It all starts with the choice of grain, which is first a question of place and time."
-- Karen Hess, A Century of Change in the American Loaf
The Greenmarket Regional Grains Project is pioneering the new frontier in local food: grains. With our partners, we're building the marketplace for grains grown and milled in the northeast. We are educating and connecting growers, processors, bakers and chefs -- sparking a rise in demand for local grains while helping ensure the crop supply and processing infrastru cture are there to meet that demand. 
  
The evidence is clear: Regional grains have arrived. 

Upcoming Market Dates
The Grainstand is coming to Fort Greene Park! As part of the fall season's New York Beer & Spirits Pop Up, the Grainstand will kickoff four weeks at Fort Greene Park this Saturday. The retail stand also continues its weekly presence at  Union Square on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is our full schedule for October and early November:
Pre-ordered bulk bags are available at Union Square Greenmarket every Wednesday.     Check availability and pricing here.   To pre-order and for more information, please  e-mail  us.   Wholesale  orders of $250 or more can be delivered through  Greenmarket Co. ,  GrowNYC's wholesale distribution program. 
Event Highlight:
Union Square Cafe Makes a Cameo at the Grainstand
Einkorn and turkey red wheat levain from Union Square Cafe.
Come to the Grainstand at Union Square on Wednesday October 19 and sample some delicious bread made by the Union Square Cafe baking team. B etween 9 and 11 am the team will be handing out pieces of their sublime levain, pictured here, made with einkorn flour from the Grainstand.  

Beer & Spirits of NY Pop-Up 
Every Saturday at three Greenmarket locations you can still check out a powerhouse line-up of breweries, cideries and restaurants alongside the GrowNYC Grainstand, which will be selling many of the featured  grains and flours. Union Square will host Gun Hill Brewing Co., Tirado Distillery and Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria restaurant. Fort Greene is featuring Moustache Brewing Co.,  Prohibition Distillery and Samosa Shack. And Grand Army Plaza will be joined by Stone Bridge Cider, Threes Brewing, and  Rose's Restaurant. The  craft beverage extravaganza  runs through Nov. 19.  Find the full line-up here .  

Thanks to funding from Empire State Development, th e  pop-up will  a ppea r from now until Thanksgiving at these Saturday Greenmarkets:
Union Square and Grand Army Plaza:   Oct.  15, 22, & 29; Nov. 5, 12, & 19
Fort Greene Park:  Oct. 15, 22, & 29; Nov. 5

Cornell Cooperative Extension Grains Field Day:
On November 7 join Justin O'Dea from Cornell, Robert Perry from NOFA-NY and Artie Lapp from Hudson Valley Farm Hub for "Post Harvest Grain Management Considerations: Drying, Cleaning, Storage and Stored Grain IPM," from 1pm to 3pm. at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub in Hurley, NY.  Register Here.
Featured Product
Rye Flour, Pasta, Berries

Who would believe that rye, that flavor-packed grain so perfect for everything from brownies to pasta to bread, started as a weed nicknamed a "poverty crop" because it grows so easily in poor soil? First domesticated near modern day Turkey around 1500 BCE, the cereal hitched a ride to Europe as a contaminate in barley and wheat. Its status rose to vital crop when people discovered its hardiness.
 
Fast forward to modern day New York and rye has ascended to artisanal greatness. Long a wildly popular staple in northern Europe, rye is winning the hearts of chefs and bakers in the U.S. It has an assertive herby, sour flavor, and more starch that allows it shorter fermentation times in bread doughs. One hundred percent rye breads yield a dense, rich and moist crumb. Even better: add seeds like sunflower, flax, oats and millet. Or add just 20-30% of rye to boost flavor in country style loaves such as baguettes, ciabatta or miche.  Its sweetness readily appears to liven up our favorite fall and winter confections. Use it in 100% rye muffins (see the recipe below), gingerbread, cookies, scones, brownies, and more.
 
Millers and farmers love it too! Rye is a relatively soft grain as a result of its peculiar starch and protein arrangement. It is easily milled into a soft, light flour.  Unlike wheat, which contains starches that constrict after cooling yielding a firm texture, rye starches remain soft and pliable post-cooking and cooling.  Rye absorbs much more water than wheat, so a rye cracker is the perfect snack to fill you up.
 
Farmers love rye because as a winter grain it can be planted in the relative calm of late September and harvested weeks before the busy spring harvest. It beautifully resists the fungi and pests that attack wheat and barley. Livestock can graze on it in the fall without stopping viable heads from appearing at harvest. And its springtime canopy beats the weeds every time. 

A project called Broadway Brews, organized by the Happy Hour Guys, is pairing   NYC  breweries with Broadway shows and raising money for charity. Gun Hill Brewery and the Broadway show Hamilton have collaborated to brew a rye saision, and will be donating proceeds to "Graham Windham" which is the modern day "First private orphanage in  NYC ," which were originally founded by Alexander Hamilton's wife Eliza Hamilton. Th eir Rise Up Rye beer is b rewed with NY grown rye malts, and single hopped with NZ Wai-Iti hops. It has a soft fruity aroma with notes of clove and stone fruit flavors such as peach and apricot. Check out Gun Hill Brewery at the Beer & Spirits of New York Pop-up at Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday.  
 
Come by The Grainstand to pick up some rye flour or berries and dive in!
 
For more on rye:
 Rye Bread Project - Trine Hahnemann   

Recipe Highlights
Some fall recipes using regional grains and flours available now from the Grainstand...
The Greenmarket Regional Grains Project and the Grainstand are programs of GrowNYC, the sustainability resource for New Yorkers: providing free tools and services anyone can use in order to improve our City and environment. More gardens, Greenmarkets, more recycling, and education for all. 
Learn more at www.grownyc.org
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