Search Results for: goat cheese at the farmers market

Dreamers
15 October

Field Of Dreams: Casey, (Coffee) Irwin (Vegetables), Cindy (Soap And Goat Cheese), And The Dreamers Of The Cambridge Farmer’s Market. Bless The Farmers

by Jon Katz

As soon as Dan The Handyman finishes refurbishing her horse wagon/coffee shop, Casey will bring her CoffeeCanteen business into the center of town to sell coffee, tea, cider, donuts, muffins, and baked goods. This is her dream, and she is working very hard on it. I’m going to follow her while she does.

The scene at the farmer’s market this morning with Casey was touching; she had her three-month-old daughter Evelynne in her rolling bed just a few inches away from Casey’s dream – high-quality coffee, tea, donuts (sold out this morning) and different baked goods, all from local food producers.

She has been getting calls for festivals and meetings and is ready to chase her dream as soon as the horse wagon is prepared, which should be any day now. Word is getting around.

Casey is a person of conviction. She will not be an absentee mother, no matter what, nor will she compromise the quality of what she sells. I can see her strength and honesty, and I respect her thoughtfulness. Watching as she moves forward with her Coffee/Canteen business and food cart will be a pleasure.

Everyone I talk to says we badly need a coffee cart lot in our town, and Casey is determined to sell her drinks and donuts. She works day and night to learn more, figure out her food, and contact the other young farm and food producers for support. She is getting a lot. I’m betting on her and will write about this journey as it progresses. The more I know about Casey, the more  I am impressed. She will get where she wants to go.

I think the images of Casey Page selling her coffee, tea, and donuts with her newborn baby a couple of feet away are iconic and enduring. She is a devoted and doting mother, but she also means to have her dreams and see them come true. I believe she will be successful. Many of you know firsthand the difficulties of having a dream and also having to care for two small children. Casey has a lot of strength and determination.

 

I’m happy to report that Cindy Casavant, Caz Acres Goat Farm, is taking off with her soap and cheese business. Cindy is another dreamer proving the point that we can have our dreams if we are willing to be courageous and take the plunge.

She ordered 400 pieces of soap, her goat farm is doing well, and she just brought a new T-shirt she proudly wore (above) at the farmer’s market. She is a natural business person; her dreams are getting red hot.

Cindy and I had a meditation class on the phone last week, and she said it did her some good and calmed down the voice inside, telling her she had way too much to do. She wants to keep up the work. Cindy is a hard worker like Maria, and intensely focused.

She never thinks she has enough time to do all the things she needs to do, yet she gets everything done that she needs to do get done. A Saratoga museum just asked her if they could sell her soap in their museum shop. That’s a big deal in tourist-stuffed Saragot.

Cindy’s soap is the best I have ever used; I buy a bar each week. Cindy’s e-mail is [email protected] for any of you who might need to order phenomenal soap for parties, gifts, or personal use.

People are buying it to use as gifts or surprises.

In my town, there seems to be an explosion in dreams.

Kari Bernard of Bernard Farm just opened her indoor vegetable stand on the outskirts of town. The vegetables are fresh, creative, and delicious; we eat them weekly. She’s also growing some unique flowers in her greenhouse, and I hope to buy some (along with Judy Page’s beautiful plants) next Spring.

Kar is living her dream and succeeding in it. Her stand is complete all weekend. I love stories like this; people here are abandoning the corporate modern of employment and setting out independently. It’s hard to do it yourself, but these people I’m writing about have enormous strength and purpose, and they mean to be their bosses carrying out their dreams. I admire all of them.

Keri is both independent and creative. She spent many winters gathering maple syrup in the cold forest. She wants to be her own boss running her own business. She’s doing it.

Her fingers were protesting the winter work, so she decided to expand her vegetable delivery business and do it right. Her stand and the building it is in are beautiful, and so are her vegetables. Her vegetables are sold out consistently. She is already making it, and thinking about how to expand next year her dream is a success. It can be done. Her e-mail is [email protected]

The country is experiencing a young people’s food revolution, often in food carts in cities all over the country, and people like Casey, Cindy, Keri, and Irwin are leading it. They do things their way, which is exciting and very different.

