Food Network's show, “Will Work for Food”, and their cheeses are now distributed across the country. The American Cheese Society awarded their Kunik™ the coveted first prize among North American triple crème cheeses in 2010.

Nettle Meadow, say Lorraine and Sheila, is committed to the principles of happy and healthy animals, and carefully hand-crafted artisan cheeses with natural ingredients. The herd's diet includes a variety of natural ingredients including organic hay, grains and wild herbs, raspberry leaf, garlic, and kelp for balanced nutrition, and each individually-named critter receives more than the minimum daily requirement of TLC. The dream that brought Lorraine and Sheila to Nettle Meadow Farm has had far-reaching benefits for their four-legged charges, as well as for the Thurman community and goat cheese lovers everywhere.

To visit Nettle Meadow Farm: Find the farm at 484 South Johnsburg Road; Normally open Thursday through Monday from 11am to 3pm for cheese sales. Tours are given at 12 noon on Saturdays only, EXCEPT during the Thurman Fall Farm Tour, October 8th and 9th, when the farm will offer tours, tasting and tunes from 11 - 3 only. (Tours of the cheese facility are not available at this time, in order to maintain the optimum of environment of humidity, temperature and cleanliness for cheese making.)

To contribute to the Nettle Meadow old barn restoration fund: Those wishing to donate to this project may contact the farm at oldbarn@nettlemeadow.com or visit www.nettlemeadow.com, for more information.

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Now sharpening reel lawn mowers.

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Coopers Cave Ale Company GOING INTO DELICIOUS SUSTAINABILITY STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER-ROBIN HEALY

In these days of false pretentiousness, Coopers Cave Ale Company is a breath of fresh air. The brewery started in 1999. At first there was just the beer production and a small tasting room where their retail shop is today. Then in the year 2000 fortune smiled upon the business, owner Patty Bethel noted, with the construction of the Warren County Bike Trail. The bike way ran within twenty feet of their business at the corner of Dix Avenue and Sagamore Street in Glens Falls.

Cyclists stopped in for a beer tasting, but there wasn't anything for kids to drink, as cycling is frequently a family affair. So the brewery started to produce some high quality sodas, nine of them to be exact. This success led to installing a commercial ice cream freezer and building a patio “pit stop” area for riders and others to have ice cream cones, sundaes, and milkshakes, among other offerings. In April 2009, the Pub next to the brewery opened for lunch and dinner. In 2010 they bought the building next to the 44 ecolocalliving.com

brewery. It is used as a garage and has a vegetable garden on the roof.

tasted Hot Fudge Sundaes. Coopers Cave, I think, is the best, hands down.

The brewery has quite a variety of beers and ales, too many to list them all. Their Pale Ale is a top seller, and they can barely keep up with demand for their Bluesberry Ale. Better go early to get that one. A few others of incredible note are Oatmeal Stout, Leatherstocking Lager, Raspberry Wheat, Dopplebock “the Caverator”, and Pumpkin Ale (available around Thanksgiving). All in all they have a brew for any taste.

Patty's son Adrian led me on a tour of the facility. He is in charge of making all the hard ice cream. He also brews two batches of beer a week. We went through the kitchen and Pub. I was there before it opened. It is a cozy restaurant with a well stocked bar. There is also a new deck attached to the Pub that is very popular. The menu is well varied with many hearty selections. The restaurant location is in a quieter section of Glens Falls, away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown.

At the ice cream window, there is a wide variety of frozen creations available. Hard ice cream flavors change throughout the season. The day I was there hard flavors included Peppermint Stick, Rum Raisin, two Vanillas, and two Sorbets. There are more than 80 soft ice cream flavors, and some frozen yogurts, to boot. Their ice cream is sold in some area restaurants. Last year this writer toured Glens Falls by bicycle and

Most exciting to me about this place is the sustainable projects and plans Adrian has for the buildings. The Pub deck has an insulated roof. This keeps the heat from the summer sun from making customers uncomfortable. Efficient fans help circulate air around the deck, keeping it fresh. The deck was built close to a row of trees that

Three generations of Bethels

also help to cool and freshen the air. Smart thinking there. There are plans to install a solar hot water system to provide hot water for all the brewery and restaurant needs.

After the hot water system a photovoltaic system is planned. More insulation is planned too, a lot more. We went on the roof of the building just behind the Pub. The building is used for storage and a garage.

The roof is flat, or nearly so and has direct solar access year round. The roof is a perfect

candidate for a solar greenhouse/bioshelter combined with a productive garden as a green roof. This year there are two large planting boxes up there filled with thriving tomato, zucchini, basil, cilantro, and peppers.

Adrian said he wants to eventually use the entire roof for food production. I added that if that is done, then he will probably not have to resurface the roof in his lifetime. The building already has more than sufficient supports to hold the weight of a bioshelter

linked with a garden. That kind of system will bring energy costs down while it helps to improve the indoor environment and provide high quality fresh food. It can also provide education opportunities. This will be a first in Glens Falls, and most of the area for that matter. The team at Coopers Cave Ale Company and The Pub At Coopers Cave are truly ahead of the curve.

