Anyone who doubts that the United States is a country of immigrants should stop by the 32nd Street Farmers Market. There, you’ll find vendors from around the world selling a cornucopia of international foods. 

From the Korean spicy pork belly bulgogi and vegan butternut squash tamales at Lone Star to the Egyptian koshary and “foul”— a fava bean stew— at Nada Kitchen, the market’s roster of vendors reflects how each wave of newcomers to this country has awakened our palates to delightful new flavors, spices and cooking methods.

Cold weather is upon us! Many gardeners are done for the season or maybe wistfully perusing catalogues for next year’s seeds, but the shorter days don’t have to mean an end to verdancy. There are plenty of opportunities to brighten up the winter months with plants! 

Keeping houseplants healthy is probably the easiest and best value for your money and effort. No plant really likes it indoors. The low humidity and light levels paired with the moderate temperatures are extremely confusing for your leafy companions. But you can ease their suffering! Placement is key….

In the book Frederick by Leo Lionni, a family of field mice are getting ready for the winter. While most of the family is busy gathering corn, nuts, and straw, Frederick gathers sunlight, colors, and words. When the family have nibbled away all their food, they turn to Frederick, who warms and inspires them with imagery of golden rays, colorful flowers, and words poetically arranged in a tribute to the four seasons. The first time I visited the 32nd Street Farmers Market was in January of 2021…

The air is cooling, and the leaves are beginning to turn, clear signs the end of Summer is drawing nigh. You may see some geese flying South, you may be looking for fat wooly caterpillars …

…The intergenerational aspect of the grandmother pulling the red wagon and the grandson pushing from behind. The canopy tents juxtaposed with the trees juxtaposed with the pavement. The vantage point from behind the table. Looking at it transports me back to that parking lot at the intersection of 33rd and Barclay Streets. …

You won’t find a speck of it at the Living Lettuce booth on Saturday mornings or at Alluvion Aeroponics, a high-rise community in a West Baltimore industrial park where 30,000 lettuce, basil and micro-green plants grow together peacefully year round.

It’s a treat to share any recipe from Chef Doug Wetzel. A coveted pie recipe? Bring it on…

Every year we ask one of the farmers to bring their largest pumpkin. The pumpkin is set on a platform and fun begins. Come out and guess too! Here’s Harry, a former manager, explaining the rules.

If you’re a patron of the 32nd Street Farmers Market, you’re already making the world greener. For one thing, it’s far more sustainable to buy locally-grown apples at the market than to buy apples shipped to a big-chain grocery store from Washington State. The more local the apple, the smaller the carbon footprint left by long-distance transportation.

Before I met my husband Mike in a Baltimore bike lane in April 2022, I dreamed of meeting my partner at the 32nd Street Farmers Market. “I would rather someone buy me a pint of blueberries than a pint of beer,” I once wrote in my journal. While working at Farm to Face, I would get my hopes up talking to a cute customer, then see their partner stroll up with a baby carriage. It turns out that the market is also a good date spot.

From a slate of very well-qualified candidates, the 32nd Street Farmers Market recently elected four new community members and one vendor to join the ten-person all-volunteer Board; four persons on the Board were granted emeritus status. Newly elected Board members will serve two-year terms, which expire March 2027; they may run for office after a year.

In 1979, Dan Mendelson was a newly minted Johns Hopkins graduate and employee at Baltimore City’s Department of Housing and Community Development. He walked by the parking lot at the intersection of 33rd and Barclay Streets—labeled Waverly Lot by a ‘crappy sign’—and thought, “This could be a farmers market.”

In 2024, the 32nd Street Farmers Market continued to encourage and support its cadre of farmers, producers, and artisans who bring their finest products to the place customers call ‘Baltimore’s Best’!

As an undergrad, Julia Mair took a job at the 32nd Street Farmers Market selling lettuce, micro greens and pea shoots for Alluvion Aeroponics. “I needed something to do on the side and I love going to farmers markets,” she says. 

“You show up because they show up. If they show up, I show up.” Rain or shine, sweltering heat or below freezing, Merdalf has been playing his guitar at the 32nd Street Farmers Market for over thirteen years. Even on this rainy Saturday in March 2024, when shoppers are rushing to buy their groceries and spending less time lingering, he’s here—poncho, rain guitar, and his rainbow umbrella hat.

One Saturday the bean man wasn’t at the farmers’ market, he was always there every week, and I asked the woman who works with him, “Where is he?”