NEW SCOTLAND — Sun-ripened strawberries, heralding summer’s coming, are ready to be plucked.

The harvest of the year’s first crop will begin this weekend at Indian Ladder Farms with a score of local food producers selling their goods.

“It’s a way to make people aware of different foods available,” said Cecelia Soloviev, one of the event’s organizers.  “It’s nice to meet the person who’s making your food,” she added.

Food made locally, versus the things often found in supermarkets, is often borne out of a person’s interest in a recipe, she said.  One woman, who will be at the Local Foods Festival, makes a Greek spread called Gar-la-la, following her Grecian heritage, Soloviev said.

People who make the food that will be on sale like to explain it to consumers, she said, which creates a useful dialogue that can teach people about what they eat.

Soloviev’s favorite part of the festival, which is in its second year, is the tastings — sampling new foods.

This year’s festival will include chocolate, wine, jams, sauces, dips, cheese, and produce, among other things.

“I think we’ve become too removed from where our food comes from,” said Soloviev, the retail manager at Indian Ladder, itself a local food producer.  Of the festival, she concluded, it’s “just a really good way to meet the people who make your food.”

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Indian Ladder Farms is located at 342 Altamont-Voorheesville Rd. in New Scotland and the free festival will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 14.