They love what they do, and their work is a vocation, not just a job.

Edwin is also a dreamer whose hard work is paying off. He runs Long Days Farm with Debbie and their daughter and grows and sells some beautiful vegetables and fruit. He also works like a fiend. He has the most original; face in the market and I love taking his portrait.

 

Go, girl.

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1 December

The Winter Pantry, Moving Into Christmas. Cindy’s “A Crazy Goat Lady” No More, Her Amazing Soap Has Taken Off

by Jon Katz

The Cambridge Farmer’s Market, one of my favorite things about living in the country, is winding down a bit for winter but still lively and valuable.

Today, I’m honoring two of my favorite things about the farmer’s market: Cindy Casavan , formerly the “Crazy Goat Lady” – her term – whose wonderful soaps are being purchased all over the place.

And Edwin of Long Farm, who has the best-designed vegetable and fruit stand I’ve ever seen, thanks in part to his gifted daughter Anna, a college freshman. I love the sight of the two of them together. It says a lot about what I love about the country. Family matters.

Her soaps are not just good; they’re the best I’ve ever used. I don’t say that because Cindy is a friend. I say it because it’s true.

The quality is unmatched in my experience, and the scents are divine.

We get most of our vegetables from Edwin’s vegetable farm- Long Days Farm. I’ve especially enjoyed watching Edwin’s daughter Anna design the best-looking vegetable stand yearly. I’ve watched her grow up on Sundays next to her father, and today, she was visiting from her college, Holyoke. I don’t know what Anna plans to do,  but I hope she considers designing.

I told them I had to capture a picture of them together; I always think of it when I think of the Farmer’s Market.

 

Cindy Casavan has turned out to be a pretty first-rate businesswoman. Nobody calls her the “Goat Lady” now. Her soap is sometimes sold out; you can e-mail her at [email protected].

Her soap is rapidly gaining popularity, and several distributors want to join her.

I highly recommend this soap and love the names, odors, and price.

Cindy has become a good friend of ours. We even took a soap-making lesson (made in part with her farm’s goat milk). If you want to buy or try one, mention the blog, and you can get a dollar off. You can see her website here. She ships her soap and sometimes sends free samples.  (ask nicely.)

Maria loves her goat cheese, and we stop by the market every Sunday to get some. Cindy is impressive, a dreamer who has worked long and hard – goat farms are not easy to run – to make her dream come true. Her dedication is inspiring, an inspiration to watch.

We’re having lunch with her this week.  I buy a different soap weekly; I have a winter collection in the bathroom and like her titles.

 

 

Long Days Farm—Erwin above and Anna—are one of the most impressive teams at the farmer’s market in terms of quality, design, and family.

I love the sight of the two of them sitting quietly together. Farm kids are impressive.

They have grown up working and don’t need to be pushed into it. Anna is as much a part of Long Days as Erwin, and it’s sweet and uplifting to see them sitting next to one another patiently and calmly, quiet or busy.

Farm kids should not grow up on social media. They know how to talk and how to help without complaint.

It’s difficult for entrepreneurs, especially farmers, to grow small businesses in rural areas where there are few people or few resources. I give Cindy much credit for working through these problems; she’s pulling it off. You can check out her shop here.

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The Farmer's Market
24 March

The Magic Market. A Snall Rural Farmer’s Market Is Launching Dreams: Food, Community And Creativity Come To Life In A Country Town

by Jon Katz

Like Mickey Mouse likes to sing, dreams do come true. I’m learning that our much-loved Farmer’s Market is more than a farmer’s market; it’s an incubator for community and creativity. Success and new energy are popping out all over the market and spreading well beyond.

I should say I have deep feeling for people who have a vision or dream and fight for it, rather than run and hide and accept a life where money and security are the foundations of their life, not bliss.

