Visited: July 24th, Friday Afternoon
Open: 8-2, Fridays, Year Round.
SIZE
Medium-sized – around 15 stands.
VENDORS
Extremely friendly vendors. Some of the same vendors as other farmer’s markets. Willing to divulge their practices as well as simply socialize and discuss recipes.
Samples: Limited. Only readily offered honey, cheese and wine samples. More testers should be available – that way consumers will try, and love, the fantastic food vendors have to offer.
QUALITY OF FOOD
Delicious, fresh and savory. Some organic, some not. If produce is inorganic, sprayed with organic or “Class III” pesticide. Vendors try their very hardest to avoid harsh pesticides with techniques such as crop rotation or cancellation crops.
Fish are not farmed, beef is grass-fed.
VARIETY
Vegetables: ,
Fresh: Basil, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabe, Carrots, Chard, Collared Greens, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Escarole, Garlic, Gourds, Green Beans, Lettuce, Onions, Parsley, Peppers, Potatoes, Radishes, Spinach, Wax Beans, Zucchini.
Vegetable Products (Cayuga Pure Organics): Dried Beans, Cornmeal.
Fruit:
Fresh: Blueberries, Sweet Cherries, Sour Cherries, Sugar Plums, Red Currants, Gooseberries, Apples (Braeburn, Empire, Ida Red, Mutsu, Mcintosh, Red Delicious), Tomatoes (low acid and regular), Grape Tomatoes, Donut Peaches, Peaches, Nectarines.
Fruit Juices: Red Jacket Orchard – Strawberry Apple, Apricot Apple, Apple, Raspberry Apple, Rhubarb Apple, Grape Apple.
Fruit Products: Canned Apricots, Strawberry-Apple Sauce, Apple Sauce, Raspberry-Apple Sauce, Grape Jelly, Apple Glaze, Dried Apples.
Wine (King Ferry Winery): Red, White – ~ 10 kinds.
Seafood:
Pura Vida from Hampton Bays: Sea Bass, Scallops, Spanish Mackerel, Oysters, Clams, Hake, Shark, Mussels, Tuna, Bluefish, Flounder, Gray Sole, Swordfish, Codfish, Shellfish, Squid, Monk.
Meat: "Sun Fed Beef" (Maple Ave Farms), Turkey.
Animal Byproducts:
Milk
Eggs
Ice Cream (Ronnybrook Farms)
Hard & Soft Cheeses (Cow’s, Sheep’s, Goat’s Milk)
Butter
Yogurt
Bread Products:
Flour
Pastas: Ravioli (Pesto, Eggplant, Mushroom)
Baked Goods: Oat Bran Muffins, Cinnamon Buns, Brownies, Macaroons, Shortcakes, Blueberry Loaves, Cookies.
Miscellaneous:
Clothing & Textile Recycling
Honey – 7 different kinds (Andrew’s)
Goat’s Milk Soap
Flowers – Sunflowers, etc.
Plants – Aloe, etc.
SEASONAL CONSISTENCE
The produce in season that the 97th Street Greenmarket did not offer on this day was cabbage, peas, rhubarb, squash and strawberries.
CENYC.org Information for this market
WHAT’S UNIQUE?
The 97th and Columbus Farmer’s Market is the first that I’ve seen to have dried beans or flour. Dried beans are very nutritious and are always in season, so other farmer’s markets should follow this one’s example! Flour grown and ground locally is hard to come across, so this farmer’s market is a very handy resource. The multifarious fish offered by the Pura Vida fishing company deserves praise, too. Lastly, word on the street is that the 97th and Columbus farmer’s market was the first one to open in Manhattan!
PRICING
Low prices.
Dried Beans: $4.00/lb ? < 5 lb, $3.00/lb ? > 5 lb.
Flour: $10.50/2 lb.
Carrots: $2.00/bunch
Peaches: $2.50/lb
Donut Peaches: $3.00/lb
Small Oat Bran Muffin: $1.00
Bottle of Pinot Noir Red Wine: $19.50
ACTUALLY LOCAL?
All farms I saw were from New York. The location of the farms ranged from Hampton Bays, New York to Urville, New York.
CONVENIENCE
There is definitely some business at this farmer’s market, as it is close to the popular 96th and Broadway thoroughfare. If the market were closer to that location, it probably would get more business; then again, a Whole Foods is opening in that area in August, and to be closer to Whole Foods could hurt the market’s business.
NAVIGATION
Extremely easy to navigate. No complaints. Plus, music is playing in the background, so it makes the experience all the more enjoyable.
EBT STAMPS Accepted.
FINAL COMMENTS
This farmer’s market differs from the rest. I cannot stress enough the sense of community felt at this market – people gather and chat with the vendors and each other. Parents bring kids and introduce to them the taste of what food should really be: as close to the grassroots as possible. What’s more, the only produce in season in late July this market did not sell was cabbage, peas, squash and rhubarb.
