The Sylvia Center » Events

Spring Planting Day 2013

TSC — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:06:12 +0000

On Saturday, May 11, we had a great crowd who embraced the rain, listened to Dar Williams play guitar and talk about her passion for honey bees, and when the rain let up a bit, all made their way into the garden to plant bee-friendly flowers. Later in the afternoon, our two sheep, Priya and Yahtnah, escaped into Farmer Bob’s fields and kept up a very good chase before evading the staff and visitors by swimming across the pond. At last, we caught them! They seemed relieved to be back in their space on the farm.

6th Annual Farm to Table Dinner

TSC — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:55:24 +0000

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Cocktails at 6pm, Dinner at 7pm

Katchkie Farm | 745 Fischer Road | Kinderhook, NY

GET TICKETS

Please join us on Saturday July 6, 2013 at Katchkie Farm to enjoy a delicious evening on the farm, including a pig roast and hors d’oeuvres prepared by local chefs. The event will begin at 6pm with cocktails and music in The Sylvia Center Children’s Garden, followed by dinner in the fields. All proceeds from this benefit dinner will go to support The Sylvia Center’s garden to table programs.

Spring Planting Day with Dar Williams at Katchkie Farm

TSC — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:23:49 +0000

Saturday, May 11, 2013

11am – 3pm
Katchkie Farm
745 Fischer Rd.
Kinderhook, NY 12106

You’re invited!

You and your family are invited to Spring Planting Day with The Sylvia Center and Hudson Valley singer-songwriter Dar Williams. We’ll sing songs, create a beautiful bee-friendly garden, and work to get our farm’s Children’s Garden ready for the growing season ahead.

Bring a water bottle, sun hat, gardening gloves if you have them, and a picnic lunch to enjoy. Feel free to bring healthy snacks to share with others. We will have a garden salad and lemonade available for purchase. Admission is free but registration is required. To register or for more information, please contact Jenn So at jenn.so@sylviacenter.org or (212) 337-6075.

About Dar Williams

One of the most lauded singer-songwriters of her generation, Dar Williams has been captivating audiences with her sheer elegance and honesty in her folk-pop songwriting since the early ’90s. In The Time Of Gods, her most recent release, covers many relevant topics such as retaining one’s moral compass, our personal responsibility in changing the world, the politics of power, and following a guiding light in the midst of chaos.

Williams has toured with such distinguished artists as Joan Baez, Patty Griffin, Loudon Wainwright III and Shawn Colvin, and was a regular contributor to the Huffington Post’s Green Blog. A dedicated environmentalist, Williams has created the initiative “Give Bees a Camp” to create a haven of beautiful bee-friendly flower gardens at summer camps while educating campers about planting and the service they are providing for bees and our planet.

6th Annual Fall Harvest Festival

TSC — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:14:57 +0000

Join us in celebrating Fall Harvest at Katchkie Farm!

Who: Everyone is welcome!
What: Lots of activities and treats — to be announced.
When: Sunday, October 21st from 11pm-3pm
How: RSVP to nicole.filippi@greatperformances.com
Where: Katchkie Farm, 34 Fischer Road, Kinderhook, NY 12106

Success at A City Farmer, A Chef, and a Host

awalton — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:05:18 +0000

Our Dine Around Town event with Just Food was a resounding success; 11 City Farmers, 11 Chefs, 11 Hosts, 11 Dinners on one incredible evening! Take a look at the pictures from this once-in-a-lifetime dining experience:

Farm To Table Benefit Dinner, August 4 2012

awalton — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:55:22 +0000

On Saturday, August 4, 2012, The Sylvia Center invites you to our annual Farm to Table Benefit Dinner in the fields of Katchkie Farm. Columbia County’s best chefs will work together to create a buffet dinner featuring seasonal and local ingredients. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit The Sylvia Center.

Interested in learning more? Check out a video from last year’s event here

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the event site.

Restaurant partners:

We hope you will join us for this delicious night at the Farm!