Casey is one of those people.

Casey Face, the gifted and determined dreamer I’ve been following for months, has taken a massive step towards operating a Cafe and Wine Bar in the space at the Hubbard Hall Arts And Entertainment Center in the middle of town. The Round House Cafe once occupied the space lost to the city during the pandemic.

She met this week with the Hubbard Hall Board of Directors and presented an amazingly detailed and thoroughly researched seven-page proposal on which she had worked very hard for months. One of the board members told me it was a great hit with the board. It’s seven pages long and has grown quite a bit since she first started renovating a beat-up one-horse trailer and planned to sell coffee and tea in the mornings.

Her new plan offers Hubbard Hall and the town something we all miss and would love to see. Casey’s proposal included a marketing plan and a menu list. It may have been one of the most professionally outlined and detailed business plans in the town’s history.

She writes, “Canteen Coffee Co. is dedicated to crafting delicious food and beverages using fresh and locally sourced ingredients from nearby farmers and small businesses. We aim to establish a welcoming and inspiring space for our community.” She means it, too.

She calls Canteen Coffee a coffee shop of the future, a coffee shop and a wine bar that “prides itself on a straightforward menu crafted from fresh, local ingredients. Additionally, it will feature a market section where patrons can grab takeaway items such as salads, sandwiches, bottles of wine, local cheeses, artisan bread, farm-fresh flowers, penny candy, and more.”

I’ve been following Casey’s dream with her for months now.  She’s attracted a score of creative food makers to work with her. It’s a much bigger dream than she originally planned, but she is making it happen.

I credit the Farmer’s Market for incubating her research and exploration, her burgeoning connection to farmers, cheese makers, coffee and muffin makers, artisan bread and muffin bakers, and a dozen other people who will be working to provide atmosphere and food and drink she’s talking about. One thing I know about Casey is that if she says she will do it, she will do it.

I’m not a wine drinker, but I would be thrilled to stop by for her coffee sandwiches and salads. Maria feels the same way. She can’t wait for a wine bar nearby. I’ll be tagging along.

Casey is coming to the farm this week to look at some fabrics and other materials Maria has offered to give her for her cafe. We’ll be happy to help. I’m curious if the Hubbard Hall board will accept her offer; it’s not my business, but her proposal is sure a knockout. I hope it flies. Casey’s dreams have mushroomed since I first met her and saw her horse trailer. She is close to triumph; her husband and family are behind her.

And don’t worry about the horse trailer. She’ll be going to special events.

(Above. Casey dragged her coffee, tea, and muffin display across the county and public spaces for over a year while plotting her coffee canteen.  She admitted she wasn’t making any money, but was also learning a lot. Casey sucks up ideas like a hungry shark. This is where I first saw her and asked if I could follow her dream.)

_____

I’ve been following Keen Mcllvaine of the Covered Wood Bread Co.,  another dreamer who is about to break through and get her wish for a bakery to make her excellent artisan bread. She has me addicted to her seeded grain bread and focaccia bread, which are mainstays in her artistry as a bread maker. I’ve never had bread that tasted like that, and now she will be baking right down the road from us, just outside of the village of Cambridge. A lot of people are in for a pleasant surprise.

Keen will be moving her stoves and bakery to a new vegetable stand that sells fresh vegetables (delicious and healthy ones) in a renovated old country store. Keen moved here from Washington D.C. several years ago with her husband Jordan, who makes raw honey from his bee hives. Keen is already selling her bread all over the county but has wanted a bakery from the beginning.

Keen was weary of leaving D.C. for the sticks, but I suspect she will learn that some dreams are much easier to make true here than in a big city. Here, we all get to know one another fast.

She’ll leave the farmer’s market in the late Spring to open her bakery.  This is a big deal for our little town, another outcropping of energy, hard work, and determination for the farmer’s market, the place to go if you want to plant the seeds for a dream.

