Farmers Market Advice?

The best in my opinion is the one at Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays by Prospect Park West and Union.There is also one by Ft Greene Park on Washington St tween Dekalb and Willoughby.

Nothing new to add -- just agreeing that those two are your best bets!

The one at Grand Army, you'll need a 30 year mortgage to buy some fruit. Insanely expensive - I just cannot imagine who pays those prices other than those living in multimillion $ brownstones. Can't vouch for the one in Ft. Greene - never been there.

Other possibilities are the various community supported agriculture co-ops - such as Clinton Hill CSA. But they demand more commitment and probably don't make sense for a single or someone with less than an open mind about different kinds of greens. We just went over the Fairway in Red Hook and were struck by how much cheaper the produce was than the that at our local Met Food (Fulton at St James). We stopped off at the Gowanus Nursery on our way back - not food, but it is green!

Putnam-denizen wrote: We just went over the Fairway in Red Hook and were struck by how much cheaper the produce was than the that at our local Met Food (Fulton at St James). We stopped off at the Gowanus Nursery on our way back - not food, but it is green!

Liberty Sunset Nursery is also pretty cool stop on a Fairway trip if you are into plants. http://www.libertysunset.com/main.html

I find the Grand Army greenmarket to be very pricey as well. For example, last time I was there one of the vendors was selling some basic mesclun salad mix (pesticide free...which is a "lesser" certification than organic, i believe) for either $12 or $13 a pound. I love the concept of supporting the local(ish) farmers...but since they are effectively cutting out the middleman, shouldn't there be some price concession to the customer? Between the $4/lb tomatoes, the $12 lettuce, etc...your basic green salad becomes a $20 investment.

As for only millionares being able to shop there...I think they also take food stamps. So you either be a millionaire or be on government assistance.

queencallipygos wrote: (Incidentaly, I don't think I've ever seen oranges for sale at the farmer's markets; so I'm a little confused about this?)

I should learn how to do a subtle dig from you.

Actually, they were 2 peaches, now that you bring that up - not oranges. This was over a year ago, but you are right, there were no oranges. Time of year was September-Oct. Early for apples, however, the $9 sticks in my mind because my boyfriend was shocked (and laughing at me) when he saw that little bit of stuff I brought home for a lot of $$. Fairway is great, but you kind of need a car to get there - we don't have one.

We moved to Park Slope in mid-August, so it was shortly after that. However, I'm all for greenmarkets. Go and enjoy. If you think the prices are not for you, you'll stay away. If it meets your budget, that's great.

I would prefer Fairway to Mets on Fulton St if the prices are comparable.But I find some of their produce to be overpriced as well.Lately it seems that the price of produce has skyrocketed like everything else.Even the Korean/Chinese fruit and veggie stands have increased their prices to almost double.If I didnt lay bricks in my backyard,I would grow my own.

muggle wrote: I bought 3 apples and 2 oranges, the farmer put it on the scale and the total was $9! This was over a year ago. Haven't bought much at the greenmarket since. I found other items to be too expensive also - a butcher had ground beef that was $8.99/lb. I love the idea of greenmarkets, but it's just too expensive. btw - the fruit I bought wasn't especially tasty.

I am not sure how exactly you bought oranges. The greenmarkets are supposed to contain only produce which was grown by the farmers themselves. While it's not impossible someone could drive to and from Florida every weekend to sell their produce at super inflated prices in Park Slope, somehow I really doubt this happened. $9 someplace for apples and oranges maybe, but oranges at the greenmarket? You're fibbing!

I shop at farmer's market all the time, and I don't understand the expensive comments. I buy meat like once a month--some bacon to sprinkle into everything and maybe a chicken or some steaks. That's one big farmer's market bill, but only once a month.

Otherwise, I get eggs every week (only $3.50)
A little cheese for fun (like $6.00)
And a variety of vegetables and some bread it usually adds up to less than $40 and I am sitting pretty for a whole week.

Let me do more math. That's like three weeks of $40 (conservative estimate, usually I take two twenties and have change left over) and one week of $60.

Add another $20 because, you know, a month is more than 4 weeks: $200 total for a whole month of perishables for two people. I go to Fairway once a month and stock up on cookies and pantry stuff... I think this is a really slim food budget.

I think it's the Korean folks with their tiny bunches of $3.00 kale in the middle of winter and $15/lb mixed greens that's got everybody opening their wallets.

BTW, anyone do the Bed-Stuy CSA? I got denied this year, I was too late.