A notice from Robert Shepherd, market manager at the McCarren Park Greenmarket and from GrowNYC:

Farmers Market Winter Warm Up
Wednesday, December 7, 7 – 10 p.m.
The Bell House
149 7th Street, Brooklyn (between 2nd and 3rd Ave.)
Tickets, $40
www.grownyc.org

Join farmers market operators, GrowNYC’s Greenmarket and Harvest Home for an end-of-season party to wring out a soggy year and plant some hope for a strong harvest in 2012. Warm up to winter and dance our regional farmers into the night with music by Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens and Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band at the Bell House.

All proceeds benefit the Greenmarket and Harvest Home farmers who were hardest hit by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee

• Featuring live performances by Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens (8 p.m.) and Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band (9 p.m.)
• ‘Cookbook Library’ silent auction, featuring 25 new titles by Mario Batali, Melissa Clark, Paula Wolfert and many more
• Passed hors d’oeuvres by Great Performances featuring seasonal bounty, as well as cheese, pickles and baked goods provided by local farmers marketproducers
• Cash bar, with $3 Brooklyn Lager on special all night

McCarren Park Greenmarket Update from Market Manager Robert Shepherd:
Swing by tomorrow at 10:30am for a cooking demonstration and free samples by Williamsburg’s own Sasha Miranda from Miranda Restaurant. She will be cooking an amazing risotto, yum!

Also: we will be accepting cash, credit and debit donations at the Info Tent all day to benefit farmers impacted by Irene (http://www.grownyc.org/relief). Please show your support. Find us between 8am to 3pm on Union Ave. btwn Driggs and N. 12th St. For more info visit: http://www.grownyc.org/greenpointgreenmarket

An update from Rob Shephard, Market Manager of McCarren Park Greenmarket in Williamsburg Brooklyn:

Good afternoon Brooklyn. Below is a list of tomorrow’s events at your local Greenmarket, continued post-Irene information, and upcoming events happening in the city with Greenmarket. We hope to see you all out tomorrow. It’ll be a beautiful day for sure.

Tomorrow (Saturday Sept 17) at 11am come by the Information Tent to learn how to make and sample some Punjab Corn Chutney by Drake Page of The DP Chutney Collective. http://thedpchutneycollective.blogspot.com/ Market open from 8am – 3pm on Union Ave btwn Driggs and N. 12th St.

Upcoming Benefit Events for Greenmarket and our Farmers:

Sunday, September 25, 2011 – Dine Out Irene
At Participating Restaurants in New York City
Dine Out Irene is a one-time event on September 25, 2011, benefiting New York-area farms that have been hard hit by the hurricane. Participating restaurants are asked donate up to 10% of the day’s sales (brunch/dinner, or both) to aid local farms. The funds will go directly to GrowNYC and Just Food, who will distribute them to area farmers that need hurricane relief. Dine Out Irene is still recruiting restaurants to join the effort. If you are a restaurant and would like to participate, please contact Gabriella Gershenson at dineoutirene@gmail.com. For a current list of participants, visit dineoutirene.com.

Saturday, September 24, 6-9 p.m. – Rogowski Farm Barn Dance and BBQ!
Rogowski Farm
329 Glenwood Road, in Pine Island New York 10969
Adults $10.00 / Children age 6 to 12 $5.00 Children age 5 and under – free
Join in on the fun at Rogowski Farm for a real good old fashioned barn square dance & BBQ offering you a slice of Americana from years gone by for everyone to enjoy. Food fresh off the BBQ will be for sale before and during the dance. Music and dancing start at 7 p.m.

Sunday, September 25, 1-4 p.m. – Warwick Farm Aid
Warwick Valley High School
89 Sanfordville Road
Warwick, NY 10990
Warwick farmers were hit hard by hurricane Irene and we will be raising $25,000 by 9/25/2011 to benefit our local farmers. From 1:00 to 4:00 will be an open house with family events, music, story tellers, and more. The main concert is 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Please join us for a day of music, fun, and most importantly support for our local farmers.

Sunday, September 25, noon – 6 p.m. – 8th Annual Bradley Farm Party
Tickets, $20
317 Springtown Rd
New Paltz, NY 12561
Featuring great southern BBQ and pierogies made with Ray’s potatoes, live music, hayrides and a new petting zoo. This year, we may even get to play chicken sh*t bingo!

Monday, September 26-October 2 – Dine In Irene
Location: Your Home
Shop your neighborhood Greenmarket for the best of the harvest produce, then invite your friends over for dinner. Charge by the plate for your party, or host a potluck and ask guests to bring a market-sourced dish and a donation. All funds collected will be donated by the various Dine In hosts to the Greenmarket farmer relief fund. Register your Dine In on www.bloggerswoborders.org/dineinirene.

This note comes in from Rob Shepherd, market manager for the McCarren Park and South Williamsburg Greenmarkets. He tells how you can help Greenmarket farmers recover from the damage — in many places severe — done by Irene, by donating, volunteering, and above all, continuing to shop at the Greenmarket.