Cindy, the Goat Lady, and our friend returned to the Farmer’s Market after an exhausting week helping her goats give birth to about a hundred babies. She sold almost all of them to a farmer from a nearby town who wanted to have a goat farm. He’s got one now.

I missed Cindy, and we missed her excellent goat cheese and her great bars of soap. We are getting together with her and her husband next Saturday morning; we’re meeting them for breakfast. Cindy is one of the sharpest business people I’ve encountered. She reinforces my feeling that the market is much more complicated than I first thought. It is a bastion of creativity and community. Her goats and cheese are selling, and her beautiful soaps are flying out of her shop. They are the best soaps I’ve ever used.

She dreams of skipping some of the markets she drives to every week and weekend and working more out of her home. She’ll be staying at the market, she tells me, which is happy news for me and her many friends. Her ideas and confidence originate in Park from the market, where people first discovered her great cheeses and soaps, and she got to try out her many good ideas.

 

My friends, the Adirondack Fish people –  Jim, sister Tiffany (left) and fiancé Michele, right.

I wonder if nicer people have ever sold fresh fish anywhere.

They are just as kind, thoughtful, and friendly as their faces suggest. They are great fun; I look for them every time they come.

I bought crab salad, tuna salad, four excellent crab cakes, some fresh shrimp, and some beautiful cut salmon for Maria, fresh from the ocean.

Tiffany and I had a blast when she saw me wearing my  Taylor Swift “tis the damn season” wool cap; she is a longtime Swiftie. We talked about Swift and her music while brother Jim kidded both of us about it. His fiancé Michele says they haven’t set a wedding date yet. I hope they get married and have kids. They will be the most nicest kids.

Jim and his family also have many dreams, bringing them to the market 20 miles from home.

He plans to expand the Adirondack Seafood Co. restaurant by reaching out to customers and coming to them. People in this town were shocked and thrilled by the news that fresh fish was coming to buy. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see a real Lobster Roll again. Their menu is creative, inexpensive, and delicious.

These younger people sprouting in the market have innovation, energy, and savvy that has long been absent in small-town America. I love it is a joy to know them and eat their delicious fish.  They are doing well, and Jim’s plans are ambitious.

The market is filling up with success stories and new energy. I’m grateful to see it.

Singer Kate Blain, a photographer, came over to me—she was providing the music at the market—to ask about my Leica Monochrome. She reminded me of two or three years ago when I realized I wanted a Leica camera to grow as a photographer. I was sure I would never have enough money to afford one.

Still, I  took my time, wore out my old calculator, and carefully planned to trade $5,000 worth of cameras and lenses I had collected for nearly ten years for a  used Leica in excellent condition. I spent years amassing my equipment, just one camera.

That was the beginning; I now have two used Leica cameras and two or three Sigma lenses because I can’t afford Leica lenses. Nothing is impossible if you don’t quit.

It was worth it for me. The Leica cameras are worth every penny, and I  grow every time I use one. I wish Kate good luck. Nothing is impossible if we can be patient and put our minds and energy into it. Good luck, Kate. I hope you don’t quit. It’s odd, but I see the Farmer’s Market as a focal point for community, healthy, locally grown food, and creativity. Almost everyone who sells goods there is creative.

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Farmer's Market
10 March

Farmer’s Market Diary. A New Bakery, A New Coffee Stand, Amazing Seafood. Creatives Who Are Chasing Their Dreams. They Don’t Just Whine About Their Future, They Are Making It

by Jon Katz

There was lots of good news from the farmer’s market today. The market will meet every other week until Spring, and Mara and I will make sure to get there every day it operates—some good news for today. I love watching these gifted and creative people—most, but not all, of them young—move forward and into the future.

There are people in the world who complain about things and people in the world who do things.

Our Farmer’s Market is full of the latter.

They support one another, encourage each other, and inspire the rest of us to stop complaining and start living. I’m married to one of them, but the people in the market are new to me, and they make my life better and more hopeful.

