The Heart of Brooklyn: Park Slope Farmers Market

Open all weekends in all weather, the Grand Army farmer’s market is a neighborhood institution. GrowNYC Greenmarket Director and Park Slope resident Liz Carollo talks about why the Grand Army location is “the heart of Brooklyn” and offers advice for new customers and regulars.

“The actual space itself, bordering Prospect Park, across the street from the library, the museum, the Botanic Garden, the zoo, is truly the heart of Brooklyn,” Liz Carollo, GrowNYC’s Greenmarket Director, said. 

Carollo started her 18-year career with GrowNYC’s publicity team in Grand Army Plaza. Her first two seasons, she watched runners jog to pick up milk and eggs in the morning and come back in the afternoon with their families. There were strawberry shortcake eating contests, planting demonstrations, and harvest festival celebrations. One Park Slope resident volunteered his 40-year-old tractor for kids to climb in the middle of the plaza. 

“I spent those first two years getting to know Grand Army, the producers, the customers. It is such a special place,” Carollo said. Even though GrowNYC organizes 45 farmer’s markets across New York’s five boroughs, Carollo moved across the street from Grand Army and considers it her “home market.”

GrowNYC is an independent environmental nonprofit that has operated for over five decades. Six years in, starting in 1976, the founders recognized a missing link between farmers who had trouble finding buyers and New York residents with limited access to good produce in the city. 

GrowNYC’s mission is to make fresh food accessible year-round to New York City residents. The greenmarkets operate year-round, and the markets stay open every weekend through heat, rain, and snow. 

The greenmarkets also stayed open through the pandemic. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the greenmarkets received essential worker status from the city. Due in part to the large outdoor location, the Grand Army farmer’s market established three entrance lines and socially distant stands for customers to access with proper safety protocols. 

“We had customers show up in tears because they didn’t want to go inside to shop anywhere. They were scared,” Carollo said. 

In a city-wide quarantine, the Grand Army Plaza Market offered a place for people to see their neighbors or other people outside their household in asafe,  outdoor, socially distant setting. 

“It was an incredible experience I hope to not repeat,” Carollo said.

Today, the Grand Army greenmarket follows its founders’ mission to bring high quality produce, meats, and other foods to the city’s neighborhoods. Each weekend is planned up to a year in advance. GrowNYC assigns spaces to vendors, or producers, who grow, raise, or bake their own products. Producer applications for the next season open around Thanksgiving, and GrowNYC assigns producers their farmer’s market spaces for the following year at the end of February. 

Producers resubmit their crop plans annually, even if they have come to Grand Army for years. The application asks what, when, and how much producers plan to make as well as when they plan to harvest it. These producers live within 250 miles north, 120 miles south, and 170 miles east and west of New York City.

“You have farmers who are coming in from South Jersey, so you get those early spring crops right away, and then you have farmers who are coming in from upstate New York, so it’s an extensive season on the other side. When you have a market like that, where you have producers that come from within the Green Market region, which is about a 200-mile radius around Poughkeepsie, you get a very wide range of products, and you take advantage of the seasonality of the region,” Carollo said. 

There’s also an inspections and compliance team who review the items to make sure they are up to the quality GrowNYC expects. There are regional managers and on-site supervisors who ensure smooth day-of operations to make the farmer’s market a “calm, lovely morning for customers who arrive as we open at eight.” 

“If we’re doing our job well,  people show up and think it’s a spontaneous pop-up,” Carollo said.  

Whether you’re new to the Grand Army farmer’s market or consider yourself a regular, here are the best tips to spending your weekends in “the heart of Brooklyn”: 

Dress for the weather. Again, the farmer’s market will be open in all weather conditions. Make sure you’re also prepared. 

Bring a reusable bag. The farmer’s market is BYOB: bring your own bags. As part of its sustainability mission, GrowNYC doesn’t allow vendors to distribute plastic handled bags. 

Take a lap. Before you buy anything, browse all the stands. Are there any that stand out to you from a distance that you would like to check out? Any unexpected items you’re curious about? What is available today? 

Another tip? GrowNYC doesn’t regulate the prices of the stands, so two stands might have different prices for similar produce. Compare quality and prices between stands. 

Be open-minded and flexible with your expectations. You won’t know what is available until you arrive. If you want to make a tomato recipe in February, you’ll have to pivot when you realize no famers will have tomatoes until the summer. 

Farmer’s market regulars may know cucumbers and eggplants grow in the summer and apples come in autumn, but they should also stay open-minded as the seasons change. “As it gets warm, there was an expectation that the summer produce has arrived, or even the spring produce…For the farmers, they’re just going in the ground, the farm just thawed,” Carollo said. 

(Carollo’s produce recommendation for this spring transition? “You get these really, really tasty greens that have been in the ground all winter. You could either get bitter greens, or they get an added sweetness to them.”) 

Ask questions. This may seem intimidating if you’ve never been to a farmer’s market before, but interacting directly with the person who grew, raised, or baked the item you purchased is an asset. 

The most common questions people ask farmers, the information desk, or other shoppers is “What is the best way to cook this?” Producers eat whatever they produce, so they will have recommendations for how to best prepare and serve whatever you might buy. 

Customers can also ask producers what is happening on the farm, what they expect to grow in the coming weeks, and what other products they are excited about. Producers may try new things on their farms. A long-running tomato farmer might also sell a new homemade tomato sauce. “The producers are trying to innovate and serve the customer better,” Carollo said. Asking questions leads to new recommendations, new products, and new techniques to carry home with your tote full of produce. 

Talk to other shoppers. Start a conversation with a person that’s looking at the same honey jar as you. What else did they buy today that you should check out? And where did they get that cider donut? Be open to sharing what you discovered and what recipes you might have, too!

Go to the information tent. The information tent has all the answers and is present at every GrowNYC greenmarket. They can assist in questions from how to best prepare fennel, what local restaurants they recommend, or what vendors and produce might come in the next few weeks. A bonus? They may do a cooking demonstration or events at the information tent, making it worth your while to stop by each week. 

Use your nutrition benefits. Cost can be a barrier to fresh food for people with limited financial resources. GrowNYC provides a space where people of all income levels can purchase fresh food. They accept nutrition benefits from SNAP, WIC, FMNP, Health Bucks, HealthFirst, and Humana OTC. SNAP customers who shop at a farmer’s market receive $2 in HealthBucks for every $2 spent on their EBT card, up to $10 a day. 

Customers enrolled in these programs can approach the information tent to receive paper or wooden tokens to use directly at vendor stands. In 2023, customers across New York City accessed $4.3 million to use at greenmarkets, and Grand Army did 5,000 SNAP EBT transactions, equaling $155,000 in sales, and accessed $54,000 in HealthBucks. 

“Grand Army is a location that is perfect for food access and for customers who are shopping on all income levels to be able to purchase fresh local foods,” Carollo said. 

Support your local farmer’s market through GrowNYC. Though these farmer’s markets feel integral to their neighborhoods, GrowNYC is not a government-affiliated program. It is an independent nonprofit. If you love the farmer’s market, consider supporting their operations through a donation of your time or other resources. For more information about how you can get involved, please visit their website at https://www.grownyc.org/