Hi- I just got a late breaking email from Henry's sister. Henry is bringing 1,000+ heads of lettuce to market tomorrow. The last time he brought that much lettuce to the market was 20 years ago, and so he is desperate for people to buy lettuce tomorrow, which is going to be on sale. It has been $4 a large head or 2/$7 on sale. His heads of lettuce are large, and they are all certified organic. Henry is also going to have lots of cabbage, some potatoes, lots of bunches of onions, some garlic, zucchini, the last of the sugar snap peas, some fresh basil, and a vegetable he calls broccoloni, which is a cross between broccoli and broccolini. I am surprised Henry is bring that much lettuce, because the deer ate half of his lettuce seedlings recently, and he did not bring much lettuce last week. Please at least buy some lettuce from Henry. His savoy cabbage is really good too. Nichols should have some sugar snap peas too.

Strawberries are pretty much over now, and so if you want some, get to the market early tomorrow. There should be some cherries, and Koeningshof's should have some red raspberries. Next week there should be some cherries from Traverse City at the market. Blueberries should be available in two weeks, and there might be some peaches by then too. Hopefully corn will become available in 2-3 weeks too. Hope this helps, Nancy

Did anybody buy any of the broccoloni that Henry was selling on Saturday? What did you do with it? It is supposed to be a cross between broccoli and broccolini.

Bought some - still looks great. Huge head compared to regular broccoli. Haven’t used it for anything yet.

Henry is bringing more broccolino tomorrow. Out of the 1,000 + heads of lettuce Henry brought to market last Saturday, he went home with only five heads of lettuce. He was crazy busy when I was there at 9:30 last week. Henry is going to have some more lettuce tomorrow, but get there early.

Henry now has another challenge for people. Henry is bringing 250 heads of fennel, and he is hoping to sell them all. I've never had fennel. Is it easy to cook? Henry is also bringing lots of cabbage, beets, carrots and basil, and a few zucchini and eggplant.

There might be a few peaches tomorrow. I was surprised how many strawberries there were for sale last week. There were quite a few blueberries and raspberries for sale too. In another week there should probably be some corn. There is a chance for rain tomorrow morning. Last Saturday we only got a few sprinkles.

NFriday wrote:Henry is bringing 250 heads of fennel, and he is hoping to sell them all. I've never had fennel. Is it easy to cook?

There was still a bunch of fennel as of 10am. It's pretty easy and versatile in terms of use. Sort of impressive that you have never had it given how trendy it's become the last decade or so. The bulb is basically an onion with an anise licorice flavor. The fronds are useful as a finishing herb for presentation and color. The stalks are pretty much worthless.

Can anyone explain the set up of this market? What I'm referring to is that while there are many stalls in the outer ring, there is this huge, empty "plaza" in the middle. A few weeks ago I assumed the enter area would fill up as more stalls arrived, but it's still empty. Why don't they move the exiles in the outer ring into that area?

Jonah wrote:Can anyone explain the set up of this market? What I'm referring to is that while there are many stalls in the outer ring, there is this huge, empty "plaza" in the middle. A few weeks ago I assumed the enter area would fill up as more stalls arrived, but it's still empty. Why don't they move the exiles in the outer ring into that area?

They changed it in 2020 for distancing and a single point of entry and exit (middle of the southern side) to limit capacity. I completely agree that not going back to rows has been stupid. Keeping it for 2021 made sense from a precaution standpoint, but it's well past its use.

I did not make it there until 12:15 today, and all of the farmers had tons of stuff left to sell. People stayed home because of the rain, which had quit by the time I got there. Koeningshof's actually had strawberries again today, but Linda told me that today would be the last day for strawberries. I bought some strawberries and peaches from them. I would have bought some cherries, but I bought three pounds of cherries at Jewel on Thursday. Henry still had tons of fennel and a few heads of romaine when I got there. He also had tons of fresh basil left. I would have bought tons of fresh basil to make pesto, if I could have gotten Henry to lower the price if I bought ten bunches, but he does not like to deal that much. Nichols said they will probably have corn next week.

