Greenmarket at Columbia University

Sunday morning was a markedly cool 65 degrees when I set forth to Columbia University and I could smell autumn in the air. The produce at the farmers market on Broadway between 114th and 116th streets reflected some of this meterological change, featuring pumpkins and squash in wooden barrels.

While the supply of heirloom tomatoes was not as extensive as the Lincoln Center Greenmarket, the rest of the offerings quite offset this miss.  The market also carried organic milk, eggs, baked goods, poultry, turkey, duck and many, many organic vegetables.

The award for best visual merchandising goes to Stannard farms, who use wooden crates and barrels exclusively with the vegetables overflowing as if from a plentiful bounty.

The most niche product goes to Wager’s Cider Mill featuring only grapes and grape juice!

Another fun tidbit is that the manager of this greenmarket, Luz Portillo, focused on the use of urban areas for environmental purposes in college and “feels that Greenmarket merges her interest in urban spaces and organic gardening.”  A small selection of the farms present:

Samascott Orchards: Apples, cherries, strawberries, peaches and cider from Columbia County, NY. (Sun, Thurs)
DiPaola Turkeys: Turkey from Mercer County, NJ. (Sun)
Milk Thistle Farm: Certified organic milk from Columbia County, NY. (Sun)
Ardith Mae Farm: Goat cheese from Susquihanna County, PA. (Sun)
Stannard Farms: Vegetables, orchard fruit, plant and meat from Washington County, NY. (Sun, Thurs)
New York Food and Wine: Locally grown and produced wines from Long Island (Sun)
Hudson Valley Duck farm: Fresh duck as well as smoked and preserved duck products (Sun)

The market is open year round Thursdays and Sundays from 8am to 5pm.

Subway: 1 train to 116th street.
Bus: M104, M11, M4 or M60