A Hot Week on the Farm

awalton — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:35:27 +0000

This week we kept a relaxed pace amid crazy hot temperatures. With no programs, we had time to get the garden in order–sprinklers were a priority–and prep for the weeks ahead, which are full of kids’ programs and farmer’s markets. We journeyed to Beacon for our second farmer’s market last Sunday, where we were pleased to see some return customers and many new ones. In addition to our produce, eggs, and Katchkie Farm value added products, we sold glasses of mint lemonade. Market-goers loved Jenn’s refreshing drink!

On the farm, we spent the week weeding and mulching the Children’s garden and continuing to plant seeds and transplants in the vegetable beds and the lower garden. It is surprising how much planning goes into making a garden be ever-bearing. Lots of timetables! We also kept an eye on the pigs, providing them with plenty of water to drink and splash around in during the hot days. I had so much fun watching them play in the mud bath; they coated themselves in the cool mud and then shook their wiry coats before retreating to the shaded tunnel.

This week Jenn has been busy fine-tuning her menu and preparing the dishes for Cafe Omi, which will take place June 23-24. Here’s a sneak peak at the menu:http://www.artomi.org/post/_docs/cafemenu.pdf

Planting, Piggies, and Pizza, Oh My!

awalton — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 05:23:40 +0000

This week was full of new additions to the Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm. Most recently (as in today) we welcomed two new pigs. They are pink and sweet, and it seems like they are already making friends with the ninja brothers (our first two pigs). Yesterday, Jenn fired up the clay oven, and we cooked pizzas with Bob, Nancy, and Miguel. The dough was yielding when shaped and fluffy after being cooked; we topped the pizzas with kale, pesto, the ripest cherry tomatoes, and many different kinds of cheeses left over from Spring Planting Day. The oven was blazing hot, around 700 degrees. Jenn said that it could reach temperatures of 900 degrees and cook pizzas in seconds! We decided that she might need some heavy-duty protective gear before that happens. I think we are all happy about the new use of the clay oven. Jenn has had her nose deep into recipe books and blogs, finding lots of different foods that can be cooked in the clay oven over the course of one firing: pizza first, then roasting meat or vegetables, and finally baking bread and pies. Some farmer friends of mine in Maine like to bake beans with molasses over night in their clay oven for a hearty breakfast the next day.

Also this week, the forces in NYC and on Katchkie Farm had a couple of occasions to spend time with one another. I very much enjoyed getting to know the NYC Sylvia Center folks on Spring Planting Day. We shared our efforts in the garden, having fun all the while with good company and conversation. Then, on Monday Jenn, Julie, and I headed down to the big city in a very compact little car to tour the Sylvia Center/Great Performances “headquarters” and observe a Sylvia Center cooking class in Harlem. It was very interesting for me to see this side of the organization and understand the tremendous amount of work and human input that it takes to run a good organization. At the cooking class, we all picked up tips to improve our own teaching skills in the kitchen or the garden. It was great to connect with other educators there who were doing the same sort of work, just in a different setting. Chef Karen, the instructor at the Harlem community center we visited, was excited about visiting the farm during one of our programs later in the season.

The photo of the week is in honor of Jenn, who turned 24 this past Wednesday!

-Meg, Garden Intern

A City Farmer, A Chef, and a Host – July 24, 2012

awalton — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:21:52 +0000

A City Farmer, A Chef, and A Host is a New York City dine-around evening to benefit Just Food and The Sylvia Center. On Tuesday, July 24, 2012, fourteen concurrent dinners, each prepared by a top New York chef using produce from an urban farm and hosted in a private home, will bring together food enthusiasts, taste-makers and philanthropists for a common cause.

