Hi- I was at the Evanston market again today, and Jon First had eggplant and green peppers for 10/$1. He always has a few veggies for 10//$1. Earlier this summer he had zucchini for the same price. He used to mark his tomatoes down to $1 a pound, and sometimes down to 3/$1, but this year he has not.pound, . He hasn't had any bag sales either this summer, where you could fill up the bag for $5. I don't know if he has a wholesale customer that he sells the tomatoes too that are left over, or if he donates them all to the food pantry.

Nichol's had red peppers for 10/$2 though, and I like the red ones a lot better, and so I bought 20 of them so I can chop them up and freeze them. One of the farmer's had bunches of basil for $2, and so I ended up getting four bunches to make some more pesto. I also got the last of the peaches today. They were a new variety to me. I have not tried them yet. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- Widespread frost is expected tonight, and so that means that tomorrow is going to be the last day for decent tomatoes, and there are going to be tons of green tomatoes at the market tomorrow. Tomorrow is also going to be the last day for sweet corn, basil and green beans. Last week there were only three farmers selling corn, and the corn I got was wormy, and I think that was why the three growers still had lots of corn when I got there at 11:15. A lot of people are turned off by the worms. You are still going to get worms in fall corn even when you spray for it. I just cut the ends of the ears off to get rid of the worms. The corn right now is a little more mature than I would like it, but it was definitely better than any shipped in corn you would get from Florida right now. There was only one person selling basil last week, and that was the farmer right across from Nichol's, but he was charging only $2 for a fairly large bunch of basil. Two weeks ago Nichols had red peppers for 10 for $2 which is a really good deal, and I ended up getting 20 peppers to freeze. Last week they were 10 for $5, which is not a bad price, but that is not a stock up price for me. Jon First should have more eggplant and green peppers for 10/$1 again tomorrow.

Has anybody seen any bosc pears at the Evanston market this fall. One of the farmer's told me that she only had 2 1/2 bushels of bosc this year. Maybe everyone else has a small crop. Hope this helps, Nancy

"Definitely edible" is not the most compelling of marketing slogans.

Some info from the Evanston e-newsletter:

"The next Winter Indoor Farmers' Market at the Evanston Ecology Center will take place on Sat., Jan. 9, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Find your favorite fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, cheese, bread, jams and jellies, bakery goods and more!

The Indoor Winter Farmers' Market will be held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Evanston Ecology Center. Market dates are December 5, 2015 through April 30, 2016.

Great news: there is a new and improved lot with free parking!

The Ecology Center is located at 2024 McCormick Blvd. (at Bridge Street)."

Hi- Nobody has posted here about the Evanston Farmer's market in ages. I just checked my emails, and I receive emails that Henry Brockman's sister Terra sends out on Thursday evenings telling people what Henry is bringing on Saturday, and she also gets into what has been going on at the farm that week. She also posts what Henry's sister Teresa is bringing, but Teresa decided this season not to come every week, and so she has only been coming sporadically. She came last week with the Wettstein's, and sold some soap and fresh herbs. She expanded her fruit CSA this summer, because she decided it was not worth her while to drive 3 hours to get to Evanston every week to sell her fruit, because her sales have gone down in the last few years.

Teresa is going to be at the market again this Saturday though, but only because Henry got run over by his truck on Monday! Henry was getting out of his Ford F-150, when it jumped gears, and started going down hill. Henry was chasing after the pickup, and he thinks the pickup ran over one of his legs. Her suffered a broken fibula, and suffered a lot of bruises, and even bruised his head. Yes, Henry will be at the market on Saturday, but he will be sitting down the whole time, and so he will actually have time to talk to his customers. Here is a link to the email Terra sent out, so you can find out all about Henry's accident, and what he is bringing to market on Saturday.
http://tinyletter.com/brockmanfarms/let ... er-linings

That reminds me of the time back in the 50's when I was 6 years old, and I was with my Father in the pickup. He stopped to run into the house to get something, and left me in the pickup. As he was coming out of the house the pickup shifted gears, and started careening down the hill. Our back yard was a lot lower than our front yard. I remember my Father chasing the pickup, and he was able to get inside and put on the brakes as the pickup was heading towards some cherry trees. My Father and me and the pickup were unharmed.

There should be lots of red haven freestone peaches at the market this Saturday too. Hope to see lots of people there Saturday, and everybody say hello to Henry and wish him well. Thanks, Nancy

Hi Nancy! Thanks for all the good info.

