Rutgers Gardens plants local food movement in No. Bruns.
Weekly farmers market offers fresh, local meat, dairy and produce items
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer
The Rutgers Gardens Farmers Market will feature an assortment of locally produced produce, dairy, meat and horticultural products every Friday through Oct. 23.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Above: Chandrakand Wagle and his wife, Hema, of East Brunswick, check out a selection of locally grown plants and flowers at the Rutgers Gardens Farmers Market on Ryders Lane on June 27. Bottom left: Cecilia Claflen picks up some fresh ciabatta rolls. Bottom right: Sara Naphas checks out an assortment of cherries.

The gardens, located at 112 Ryders Lane, technically are on North Brunswick property. Various vendors will be on hand from 2 to 6 p.m. to share their stories and sell their products.

De'Lightbournes, from Trenton, sells pies and cookies. Fruitwood Farms, of Monroeville, offers a selection of fruits and vegetables. The Griggstown Farm Market sells chicken, duck, turkey, quail, poussin, eggs, honey, fresh mozzarella and fruit pies.

Readington River Buffalo Farm offers franks, steaks, patties, London broil, pepperoni, kielbasa, jerky, flank steak and ravioli made from buffalo.

"Buffalo is lower in saturated fat … extremely high in iron … and looks and tastes like beef, but a little darker," said Scarlett Doyle.

Doyle said the meat is all natural, and the 150 bison - which is the scientific term for buffalo - are raised on the farm's own hay and feed. She said the meat is high in protein, iron and vitamin B but low in calories, cholesterol and fat. There are no growth hormones or stimulants administered, and no animal byproducts are fed to the bison.

"At least with farmers, you become an extended family throughout the year, and then it extends year after year," she said of bringing a sample of her 375-acre farm in Readington to North Brunswick. "There is guaranteed quality in terms of no antibiotics and steroids. [It's about] knowing an animal is harvested when appropriate and not when it's old. "S

tefan & Sons Meat Store offers all-natural, preservative-free, secret spices for steaks, ribs, chicken, burgers and vegetables that can be grilled, roasted, barbecued or broiled. They also sell homemade pierogies, Polish kielbasa and homemade stuffed cabbage.

A Taste of Rubies has a variety of cheesecakes.

Valley Shepherd Creamery offers artisan cheeses made out of sheep's milk. The products include ricotta, bleu cheese, Gouda, manchego and yogurt. There is also ravioli and gnocchi.

Sarah Bouars, who was representing Long Valley farm owner Eran Wajswol, said that the products are packaged fresh in the morning after being handmade in the farm's own cheese room using oldfashioned machines.

"Sheep's milk is higher in fat, which is kind of a flavor booster," she said of the byproduct of the 500 sheep on the farm.

"People get to know our cheese and they really like the cheese," she said.

The Village Bakery, of Lawrenceville, offers artisan breads including bacon, black olive, bleu cheese-walnut, cranberry raisin-walnut, pumpernickel, rosemary and multigrain.

Bo Child said he sells out at every market because people enjoy his all-natural, preservative-free breads that are made fresh every day on the premises. He said he sells more bread in one day at a market than in an entire week at his shop.

With 500 loaves being made by hand and sold on Saturdays alone, Child said he is "amazed" at the work of head baker Luis Uroza and his brother, Adolfo, who work from 11:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Child's wife, Karen, is also a pastry chef at the bakery.

In another effort to stay local, Child offers spreads and fruit butters from Muirhead Foods of Ringos. He said the bakery also donates its leftovers to local community centers.

"Markets are very lucrative. People come out, and they really support locally grown and locally produced products," he said.

He also said a farmers market is onestop shopping.

"You can buy an entire meal of locally grown and locally produced foods. I think that's a wonderful thing, but it's a long time coming. We're finally getting hip to what's been going on in Europe for years," he said.

Debbie Bertolini brought green onions, beets, pickles, sweet potatoes, spinach, arugula and corn on behalf of Woodland Produce owners Maury and Helen Sheets. The Cumberland County farm products are "fresh - they're not sitting in the supermarket for days. We're buying in New Jersey, our state, so there is definitely a benefit to buying local, because it's better quality," Bertolini said.

"I think [a farmers market offers] a better price, you actually get a better quality, and I really don't think people want much more than the two," she said.

Market began as student project

Also present is the Cook College Student Organic Farm as well as the Rutgers University soil-testing laboratory.

The idea for a market began when Paul Valetutti, at the time a first-year Rutgers student, spoke with Carol Rutgers, director of the Cook College Cooperative Education Program, and Bruce Crawford, director of the gardens. Since the Mahwah native's family is in the food business, including the Biricchino restaurant and the Salumeria Biellese in New York City, and since he is studying culinology, the directors decided this would be an excellent three-credit project for him to undertake.

"It turned into a larger-than-life project. You're opening a business, except you're not working with your own money, you're working with other people's money," Valetutti said.

Now, as the manager of the farmers market, the 25-year-old's responsibilities include attracting local vendors. He is also helping the same base vendors work with the university's dining services to try to buy leftovers to use on their menu, and he started a Slow Food chapter at the school to promote local products.

Valetutti also creates recipes that he makes available for market patrons.

He said a market setting is appealing because of "the price of gas, and people becoming more conscious about where food comes from.

"There's also a certain sense of self-worth when you're handing a farmer cash and he's handing you fresh produce," he said.

The Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, along with Rutgers Gardens, are presenting the market. The vendors are subject to change week to week.

For more information, visit www.rutgersgardens. rutgers.edu or e-mail Valetutti at PValetut@eden.rutgers.edu.