Co-sponsored by Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn

Find out more about the event on its blog here. To purchase tickets, click here. Guests will be able to choose their dinner preferences when purchasing tickets for one of the following dinners:

Dinner 1:

Farmer: Maggie Cheney, EcoStation: NY
Chef: Jeremy Bearman, Rouge Tomate
Host: Amy and Curt Middleton
Co-host: TBD

Dinner 2:
City Farmer: Eric-Michael Rodriguez, Weeksville Heritage Center
Chef: Laurent Gras
Host: Lili Lynton
Co-host: Leonard Lopate, Radio Personality

Dinner 3:
City Farmer: Annie Novak, Eagle Street Rooftop
Chef: Howard Kalachnikoff, Gramercy Tavern
Host: Frederic Rich
Co-host: Eric Sanderson, Author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City

Dinner 4:
City Farmer: Abu Talib, Taqwa Community Garden
Chef: Peter Hoffman, Back Forty West
Host: Haven’s Kitchen
Co-host: Joan Gussow, Professor, Author, Food Policy Expert

Dinner 5:
City Farmer: Tai Gilbert, Loisaida Hydroponics Studio
Chef: Angel Ramos, Candle 79
Host: Katja Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt
Co-host: TBD

Dinner 6:
City Farmer: Karen Washington, La Familia Verde
Chef: Andrew Carmellini and Ron Rosselli, Locanda Verde
Host: Joanne Wilson
Co-host: Ben Leventhal, Eater.com Co-Founder

Dinner 7:
City Farmer: Yonnette Flemming, Hattie Carthan Community Garden
Chef: Dan Kluger, ABC Kitchen
Host: Laura Walker
Co-host: TBD

Dinner 8:
City Farmer: Zachary Pickens, Riverpark Farm at Alexandria Center
Chef: Sisha Ortuzar, Riverpark
Host: City Winery
Co-host: Dar Williams, Singer Songwriter

Dinner 9:
City Farmer: Heather Warren-Donbrowa, Bissel Gardens
Chef: Kevin Lasko, Park Avenue Summer
Host: Nina Bernstein Simmons
Co-host: Matt Lee, Food Writer, Cookbook Author

Dinner 10:
City Farmer: Molly Culver, Floyd Bennett Farm
Chef: Bill Telepan, Telepan
Host: Sarah and Victor Kovner
Co-host: Ellie Krieger

Dinner 11:
City Farmer: Classie Parker, Five Star Garden
Chef: David Waltuck, ex Chanterelle
Host: Kurt Giehl and Jeff Ragovin
Co-host: Jonelle Procope, President and CEO, Apollo Theater

Dinner 12:
City Farmer: James Casey, The Truck Farm
Chef: Dan Silverman, The Standard Grill
Host: Tasting Table’s Test Kitchen and Dining Room
Co-host: Brent Ridge, Farmer, Co-Founder of The Fabulous Beekman Boys

Dinner 13:
City Farmer: TBD
Chef: Jason Weiner, Almond
Host: TBD
Co-host: Brian Halweil, Publisher, Edible Manhattan and Brooklyn

Dinner 14:
City Farmer: Lily Kesselman, Friends of Brook Park
Chef: Robert Gurvich, Alison Eighteen
Host: Jenifer Lang
Co-host: Dorie Greenspan, Cookbook Author

Become a farmer for the week!

awalton — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:40:09 +0000

Children ages 8-12 will experience life on the farm and learn about food from seed to plate during thisfive-day program. The week will end with a Family Farmers Market and Celebration Feast.
Each day will include:
••••
Farm & garden activities like planting seeds, collecting eggs, and helping our garden grow.Farm crafts like tie-dying with vegetable-based dyes and making seed paper for planting.Creative food projects like making like ice cream, wood-fired veggie pizza, cheese, and pickles.Games and other activities like frisbee, hiking around the farm forest, and running through the sprinkler. Harvesting veggies from the garden and using locally sourced ingredients to prepare and share a delicious lunch together each day. A few of our favorite lunch recipes are: veg

gie tacos, green salad with homemade dressing, vegetable fried rice, cucumber salad, and focaccia bread. We also like to make fun drinks like rhubarb spritzers or mint lemonade.

•Date and Time: Monday August 13 through Friday August 17 from 9am-3:30pm daily.
Location: 745 Fischer Rd. Kinderhook, NY 12106
Program Fees: Sliding scale $285-$360.
For more information please contact Julie Cerny, Education Director and Garden Manager, at518.758.2170 or sylviacenter@katchkiefarm.com. We hope to see you on the farm!