I wish the market would go back to rows. When they had rows, I would go down all of the rows to see who had the best deals, but now it is too hard to do that. The only farmer I buy much from in the inner square is Todd Nichols. I bought a lot of asparagus from him, and I buy most of my corn from him. I buy the majority of my things from the outer square. Nichols are the only farmers that I get excited about in the inner square. I would buy some things from the Talking Farm, but they are way more expensive than Henry is.

How is the Skokie market set up on Sundays? Are they back to rows? The Evanston market has a Facebook page where people can request that the market change back to rows next year. I am not sure if the health department will let them though.

I wish more people would have shown up at the market at the beginning before it started raining, or after it had quit raining. I was glad I made it there, because the farmers really needed customers. Hope this helps, Nancy

I just came back from the Evanston farmer's market, and Henry still had tons of bunches of basil on sale for 2/$6, and they were huge. He mostly had the Italian basil, although he had a few bunches of lemon, purple, and thai. He also had lots of green beans, zucchini and quite a few tomatoes. He did not have any #2 tomatoes. All of his tomatoes were $5 a pound or $4 a pound if you buy two pounds or more. I did not see any cherry tomatoes left. Nichols had their first melons today. I found a melon that was large and ripe, but it had a defect on the melon, which is why nobody bought it. I first thought it had a rotten spot on it, but there was just a defect in the netting. Their melons were $4. I also bought some organic blueberries from the organic people near the garage that they had 3/$18. I bought a pint from them last week, and their blueberries were way better than the ones I got at Jewel for $.99. Hope this helps, Nancy

I know I should have posted this earlier, but starting tomorrow the plastic bag ban is going to go into motion at the farmers market. I was hoping maybe the farmers would be exempt, because it is only supposed to be for businesses 10,000 SF or larger, but maybe they are factoring in the whole market. I am not sure if this is going to work or not. Henry has not offered bags at his stand since at least 2016, and he does okay. Nichols though go through 1,000 plastic bags a week. 90% of the time when I purchase something from Nichols I bring my own bag, but I do use their bags for corn occasionally. Apparently Nichols are providing people with compostable bags that they are going to charge $.25 a bag, which is what the bags cost them. BTW- If you are able to tell Henry what year he quit providing bags at the market, you get 25% off your order. If you are able to tell him when you would need a bag, as opposed to one of his baskets when you check out, you get one item for free. They are actually encouraging people to use one of their baskets when they come to their stand to put their veggies in, because it makes it easier for the cashiers to figure out how much your bill is.

Also there is a pilot program at the market, which is starting today 8/5 which is funded by the USDA. Brian Huston, who used to own Boltwood is going to be doing chef demos from 8/5 until 9/30 starting at 9:00am and running until 10:30. He is going to feature a different veggie each week, and he is going to give people ideas on how to fix that veggie. This week he is featuring green beans, and a volunteer is going to be handing out samples of the dish he is preparing. Each chef demo lasts approximately 15 minutes, and after you watch the demo and try the sample, you are given a survey to fill out, and prizes are going to be awarded.

Peaches should be plentiful this weekend, and should be good. The freestone peaches are now being picked such as the Red Haven. The corn I bought at Nichols stand last week was really good. It was 6 ears for $5. I also bought a tropical melon from them for $4 that was really good.

Henry is going to have lots of tomatoes this week. He is also going to have some melons, but his melon crop is smaller than usual this year because of the lack of rain. He is going to have a small batch of swiss chard this week and no kale because of the hot weather we have been having. He is going to have lots of purslane though and red cabbage. If you want to see the chef demos be sure to come to the market before 10:30. We are one of only a handful of markets in the US that got selected by the USDA for this program. They are hoping that by showing people how to fix veggies, they will purchase and eat more veggies. Hope this helps, Nancy

Did anybody go to the farmer's market today? I was going to go, but I was running late, and when I tried to step outside, I realized it was raining, and so I decided to pass on it today. I might go to Skokie tomorrow. At 1:00 I attended a program, at Fleetwood Jordan, where the person in charge of recycling with the city of Evanston talked about changes the city was considering to produce less waste in the city, such as making it easier to compost. I asked the gentleman about the plastic bag situation at the farmer's market, and he said that all of the farmers were informed about this, and that they can continue to distribute plastic bags, but they have to be compostable. I know before this plastic bag banning went into effect. Henry Brockman quit offering bags at least five years ago, and people know they have to bring their own bag. Nichols were going through 1,000 plastic bags every Saturday until this law went into effect.

