Sappy Days Are Here Again! Maple Season Comes to the Greenmarkets

Winter months are down time for most Greenmarket farmers, but maple syrup makers shift into frenetic overdrive, working around the clock in February and March to collect maple sap and boil it into maple syrup to last the year. And because northeastern North America is the only place on Earth where maple syrup is made, this is a singularly local, seasonal delight.

Originally a practice of Native Americans, settlers caught on to the practice, but it proved too time consuming to economically complete with cane sugar. Today, most sugarmakers, as maple producers are known, sell wholesale or by mail order, but some bring the sweet stuff to the Greenmarkets, and we thank them from the bottom of our pancakes.

Help support our local maple producers and keep tradition alive by purchasing some pure maple syrup and dont be afraid to think outside the breakfast plate. Maple syrup is a mainstay ingredient in pork dishes, cured bacon, pies, cookies, salad dressings, candies, and other savory and sweet creations.

Get Your Sweet on During New York Maple Weekend 2008!

Join more than 75 of New York States finest maple producers March 29-30 as they open their sugarhouses to demonstrate the craft of producing maple products "from tree to table." Free to the public, follow the link below to find a producer near you and start planning your trip. Learn more about "Maple Weekend" here.

Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve with Our New Greenmarket Gear

You love to shop at the Greenmarkets so show your shopper pride with some Greenmarket gear. Great gifts for you and the foodies in your life, merchandise includes aprons, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and tank tops as well as stuff for lil sprout shoppers (bibs and more!). Click here to be the first in your building to sport Greenmarket gear, and help support your favorite farmers.

Fake It 'til You Make It: Buy Forced Blossoms

Spring isnt yet here, but, if youre ready for it, bring a touch of spring into your abode with forced blossoms. Our producers have pruned cherry branches now, with apple and peach just around the corner. Just buy a branch, bruise the ends, stick it in some sugar water, and, voila, spring HAS sprung. Visit the Locust Grove Farms, Stone Arch Farms, and Terhune Orchards stalls to bring the magic of forced blossoms home with you.

Youre Invited: Learn How to 'Make Brooklyn Bloom' Tomorrow

Come to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on March 8 from 10AM to 4PM and discover how you can "Green It! Grow It! Eat It." Join author Mark Winne ("Closing the Food Gap") and community activists as they discuss how to build a healthy food system in the beloved borough of Brooklyn (although were sure their tactics will work throughout NYC!). Attend workshops on raising chickens and bees in an urban environment, canning, composting, container plants, and much, much more. And, best of all, its FREE. Click here for more information and your free invitation, courtesy of GreenBridge of Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Attention, Shoppers! Zagat Wants Your Opinion!

It's time to review your favorite Greenmarket farmers! Complete Zagat's simple online survey by March 16 and receive a FREE copy of the "2009 New York City Gourmet Shopping & Entertaining Guide" upon publication. Vote today and help your fellow eaters get the most bang for their bucks on their next shopping excursions. Vote and let Zagat's know what you think, here!

Calling All Film Fans and Freegans: Free Films at the '2008 Food for Thought Film Festival'

Do you want to know more about where your food comes from, what youre really eating, how it affects you and the planet, and why you should care? Sit back and relax while you watch ground-breaking, food-themed documentaries, including "The Meatrix" series, "King Corn," "The True Cost of Food," and others. Join us in Inwood on Saturday, April 5th, Harlem on Saturday, April 12th, and Cooper Square on Saturday, April 19th, for screenings that will inform and enlighten you. Click here for further details.

Featured Farmer/Sugarmaker: Andy Van Glad of Wood Homestead

Andy Van Glad has been making maple syrup with his brother Tony since they were small children, and now that they each have kids of their own, their offspring assist the siblings in making 2,000 gallons of sublime maple syrup each spring. At the Greenmarkets year round, the Van Glads have 10,000 maple taps on their 135-acre farm in Stamford, New York. Andy says, "We collect sap from wild maples in the New York City watershed. Our syrup is pure sap, nothing added, boiled the old fashioned way." Adds brother Tony, "When I see maple logs in a fireplace, I call it murder!"

Featured Farmer/Sugarmaker: Howie Cantor of Deep Mountain Maple

From his 120-acre farm in West Glover, Vermont, Howie Cantor produces amazing maple syrup, sugar, candy, and cream, and credits his sugarmaking for keeping him in an intimate relationship with Mother Nature. He says, "No activity ties a person to the whims of nature like sugaring that`s the attraction and the addiction." Sap, collected from wild sugar maple when the trees thaw in the spring, is the sole ingredient in his syrup. You can find Howie and his family's products at the Greenmarkets in every season, on Fridays and Saturdays at Rockefeller Center and Union Square. Stop down to satisfy your sweet tooth. Deep Mountain Maple's website

Featured Farmer/Sugarmaker: David Graves of Berkshire Berries

David Graves's small Chester, Massachusetts, farm is set on just 2.5 acres, but big flavors come from this grower's modest acreage. He brings maple syrup, honey, jams, and jellies to the Greenmarkets all year; you can sample his yummy goods at our 77th Street and Union Square markets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Graves has been making maple syrup since he was just six years old and his family also produces small-batch jams and jellies from their own handpicked berries. And the honey they sell is beyond local, David`s family keeps hives on a dozen rooftops in New York City. David says, "I appreciate the independence of farming and the way it brings my family closer." Berkshire Berries' website

A Farmer Speaks: What's Wrong with the New Farm Bill

Sick of corn being king? Well, farmers who want to grow sustainable, seasonal crops are not only losing their subsidies -- they're being penalized. Read all about one farmer`s unfortunate plight and then pick up the phone and tell your local politicians what you think of these flawed policies ... before it`s too late and corn is coronated forevermore. Read The New York Times editorial "My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)" by farmer Jack Hedin.

Click here to find your Congressional contacts.

Click here to find your Senatorial contacts.

Click here to learn more about the 2007 Farm Bill.