Union Square Greenmarket

[Megan Blocker]

I had strawberry tunnel vision.

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[rooftop1000]

Any lunch suggestions in the area of the market for tomorrow, we will probabley be walking from 7th Ave, East towards the market.

It will be my mother in law and little old me, booz not important, indian or southeast asian need not apply....Anything or just go Flay?

tracey

[ned]

Casa Mono

[Mussina]

Casa Mono

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My recommendation also - Casa Mono is simply terrific!

[Vinotas]

Casa Mono

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My recommendation also - Casa Mono is simply terrific!

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LOL!

I was at the market on Wednesday and stopped at Casa Mono for lunch. I had the cock's combs with cepes and they were glorious. Also, a glass of 1996 Ronda which was delicious.

So I heartily recommend Casa Mono as well.

Cheers!

[Todd36]

Yuno's, for basically everything she sells, except that her tomatoes are not usually the best. But for Asian cucumbers, lettuces, peppers etc., she is good. Stokes Farm tomatos are OK, but I have never had a really great one. My parents grew very good ones this year. For tomatos, I have no stand loyalty, I run around, look at everything, and buy by smell. Knoll Crest has had problems, quality could be the same, but the line is gone.

[pups224]

Is it time to revive this thread yet?? I plan to go this weekend and am not sure what to expect.

[daisy17]

You should be forewarned that the Union Square Greenmarket is a bit of a sad mess due to the construction on the north end. All of those vendors have been squished onto the west and south sides. And you thought it was crowded before . . .

BUT I've been enjoying ramps for the last 3 weeks, and this past weekend asparagus.

[kathryn]

See Lucy's Greenmarket report:

http://www.echonyc.com/~lwollin/greenmarket.html

Saw lots of great herbs and flowers last weekend, if you are into gardening.

Edited May 5, 2008 by kathryn (log)

[daisy17]

See Lucy's Greenmarket report:

http://www.echonyc.com/~lwollin/greenmarket.html

Saw lots of great herbs and flowers last weekend, if you are into gardening.

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What a cool site!

Yes, tons of herbs and flowers. And the lilacs I bought are delicious.

[SobaAddict70]

Ramps have been around for a couple weeks but should be flying out the door any moment now.

Rhubarb, asparagus and morels are the big ticket items. This past weekend there were Japanese turnips, French breakfast radishes and dandelion greens. I think someone had frozen sweet corn.

Different vendors are available depending on the day of the week. Fromage blanc sells at a clip as does unsalted butter and FP bacon. Get there early (or if you're like me, learn to get up at the crack of dawn. )

[stealw]

If you're into growing your own herbs; the herb guys should be in about this time.

Last year about same time i bought a basil plant, was maybe 3,4 dollars it bloomed into this huge plant. Quite the fun investment

[SobaAddict70]

Two questions --

1 -- is the Union Square market open on Wednesday this time of year (specifically will it be open next week on Wednesday)?

2-- any first hand reports of what the farmers are selling?  Asparagus, ramps, fiddleheads etc?

Many thanks in advance!

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I was at the market yesterday. The produce is always expensive but usually worth while. What really galled me, was that the guy selling apples on the corner of Park and 17th Street wanted $10.00 a pound for wild asparagus. Imagine, ten bucks a pound!

As for last years produce, in addition to the apples, the potatoes are from last fall and they are sprouting.

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I don't know about the prices being expensive. I go to the market every other week and usually spend enough for a week and a half to two weeks. This past Saturday, it was $55 all in; about half of which went towards organic free-range chicken. For the quality of items you get at USGM (or other greenmarkets in the city), you could easily spend double that at an Associated or Food Emporium.

Asparagus was selling for $4 a bunch, roughly comparable to what you'd expect to pay in the supermarket (with tax added in). Take a look at the size of those bunches. That's a lot of asparagus, equal to two or three meals' worth. (I say that since I'm usually cooking for one.)

It pays for itself in the end.

Edited May 6, 2008 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[weinoo]

Union Square Greenmarket is in full swing...today's general availability included...

All berries, sweet cherries, sour cherries, rhubarb, Jersey peaches, Jersey hothouse tomatoes (even heirlooms), every green imaginable, fresh bulb and green onions, garlic, scapes, yellow and green beans, peas, snap peas...really the only summer things I didn't see were peppers, eggplant and corn.

