Results tagged “farmersmarket”

The Greenmarket held at McCarren Park is about to get a lot less green. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the the Parks Department will be relocating it from the park to the concrete of Union Avenue. Holding it at the park has caused damage to the grounds, with the farmers’ set-ups, as well as the high traffic of customers, turning grass into dirt. A Parks Department spokesman told the paper, “The grass is in very bad condition over there—very brown and compacted—so we’d like to spruce up that area by re-seeding the park’s entrance." The sellers are not enthused, however, saying, “We’re located at the most-trafficked area in this park. Moving us would disconnect the market from the rest of the park. It may be the end of this market." However, the new proposed location of Union Avenue between Bayard and Driggs isn't really that far away from their current locale.

With more families turning to food stamps as food prices increases, more farmers markets are accepting them. The Farmers' Market Federation of NY says that food stamp sales have grown to $90,000 in 2007 from $3,000 in 2002 (helped in part by wireless technology that allows the farmers to accept payments by food stamp debit card); executive director Diane Eggert told the AP, "We're already outpacing 2007, so I think we're going to see significant growth." One Brooklyn resident hopes to use his food stamps on fresher produce from the farmers, "When you shop at the grocery store, it's very limited-they don't have a very wide selection. I think if we had a farmers market, I think we would shop more, and eat more produce."

No surprise here, but skyrocketing fuel costs have not spared farmers who sell produce at Greenmarkets, the AP finds. Upstate strawberry grower Franca Tantillo estimates that roughly half the money she earns at a Manhattan Greenmarket is spent on transportation costs. And it’s not just getting back and forth from the city that’s more expensive; fuel costs have driven up the price of fertilizers and animal feed, and plastic supplies for greenhouses cost more. As the costs are passed on to their urban customers, farmers like Elly Hushour, who sells goat cheese that she drives in from her farm in Pennsylvania, predict that "local soon will not be that important.” And maybe Union Square soon will not be that mobbed?

Perhaps the only place you'll see snow in New York City this winter is today in Union Square and this weekend in Central Park. On the north end of Union Square, where the farmers market and skateboarders usually are, there's now a man-made hill with 132 tons of snow trucked in from Mountain Creek in New Jersey. The Union Square Street Sessions, which made its debut last year, has 20 competitors vying for $30,000 in prize money today.

Coming up next Monday is a benefit event celebrating East New York Farms, an organization that seeks to remedy the dearth of good nutritional choices in the Brooklyn neighborhood by growing and distributing its own food, along the way inviting a wealth of community participation. “Our first season was one gardener out on the sidewalk with a table,” says Sarita Daftary, Project Director of East New York Farms! (the exclamation mark goes with the...

It's that time of year again, when pumpkins take center stage. The Parks Department is taking the big orange gourds seriously with Camp Sunshine's First Annual Pumpkin Festival on Saturday. There will be a pumpkin patch, farmer's market, puppets, and entertainment like the Big Apple Circus and Chris Barron. All proceeds will go towards Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week!

BEER: This one is pretty simple...there will be lots (58!) of New York beers, and a few bands to soundtrack your drinking them, at the Seaport tonight. Go, imbibe, enjoy!

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at Edwards Ave. in the Bronx, a disorderly crowd at Bay St. and Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, and a bank robbery near Bowling Green (that's why the 4/5 is passing Bowling Green).
• The New York Sun thinks the Live Earth concerts over the weekend were pompous, middle-aged and lame.
• Real estate group Pinnacle is accused of racketeering for siccing lawyers with eviction notices on thousands of tenants.
• Toys 'R' Us is being sued for $400 million by two women who were asked to show their sales receipts before leaving one of the chain's stores. They allege it is because they are black.
• Tenants sue their landlord for racketeering and corporate slumlording!
• The new bike racks at North 7th and Bedford have been installed by the Department of Transportation...
• ...and bike lanes on Tillary and Henry Sts. in Brooklyn have been painted green by the Dept. of Transportation in an effort to increase driver awareness.
• Getting struck by lightning is bad, but is even worse when one is struck by lightning while listening to an iPod.

Starting mid-month more fresh turkeys will be available in supermarkets throughout this country than at any other point during the year. On the whole this is good news for anyone shopping for Thanksgiving as fresh is very often best.