Do you happen to know (or does anyone know) anything about the little pop-up market on Tuesdays in front of the YMCA on Grove St.?

In past years, it was just great to have that stand there to get the three things that should really be bought from farmers: peaches, corn and tomatoes. It is particularly good for folks whose Saturday mornings are so hectic that they just can't get to the big market at all.

But this year, the City of Evanston website just says 'dates to be announced."

Anyone have any direct experience?

Is there is or is there ain't some tomatoes etc?

Oh gosh! Poor Henry!

Hi Joy- I live only a few blocks from the Y, and I was wondering if it was open this year. The city website says it is going to be open this summer, but it is not mentioned on the friends of the Evanston farmer's market website. If it is running again this year, I assume Lyons are there. I used to go there sometimes on Wednesday when Jon First's daughter used to come, and purchase some corn. They used to have some really good deals at the end of the day too. Lyons do not raise corn, and so they have been buying it from another farmer. You could also go to the Ridgeville market on Wednesday afternoons. Lyons also sell there. I don't know how good Lyon's tomatoes are. I think their cherry tomatoes are better than their beefsteak ones. There is also a market on Sundays in Skokie, as well as the Glenwood market which is near the Heartwood Cafe in Roger's Park. I personally like the Glenwood market better than I do the Skokie one. I might ask Lyon's on Saturday if they are coming to the Y this year. Hope this helps, Nancy

According to that YMCA's Facebook page, the July 25 post says they are regularly appearing there: https://www.facebook.com/mcgawYMCA

I got a second email from Henry's sister late last night. Henry was late communicating exactly what he was bringing on Saturday, and Terra assumed it was because he was getting some much needed rest, but he was out working on the farm until it got dark, even though he had a cast on his lower leg. Henry reports that he is bringing his first melons for the season, and because it has not rained much there lately, they are extra sweet. He is also bringing a small amount of lettuce, but get there early if you want that, and he is bringing lots of fresh edemame as in soybeans. Get it while you can. He won't have nearly as much next week, and he is bringing lots of malibar spinach and amaranth as well as lots of tomatoes. BTW- The market opens at 7:30 am, but Henry I believe comes at 6:00am, and he has a ton of early birds he sells to, and so the lettuce will probably be gone by 8:00am. I am not an early bird, and I have never been there before 7:30, but I take it that there are quite a few people that show up earlier than that.

When I go to the market I almost always make the rounds before I start buying anything. There can be a few people selling something for less, or somebody might have better tomatoes than anybody else. The last few weeks I have bought all of my fruit at Jon First's. Two weeks ago he had his peaches and green beans $3 a quart or 2/$5, and he had pints of blueberries for the same price. Everybody else was selling peaches for $7. Last Saturday he was selling his peaches and blueberries for $4 or 2/$7, and they were all mix and match. He also has zucchini, green peppers, cukes, and eggplant 5/$1, and he has wonderful corn.

Henry was there today, and no he was not sitting down. The bone that he broke, the fibula is non weight bearing, and so he was able to get around with a boot. I ended up getting some soybeans from him. When I was in his tent it was 12:30, and it was obvious that he was in pain, and I told him it was time to sit down. He admitted he was hurting. He was even moving tables.

I also got some more $4 peaches from Jon First as well as some of his corn. He was out of blueberries when I got there, but he still had plenty of peaches. As I was getting ready to go home, I decided to see if First's heirloom tomatoes were still $4 a pound, and I asked how much they were, and they were now 2/$1. I ended up getting 4 of them, and some of them weighed almost a pound. I think the ones that are left will be donated to the food pantry that shows up around 12:30 every week. He had lots of the 5/$1 veggies left too. Thanks, Nancy

I'm a devout attendee of the Saturday morning downtown Evanston FM, usually showing up just before 8am. One of my favorite things to buy is Romaine, and as of two weeks ago it was at its best quality and price (huge (2lbs?) head for $2). The last two Saturdays I shown up at 10am and 9am respectively. On both occasions, no Romaine was available anywhere. Leaf lettuce as a whole has been pretty much unavailable.

I'm admittedly ignorant when it comes to the season for growth, but nothing I've found online suggests that lettuce season is over. Does anybody know what gives? If you're seeing good Romaine at another, non-Saturday or Sunday FM, please advise. I never really saw much lettuce at the French Market in Wilmette, so I haven't driven over either of the last two Saturdays, but I suppose I'll exhaust that option if the problem remains next week.

