By Rich Bockmann
The weather forecast calls for sunny skies Sunday, which is the day the Douglaston Greenmarket opens for the season.
The open-air farmers market will be in the turn-around area in front of the Douglaston Long Island Rail Road station at the corner of 41st Avenue and 235th Street and will operate every Sunday through Nov. 20 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
According to GrowNYC, the peak of the season will find the market teeming with locally grown vegetables, mushrooms and orchard fruit, artisanal cheeses and meats, wild-caught seafood and delicious bread and baked goods.
Representatives from GrowNYC, which operates the 54 markets across the city, said the list of vendors is not yet finalized, but they have released the list of farmers signed up so far.
From New Jersey, Cherry Grove Farm will offer cheese and lamb, and DiPaola Turkeys will sell their farm’s namesake foul. Nolasoco’s Farm rounds out the Garden State’s trifecta with vegetables and Mexican specialty produce and herbs.
Newgate Farm will bring vegetables and baked goods from Connecticut.
The Empire State’s offerings include wild-caught fish and shellfish from American Seafood, breads and pastries from Bread Alone Bakery, organic vegetables and small berries from Lucky Dog Farm, mushrooms from Madura Farms and orchard fruit, plants and baked goods from The Orchards of Concklin.
The issue of parking was a contentious one at GrowNYC’s Community Board 11 hearing in May, and Greenmarket Director Michael Hurwitz said last week he is still working on a parking deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MTA has agreed to allow customers to park in their lot for $5, and Hurwitz suggested that price may be reduced depending on how many items a customer purchases.
Lisa Lempel-Sander, of the Douglaston Local Development Corp., said in May she had reached an agreement with the Community Church of Douglaston, which will allow customers to park in its lot after church services from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The market’s manager is Delia Rollow, who moved to New York City after college and started growing vegetables in buckets on her rooftop and fire escape. In 2010, she moved to Massachusetts to learn about small-scale organic farming. After working at a farm school in the Catskills, she returned to the city to work with Greenmarkets.
Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