I went. It was the usual at 10am, just a mild drizzle. Poblanos are the only thing that's finally come into season that I've started buying lately. A young guy buying mushrooms seemed pretty enthusiastic about using them with what he got from the garlic vendor. I should probably try some black garlic recipes soon.

Has anybody made it to the food demo yet that takes place from 9:00-10:30? Supposedly if you fill out a survey while you are there you have the possibility of winning a drawing.

I only bought stuff from Nichols, Henry and K & K farms today. I noticed that none of them had bags to give out. Henry got rid of his bags years ago. Nichols were supposed to have compostable bags that they were going to charge $.25 for, but I did not see any there. While I was buying peaches at Keoningshof's today, I asked what they were doing about the plastic bags, and the person told me that they are not giving out bags anymore, but that several vendors, are still giving out plastic bags in protest. I always bring a few bags of my own to the market. Today I brought four plastic bags that I had and used them all. I walk to the farmer's market though, and I have a fold up shopping cart that I bring with me, and I can put large items like melons in there without using a bag.

We were there last week for the demo and filled out the survey, but didn't see any promotion of a giveaway, or anything that prompted you to give your email address for a drawing, as you'd typically see. Maybe they hadn't set it up yet.

Henry is going to be having all of his #2 tomatoes, potatoes and peppers 50% off this week. Henry is going to have a ton of tomatoes this week. This is the last week for melons for Henry. He is having Golden Producer watermelons this week. He asks that people save the seeds and hand them back to him. The seeds are not commercially available. This is the last week for Henry's soybeans which are wonderful

There should still be lots of peaches and blueberries this week. The corn I got from Nichol's last week was the best corn of the season.

Hi- I just got an email from Henry Brockman. He still has lots to tomatoes this week. He is running a special on number #1 beefsteak tomatoes on pecks and 1/2 bushels. These are by special order only. He is charging $35 for a peck, and $55 for a 1/2 bushel. Text Henry by 4:00pm tomorrow 9/8, at 309-231-8353. He will also have #2 beefsteak tomatoes at the market on Saturday, as well as #1 and #2 Heirlooms. These will all be on sale if you buy at least a quart. I bought two quarts of the #2 heirlooms, which was probably a total of 6 pounds, for $8, and they were wonderful, but they must get used up within a day or two.

Henry Brockman has #2 carrots, beets, and potatoes for 1/2 price tomorrow, and all of his heirloom and beefsteak tomatoes are on sale if you buy at least a quart. All of his #2 heirloom tomatoes are $4 a quart, and they are way better than the heirloom tomatoes I saw at Jewel tonight for $.99 a pound.

There should still be plenty of good peaches at the market tomorrow. Blueberries should be winding down. Henry is going to have lots of greens at the market too, and Nichols should have lots of good sweet corn. I bought a honeydew from Nichols last week that was really good. Hopefully Nichols will have their red peppers on sale soon.
Henry will have the last of his watermelons tomorrow, but he only has a few, and so get there early if you want one. Hope this helps, Nancy

When I went to the Evanston farmer's market today, I noticed that the person I bought peaches from today, was putting another customers peaches in a plastic bag. I asked what was going on. Apparently some of the businesses in Evanston, and in particular D & D Foods which is on Noyes, complained about the new bag rule, and it is being put on hold until January. I was at the Jewel on Chicago Avenue though, and they still charged $.10 for every bag you used, and they only had paper bags.