Dear Greenmarket Community,

We will learn about the full extent of the damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene in the days and weeks to come, as the waters begin to recede from upstate farms. The Black Dirt region is still flooded, Sullivan County and Ulster County have seen significant damage, and there are parts of Greene County that no longer exist. We estimate that 80% of Greenmarket farmers have been impacted, with about 10% reporting severe loss – 80-100% of their products. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time of year – as you know, September is when our farmers make the money they need to sustain their farm businesses. It is too late in the season to re-plant, and in addition to the great summer harvest that typically arrives in September, these farmers have lost their winter storage crops as well – beets, onions and squash – the products that sustain year-round sales.

Markets were open at 5 a.m. the day after the storm, and we are encouraging residents to support regional farmers first and foremost by shopping at Greenmarket. Some of the farmers you have forged strong relationships with over the years may not be back at the markets this season due to the aftermath of the storm, but we will do everything we can to ensure that they return to market in the spring of 2012. In the mean time, we don’t anticipate that our markets will be impacted in terms of the quality or the variety of products you have come to expect.

We have set up a donation page on the GrowNYC website, which you can find at www.grownyc.org/blog. We plan to have a message board up on our website by this weekend, where those seeking assistance (volunteer help, or in-kind donations) and those who are ready to volunteer can be put in touch. If you have any questions, please reach out to our office: 212-788-7476.

Greenmarket farmers are a resilient group of individuals, who have weathered many storms prior to this one. Thanks to an incredible community of shoppers and supporters, we’ll help our regional growers get through to a strong recovery.

Also, tomorrow at Greenpoint/McCarren Park Greenmarket, we will be doing several fun surveys, along with frying up some amazing zucchini blossoms with Brooklyn’s own Carina Molnar, local food lover extraordinaire. Swing by the information tent and check us out! Cooking demo will start at 11am. Union Ave. between Driggs Ave. and N. 12th St. For more information visit: http://www.grownyc.org/greenpointgreenmarket

A note from Chelsea Whittaker, manager of the McCarren Park Greenmarket:

The Greenpoint Greenmarket will be closed on 12/25 and 1/1. But the market will be back in full swing on 1/8 and will continue to run year-round. Yes, year-round! No need to stock up on your root veggies now. Get them and other market goodies all winter long.

Meanwhile, the market is open for business this Saturday (12/18) and is a perfect place to get holiday gifts. Pick up a festive Christmas cactus from Brandywine Gardens, goat meat from Consider Bardwell (now Animal Welfare Approved!), a bottle of wine from King Ferry Winery, and grain from Cayuga Pure Organics.

This week in the market, come learn all about winter squash! Taste different squash and sign up for the Greenpoint Greenmarket Winter Squash Pie Bake-Off, now happening on Novemeber 27th. All participants will win a prize! Sign up at the market info tent or email cwhittaker@greenmarket.grownyc.org for more information. And make sure to stop by Dipaola Turkey to reserve your Thanksgiving Turkey.

McCarren Park Greenmarket Update for 10/30:
Halloween weekend is here! Make sure to pick up your last minute pumpkins at S & SO Farm, Healthway Farm, or Garden of Eve. And celebrate the holiday with Market Portraits! Visit the info stand and have a FREE harvest themed portrait taken of your family, your dog, your kids, or you with your veggies!
ok maybe that wasn’t so scary. Happy Halloween everyone!

From Chelsea Whittaker, market manager at Williamsburg / Greenpoint’s McCarren Park Greenmarket:

The leaves in the park are starting to turn beautiful colors and fall to the ground. Its always fun to rake those leaves and jump in a pile, but have you ever thought about using them for compost? Gather around the information tent at 10:30am this Saturday, Oct 23, and learn all about leaf composting from master composter Kate Zidar of the North Brooklyn Compost Project!

This year, the market will once again be hosting a winter squash pie bake off! If you love to bake, then this is the competition for you. All contestants will win a prize. Sign up for the Greenpoint Greenmarket November 13th WINTER SQUASH PIE BAKE-OFF at the market info stand or email cwhittaker@greenmarket.grownyc.org.

You can read about last year’s winter squash pie contest here. See you at the market!

To kick off GrowNYC and Edible magazine’s second annual Eat Drink Local Week, local chef Jordan Colòn of EAT restaurant will be cooking at the market. Come watch him and eat his delicious food around 10am. Make sure to check out the Eat Drink Local shopping list for the ingredients of the week (http://tinyurl.com/2c9k2fu) and pick up almost all of your ingredients at the market – get clams from Pura Vida, wine from King’s Ferry Winery, dairy from Ronnybrook Farm, and grapes, squash, and cauliflower from S & SO, Garden of Eve, Red Jacket Orchards, Healthway Farm, and Cranberry Hall Farm. You’ll certainly be eating well this week!

Thanks everyone for coming out to the Borough Hall Greenmarket yesterday and for having a taste of my Sweet Corn and Tomato Risotto. I had a blast! I hope you all were inspired to buy some corn and tomatoes and try this yourself. Here is the recipe.