Borough Hall’s Greenmarket connects downtown brooklynites with local farmers, making our city life a bit more grounded. As I ambled through, I found a bit of everything—fruits, root veggies, herbs, and fresh baked goods. Like all Greenmarkets, it’s seasonal. In winter, we get carrots, pumpkins, squash, and apples, and all year round, there’s a fantastic selection of bread and local honey to try. They also had a tasting table with a meal made from the selection of produce offered at the market that day to encourage the purchases and spark creativity.

Sure, you’ll see the usual suspects like apples and carrots, but what caught my eye were these new and exciting things—exotic fruits and vegetables with quirky names that you won’t find in your regular grocery store.

Now, let’s talk prices—they might be a smidge higher here, but it’s because they’re all about top-notch quality, freshness, and giving a leg up to local farmers. Case in point: the honeycrisp apples I love was $2.50 a pound here, whereas they’re just $1.99 at the supermarkets in my area.

My discovery—Black Velvet Heirloom Tomatoes. They’re not your run-of-the-mill tomatoes; they’re dark, rich, sweet, and were really good. Choosing these over the regular ones isn’t just about flavor—it’s about supporting local farms that grow them naturally. These tomatoes had a good taste but rotted faster than my supermarket produce.

Green Market Blog

Greenmarkets exist for simple reasons which include, creating an establishment where new yorkers could support local businesses conserving farmland while ensuring fresh produce. Most super markets have an extremely low quality of produce, due to the extreme mass quantities being produced at a time. Some things that are in season currently include many variations of squash, like winter squash and sugar pumpkin. Pears varieties like green asian, golden asian and bartlett pears were present as well. I noticed that there was an abundance of apples and apple based products. For example, apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, apple tarts and types of apples like macoun (a new harvest) and gold rush. Though I’m familiar with these items, I was not aware of the different colors cauliflower came in like purple and orange. How festive for the holidays! Seasonal goods like the cauliflower were higher in price coming at $6 per head. In addition to this I noticed that the ready to eat baked goods and ciders were ranging from $3.50 up to $8 depending on how large the item was. The prices are reasonable considering the ongoing inflation issues going on. Apples prices ranged from $3.30 per pound. In my local supermarket apples go for around $1.99 per pound, which is significantly cheaper, but in comparison the quality ranges are very different then a greenmarket. Overall, if I had the time to visit the greenmarkets near my home I would definitely take advantage of better quality produce. 

Last Thursday, I visited the green market located in Borough Park. This market was small; it only had two vendors. This was my first time going to a green market, so I was expecting more. Green markets exist because they give farmers the opportunity to sell their fruits and vegetables to locals throughout New York City. Although the market was small, there was so much fresh produce ready to be sold. There were tons of seasonal fruits and vegetables at the market, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, onions, squash, turnips, apples, and so much more! Oddly enough, I noticed watermelons were being sold. The size of the watermelons was small; I did not take note of how much they were going for. The prices at the green market were decent. At my local supermarket, a bag of apples is $5.00; however, at the greenmarket, it was going for $3.00/lb. Listed below are the prices of the goods I took note of. 

Zucchini -$2.50/lb.  

Yellow onions: $3.00/lb. 

Eggplant- $2.50.lb   

Radish -$3.00/lb.  

Yukon gold and red potatoes: $3.00/lb. 

 Cauliflower-$5.00 

Overall, the greenmarket was an interesting experience, and I wouldn’t mind attending another one. 

Green Market, born out of the spirit of First Earth Day, is an organization that makes sustainable and nutritious food for New Yorkers in all five boroughs. Today their initiative has not only reached bringing sustainable local farm produce within reach for people, but they also contribute to education, zero-waste initiatives, green space, and food access agricultural programs to people. I chose to take a walk through the Jackson Heights greenmarket which takes place every Sunday from 8 am-3 pm. The time being so close to Halloween I mainly noticed all the vegetables from the gourd family. Pumpkins, parsnips, butternut squash, and some turnips abound in the stalls. However, some season-neutral fruits like grapes, apples, bananas, and veggies such as beets, and Brussels sprouts were also available. Kale and Bok choy were on sale for 2 for $5 and Cauliflower was 2 for $8. A new vegetable that I was introduced to by a farmer was Rutabaga, it is a root vegetable that can be cooked in similar ways to potatoes. The prices seemed almost double compared to general grocery stores but considering the visible quality and taste difference it was apt. For example, the apple was in general $3/lb, whereas in supermarkets the price tag is $150/lb. The heirloom beefsteak tomato caught my attention immediately as they were giving samples of those with salt sprinkles! Which is one of my favorites. The ones I got were perfect for making shakshuka for breakfast. The combination of color yet juicy and flavorful quality drove me to it (also the fact that it was being sampled the way I like!). The vendor did hesitate to answer my question about whether it was organic but I like the taste of it.

