A curated selection of local and organic

 

Kaleb Myers and his father, Tim Myers, gather fresh greens from their farm to supply Old Saratoga Mercantile, the family’s storefront on Route 29 just west of Schuylerville, N.Y. Joan K. Lentini photo

 

By STACEY MORRIS
Contributing writer

SARATOGA, N.Y.

At first glance, the early morning activity outside Old Saratoga Mercantile makes it seem almost like a supermarket, with delivery trucks pulling in to unload boxes of artisan cheese, thinly sliced prosciutto, and frozen whole chickens.

Inside the sunny interior, the goods from poultry producer Misty Knoll Farms of New Haven, Vt., are piled into the freezer. But a quick glance around the merchandise reveals that, although there are upwards of 2,000 items on the shelves, this is no supermarket.

Old Saratoga Mercantile, on Route 29 just west of the village of Schuylerville, is reminiscent of the neighborhood general store, the kind of place where the merchant knows customers’ names and individual attention is assured. But that’s only a part of the mission of its wife-and-husband owners, Christina and Tim Myers.

Their goal was to open a store that offers healthy, local and organic food, skin care items, even dog treats – and a place where customers don’t have to furtively scan labels for offensive ingredients such as chemicals and preservatives.

Although many of the items at Old Saratoga Mercantile are local, some come from around the nation and beyond.

“People often ask me why there aren’t more local items,” Christina Myers said. “I tell them that local and organic aren’t one and the same.”

“I have a rule,” she added, hauling a frozen chicken to the cooler like a heavy bowling ball. “I don’t want to have five of the same item; I want to have the best. So that local sheep yogurt in the cooler is the best -- I don’t need more varieties.”

Brian Katz and his family, who live across the Hudson River in Washington County, have been shopping at Old Saratoga Mercantile for more than two years after moving to the region and discovering the shop by chance while on a drive.

“The word ‘mercantile’ grabbed my attention,” recalled Katz, who visits regularly for meat, beer and cheeses. “My imagination was drawn to the general store of old.”

He added that with the abundance of local producers and artisans represented, “Christina and Tim are showing the world what a local general store should actually be.

“Christina is a gatekeeper of quality,” Katz said. “I truly believe she values her patrons’ health, needs and tastes as her own.”

While much of the inventory comes from driving distance away, some items hail from as far away as the Netherlands and Siberia. The back room features gifts, knickknacks and skincare items: handmade Siberian dolls, dried sage and palo santo, goat-milk soap from Bennington, Vt., handcrafted greeting cards, essential oils and a clean version of bath bombs made with Epsom salt, sea salt, magnesium and essential oils.

Edible delights include Organic Valley sliced provolone, Nettle Meadow Fromage Frais, local honey, Black King oyster mushrooms, gluten-free linguini, raw tahini, organic polenta and bottled fresh salad dressings.

There also are house-made delicacies such as marinated gigante beans, seasoned roasted tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves and gluten-free chili.

“Our priority is on healthy food,” Myers explained. “And whether you’re celiac or not, gluten isn’t the greatest thing to put in your body.”

Old Saratoga Mercantile also has built a local following for its craft beer, wine and non-alcoholic wine and spirits.

“Beer has been a fun thing in the store,” she said. “Everything we have is sold by the single can, and customers can mix and match four-packs. On any given day we have 200 different varieties of hard-to-find craft beer.”

Non-alcoholic wines and spirits have proven popular amongst drinkers and non-drinkers alike.
“There’s been the mentality that people either drink or don’t drink,” Myers said. “I think it’s healthy and responsible to mix throughout the evening. I don’t want a hangover, so in a social setting it’s nice to be able to interchange the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. You can have a lot of fun with it.”

 

Fresh greens in winter
Christina and Tim opened Old Saratoga Mercantile six years ago. The original idea was to provide local produce throughout the winter months.

“I spent most of my life working as reporter covering government and politics,” Christina said. “I was ready for a change. Then this property popped up for sale.”

In previous incarnations, the property along Route 29 had been a dairy farm, an apple orchard and a horse farm. The five acres now include the family home, retail buildings and four “tunnels” — covered, open-air greenhouses — that keep lettuce, spinach, kale and arugula growing all winter.

