Sunset for the 2021 Outdoor Market Season
It’s a Wrap for Green City and I’m Meloncholy
Perhaps it was best that it was cloudy and near-winter chilly for Green City Market’s live market finale on Saturday. If it had been sunny and unseasonably warm, I might have thought to make a fool of myself pleading for just a couple more weeks.
When the vendors are bundled in parkas and it’s hard for your fingers to separate the bills in your wallet, it’s time.
I live in Lakeview and Green City has been my local market since we moved to Chicago 10 years ago. We will still be able to buy from Green City vendors, via the WhatsGood e-commerce site, over the five-plus months til spring brings around the next market season.
An increasing number of farmer-vendors have their own online sites with home delivery options, and several will be staging drop sites in and around Chicago on a scheduled basis through the winter. Jake’s Country Meats started theirs yesterday, and I picked up my Thanksgiving turkey off their truck.
But I will miss the atmosphere and especially the bonhomie. I’ve made a lot of friends there over the years.
There will be a handful of indoor markets, including Logan Square’s, which opened this morning and runs til 3 p.m today at 2537 N. Pulaski if you’re reading this early and want to scoot over.
And Lincoln Square Farmers Market has its final roundup next to the Western Brown Line stop on Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. I’m going to try my best to make it, if only to wish Elsa Jacobson — Chicago’s market manager maximus — a happy winter.
Here are some photos from Green City’s chilly sendoff.