Henry had his #2 tomatoes for $2 a pound if you bought more than two pounds worth, and they were way better than the ones I saw at the Wilmette Jewel last night that were $.99 a pound. When I went to the Jewel on Chicago Avenue today, they did not even have any heirloom tomatoes. I got some ripe prune plums from Nichols today. I love prune plums, but it is hard to find ones that are ripe.

Henry had #2 potatoes for $2.50 a quart too. I bought the last two quarts he had. I also bought two bunches of basil from Henry.

Hi- Peaches are winding down, and next week might be the final week most people have any. Just remember that the peaches at the market right now, are going to be way better than any you get at the grocery store, and they are all going to be freestone, but they are not going to taste as good as what you got a month ago when the red havens were available. My Sister told me a few days ago, that she sold some of her autumn star peaches to Ed Gast, and so he should have them His stall is in the inner circle on the West side, and also sells eggs, sausage, plants and veggies. Be warned though that he much prefers that you pay in cash. This Autumn Star is one of the varieties that she bred. Unfortunately it is not the case any more, but about 4-5 years ago, a peach grower in British Columbia that had autumn star on his farm, notified her that one of his Autumn Star peaches, was declared the largest peach by the Guinness Book of World Records. A peach in Georgia superseded that the following summer.

Henry is going to have some greens and lettuce, but you have to get there early to get some. He is going to have all of his beets, carrots, potato, and tomato seconds half price tomorrow. Henry is also bringing some ground cherries which he says are wonderful. I have never had any.

The melons I have been getting from Nichols have been wonderful. I also bought some prune plums last week that were really good. Nichol's corn is winding down. I think they are going to have another cooking demo at the market this week. It is supposed to last for seven weeks. If you show up for the demo, you have a chance to win something, but I don't know what. The demo takes place from 9:00-10:30. I have not made it there yet for the demo. Hope this helps, Nancy

I made it to the market at 10:20, hoping to catch the cooking demo, but they were already finished when I got there. I usually don't get there until at least noon, and it is a lot busier at 10:30. I got a quart of the Autumn Star peaches, and yes Ed took my money, but he threw in a quart of plums for free which were also $9. He had some other peaches too, but I don't know what they were. I got the next to last quart of the Autumn Star. I also got two quarts of Henry's #2 heirloom tomatoes which were $4 a quart, a quart of his #2 potatoes, two bunches of his basil and some garlic. This is the last week for Henry's basil. I got two pints of blueberries from K & K. They told me that next week might be the last week for them. I got some corn from Nichols too.

I ran into a friend of mine who I have never seen there before. They had a woman's barbershop quartet, and so we were listening to them. Henry still had lots of tomatoes today, but I am sure he won't have as many next week.

I forgot to mention for those people like me that walk to the market, they do not want you to enter the market through the parking garage. They have the parking garage blocked off for pedestrians, There is an entrance further down the street that they want you to use that is one of the entrances to the hotel. When pedestrians entered the parking garage, it was kind of dangerous because of all of the cars entering the parking garage that you had to deal with. Hope this helps, Nancy

I just got the email from Henry about what he is bringing to market Saturday. He still has lots of tomatoes, and this week he is bringing lots of greens too, including lettuce, and he is bringing his first parsley roots and parsnips. He is also bringing lots of turnips and beets with their greens.

Sunday is the last day to sign up for his farm dinner. This year Henry is having Christopher Sullivan of Twilight Kitchen fixing dinner for everyone that purchases a meal. The meals are going to cost $25, and are going to use lots of produce from Henry's farm. This is a good deal, because I looked at Twilight Kitchen's website, and they have popup dinners in Rogers Park, which they charge $150 for. Has anybody ever been to one of their popup dinners? Has anybody visited Henry's farm? I've considered going, but it is at least two hours away, and I grew up on a farm, and so I don't feel the need to visit a farm as much as somebody who has never been to a farm.

Peaches and corn should be winding down at the market. The peaches I got on Saturday were huge. I think blueberries are about done for the year. K & K has lots of wonderful red raspberries and apples. Hope this helps, Nancy

Nichols also posted on their instagram that they'll have paw paw tomorrow.