While visiting some friends in Boulder this weekend, we had occasion do some serious cooking in their well-outfitted kitchen. With the local farmers market unable to provide much of anything in the way of ingredients, we hit up the local Whole Foods. In addition to finding some things never in stock at our local WF items (flatiron steak, flap meat), we came across some very good looking, never frozen, wild shrimp from Florida. A rare sight, as frozen shrimp make up the lion's share (85% +) of US sales, fresh and wild shrimp are very tender and taste superior to other shrimp we routinely sample. We loaded up two pounds and set forth to compose a simple dish built around them.

February 22: From Disaster to Dessert – the Fate of New Orleans Food

Gothamist adores shopping for produce and foodstuffs at markets that care as much about the freshness, beauty and seasonality of food as we do. That's why we regularly seek out the best of the best at local butchers, fishmongers, produce stores and greenmarkets. And, we feel for our NYC brethren that live in nabes where these riches aren't found easily.

Gothamist's favorite fall fruit by far is the pomegranate. Just don't look for it at the farmers' market. Without the proper dry, hot climate, local farmers can't produce these tart, ruby-red fruits, which makes us thankful for long-distance produce. You can find them at most supermarkets and we've also spotted them on lots of street produce carts. Prized by the Greeks (both ancient and modern) and the Jews, among many others, pomegranates have long been a symbol of fertility because of their juicy arils, packed tight within the fruit.

Now when we say “old school” we are not just referring to throwing back Cider Jack in high school behind the bleachers, because beer tasted yucky. Nope, we’re talking real old school, like Pilgrim old school. Cider has a rich history in America. In fact, the Pilgrims started making hard cider as soon as the apple trees they planted started to bear fruit. Up until the 19th century, cider was the most popular alcoholic drink - the fall of cider happened when farmers discovered that they could make beer cheaper from grain. So like any patriotic American, we could not let a piece of our history die – we went in search of frosty hard cider…to honor our past and drink to an American classic (ok fine, we were thirsty and the cider they were selling at the farmers market in Union Square was non-alcoholic).

It is a glorious day when the heirloom tomatoes begin to arrive at the city's various and sundry Greenmarkets. Just this past weekend, Gothamist couldn't help but note that New Yorkers were gleefully descending on farmer's market tables, heaped with a collection of gorgeously ugly, brilliantly flavored specimens.

The first thing that Rick Field of Rick's Picks did when we met him at the Union Square Greenmarket one morning was put us in charge of his stall. So while he ran off to take care of non-pickle related business, we stood in his shoes for a few minutes. Friendly passers-by stopped to ask about the different varieties. "Are these spicy?" Taking a quick glance at the ingredient list for the jar of Rick's Mean Beans to which she was pointing (and taking note of the name), we reported that they might be on the spicy side. "Great. I'll take two." When he returned, we chatted a bit, and when the customers stopped by he always had a joke or a story, and even some Rick's Picks stickers for the younger pickle devotees. One customer made a point of swinging by just to tell him how much she loved his Phat Beets. He quickly offered up a salad recipe she could make using the leftover brine.

by Mark Bittman (Wiley, 2005)

, by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey (Simon & Schuster)

An American Place, by Larry Forgione (Morrow, 1996)

Samantha Bee, The Daily Show correspondent

The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients, by Richard Ruben (Lyons Press, 2000)

And since we're on the subject of Red Hook, today's New York Daily News profiles the Red Hook Farm, a 2.5 acre farm providing fresh organic produce to the neighborhood along with gardening, cooking, marketing, and teamwork skills to local teens.

Girlynyc, Panty Blogger

Last week I went to the Union Square street fair and wanted some earrings. I tried to barter and the seller wasn't having it. What gives? I thought the whole point of street fairs was bartering. Were my skills just not up to par or are there legalities involved?

Hurricaine Isabel forced the Harvest in the Square Event to be rescheduled tonight. In its eighth year, Harvest in the Square brings Union Square area chefs to offer tastings of food prepared from Union Square Greenmarket Farmers Market, accompanied by Long Island and other New York Wines. Tickets are $90 in person (cash only), $75 in advance, and will benefit the Union Square Local Development Corporation, which is currently looking to enhance the North Plaza of Union Square Park.