What's in season at the Green City Market (& other markets)?

One of my goals this summer is to bike to the Green City Market every Wednesday. One thing you see frequently in other cities, but I don't see as often in Chicago, is a regular update of what's in season at the local farmers' markets. For those who don't get to the markets as often, I think it would be terrifically helpful if we could post regular updates of the *local* seasonal items seen each week at area farmers' markets. It might spur more people into supporting these markets.

At the 6/8/11 Green City Market, I saw:
Lots of leafy greens: Lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, chard, kale, turnip greens, etc.
Radishes of all varieties
Shallots, green onions & other young onions
Pea shoots
Garlic shoots
Turnips
Peas
Young potatoes
Young carrots
Mushrooms
Strawberries
Some heirloom tomatoes (greenhouse grown, I assume)
Many varieties of cut herbs
Lots of plants

A couple notes:
1. I'm omitting meats, eggs and baked goods.
2. Not a comprehensive list! I wasn't taking notes.

I believe that the Green City Market keeps an updated list on its own website. I suspect that would be the best source for this information.

I do not think you saw young potatoes. unless circumstances are highly unusual, what you saw were storage potatoes from last year.

I was at the Evanston farmers market next to the movie theater parking lot and te availability was the same. I was pretty disappointed by the fruit selection, all they had were strawberries and they weren't that great. Hope the selection is wider next Saturday.

Suiname wrote:I was at the Evanston farmers market next to the movie theater parking lot and te availability was the same. I was pretty disappointed by the fruit selection, all they had were strawberries and they weren't that great. Hope the selection is wider next Saturday.

It won't be. For fruit, strawberries are what you get in June in these parts, and in a week with massive rain, you are right that they are not so great.

Kennyz wrote:
It won't be. For fruit, strawberries are what you get in June in these parts, and in a week with massive rain, you are right that they are not so great.

Shouldn't they have other types of berries also though? I thought maybe I would find some blueberries or the like

Nope. Blueberries come next, but not yet. Other berries even further down the road.

Suiname wrote:I was at the Evanston farmers market next to the movie theater parking lot and te availability was the same. I was pretty disappointed by the fruit selection, all they had were strawberries and they weren't that great. Hope the selection is wider next Saturday.

Many things are pushed back a week or two because of our very wet spring. Don't worry, things will be plentiful, I suspect, once summer starts.

i bought strawberries from green acres farm at wednesday's green city market and most of them were inedible. i dont mean that they were a little underripe, or not particularly sweet. they tasted terrible. they tasted like something OTHER than a strawberry, but i couldnt for the life of me tell you what that icky taste and unpleasant texture was. they were small and intensely red. i was pretty pissed off as my $4/pint went into the garbage. justjoan

Kennyz wrote:I believe that the Green City Market keeps an updated list on its own website. I suspect that would be the best source for this information.

I do not think you saw young potatoes. unless circumstances are highly unusual, what you saw were storage potatoes from last year.

I couldn't find a list on their site, which is why I started this thread. If anyone can find it, please share.

I thought I saw young potatoes, but I could be wrong. I'll make special note this Wednesday.

Also, forgot to mention rhubarb and asparagus were plentiful.

I'm on the Green City Market email list and they send out a weekly "what's fresh at the market" message.

I bought strawberries at the Evanston market today and they were pretty darn tasty. Much better than the ones I bought at the Tuesday market at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Strawberries from Mick Klug this Saturday were pretty good.

My wife's first comment when we walked up to the outdoor GCM for the first time this spring was "ok look, last year's potatoes!".

Yes, get on the GCM email list and you'll get an email about what's new at the market and everything else they'll have.

The June 7 email listed these:

THIS WEEK'S PRODUCTS
Come by and stock up on locally grown products including:

apple cider
apples
arugula
asparagus
basil
beef
beets
black beans
bloody mary mix
bread
butter
carrots
celeriac
cheese curds
cheeses
chicken
chives
cornmeal
croissants
dairy
donuts
dried beans
dried chamomile
eggs (chicken and duck)
elk
flour
frozen fruit
garlic
goat
goat cheese
green garlic
green onions
hand pies
herbs
honey
ice cream
jams
kale
lamb
leeks
lemongrass
lettuce
maple syrup
micro greens
mint
mizuna
mushrooms
mustard greens
nougat
oatmeal
onions
paninis
parsley
pasta
pasta sauce
pastries
pate de fruit
pecans
pesto
pizza
popcorn
pork
potatoes
potted plants
preserves
radishes
rhubarb
salsa
sauces
scones
shallots
soup
spinach
sprouted wheat tortillas
sprouts
starter plants
swiss chard
tofu
tomatoes
tomato juice
tomato puree
tulips
turnips
veal

and much more.

