Looking for fresh, local food and craft beverages in the western Catskills? Maybe a distinctive pair of pretty earrings or a gift handcrafted from wood or clay? Come to the Pakatakan Farmers’ Market at the Round Barn any Saturday from mid-May through November; here you’ll find farmers, makers, and customers seeking the finest local goodies and entertainment.
Going to market is about getting good things and getting together—both of which are especially crucial if you live somewhere rural, where access to supplies and neighborly encounters take a bit of effort to achieve.
Gathering at the market is a human habit that goes back centuries and crosses all cultural lines. From the agoras, souks, and bazaars of the ancient world to shopping malls, downtowns, and flea markets, going to market is about getting good things and getting together—both of which are especially crucial if you live somewhere rural, where access to supplies and neighborly encounters take a bit of effort to achieve.
In the tiny, pretty hamlet of Halcottsville, where the population hovers at just under 50, Delaware County residents and visitors have a market that many a larger town would envy. It’s held at the 1893 Kelly Round Barn, itself a marvel of Catskills ingenuity. “Having a round dairy barn made things easier at milking time and feeding time,” says board president Tanya Moyer, who raises all-natural meat and poultry at Mulligan Creek Acres in the slightly larger hamlet of Sprakers, about an hour to the north. “They had a silo in the center, and they’d just feed from there. It made cleanup easier too.”
Rising two stories above a solid stone foundation and 90 feet in diameter, the round barn had fallen into disrepair before being purchased by Alta Industries and donated, along with approximately 2 acres, to the Erpf Catskill Cultural Center, which successfully restored it in 1988. Eight years later, a perfect use for the space was found, and the Pakatakan Farmers’ Market has been held there ever since.
Moyer has been a vendor there for nearly a decade now. “I was supplying a restaurant down in Pine Hill and I’d pass by every week, and I realized I should just apply to be a vendor,” she says. Like every vendor, she began in the market’s incubator program, and her purebred Berkshire pork and pastured poultry sold well. “I applied as a full-season vendor and was accepted the following year,” she says. “I enjoy the historic barn, my fellow vendors, and the patrons and community members that come out.” For two years now, she’s been managing the nonprofit, helping new vendors through the incubation process. “We have a nice variety,” she says. “We have two vendors who sell native plants—one also offers cut flowers, the other offers landscaping plants—and two who sell vegetables. We have non-GMO, grass-fed meat and poultry; we have a maple vendor and two vendors of honey products. There are two who sell baked goods, two distilleries, and two cideries. We have mushrooms and medicinal herbalists, pickles and condiments, and jams and jellies. We have two vendors selling fresh fish.
There are prepared foods ranging from Belgian sugar waffles and tacos to quiche, soups, and charcuterie; people can grab a picnic table or grassy spot and brunch while enjoying live entertainment and the company of kindred spirits.
Then we have artisans who make and sell jewelry, clothing, soaps, ceramics and woodwork, and a coffee bean roaster who brews it up for shoppers to enjoy. You can absolutely come and find everything you need for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with tableware to serve it on, something pretty to wear, and flowers for your centerpiece.” There are prepared foods ranging from Belgian sugar waffles and tacos to quiche, soups, and charcuterie; people can grab a picnic table or grassy spot and brunch while enjoying live entertainment and the company of kindred spirits. “This year we’ve been working with the Roxbury Arts Group, and when they have artists in residence, we invite them to come showcase what they’re working on,” Moyer says. “We just had Loco7, a dance pup pet theater group with giant butterflies they were amazing. And we have local musicians who’ve been playing here for years.”
Nonpolitical community organizations are also welcome to come share their doings with the public, with presentations ranging from facts on hydroelectric power to “what kind of animal poop did I just see on that trail?” and other outdoor education relevant to life in the Catskills. Admission to the market is free; service animals are welcome, but other pets should stay home. The goal, beyond good food and fellowship, is to keep the Round Barn as a historic community centerpiece for the next 130 years as well.
“We just put a new roof on in 2020—the cedar shingles were 30 years old, and it was time,” Moyer says. “Anything you do on a round structure is going to cost a bit more, but it’s a real gem and deserves the love. So we went with Enviroshake instead of cedar; it can withstand winds up to 130 miles per hour, and the water that comes off of it in a storm is potable.”
One suspects the Kelly brothers would be pleased. The Pakatakan Farmers’ Market at the Round Barn is open Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm, mid-May to mid-October; a holiday market then takes over through November 30, opening an hour later on Saturdays. Stop by, stock up, and take a moment to contemplate the creativity that flows through these hills like a rushing mountain stream.
pakatan kanfarmers’ market
The Round Barn, 46676 State Hwy 30, Halcottsville
845-586-3326
roundbarnmarket.org