Henry has his second largest tomato picking for the season at the Evanston market tomorrow. He is having specials on bulk sales of tomatoes. He is also having cherry tomatoes on sale 2/$7. Henry is also having his #2 potatoes and peppers 50% off, and has the last of his basil for 2 bunches for $6. The weather is going to get much colder starting tonight, and so this is going to be the last week Henry is going to have any basil, or any appreciable amount of peppers, zucchini and tomatoes. Get all of your hot weather veggies tomorrow while you can. Henry will also have lots of greens including lettuce, and turnips and radishes tomorrow. This will be a big week for his Japanese turnips with greens. I love his Japanese turnips.

Tomorrow is the day Henry is having his annual gathering at his farm, and this year, 200 people are signed up for it. This means that Henry will have to get there early so he can do more farm tours. This means that you should get to the market earlier than you normally do. Henry is going to show up at the farm to give tours at 12:00. I don't know if that means that he will pack up his stand before 10:00, or if he will get a ride from somebody else, and will ask one of his helpers at the market to drive the truck down later.

I bought some wormy corn from Nichols last week. A lot of people passed on it because every ear had been visited by worms. I just cut off the ends of the ears, but it was a dirty job. The corn was okay once I cleaned it up, but it was a little more mature than I would have liked. I would be surprised if they have corn again tomorrow.

I will be surprised if anybody has peaches tomorrow. The peaches I have gotten for the last several weeks from Koeningshof's, my Sister told me a few days ago are called Big George. This particular variety does not produce really good, and so the peaches have more room to grow. They are part of the Flaming Fury set of peaches.

Like I said earlier, if you want tomatoes, tomorrow is the last day to get a large quantity of them. The same goes for all of the other hot weather veggies such as peppers, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, and basil. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- Henry is running a special on peppers this week. His red bell peppers are not on sale. He had a frost earlier this week, and so he picked all of his peppers, sweet potatoes, basil and a few other things this week. This is the first week for Chinese cabbage, and the last week for endive and escarole. To ensure that people show up at the market even in the rain, Henry is giving everybody that spends $20 or more at his stall, a free pound of tomatoes. Henry does not have a large crop of sweet potatoes, and so he suggests that people get them soon. Henry is bringing lots of winter squash to the market.

Peaches are about done for the year. I bought some sweet corn last week, but they were all wormy, and the corn was tough.

Hi- Myra Gorman, the manager of the Evanston market said that she had to go to Dallas for a few weeks in August, but she had people to cover for her. She had not been posting on the city's Facebook page since then. I just happened to look at the market's Facebook page, and Myra started posting again. Apparently somebody that she worked with at the city, encouraged her to apply for another job, and she did, but did not think she would get hired, but she did. She had to go to Dallas for training, and she is now a flight attendant at Southwest, she had four weeks of training in Dallas, and she then started working for them a month ago. She was the oldest person in the class. She loves her job. Myra came back to the market last week, and she is going to be there this week, but this is her final week. Somebody else is going to manage the market next season.

This is the final week for the regular market, but there is going to be a pre Thanksgiving market on 11/18 at Emmanuel Lutheran church.

This is going to be the last market for Morlock's. He is retiring. Henry is going to do another special sale like he did last week. If you buy two of anything like lettuce, you get it for $1 cheaper. Lettuce is $4, but if you buy two heads of lettuce, you can get them for $7. Henry told me last week that he is not going to have very much spinach this week. Last week he ran out of spinach before I got there at 10:30. Nichols I am sure will have lots of spinach this week. Henry is going to have lots of greens, but because of the cold weather he had this week, he is not sure how many bunches of greens he is going to have for the pre Thanksgiving market, and so get some this week. This week is going to be the last time he will have Japanese sweet potatoes. He will have some other sweet potatoes on 11/18, but his sweet potato crop is not as large this year. He will not have as many turnips at the pre Thanksgiving market either. You will be able to bulk order from Henry in about a week. You will then pick up your bulk orders at the pre Thanksgiving market. Henry will have lots of carrots and potatoes for his bulk sale. This week is probably the last week he will be selling garlic braids.

