Making sense of Haymarket

Repeat after me:

"Haymarket is not a farmer's market". Oooh you don't know how hard it makes me laugh when I hear tourists walking through the North End saying to each other, "Oh, I hear there's a great Farmer's Market here on the weekend". First of all, it's not in any way a farmer's market. Second of all, it's not on the weekend. Well, some of it is. It's on Friday and Saturday. That's another thing I love. Watching people on a Sunday say, "Oh, I thought there was a farmer's market here". Or even better...my fiance on a Sunday, "Hmmm that's weird, I don't know what happened to Haymarket" (After 3 years of living in the neighborhood, he had failed to notice it's only open Friday and Saturday...mmmhmmmm....)

If you're coming from the Green or Orange line, get off at the Haymarket stop. If you're coming from the blue line, you can get off at the Aquarium stop and walk along the perimeter of Faneuil hall, or switch to the green at Government Center. If you're taking the red line, just switch to the green at Park Street.

Haymarket is a market of vendors (not farmers, it won't even take you a minute to realize that. This is not a place for virgin ears) that *SOMEHOW* either get really good discounts on produce or steal it or just sell it for less of a profit than the grocery stores. I have no clue where they get their wares, all I know is that the people who run those booths are shady characters who are impervious to cold and heat. It's best to do a pros and cons list here, I think. Let's see if this works:

Pros:
-Cheap
-Accessible by public transportation
-Cheap
-Good selection of fruit and vegetables
-Cheap
-Selection of ethinc foods

• There's a halal market that puts out cheeses and olives...usually grosses me out, but if that's your type of thing, you'd probably like it....they have great pitas/breads/bagels. Plus cute little kids taking your money
• You can find yucca, plaintains, big pieces of squashes, pineapples, fresh ginger, tomatillos, jalepenos, pomagranates and many other foods that Americans don't usually purchase.
  

-Cheap

Cons:
-Is extremely crowded
-Vendors are rude and pushy
-Customers are rude and pushy (I once saw a woman pushing a baby stroller, so I gave her a break for walking so slow and being oblivious to everything around her only to pass her and see that there was NO BABY in the stroller, just VEGGIES! That really got me mad, who does that?)
-You can't touch or pick out your produce. They put the good stuff out and give you whatever they want from a box behind the thing. I generally buy things here that can take a good beating
-Usually a few pieces of whatever you bought are just no good, but it still winds up being a value because it was so damn cheap

What to make of these pros and cons...? I like Haymarket, I think it serves an important purpose. I do not purchase dirty dozen veggies and fruits here, because I am concerned about the pesticide content. I come here to get everything else.

scrimpyTip:

-Oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, grapefruit, pineapples, onions, garlic, carrots, and melons are generally a good bet here. If you're not concerned about pesticides, it's also a great place to purchase potatoes, zucchini, pears, apples, mushrooms, lettuce, parsley, basil, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes.

-If you don't live close, I would stongly recommend making a monthly trip for onions, garlic, bananas and oranges. They stay fresh all month (freeze unused bananas) and really are a terrific value.

- Don't bring your children. It is a war zone. It's too crowded. The language is horrible. You won't be able to maneuver a stroller. People will not yield to you even if you are carrying a baby in a sling. You must be extremely agile and you cannot succeed if caring for your little peanuts.

- Go as early in the day as humanly possible

-Good night, and good luck.