Saturdays are the busiest day of the week at the Union Square Greenmarket, especially in the peak harvest season of late summer and early fall. But today is the exception that proves the rule.
The logistics of running the Union Square Greenmarket are formidable year-round—the good folks at GrowNYC employ fulltime staff to chroreograph a ballet of trucks that puts the Nutcracker to shame. And while Saturday is typically the main event, each year on Thanksgiving Eve the market puts on a show-stopping performance for New Yorkers preparing turkey and all the locavore trimmings. On top of the (awesome) standing Wednesday lineup, many farmers otherwise seen only on Saturdays come in for this one weekday a year, their tables laden with on-stalk Brussels sprouts, wild turkeys, deep orange sweet potatoes, shitakes for stuffing, plump cranberries and gorgeous pie pumpkins. The result is a living, breathing cornucopia, and the last big market bash of the year.
If you bump into Market Manager Davy Hughes, buy him a coffee, or perhaps a cocktail. Chances are he was up all night, mapping out every square inch of the asphalt, for the benefit of farmers and feasters alike.