The future is here, and it isn’t in Washington. There’s some great energy coming out of the Farmer’s Market, and it’s great to see parents hauling their kids around with them.

The good news today:

Kean McLLvaine, the Washington D.C. refugee and owner of Covered Bridge Bread, is now making whole-grain focaccia, an excellent food for people with diabetes. I thank her for doing that; she makes the most beautiful bread and enriches our breakfasts. I did ask for it, but I never imagined she would do it.

Kean also makes whole-grain bread that is both healthy and delicious. I have two great breakfast choices.

The good news is that she is opening a bakery just down the road from our farmhouse that will be open year-round.

That is an excellent deal for us; the kind of bread she makes is tough to find here. I’ll be around beating the drums when she opens on Route 22, one or two miles from the farmhouse. Kean came here from  Washington, D.C. She’s putting together the foundation for a long-wanted bakery.

Kean, congratulations on your new bakery. I can’t wait.

 

Casey Face is just a few weeks away from opening her Coffee/Canteen breakfast and food cafe.

She is from this area and seems to know everyone. She is looking at two or three locations and considering several other ways to structure her new business, which she has worked on for months.

She might occupy a beautiful brick-and-border building right in the middle of town, or she might set up in a former factory downtown where she could serve classy breakfasts and have some wine evenings in the building, or she might work out of the now beautiful horse trailer she has just renovated and re-designed. I can’t give any further details, but they are exciting. I’m following her dream when I can.

I love seeing Casey at the market with her year-old daughter, who is usually asleep. This baby will probably end up in the food business, too. She never wants her children to grow up without being around her.

Casey has worked in food businesses for much of her life and was trained as an interior designer. Her head is spinning with plans, new ideas, and decisions.  She makes me dizzy with so many ideas, but I am impressed by her focus and determination.

Casey’s thoughtfulness is impressive. She has talked to every person in the area who has ever opened a cafe or coffee house. Of all the dreamers here, she seems to have the most focused bead on what she wants to do. Her real challenge is where to do it. She says she is very close to deciding. Our town could use a coffee and breakfast place. I’m following Casey’s story; I’ll share it with you.

Exceptionally gifted women are reimagining food in our community. They are just bursting through the old country barriers.

I’m fascinated to see how they do it.

They are focused on avoiding their elders’ mistakes and troubles. None of them have a lot of money, but they have something as valuable—enthusiasm, good friends and supportive families, and a great deal of imagination. They brighten the world around them. They don’t seem to waste any time complaining or failing.

 

Casey moves ahead slowly and carefully; I’ve appreciated following how she is building her dream. It would be a grave mistake to underestimate her.

 

 

 

Above, the Adirondack  Seafood Co.

Jim and his family from the Adirondack Seafood Company in Queensbury, north of our town, are this year’s biggest and happiest surprise at the Farmer’s Market. I never imagined getting excellent fresh seafood here in Cambridge every Sunday. I love seafood and would have it for every meal if I could. Now, at times, I can.

 

Today was a morning of seafood treasure; I wish I had enough money to try all the creative and different seafood offerings. Above, I got three fresh wild salmon cuts (in the bags), some stuffed scallops in a sale, shrimp salad, two Maryland crab cakes (with lots of real crab meat), and enough lobster meat for three meals.

Jim is one of the nicest people I have met anywhere. He knows his seafood.

I look forward to seeing him and his family on Sunday. They are just a pleasure to know. They work hard, are cheerful and creative, and constantly surprise me with their new and different ideas for eating seafood. Jim says he considers the intake every week (always different), and he and his family decide what to make. Today, I’m having the stuffed scallops for lunch. We are having company for dinner; they don’t get to eat the seafood.

I look forward to the market on Sunday. I’m finally learning the meaning of community, and I love watching these innovative and hard-working younger people use their skills and imagination creatively and successfully.  They are lighting up our town. Most importantly, they are all supporting each other. This is something new and important.