Hi- Henry had lettuce this morning, but I am sure it was all sold out by 8:00am. There are some lettuce varieties that do better in the heat than other ones, such as the summer crisphead, but lettuce and spinach in general do not do well in hot weather. It bolts. Henry had some malabar spinach, which some people use as a substitute for lettuce, and he also had some amaranth. In another month you will see lettuce again, and starting the beginning of October you will see spinach. Today I bought corn, fresh soybeans and heirloom tomatoes, and I have a ton of kale in my garden.

If you really have to have lettuce, Jewel has been running a special on Saturdays lately, where their salad bar is $2.99 a pound all day. The Chicago Avenue salad bar, also has organic veggies, including romaine, kale, spinach and salad mix included, as well as some other organic veggies. The seafood salads, tuna salads and all the other cold salads are included for that price. The hot bar is not $2.99. I believe it is $6.95 a pound. A few weeks ago, I saw a woman getting some stuff from the hot bar, and then putting lots of lettuce and veggies on top of it. I am sure she only got charged $2.99 a pound for the whole thing. Not every Jewel has a salad bar, and in general some salad bars are kept in better shape. The salad bar at the Green Bay Wilmette store is better than the one on Chicago Ave. I've heard that a lot of Jewel stores set it up at the beginning of the day, and then don't tend to it until the end of the day. Whole Foods has somebody in charge of their salad and hot bars pretty much all day. Hope this helps, Nancy

Thanks for the info Nancy! I go through Henry's first most weeks. It always had the best variety of lettuces, but clears out earlier than I realized. I'll have to return earlier next week.

I usually end up w/ Romaine from Whole Foods on Green Bay, just doesn't feel as good as buying it at the market.

Just a quick thank you to excelsior for the information about the YMCA farmers' market. I'm looking forward to seeing how many of my trio of 'must haves' ( tomatoes, sweet corn and peaches) I can grab next Tuesday morning! ---Joy

Hi- I got my weekly email that Henry's sister sends out on Thursday evenings, and Henry is going to be bringing lots of tomatoes, and he might run a special on pecks of his roma tomatoes, if people want to make their own sauce, He is also going to have more lettuce than he had last week. If you want lettuce though, I would show up before 10:00.

His sister just sent another email that Henry is bringing the rest of his melons tomorrow. They are ripening all at once. Apparently this phenomenon started a few years ago, and Henry attributes it to the wildly swinging weather thanks partly to global warming. He was dealing with drought this spring, and then he got two inches of rain in four hours the middle of June, and his fields got flooded. Since then he has only gotten small amounts of rain as in 1/10 of an inch at a time, and he is experiencing drought again. He has also gotten widely variable temperatures this summer too. Because he has been in a drought state the last month, his melons are extra sweet, as are his fresh soybeans, and tomatoes. Apparently he will have tons of melons tomorrow, but once they are gone they are gone for the year.

Henry's broken fibula is healing, but he also suffered lot of bruises, and injuries to some of his tendons, and those are taking longer to heal. I don't think he sat down at all last Saturday while he was at the market, and when I left around 12:30, he looked like he was in lots of pain.

There are also going to be lots of peaches at the market tomorrow from Michigan. It is mostly going to be red haven, which are super for canning, but there should also be some white peaches. All of the peaches should be freestone. There should also be lots of blueberries. For those people who love raspberries, K & K Farms will have tons of them. They raise 50 acres of raspberries. My Sister gets all of her raspberries for her fruit stand in Michigan from them. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- I just came back from the farmer's market, and Jon First has all of his tomatoes for $1 a pound including the heirlooms. He also has peaches and green beans $4 a quart or 2/$7, and blueberries $4 a pint or 2/$7. Henry still had some romaine when I got there around 11, but I am sure it is gone by now.

I stopped at the Evanston farmer's market today, and I got 10 peppers for $1 from Jon First, and all the ones I picked out had at least some red on them. I was really tempted to get some red peppers from Nichols, but they were 10/$5. Jon also had heirloom tomatoes for $1 a pound, and peaches $4 a quart or 2/$7. I got 4 pounds of tomatoes, and I also got some corn from him, which is good. I think I got there too late for the blueberries. The food pantry had just gotten there when I got to the market, and after I got my peppers, I saw them loading the rest of them up. He had tons of peppers left as well as tomatoes, beans, cukes and eggplant and quite a few peaches that got donated.

