Kevin Starr
UNION
SQUARE GREENMARKET
July 13, 2008
If you
were to look at a top ten list of
authentic farmers markets in this
country, the Union Square
Greenmarket in New York City
would definitely be on the list.
We had a chance to visit this
famous market on a recent family
vacation. To a person like me who
enjoys working with farmers
markets and the folks who sell
there, Union Square is a great
source of inspiration.
One of the first impressions you
get is of great abundance. There
were a lot of vendors there and
they had displays full of
produce. Some tables were laden
with great piles of vegetables
like carrots and radishes. There
was also a great variety of
fruits and other vegetables. I
wish I could have loaded up on
the several types of cherries,
the raspberries and the
apricots---all items which grow
poorly (cherries, raspberries) or
not at all (apricots) in our
area. Then there were the
gooseberries. Gooseberries are
closely related to currants. I
can remember the delicious green
gooseberry pies my mother made
when I was a kid. You don’t
see many gooseberry plants around
these days except in older
gardens. It’s illegal to
ship them into North Carolina now
because they serve as one of the
hosts for white pine blister
rust.
Currants, Gooseberries,
and Raspberries at the Union
Square Greenmarket
I stopped by one booth where the
farmer, Keith Stewart, had his
own book for sale. It’s
called It's a Long Road to a
Tomato: Tales of an Organic
Farmer Who Quit the Big City for
the (Not So) Simple Life. Like
almost every other book, it’s
readily available on the web.
Based on what I’ve read so
far, I think most folks
interested in local food and
farmers markets would enjoy it. I’m
sure most of the farmers at the
market would have great stories
to tell but Keith is very adept
at telling his in print.
It’s probably a good thing I
wasn’t near home because I
would have spent a lot more money
on produce. As it was, the only
edible items I bought personally
were some ‘Lady’ apples
and a cluster of Jerusalem
artichokes. The ‘Lady’
apple is tiny but lived up to its
billing as “sweet and
delicious”. The Jerusalem
artichokes are destined for
planting at my house. The farmer
diligently warned me that they
spread vigorously and can become
a pest.
If you would like brief tour of
the Union Square Greenmarket,
please go to my new blog at
http://foothillsfresh.blogspot.com.
You can click on the slideshow to
increase the size and then click
again on the small slideshow link
to the right of the picture.
I would also encourage you to
check out Leigh Guth’s blog,
http://lincolnfreshfinds.blogspot.com,
which keeps you informed on the
availability of food produced in
our local area. Leigh also
deserves a big thank you for
facilitating the update of our
Foothills Fresh website,
www.foothillsfresh.com. The
updated site now lists all
participating farms in a
six-county area in the western
piedmont and foothills of North
Carolina. You can locate all
kinds of food as well as some
great agri-tourism sites.
For more information, call
Cooperative Extension at
704-736-8452.
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