Our Own Raw Honey!

Available Now

Last fall we put honey out for sale, from our own bees, for the first time.  Each season has it's own distinct flavor profile and color. You can find them for sale in our market right now! 

Spring Honey comes mostly from Apple Blossoms and Locust Tree Blossoms. The result is a beautiful light golden color, and an equally light flavor. We think you'll notice some nice fruity and floral notes. This is one of the most unusual and distinctive honeys we've tasted.

Our Summer Honey is made while the most plentiful blossoms on the farm are the wildflowers that fill every nook and cranny. Clover is one of the most common wildflowers. We describe it as "fruity and tart with flavors of ripe fruit and caramelized sugar." This honey has the most typical, neutral, honey flavor.

In Autumn, our bees collect pollen mostly from Goldenrod and wild Asters. The flavor is "rich, smooth, and mellow, with notes of raisin".

Buckwheat is another distinctively flavored honey. A field of buckwheat will keep bees very busy and producing a lot of honey! Our buckwheat honey is milder in flavor than other buckwheat honeys we've tried (the flavor can be very strong and dark). We describe our buckwheat honey as "Sunny, with a powerful, deep sweetness and a hint of molasses."


New, Coming Soon!

Honeycomb is a luscious bite of thin compartments of chewy beeswax, full of sweet honey. If you've never tried it before, it's worth it! Packaged in one pound containers, honeycomb will be for sale on our shelves soon.

Large, three pound jars of summer honey, and beautiful tall corked jars will also be in our honey cupboard soon.

September Color

This is such a beautiful and exciting time of year! Summer and Fall merge, in a glorious display of color.

You can find pumpkins, strawbales, gourds, apples, and apple cider at Kirby's. A great start to the Fall season!

 We love growing a variety of pumpkins and gourds...

This giant gourd variety grows into some very interesting shapes and colors.

 

Little orange and white pumpkins are adorable, in just as many shapes and sizes.


Our large Mums are exploding with color!

And there are a lot of colors to choose from. Complement your mums with some interesting foliage plants from our perennial area. Perennials are all 25% off!

Produce Update

Tomatoes are at their peak, while peaches are beginning to come to a close. Right now we have Cresthaven peaches, which are a freestone variety that's excellent for baking, eating, freezing, and canning. We also Babygold, a clingstone variety that is our personal favorite for canning. They have excellent flavor, you don't have to peel them, and their firm flesh holds up well in a jar.

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Apple Varieties Available now:

Honeycrisp, Autumn Crisp, Gingergold, McIntosh, Paula Red, and Jonamac

Other homegrown produce in season:

Sweet and Hot Peppers, Eggplant, Lettuce, Kale, Beets, Broccoli, Garlic, Cauliflower, Plums, Pluots, and Nectarines.

Locally grown produce in season:

Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, and Shiitake Mushrooms

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Autumn's Chill

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cortland

The produce on our tables is always a reflection of the changing seasons. Right now we have: Brussel Sprouts; Winter Squash;  Romanesco;  Cauliflower; Cabbage; Apples; Broccoli; Swiss Chard; Kale; and Pumpkins.  We also have Local Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Grapes, and Pears. It has been a particularly long season for tomatoes and peppers. Plum tomatoes were hanging in there for a while, but no doubt the hard frost last night put an end to them as well.

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Upcoming Harvest Weekend

I hope you have a chance to stop in the market sometime soon! Fall is filling every room with beautiful color - you can't help but feel inspired by the season. Inside we have gourds and pumpkins decorating every display, accented with bittersweet and festive Autumn gifts and decor.  Take a stroll through the side door, out into the mum area and explore our new pumpkin display. We had a lot of fun piling over two hundred pumpkins onto crates and straw bales. There are so many unique colors and textures! Bumpy red, grey, tan, stripy green, and warty orange. And my favorite - white with orange and red stripes. You can also purchase beautiful mums, gourds, indian corn, straw bales and cornstalk bundles at the market - everything you need for your own seasonal displays.

Along with the usual activities of Autumn  (it's harvest time! apples everywhere!) we've been busy behind the scenes, planning a big celebration to commemorate 40 years of business here at Kirby's. We just added a new page about the festival to the website. Check it out! Harvest Weekend will be happening on October 23rd and 24th 11am-5pm. There are so many activities to try (almost all of them free!). And we hope you can join us on Sunday night for a special unveiling and anniversary cake. We're looking forward to sharing our 40th Anniversary Party with all of our customers that have made the last 40 years possible!

 

Black Bean Pumpkin Chilli

This vegetarian chili is a great way to celebrate a cool Autumn day in Western New York.  The subtle sweet earthiness of the pumpkin is nicely offset by a good dose of spices, and complimented by a hint of the dark, sweet, flavor of chocolate. Ingredients:

2 Tblsp Olive Oil

1 Medium Onion, chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

1 sweet pepper, diced

1 large can of Tomatoes with juices

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 cup mashed or pureed Pumpkin

2 tsp Cumin

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp oregano

2 Tbsp chocolate chips, or two squares of unsweetened chocolate (optional, but you should try it!)

 

In a 5 quart pot, sautee onion in olive oil until golden. Add  sweet peppers and garlic, continuing to cook until garlic is lightly golden.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir to combine, and then simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust thickness of soup by adding more tomatoes or chicken stock (if you're not making a vegetarian chili), a half cup at a time.

Enjoy with a dollop of sour cream, some grated cheddar, and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro.

 

Baked Apples

At our first CSA picnic, CSA member Deborah Fister brought this recipe. Simple and pretty healthy for a dessert, it was also delicious!

½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves
3 Tbsp frozen unsalted butter
6-8 cored apples
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup raisins
½ cup cider

Whisk dry ingredients and cut the butter into flour (a food processor or grater works). Add nuts and raisins. Spoon into apples. Add ½ cup cider to bottom of pan.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.