I passed on the peaches, because I went home to a family reunion last weekend, and my sister gave me a whole half bushel of fruit, including lots of apples and peaches. She told me that she is hardly wholesaling any peaches this year, because her fruit stand and u pick are doing really well this year.

Did anyone get any of the heirloom melons at Seedlings today? I bought one, but I have not tried it yet. For those people who are looking for lettuce, I noticed that Nichols had some for $5 a bag. They looked kind of tired. Henry did not have any today. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi I bought a cantaloupe from Seedling at GCM last Wednesday. Paired with the 18month aged prosciutto from Eataly, made for a beautiful lunch. Melon was perfectly sweet and juicy

Hi- Well Henry has his cast off, and so he is doing much better. I ended up getting a quart of organic beans from him for $3, and I also got a pound of soybeans. There were tons of tomatoes there today. Henry was charging $5 a pound for some of his tomatoes. I ended up buying some from one of the other organic growers that was selling heirlooms for $2.50 a pound. I can never remember their name. It starts with a K, and they are near Rockford. Lots of weeks they have a $1 a pound gazpacho special on their extra ripe tomatoes, but I did not see any for sale today. They also had lettuce, but it was all sold out by the time I got there. After spending $8 on organic tomatoes, I was getting ready to leave, and I noticed somebody was removing the $3 a pound sign for heirloom tomatoes at Jon First's stand, and she told me they were now 2/$1, and so I ended up buying four more tomatoes. I love tomatoes though. Jon did not have any more green peppers though. Last week, I bought 10/$1, and they turned red. They freeze really easy. He also has really good corn too. I buy most of my corn from him.

I ended up getting some glowing star peaches from Jon First today too. I finally used up most of the fruit my sister gave me two weeks ago. I still have a bunch of apples. I was going to make some peach jam, because I thought she gave me a whole half bushel of peaches. When I got them home, I discovered that there were lots of apples in the bottom of the half bushel. She told me she is getting $28 a half bushel whole sale for peaches, and most of her peaches are being sold at her fruit stand or in upick. The nectarines plums and apples she gave me were also really good though, and I don't turn down free fruit. Hope this helps, Nancy

Unfortunately, yesterday at the farmers market was a disaster for anyone who drives to get there. They are doing maintenance on the parking garage, and someone had the brilliant idea of closing the four-lane exit from the garage on the day of the farmers market. All exiting cars funneled into a single lane to exit. It took us almost half an hour just to drive out of the garage. Grrr...

I don't know if it's free in the garage, or whether you're doing other stuff closer to Church St before or after the market which adds to the garage's convenience, but I always park on Emerson near Oak. You can usually find a spot there. It's free, just as close to the market, and probably a quicker entry/exit. Keep it in mind if the garage is a pain.

In my experience, you have to be extremely lucky to find an open space on Emerson when the farmers market is going on. Usually there are no spaces on either side between Ridge and the tracks.

The garage is free for the first hour at all times, and you can get your parking ticket validated at the farmers market for a longer period.

I regularly see spots on the northbound side of Emerson, but it's not the direction I come from so I never take them. I usually park on Maple or on Garnett. I find the short walk much more pleasant than the entering, circling and exiting from the garage (even on a good day).

Since the garage is free, no reason to change unless the process (circling, inefficient entry/exit - basically anything that resembles the Evanston Hospital lot) is a problem.

I must be extremely lucky though. I arrive at 7.45-8.00am each week. I always stop at the Starbucks on Sherman beforehand, and approach on Clark from the east. After turning right onto Maple (instead of straight - into the garage) I have found a spot on Maple between University and Emerson, or on Emerson (east of Ridge) after turning left. It's probably a lot harder finding spots after 9am though.

Hi- I noticed the bottleneck in the parking garage yesterday. Hopefully everything will be back to normal when Northwestern has their first home football game. I live on Ridge across from Roycemore school, and so I usually walk there. I have a shopping cart I take later in the season when I start buying melons and corn, which can get heavy. Early in the season though when all I buy is salad, asparagus and strawberries, I can usually make it home without the cart. I got a chip fracture in one of my fingers though in June, and I had to tape it up for four weeks. I was really tempted to drive to the market then, but then I would have to carry my bags of stuff upstairs. It ended up being easier to use the cart, and I figured out a way to make it home without losing any items. A few times last year, I came home missing a few tomatoes and a few ears of corn

