Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market is designed to demonstrate the freshness and quality of locally grown and harvested foods.

It is a project of the AuSable Valley Grange's Foodshed Coalition and is hosted by the Plattsburgh Church of Nazarene.

"Both organizations share a commitment to stewardship of the Earth and its resources," Spaugh said.

One of the concerns of the farmers is to produce healthy, organic products. All of the farmers at the Green Market use minimal or no pesticides in their crop production and have adopted wholesome organic methods of farming of their products.

"We try to keep our plants fairly tough, meaning we hold back some on fertility. We may not get as high a yield as we would with fertilizers and pesticides, but we aren't having to deal with those things, which I think is a good trade-off," Spaugh said.

It is a challenge to organically produce vegetables and especially fruits. To prevent insects from destroying the plants, Spaugh said, farmers sometimes cover them with a cloth that is burned into the soil.

Another way farmers deal with the insect problem is to plant and harvest during seasons when the insects are not around, but this limits the marketing season.

"In small plantings of potato, you can handpick Colorado potato beetles," Spaugh said, illustrating the challenges. "I handpick until we get too many. Then I spray with a soil-based bacterial extract that is approved for organic production."

Several farms, ranches and orchards in the North Country grow and develop great-tasting organic foods, she said. Healthy foods are the goal of the new Plattsburgh Farmers Green Market.

"We look forward to providing a convenient market for people to get the best-tasting, freshest local foods they can get," Spaugh said.

"We want to show folks that if they start with the best ingredients, grown and picked for superior flavor, it is really simple and quick to prepare great-tasting snacks and meals."