This week we’re taking a look at one of the biggest greenmarkets in NYC, Union Square. But before that, we need to establish WHY Greenmarkets exist. According to their website, as a non-profit organization their mission is “to empower all New Yorkers with equitable access to fresh, locally grown food, neighborhood green spaces, opportunities to reduce waste, and care for the environment.” Throughout the year, you can find farm fresh produce, pastries, meats and cheeses, fish, as well as the occasional alcoholic craft brew. You can even find garden-ready seasonal plants and mushrooms of multiple varieties! As I wandered around the market, taking in the sights and sounds, I stumbled across the Oak Grove Plantation setup, and was greeted with a stunning array of hot peppers and popcorn. Naturally, I had to inquire about the peppers and comment on how I’d never seen such a large variety; to which the merchant exclaimed that it wasn’t even their entire stock. There were even more peppers that they couldn’t stock because they didn’t have room! I was mostly looking at the scotch bonnets and habaneros since those two peppers can be found in my family’s traditional Pepperpot. Unfortunately, I didn’t need to buy them as my mother had already gotten some from our local grocery store, but I made sure to buy some of their popcorn (which I forgot to take a picture of because I ate it before I remembered to).

As I decided to visit the greenmarket during the fall at Union Square in NYC, I had made some simple observations on the different cultures and backgrounds around me. Additionally, the way people would make conversation with the farmer was intriguing because when you go to a simple supermarket you just pick and go about your day but instead you get to talk and even find out different ways to cook your product or vegetables. The greenmarkets can be found anywhere depending on the area that you are in, most can be found during the morning or afternoon but will be gone by the evening. Greenmarkets are beneficial to low-income families because they have the liberty to ask questions go to another market is one doesn’t meet their expectations. As I kept walking around and having to pass by people, I stopped at a stand checked out Wheatgrass, it’s something I’m not used to seeing at the supermarket or really looked out for, I usually eat Cilantro. As I observed wheatgrass some more, it is simply just fresh sprouted leaves from the wheat plants. They come in either cut or still in the soil to continue growing them. They are naturally beneficial for one’s health, either if you’re sick, trying to lose weight, or to be remain healthy overall. You can eat them but will mostly taste better in your drinks, smoothies, juices. Even sometimes substitute as a meal because it can remove appetite to some. Wheatgrass in even used as a primary ingredient in a global brand called, “BLOOM”. Which demonstrates how impactful wheatgrass is to many people.

Greenmarkets mainly exist to support farmers and preserve farmland by providing farmers with the privilege to sell their produce at markets throughout New York. The green market I visited was the Flushing Greenmarket and I do not really visit green markets that often, but when I did, I witnessed so many distinct colors that I did not expect to see. Some produces currently in season that I enjoy eating are persimmons, Asian pears, oranges, and pineapples. Surprisingly, there were many variants of fruits that I have never seen before when I visited the green market. There were many different variants of pear and apple that I have never seen before. There were some products that had higher prices than those in grocery stores. An example of a product that had a higher price in my grocery store was a banana. The bananas at my greenmarket would cost 76 cents for a pound while at my closet grocery store, they would cost $1.29 for a pound.  

Recently, I have enjoyed eating persimmons. I enjoy eating my persimmons when they are soft and have more liquid in them. Persimmons are a fruit that can be light-yellow to red orange. They can look like an orange tomato and when ripe they have an orange jelly-like texture. People mainly use persimmons for jams, pies, puddings, and jellies. Persimmons come from China, Northeast India, and Northern Indochina. Persimmons are a type of berries that provide vitamins A, C, and manganese, which helps the blood clot.