I worked for a family in Winnetka for several years on Saturday mornings from 9-12, and so I would hit the market on my way home. I used to park off of Emerson in a small lot across from where the new apartment building is, but one time when I parked there last year, the owner of one of the buildings there, threatened to have my car towed if I parked in any of those spots again. I think you have to get there really early as in 7:30 to get a spot on Emerson, or not get there until 12:30. I wish they did not get rid of the one hour spots on the first floor of the parking garage. Some of the spots are used to park rental cars, but the area where you charge up your electric car, most of the spots don't get used. Thanks, Nancy

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NFriday wrote:I wish they did not get rid of the one hour spots on the first floor of the parking garage. Some of the spots are used to park rental cars, but the area where you charge up your electric car, most of the spots don't get used.

It makes sense that they tape those spots off, because (a) the hundreds of cars going in and out for the farmers market would all be trying to use them (since most visits are under an hour) and (b) if they were available, you would have tremendous congestion caused by any car pulling out of a space, since it would delay the flow of cars entering the garage.

Hi- I just started a post, and it disappeared. I just got an email from Henry's sister Terra, telling everybody what Henry is bringing to market, and explaining what happened last Saturday at the market. Apparently the city decided to repave one of the exits for the parking garage last Saturday while the market was open. It then took people up to 40 minutes to get into or out of the garage. A lot of people saw the line of cars, and decided to go back home. Terra reports that the Saturday before Labor day is usually one of Henry's best days, and it started out that way, but as the traffic started backing up, less customers showed up at Henry's stand, and he had to take a lot of produce home unsold. Terra requests that everyone call up 847-448-4311 which gets you into the 311 system. You then state why you are calling, and mention that the city should never do work on the parking garage, on any of the Saturday mornings the market is running. You should then request that this message be given to the mayor, city manager, public works director, and parking manager. They must all get back to you within 3-5 days.

Henry is bringing the first of his winter squash this Saturday, but his crop is small this year. He is also bringing lots of green beans and tomatoes, and the last of the watermelons, as well as the first of the Japanese turnips and fall radishes. He is also bringing lots of greens for stir fry.

Here is the link to the email. http://tinyletter.com/brockmanfarms/let ... flat-beans

It better explains how to contact the city to complain about the parking fiasco last Saturday. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- I came back from the market about an hour ago, and I got some 3/$1 heirloom tomatoes from Jon First as well as some peaches and 5/$1 eggplant and peppers. I then went to Nichols to buy some corn and garlic, and noticed that they had their huge red peppers marked down to 20/$5. I ended up getting 20 of them because they freeze really easy. I was tempted to get 20 more, but I also got two muskmelons from them and the corn and garlic, and then all the other stuff, and my fold up shopping cart was getting full. I was surprised though that Nichols were giving away some of the remaining peppers to the food pantry. Somebody told me that they do that when they have way too many. I wish all of the farmers would, including Henry. The food pantry still collected tons of food today. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- This next Saturday should be the final week to get good peaches. Yes, there will be peaches for sale later in the month, but they are peaches that have sat in a cooler for two weeks. Jon First sold the last of his peaches yesterday, and when I got there he was out of sweet corn, or he did not bring any. Nichols still had plenty of corn, although the ears were small. Blueberries are essentially over too. I saw one or two people selling blueberries yesterday, but I am sure they were picked over a week ago.

Tomatoes are winding down too. Jon First did not have any heirloom tomatoes yesterday, and so instead of $3, I spent $10 on tomatoes yesterday. I bought all of my tomatoes at the organic stand that starts with a K, that is located near Rockford. They had all of their heirloom tomatoes for $2.50 a pound, and they had a gazpacho special of $1 a pound on some tomatoes that need to be used up ASAP. I ended up finding two tomatoes from the $1 a pound bin, and then I purchased 4 tomatoes from the $2.50 a pound. Shortly after I purchase my tomatoes, I saw her moving some of the $2.50 tomatoes into the $1 bin, and so I should have waited. The next time I passed her stand, all of the $1 a pound tomatoes were gone though. Green Acres did not have any heirloom tomatoes. They just had cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes, and all of Nichol's and Henry's tomatoes were at least $3 a pound.

Has anybody tried Henry's fresh edeme? They are not cheap. They are $4 a pound, but I love them, and I always get a pound of them when he has them. I cook them in the microwave for three minutes. Nichols had sugar snap peas for $6 a pound. I love them, but I will not spend that much money. Hope this helps, Nancy