Henry will have lots of popcorn and cornmeal this week. His cornmeal is excellent.

Hi- The Pre Thanksgiving market is taking place this Saturday 11/18 at Immanuel Lutheran Church from 8:00-12:00. Henry is doing a bulk order that you then pick up at the market on Saturday. The church is on 616 Lake Street, right next to the Holiday Inn. Most of the stuff in Henry's bulk order is root veggies and cornmeal. Henry has extended the date to order from him to 2:00pm tomorrow, which is Thursday 11/16. Henry is also bringing lots of greens including lettuce, kale, and choi. He is also bringing some brussel sprouts, leaf celery and parsley, and a few winter squash and pie pumpkins. Henry is not going to have many root vegetables for sale on Saturday, and so if you want any, order them now. He is out of a lot of stuff for his bulk order. Here is the link for the order form.
https://henrys-farm.square.site/
You have to specify that you are picking up your order at Immanuel. Nichols are going to be there too, and I am sure they are going to have even more greens as well as sweet potatoes, apples and lots of root vegetables. The market does not open up until 8:00, and Henry requests that people not show up earlier than 8:00. He is not allowed to start setting up his stand, until 7:00. People that live near the church have complained when the farmers got there earlier. River Valley Ranch and probably Morlock's are also going to be outside. There are going to be some other vendors inside the church. Hope this helps, Nancy

I just got an email from Henry, and he is selling the root veggies that did not sell out in the bulk sale tomorrow. He is also going to have lots of kale, chois, lettuce, parsley, leaf celery, and some winter squash. He will also have a few potatoes and sweet potatoes. If you want them, get there early. He is not allowed to open up until 8:00.

Hi- For those people who visit the Evanston farmers market, you might be interested in the post "Bad news about Henry Brockman" that I put in the other section. Henry recently was involved in a bad accident, which means that he won't be coming to the Evanston market until at least the middle of the summer. Henry is probably my favorite farmer that comes to the Evanston market. BTW- I just checked and the winter market at Immanuel Lutheran church is done, and will not commence again until the Thanksgiving market takes place. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- The Evanston farmer's market opening day is tomorrow, 5/4. I mentioned over a month ago about Henry Brockman's bad accident, but he is doing much better than anybody expected. He was told that he would not be able to walk on his own for 8-12 weeks, and he started walking independently four weeks after the accident. He had semi major surgery last week on his L thigh muscles, and so that set him back a little bit, but he has been doing light work on the farm. This week, Henry's sister Teresa, is bringing her fantastic organic herb and veggie plants to all four of the markets this month. She has at least 40 different varieties of tomatoes. Her plants always do really well in my garden. This week and the following week, Teresa is also bringing some overwintered spinach and a few other things from Henry's farm. Henry is hoping to be back at the market sometime this fall and maybe earlier.

There is going to be lots of asparagus this week. I heard the strawberries are running early this year, and so expect to see them the end of this month. The peach crop is going to be smaller this year. During the really cold weather in January, the peach trees were affected. The trees are just fine, but they did not bloom much this year. Apparently all of the growers from South Haven and North of there have some peaches though, and so a lot of the people that normally bring their own peaches, will be buying peaches from some of those growers that still have a crop. I've been told that K & K might have a few of their own peaches. There is a new market manager this year. Hope this helps, Nancy

Teresa Brockman is going to bring lots more veggie and herb plants, as well as some more of Henry's veggies. Last Saturday, Henry's overwintered spinach ran out at 9:30. They are going to bring more tomorrow, as well as more burdock, mint , and Jerusalem artichokes. Teresa is also bringing a small amount of Henry's bags of lettuce and arugula, and some green shallots. Teresa is bringing two trucks full of plants and veggies. By the time I got there at 10:00, she was out of parsley and a few other things I wanted. She is having B1G1F on her kale, broccoli and brussel sprout plants tomorrow. There should be lots of asparagus at the market too.