水果派AV

鈥淭his was a highly functioning market for both vendors and customers,鈥� Kendra Porter said.

Porter and her husband, Paul, farm 10 acres of land on Rickard Road in Skaneateles and 200 acres in Seneca Falls. The Porters specialize in fingerling potatoes, micro greens, heirloom tomatoes, peppers and beans, and also grow shiitake and oyster mushrooms, as well as a few unusual ones like nameko.

The original Skaneateles market they attended in the P&C parking lot was successful because people could get all their shopping done in one spot, Porter said. There was a wealth of organic produce and locally raised products in the parking lot for customers to select from, and then they could go in the supermarket and finish shopping there.

鈥淭he supermarket changed hands, and I had a baby,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淏ronwyn, it's Welsh 鈥� it means beautiful.鈥�

Bronwyn is now 7, and is often with her parents at the Skaneateles Farmers Market in the Austin Park parking lot from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Like Lou and Merby Lego at Elderberry Pond Farm, the Porters feature certified organic produce. They have been certified since before the Food and Drug Administration got into certifying organic. It was much stricter before, Porter said.

Her idea was to find older varieties of fruits and vegetables that were no longer in the stores. That鈥檚 because the stores carry produce that is bred for better shipping and handling. Porter is more concerned with flavor.

"We work with other local farmers and seed companies, such as Fedco Seed out of Maine, and they purchase seeds from us, as well," she said.

Visit the Skaneateles Farmers Market, and you will see that Black Brook Farm's produce is beautifully displayed. One Saturday, fragrant magnificenza cantaloupes were sitting on crisp straw, while slim, curvy, bitter-less Asian eggplants were huddled together under a giant basket of dragon beans.

The farm's cantaloupes are open pollinated, meaning these are not a hybrid nor an heirloom. Porter has studied plants and seeds and propagation for years.

鈥淲e've had a really positive reception at the market,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e try to be a happy place. Farming is a lifestyle.鈥�

Patience Brewster, a frequent Skaneateles Farmers Market shopper, said she loves Black Brook's organic philosophy.

"Not only do Kendra and Paul grow gorgeous and healthy fruits and vegetables, but they display them with an artist鈥檚 eye," Brewster said. "They offer up the story of their bounty from seed to plate. Little ice pillows and nests of straw keep the produce fresh, which in turn keeps nutrition at its peak. The heirloom heritage in the tomatoes, potatoes and corn is obvious. It glows in purity and flavor. Anyone will be better off for tasting these gems. You can feel the goodness going right into your cells.鈥�

Black Brook is a waterbody that runs through the family's property in Seneca Falls. It started with Porter's mother, Lani Kellogg, and her late father, Donald Robinson.

The original farm was certified organic 20 years ago and has been supplying the independent restaurants in that section of the Finger Lakes for years: Among them are Belhurst Castle in Geneva, Woody's Cafe in Canandaigua, Warfield's in Clifton Springs and the Red Dove Tavern in Geneva.

Before agreeing to take on a chef as a client,聽Porter makes it a point to meet them and find out their needs to make sure the farm will be able to supply the menu properly. She understands that the chef needs consistency in their ingredients.

鈥淲e work with chefs and find out what they need and a particular volume,鈥� Porter said.

Recently, she started working with The Krebs' chef Jean Paul Lourdes. He is a Michelin-rated chef from New Zealand who worked in the perfume industry in Paris before becoming a chef.聽

鈥淗e is an interesting chef to work with, as he keeps me on my toes,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淟ast week, he asked if I had any raw honeycomb.鈥�

She did in fact have the honeycomb, which can be harvested as soon as the bees cap the comb. The chef served it with a selection of cheeses.

Recently, she featured a rare variety of heirloom cherry tomato at the market.

"If there are a handful of people saving it, that would be a lot," she said. "It's a white cherry tomato saved by Edgar Allen Poe. And whoever was maintaining the estate, they found a volunteer."

A volunteer is a plant that comes up all on its own. It is a rare seed that has lain in the ground dormant, and then suddenly conditions are right for it to sprout. Poe had named this particular cherry tomato after his mother-in-law, Hopkins. It's a meaty little cherry with a big tomato flavor.

"The public wants to see where their food is coming from," Porter said, "and that is fantastic because they are the ones that are driving our sales upward."

Like many at the Skaneateles Farmers Market, Black Brook Farm is feeling the effects of the region's drought. The Porters have lost about 60 percent of their produce as a result. But Kendra hopes the support of their customers sees them through.

"Local support is what will make the difference between the community farms surviving this year to thrive again when conditions are better suited for farming."