Oak Park has a chart of what is, or rather should be, in season at certain times of the year.

http://www.oak-park.us/farmersmarket/Fa ... endar.html

We asked one of the guys selling strawberries how long he thought they would have them. He said beginning of last week, when it was 100 degrees two/three days in a row, he thought only two weeks. If the temperature remains where it is now, he anticipates at least a month.

That being said, two weeks ago was all asparagus and rhubarb. Two days ago we saw that + onion, garlic, and tons of strawberries.

Nichols was saying asparagus is almost over.

Weather & work conspired to keep me away from the Green City Market today, but according to their emailed newletter, the following are/were available:
apple cider
arugula
asparagus
basil
beef
beets
black beans
bloody mary mix
bread
butter
carrots
cheese curds
cheeses
chicken
chives
cornmeal
croissants
dairy
donuts
dried beans
dried chamomile
eggs (chicken and duck)
elk
flour
garlic
goat
goat cheese
green garlic
green onions
hand pies
herbs
honey
ice cream
jams
kale
lamb
leeks
lemongrass
lettuce
maple syrup
micro greens
mint
mizuna
mushrooms
mustard greens
nougat
oatmeal
onions
paninis
parsley
pasta
pasta sauce
pastries
pate de fruit
peas
pecans
pesto
pizza
popcorn
pork
potatoes
potted plants
preserves
radishes
rhubarb
salsa
sauces
scones
shallots
soup
spinach
sprouted wheat tortillas
sprouts
squash blossoms
starter plants
summer squash
swiss chard
tofu
tomatoes
tomato juice
tomato puree
turnips
veal

Is the Summer Butter available yet?

Independent George wrote:Is the Summer Butter available yet?

yes

Got some good strawberries this week at the farmer's market, they also had blue and raspberries, in addition to peaches (that aren't ripe yet).

Suiname wrote:Got some good strawberries this week at the farmer's market, they also had blue and raspberries, in addition to peaches (that aren't ripe yet).

What market?

Kennyz wrote:

Suiname wrote:Got some good strawberries this week at the farmer's market, they also had blue and raspberries, in addition to peaches (that aren't ripe yet).

What market?

I'm not sure what it's called, it's on Wednesdays in the park right off ridge and I wanna say South Blvd. Very small (I think there were 3 tents), but the strawberries are delicious. Better than what I got a couple weeks ago from the market next to the movie theater.

Suiname wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

Suiname wrote:Got some good strawberries this week at the farmer's market, they also had blue and raspberries, in addition to peaches (that aren't ripe yet).

What market?

I'm not sure what it's called, it's on Wednesdays in the park right off ridge and I wanna say South Blvd. Very small (I think there were 3 tents), but the strawberries are delicious. Better than what I got a couple weeks ago from the market next to the movie theater.

In what country, state, city or neighborhood might those coordinates be?

Kennyz wrote:In what country, state, city or neighborhood might those coordinates be?

It's probably Ridgeville Farmer's market in Evanston.

kanin wrote:

Kennyz wrote:In what country, state, city or neighborhood might those coordinates be?

It's probably Ridgeville Farmer's market in Evanston.

yeah, it's in Evanston, IL. Sorry I thought that was implied from my post upthread.

Hi- I haven't posted on here in months. I've been spending too much time on the Jackie Evancho and the health boards on Amazon, but I just had to post here. Strawberries are the only fruit in season right now, although rubarb might techncally be a fruit, and it is still in season. Peaches will not be in season for another month, or close to it. I just talked to my sister, Annette that has the farm in Michigan Tuesday night, and she said she will have cherries in another two weeks, or like the end of June. If you see any cherries right now other than frozen, they are Western cherries, no matter what they tell you. Starting tghe beginning of July there should be apricots, cherries and maybe some berries.

My sister told me asparagus is pretty much over for the year, although you will probably find some this Saturday. I bought strawberries last Saturday at the Evanston market from Nichols, and they were okay, but not as good as he has had before. Strawberries are never great when you have this much rain.