These are the people who ought to be in the news every now, not aging political ghouls with nothing to offer but hatred and whining. The Adirondack seafood people are refreshing and encouraging; they lift me. They aren’t just talking about life; they are living it, like the other dreamers and hard-working farmers in the Farmer’s Market.

I’m not forgetting Cindy Casavant, our friend, the Crazy Goad Lady. She is still feeling and milling new goat babies, which means she has cheese and fresh soap and will soon be back at the market.

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12 February

Get Ready! Come Watch The Daily Baby Goat Show With “Crazy Goat Lady” Cindy Casavant, Presenting At Least 100 Goat Kids (Babies) As They Are Born

by Jon Katz

I’m inviting readers of the blog to join me in a free baby goat show from my friend Cindy Casavant, a goat farmer and master of making great soap. For animal lovers, there are few things more fun and fascinating than seeing some momma goats giving birth and introducing the mothers and the babies in pictures.

The babies are due in two weeks, Cindy is getting started today by posting some photos of the mothers. I’m going to link steadily to the baby’s birth, Cindy’s site is very much worth linking to. The presentation is free, and Cindy and her blog are well worth a visit. She works like a demon and is creative and bold.

This is exciting new turf for me, as well as Cindy. She is shy and not used to promoting herself. This will be a big step for her, a born farm kid who has been farming her whole life. You are invited to come along for the ride.

I have agreed to jointly present (link to regularly) an epoch event in the lives of a goat farmer, the imminent birth of at least 100 baby goats on her Caz Acres farm. Cindy is one of the farm people I met her at the farmer’s market and I have the most respect and admiration for. She and her husband Larry have a goat farm just down the road from us, the work is hard and dirty and demanding seven days a week, 24 hours a day. We’ve visited several times.

She plans to put up a photo of a newborn baby or “kid” every day. Maria says there is nothing in the world cuter than a baby goat.

Goat farming, like all farms, means revenue is always uncertain and unpredictable. Cindy’s idea was to make her very wonderful soap and build up that business so that she and Larry could retire one day like most farmers want to do, but only a few get to do.  They both love farming, but they also want to be able to diversity if they wish once they get older.

I’m putting my money on Cindy. She has a soap-making factory in her basement – I made some soap there last weekend. And sales are already rising rapidly. Maria and I met her at the farmer’s market and we became friends and admirers.

Cindy’s soap is the best I’ve ever used and her sales – wholesale and retail – have been steadily rising. She and I have been talking about her wonderful blog, and I suggested that she put up pictures of her goats and their kids every day or as close as she can get. I told Cindy I thought she needed to put more of herself in her blog, and certainly more pictures of the goats and their babies. That, I said, will draw a lot of curious people to her blog, and hopefully, a lot more soap sales. She agreed. She might hold some open houses on the farm when the babies are born.

The birth of babies is a big event on a goat farm. It means goat milk will flow, wonderful cheese and soaps can be made and shipped, and one of the miracle processes of the agricultural world will be available for all of us to see. I’m psyched.

The baby presentation will be free of course, and I suggested linking to her goat pictures, which she is happy to do. You will get to see this as it happens or seconds later. I like the idea of celebrating the miracles of nature.

I love the idea of supporting people like Cindy, they do well without me, but I think the bagby goat show will be a fun for my readers and perhaps draw more attention to her site and soap operation. As you know, I’m committed to using the blog to do good and recognize worthy people.

Cindy is great fun to watch and follow, she has some great instincts about making her soap operation even more successful, and I’m coming along for the ride to see it when it happens.

I think her goat baby presentation can be a big boost for her and great fun for us. She’s going to start by putting up some photos of her goats on the site today. I’ll also link when the fun starts, but Cindy is always doing something interesting. I’d suggest bookmarking her site for when the babies start. And I’ll be making some noise when it happens. You can check out Cindy the “Crazy Goat Lady,” as she calls herself (she is anything but crazy) today at her website.

Cindy is a fascinating person with a riveting life. Come and see for yourself. I’ll keep you updated. I hope to get to her farm and get some photos myself.

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