The long, rectangular tunnels normally are warmed only by sunlight, though propane heaters kick on when the temperature dips below 22 degrees.

“It doesn’t help the plants grow, but it keeps them alive,” Tim explained, adding that the unpredictability of an upstate winter can mean sometimes never having to turn on the propane — or having to use it almost daily at certain times.

“As long as the plants get sun, they’re usually fine,” he said.
Before they started growing winter produce, Christina and Tim studied it in earnest.
“Once we learned it was being done successfully as far north as Canada, we knew we could do it,” she said.

But cold temperatures, it turns out, haven’t been the couple’s biggest challenge. Their property sits on clay soil, which is rich in minerals but notoriously difficult to grow in.

“The nutrient content of greens grown in clay is so much better,” Tim said. “And they last for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.”

Christina added that when the greens are cut, they’re washed and refrigerated in a matter of hours.

“No transport time, straight to our fridge,” she said, smiling at the cooler filled with bags of arugula and Asian greens.

“Most of our customers have gardens and grow their own greens in the summer, so we grow on a much smaller scale during warmer months,” she added.

Katz described Old Saratoga Mercantile’s greens as a thing of wonder.
“Tim’s greens may be the best anywhere,” he said. “I’ve seen this man labor like few still do, ... and I’m starting to think he views his land as an extension of himself and his soil’s health becomes a reflection of his labor.”

The four tunnels provide 12,000 square feet of growing space, yielding enough greens for their retail customers as well as a few area restaurants and the nearby Schuylerville Central School.
“The cold does something to trigger the sugar content of our greens,” Christina said. “People tell us there’s just something about them.”

 

Adding legal cannabis
In August, to celebrate the store’s six-year anniversary, Tim and Christina opened The Potting Shed, a small separate storefront next door to the mercantile that sells locally grown organic cannabis.

“At the moment, we’re the only legal place in the county where it is grown and where it is sold,” Christina said.

Some cannabis is grown on site, and the rest comes from two local farms and a Finger Lakes-based processor that manufactures gummies. Items for sale include flower pre-rolls, flowers by the ounce, and bags of buds. Prices begin at $7 for single pre-rolls.

There are also vapes, gummies, popsicles and a cookbook on edibles for sale. Even the glass pipes and hand-carved wooden pipes are made locally.

“The wooden pipes are phenomenal,” Christina said. “The man who makes them lives in Schuylerville and carves them out of briarwood from Sicily.”

Christina said she hopes the convivial atmosphere of The Potting Shed will help to dispel stigmas attached to cannabis use, such as the stoner stereotype and the discredited notion of cannabis being a “gateway drug.”

“There are so many medicinal uses for it that I’m just learning about,” she said. “And people also love to use it socially. Morally, it’s no different than wine. And like wine, you need to have respect for it and use it in moderation.”

She added that the shop is a win-win for customers and for Saratoga County.
“Our cannabis is tested and grown with no chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and has no mold,” Myers said. “And we’re averaging $1,200 per week in taxes which stays right here in the community.”

Justine Briscoe, an employee at The Potting Shed, said using locally grown cannabis has helped with her neuropathy symptoms.

“It’s really helped with nerve damage in my feet and with inflammation from fibromyalgia,” she said. “Customers are also reporting that it’s helping with everything from anxiety and inflammation to the nausea and pain associated with chemotherapy. Some say that certain strains give them more focus and higher productivity while other varieties bring about relaxation.”
On a recent afternoon, customers ranging from young adults to senior citizens ambled up to the cash register for gummies and bags of flowers. Customers must be 21 or older to purchase cannabis items.

“Opening The Potting Shed seemed like a natural way to expand,” Christina said. “Our whole business evolved out of our needs and likes as well as the wants of our customers. “It supplements what we are doing so we can keep doing what we love, which is to grow and sell our greens.”

 

For more information on Old Saratoga Mercantile, visit www.oldsaratogamercantile.com or call (518) 695-3678. The deadline for ordering local Thanksgiving turkeys through the shop is Nov. 12.