Schader Farms
Dave & Pat Schader, co-owners and operators of Shader Farms in Williamstown, NY have allllll the knowledge about this more than medi-OKRA produce. How to grow it, cook it, eat it, and tell if it’s fresh. That’s the value when shopping at any farmers market…you’re shopping with experts. If you walk by their booth on the Market, there’s a good chance you’ll catch him or his wife Pat talking to their customers about their favorite product. Insight from Dave revealed: “You can tell if it’s old based off whether it’s slimy. See?” Right on the spot, he chomped into a fresh piece to show the the hearty insides of the veggie. “Clean cut and firm. Actually back in the ‘80s someone challenged me that that I couldn’t grow it in the New York because it’s known for growing best in the south. That’s why it’s such a popular ingredient in gumbo. I took the challenge pretty seriously and now guess what? Our tastes better than the okra grown in the south! My wife, Pat, uses okra in tomato sauce cause it really thickens it up. People use it in stir fries and we’ve heard a lot of our customers put it in gumbo. We haven’t made it ourselves but regularly hear that it’s good.”
A family-run farm and a family man, Dave Schader of Schader Farms, shared that agriculture is a lifelong career for him and his wife. “I starting coming to the Market with my father when I was five. So it’s been 70 years here. I was solely a farmer in the beginning and then started selling my neighbors strawberries and then started selling for another neighbor, their potatoes. Today, my wife is my right hand and my left hand and she keeps me healthy enough to keep doing it. I’m gonna keep planting till they plant me. When they asked me if I’m going to retire, I say ‘I retire every night!’. This work, this type of lifestyle, it keeps you going and it gives you a purpose to get up everyday. It’s a whole family business too. Between my three sons and two daughters, they’ve all been brought up on the farm and help at the Market just like I did when I was a boy.”
Partners in life and on the farm, you can see their family gathered at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration! Meet these gurus at our Market. B-line Thursdays and Saturdays, chat them up about family-favorite recipes and their lifetime of experience in entrepreneurship. See you between 7am-2pm today at the Market!