Out of curiosity has anybody been to the organic market on Central street in Evanston, that takes place on Wednesdays? It just started on 6/1. I have been to Ridgeville's market a few times, and I was underwhelmed. I am surprised it is still running. Every time I went there, they had next to no customers. Hope this helps, Nancy

I should have a round-up/overview of the Evanston markets up on The Local Beet soon; there are now five weekly markets there. I'm finding all manner of interesting people and things this year. . .

sundevilpeg wrote:I should have a round-up/overview of the Evanston markets up on The Local Beet soon; there are now five weekly markets there. I'm finding all manner of interesting people and things this year. . .

you write for the local beet? I just found out about this when I was trying to look at the different farmer CSAs in the Chicagoland area, very good site with lots of information about this stuff.

Yessir. Last year, I covered the Skokie and Ravinia markets on a weekly basis; this year, I want to also attempt to help people sort out the myriad Evanston markets, all of which have distinct personalities. Find of the Year so far is the wonderful gentleman at the West Evanston market, who runs a great big hoop house and outdoor truck garden right across the street from the market, right behind an eclectic community cultural center. I don't want to give away everything right now, but I can't wait til his organic sweet corn (!) ripens. And the honeydew melons. And the tomatoes.

The market is at the intersection of Church & Dodge in Evanston, right across the street from Evanston Township High School, and it runs from 8AM til 3PM. The understandably proud farmer/hard-core Evanstonian is named Cozeake Nelson. Go visit him tomorrow!

Heading to Ireland tonight, so no Green City Market for me tomorrow, but according to their weekly email blast, the following are fresh at the market this week:

apple cider
arugula
asparagus
basil
beef
beets
black beans
bloody mary mix
bread
butter
carrots
cheese curds
cheeses
chicken
chives
cornmeal
croissants
dairy
donuts
dried beans
dried chamomile
eggs (chicken and duck)
elk
flour
garlic
goat
goat cheese
green garlic
green onions
hand pies
herbs
honey
ice cream
jams
kale
lamb
leeks
lemongrass
lettuce
maple syrup
micro greens
mint
mizuna
mushrooms
mustard greens
nougat
oatmeal
onions
paninis
parsley
pasta
pasta sauce
pastries
pate de fruit
peas
pecans
pesto
pizza
popcorn
pork
potatoes
potted plants
preserves
radishes
rhubarb
salsa
sauces
scones
shallots
soup
spinach
sprouted wheat tortillas
sprouts
squash blossoms
starter plants
summer squash
swiss chard
tofu
tomatoes
tomato juice
tomato puree
turnips
veal
...and much more.

Hi -I didn't know where to post it, but I am on Henry Brockman's email list, and every Thursday his sister sends everybody a report on what he is bringing to the Evanston farmer's market that Saturday. I just received Terra's email tonight, and apparently Michael Pollan was at the Evanston farmer's market last Saturday, and bought some sugar snap peas from Henry, as well as both of the books Henry had for sale. Did anybody happen to see Michael Pollan there last Saturday? I was there, but he probably arrived there much earlier than I did.

I look forward to Henry's emails every week. BTW- Henry's daughter attended high school over in Tokyo this last year, and was there when the earthquake hit. She wrote an interesting article about her experience in the earthquake, which appeared in the Chicago Tribune. Henry and his wife got the daughter home from Tokyo ASAP. I think the article is on Henry's website. henrysfarm.com Thanks, Nancy

Did anybody happen to see Michael Pollan there last Saturday? I was there, but he probably arrived there much earlier than I did.

Probably not - he hit Henry's at about noon, according to a youngster working there. I saw Pollan a while later myself, hanging out at the Green Acres stall. Like me, he showed up fashionably late.

Hi- When I went to the downtown Evanston farmer's market today, and mentioned to some of the farmers that I know there that Michael Pollan was there last Saturday, only two of the farmer's knew who he was. The farmer at Lake Breeze Organic, wanted to know why Michael did not visit his stall. BTW The people at Lake Breeze are the ones that are in charge of the Wednesday Central Street organic market. They told me that there are approximately 8 vendors there, including somebody that is selling homemade ice cream that they said was to die for. I've got to check it out this summer just for that. Thanks, Nancy