Oh, and there were porcini at $39 a pound as well as chanterelles (which they had sold out of).

I'm off to do a little pickling .

[scottie]

Heirloom tomatoes are finally starting to show up in greater quantities, especially the cherry varieties. Lots of peppers, corn, eggplant, pole beans, favas, English peas, and apricots.

Still some sour cherries and fresh currants. Dwindling supplies of sugar snaps. Garlic is getting much more mature. No scapes today.

I wanted to report on two things:

Squash blossoms at 4 for a dollar!!!!

And fresh ricotta: Ever since the blurb in NYT, these guys have been selling out before noon. Today they sold out by 11:30. Good news is they reduced the price- $15 for sheep, $13 for cow. Fridays only- get there early!

[SobaAddict70]

My bi-monthly haul at USGM today:

"cheese" cauliflower

brussel sprouts

lemon verbena

chives

Italian parsley

thyme

kielbasa sausage from Flying Pigs Farm

red potatoes

blue potatoes

assorted roasting potatoes (LaRatte and other fingerlings)

onions from Paffenfroth

fromage blanc from Jones Dairy

unsalted butter from Ronnybrook

heirloom tomatoes

organic peppers

delicata and kabocha squash

Swiss chard

mustard greens

[weinoo]

The greenmarket at Union Square was in full swing today. Aside from the usual early spring stuff (storage apples, potatoes, baked goods, cheese, Flying Pig Farms, etc.) Pur Vida had clams, oysters, mussels, John Dory and various other finfish; there were all sorts of spring greens to be had, including ramps, chard, mustard, kale, bok choi, broccoli raab, lacinato kale, spinach, salad greens and on and on. Lots of flowers and small herb pots for those ready to plant.

The ongoing construction, of course, means there's even less space to walk - fortunately, I was there at 10 and done by 10:30 - power shopped today.

[SobaAddict70]

And of course, the high temps meant the market was more crowded than usual. I didn't get there until 1:30 pm and paid for it in spades.

Stuff I got: cod, ramps, asparagus, cheese, potatoes, onions, herbs, mushrooms, eggs, broccoli rabe and applesauce.

No pix unfortunately.

[Marlene]

When our class was at the Union Square market last week, we also found some spring garlic and nettles and one vendor had some asparagus.

[SobaAddict70]

Some pix from this morning....

This really is my favorite time of year.

[weinoo]

Much as I suspected, and which I mentioned in my blog about cherries, today's cherry offering was very disappointing. Oh yes, the sweet cherries are there, but I guess about 60% of what I brought home (@ $4/pint) were split and even worse, some starting to deteriorate. This happens to cherries when it rains too much, especially when it's close to harvest. I can't imagine the sour cherries will be much better.

Also, the last of some strawberries that were at the market today were quite flavorless - I only tasted and didn't buy. Same with snap peas - flavorless and looking less than beautiful.

Of course, the greens are loving it and are especially lush - just make sure you triple wash them. And the scapes look amazing.

[scottie]

I agree about the strawberries. They have been disappointingly watery this season, and they spoil quickly. I've had some okay sugarsnaps, but the flavor has not been up to par. Must be pretty rough right now for many of the farmers.

Has anyone seen favas this year?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Migliorelli recently had these fat little carrots, maybe an inch or two long, which are a pain to peel, but are incredibly sweet and flavor packed. I put them with some potato wedges to roast around a duck a couple of nights ago, and they were fantastic.

Also, the local fishmongers have had great black sea bass lately. Buy the whole fish and fillet it yourself, and it comes out to about half the price of fillets, plus you get to keep the head and bones for stock.

Edited June 25, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Lindacakes]

I got some favas at an organic guy last weekend. Late for favas, but they were good. He had a huge supply.

[SobaAddict70]

No posts since last year? Must correct that immediately.

This past weekend's haul:

squid from Blue Moon Fish

ricotta cheese from Tonjes Farm

shiitake mushrooms

herbs (onion chives, sage)

greens (lamb's quarters, chickweed)

French breakfast radishes

unsalted butter

a plain baguette

Russian Banana fingerling potatoes

spinach from Norwich Farms

Heirloom tomatoes -- fairly early, being that these were grown in a greenhouse. And the prices reflected their origin too, at $7 a lb. Didn't get any though.

Sucrine was all sold out, as were seedless cucumbers.