Christopher-Robin Healy is a Permaculture Design Consultant in Glens Falls, NY. ecolocalliving.com 45

Eco-LOCAL People

Karen Totino and Sophie Castro Designing women of Green Conscience Home and Garden, located at 33 Church Street in Saratoga Springs.

Looking to remodel your home or build new and want to incorporate some of the latest ‘green’ products? Green Conscience is the place to go first, because Karen and Sophie are your go-to gals for best in green design. These two enterprising women are experts in the field, and they should be on you’re ‘A’ list for your next home project.

Eco-LOCAL Living: How long have you been in business and what inspired you to get started?

Karen & Sophie: We have been in business 2 years. I was first inspired to start an Organic Lawn Care Company in 2005 because I was frustrated with the lack of choices for those who wanted a safer choice for lawn care services. Green Conscience Home & Garden was a continuation of the mission: to not only educate and inspire individuals to create healthier environments, but to provide them with the resources and products to accomplish that vision. A year ago, I partnered with Sophie Castro because there is a lot to do in that field and we anticipate to grow and reach out to a lot of people.

ELL: What's the best part about your job?

K & S: The best part of my job is when I’ve helped someone solve a problem. Whether it’s a contractor, parent or business owner it’s wonderful to hear “Wow, you’ve been so helpful, thanks!”. Another aspect is being able to help people with health challenges, such as allergies or asthma. Some people are really affected by the outgasing of building materials, and it is great to hear that by using our non-toxic paint, wool carpets, organic mattresses, etc..., they can finally sleep and breathe normally in their own house.

ELL: Why do you choose to operate your business in Ballston Spa as opposed to somewhere else?

K & S: We are fortunate to be located in the Mabee Building, which is owned by the Adirondack Trust Company. We feel we are in a perfect spot..close to Broadway but with enough parking to accommodate our customers. Saratoga is also conveniently located for customers all over the region. We have customers who come all the 46 ecolocalliving.com

way from Vermont, the Adirondacks, the Berkshires, the Hudson.

ELL: Why do you think it’s important to keep it local?

K & S: It’s important to keep it local for several reasons. Economically it keeps money in the local community. More than ever I appreciate the courage and hard work it takes to be a local business owner.

Patronizing local businesses builds community and friendships. Local business support local causes. Unique products and better service.

ELL: What locally owned business (other than your own) could you not live without?

K & S: I love food and there are several local restaurants that provide lunch, breakfast, or a coffee and snack. Mrs.London’s, Virgil’s, Country Corner Café, The Cupcake Lab and the Hungry Spot are my favs. We love that some of them deliver lunch to our showroom.

ELL: What are some of the things you do to help make the world a little bit better?

K & S: Besides trying to live sustainably, I volunteer for Friends of the Kayaderosseras which is a non for profit organization whose mission is to promote awareness and appreciation of the Kayaderosseras Creek and to inspire action to conserve and protect the creek and its watershed as both natural and a community resource.

ELL: What do you like to do in your free time?

K & S: I really love to be outside so gardening, walking, jogging, and biking.. I also enjoy reading and going for a motorcycle ride.

ELL: What's the best advice you've ever received?

K & S: I wish I could remember who gave me this advice but here it is...”You don’t have to have all the answers, you just need to find someone who does” Starting an organic lawn care company and then a design showroom with very little experience in the field was daunting to put it mildly. However, I used as many resources as I could possibly find as I continued to build my expertise in the field. I am never embarrassed to ask questions or ask for advice. It’s out there, you just need to look. I am also grateful to have a reliable business partner and a great team whose ongoing advice and support make it all possible.

ELL: Our Facebook fans want to know: What is it that sets you apart from the national chains and promotes loyal, repeat customers?

K & S: A couple of things: We truly care about our customers and often build a continuing relationship with them that is based on trust and mutual respect. We also have a level of expertise that gives them peace of mind, and can help solve some of the problems or issues they are facing when deciding to go green in a remodeling or building project.

ELL: Our Twitter followers want to know: What drives you to keep doing what you do?

K & S: Sounds corny but Joy. I love my job!

Karen Totino & Sophie Castro own Green Conscience Home & Garden, 33 Church St, in Saratoga Springs (tel: 306-5196). Green Conscience is a retail showroom that offers a variety of nontoxic and eco-friendly home improvement products, such as counter top materials, cabinetry, paint & finishes, floor options., organic mattresses. Sophie Castro also offers interior design services, and specializes in green and environmentally friendly solutions. Email: Karen@green-conscience.com or dayaadesign@yahoo.com for more information.

Saturday,Oct.8, The Egg

2:30 – Doors & Drum Circle • 3:30 – KellerWilliams

7:00 – Doors 8:00 – Show

Saturday,Oct.8, The Egg TICKETS AT THE EGG BOX OFFICE: 518-473-1845 www.theegg.org

TICKETS AT THE EGG BOX OFFICE: 518-473-1845 www.theegg.org

Center For the Performing Arts, Empire State Plaza,Albany,NY Presented by Guthrie/Bell Productions

Center For the Performing Arts, Empire State Plaza,Albany,NY Presented by Guthrie/Bell Productions

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