Wyck Home Farm Market, Philadelphia, Penn.

May to November, 2014

Wyck Farm in Philadelphia on Nov. 7, 2014

Wyck Farm on Nov. 7, 2014

[wpcol_2third id=”” class=”” style=””] The Wyck Home Farm’s weekly market is one of Philadelphia’s hidden treasures. Open for four hours every Friday afternoon from May into November on the sidewalk on cobblestoned Germantown Avenue, it is an outlet for produce grown on the lot just over the fence, where a farm was first established more than 300 years ago. The farmhouse on the site, the oldest portions of which date to the early 1700s, is a national historic landmark. The property is now managed by a nonprofit that offers educational programs related to food production, gardening and local history. The working farm is part of that mission.

I am lucky to live a 10-minute walk from Wyck Farm and have been a regular visitor through the summer. The produce is about as low-carbon-footprint as it gets, given that it was hand-carried less than 100 yards from field to market table. One of the big bonuses of shopping at this market is that you can take a self-guided tour of the little farm and can see for yourself where your food came from.  The farm’s manager, Katie Brownell, will gladly answer any of your questions about the crops.

Katie Brownell

Katie Brownell

The produce ranks with the best I’ve found at the best farmers markets in the country that I’ve visited over the years. And it is sold at a Germantown-appropriate price, in other words, at least 50 percent cheaper than the best produce at the tonier Headhouse Farmers Market in the Society Hill neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia.

You’d better arrive as soon after the 2 p.m. opening as possible. Quantities are limited, and only a limited selection of produce is offered each week. This is not the sort of market where you can expect to find whatever you’re looking for. But whatever is available is well worth it, in my experience. And if you get to the market early, you may find something you’ve never seen before, which is quite a feat for a market this small. Katie is constantly experimenting with new crops and varieties, and she occasionally supplements produce from Wyck Farm with edible delicacies that she has foraged nearby. In June, for instance, she had juneberries that she found on bushes growing somewhere in the neighborhood. Alas, on the several days when she had a small stock of juneberries for sale, they were all gone by the time I arrived. I was luckier with the pawpaws that Katie offered for sale in October. They, too, were foraged from a tree in nearby Mt. Airy, the precise location of which she declined to reveal. I got to the market on Oct. 3 in time to buy the last two she had for sale that day.

– Mark Thompson

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Location:
6026 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
2 p.m. to 6 p.m.,
May into November (5 p.m. in Nov.)

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Selected Purchases in 2014

11-07-14 peppersyellow zucchini and peppers (Nov. 7)
Price: $4/lb. for peppers $1.50/lb. for yellow zucchini


wyck produce 10-03-14 agiant collard greens (Oct. 3)

 


paw paw from mt airypaw paws (Oct. 3)
Price: $10/lb.

 


11-07-14 brazilian broccoliPiracicaba Broccoli (Nov. 7)
Price: $2/bunch


11-07-14 braising mixbraising mix (Nov. 7)
Price: $2/bunch


11-07-14 beets and radishesbeets and radishes
Price: $2/bunch

 


07-11-14 gooseberriesgooseberries (July 11)


pawpaw on the wissahickon Oct 3 2014

Paw paw purchased at the market on Oct. 3,
photographed along nearby Wissahickon Creek

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