Brooklyn Flea

We're thrilled to be included among Country Living's best antiques shows in the U.S. roundup, which features everything from mammoth Brimfield and Alameda to the World's Longest Yard Sale in Gadsden, Alabama, and the Sparks Flea Market in a Kansas town with a population of 9. The Flea is one of a handful of weekly markets, so we're humbled to be the new kid in a roomful of grandpas.
Coming this Saturday? Don't miss wiley Carter Anderson (booth W1), who claims to have the mother lode of garden/outdoor furniture on tap for this weekend.

What: Blue glass pieces salvaged from a former Ball Jar factory.
Who: Lovely Val of Kings County Salvage.
From: When they opened the kiln that created the old-timey blue-glass Ball Jars (Val has those too), there were 100 tons of residual glass which was carved out and finished with a torch, just for you to place on your mantel/shelf/window sill.
How much: $9/lb.
What else: Industrial, institutional, and farm-salvaged furniture and oddities, including a recent acquisition of hundreds of oversize blue and white letters—go ahead, spell your name out across your living room wall! Those are a big hit.
When+Where: Saturdays in Fort Greene in the "Sand Pit."

For that good kinda fat...

What: Betsy and Rachel of Salvatore Bklyn's Sicilian Co-op Extra Virgin Olive Oil, imported by the ricotta gals themselves. A beautiful green and fresh-tasting everyday olive oil.
Perfect for: Everything! But especially when the gals top their lil' sliced-to-order off-the-leg prosciutto, arugula, and ricotta sammies, which Betsy and Rachel dole out every Saturday in Fort Greene for three bucks. (Best Flea food deal?)
How much: $18 for 750ml (wine bottle-size); $16 for a refill from their big "fusto" aluminum dispenser (above).
What else: Cannolis! Crafted from their legendary handmade, small-batch ricotta; the milk comes from Hudson Valley Fresh, a cooperative of 8 upstate family-run farms.
Where: Every Saturday in Fort Greene in E1 (check the vendor layout), including this weekend. Or online at salvatorebklyn.com.

Fleaster Help Request: Do you live outside NYC and love the Flea? We're working on a project and would love your help compiling testimonials about how you heard about the Flea, where you live, and what you like about the markets. You can post in the comments section or send us an email. Two to three sentences is all we need, short and sweet. Thanks in advance for helping the Flea!

Vintage, furniture, crafts, food—add plants, flowers, and edibles to your Flea shopping list this weekend Saturday. Our first big spring event features a new partnership with the Greenmarket (aka GrowNYC), which has chosen the Flea as the Brooklyn location for its annual five-borough plant sale. We're tickled pink, like a lily.
Look for the Greenmarket vendors—or the riot of color—outside the Lafayette entrance to the Saturday Fort Greene Flea, and on Sunday in the back parking lot of One Hanson with the food vendors. Annuals, bulbs, herbs, perennials, vegetable starters, you name it. This is a onetime thing, so don't miss it! (Saturday farmers: Wilklow Orchards (upstate NY) and Alex's Farm (South Jersey); Sunday: Hodgson Farm (upstate NY).)
Not a onetime thing, however, is the return of Groundworks, the southern Brooklyn gardening and landscaping team of Alice and Carmen who have been greening Fleasters' homes since we started. In addition to bringing heirloom tomatoes, herbs, and window-box planters, to celebrate their return to the Flea on Saturday (booth B9, right up front) Groundworks is raffling off a couple of fun prizes: 2 tickets to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and 1 "super-mod/retro planter." Sign up for their mailing list and you'll have a chance to win.

Your design skills are in my marinara! Davey Dave and the Pizza Moto crew are ramping up for two Fleas a week plus a SummerStage booth, and like a good small business they're working on a new visual identity. You love their wood-fired 'za, why not help create their logo?
Here are some basic specs from your potential client:
No existing brand to speak of, except a basic-info website.
Seeking a single-color logo for use at their Flea/SummerStage/etc. booth, and for T-shirts, stencils, and print marketing materials.
Not so into: flames, pics of pizza, kitschy re-use of pizzeria cartoons.
More into: road trips, motorcycles, photography, Europe/Italy, clever use of text and type.
It won't be long before Pizza Moto is a household brand name, so jump onboard now and get famous with them. If you're interested, just email pizzamotobklyn@gmail.com, or stop by their Flea booth to present an elevator pitch. Molto bene!

Forecasts are so lame! Flea fought off the clouds all weekend, good days were had by all, including Hunters of course.
From left (click to enlarge):
1. Kersten and Nate (left) are regulars who live on the corner on Vanderbilt, finally came early enough to win the Hunt and score the vintage mirror with an eagle on it. They have no idea what to do with it yet, but if they just look long and hard in the mirror....
Hiro (second from right) and his cohort Iku are called Ivory, and their Americana plucked with a Japanese eye is unparalleled at the Flea: flannel, denim, belts and buckles, flags (a giant one drapes from their mezzanine booth at One Hanson), wooden racks, and more. Hiro is a serious collector who caters to the keen eye, so if you're game, he's your playa. V9 in Fort Greene, #72 at One Hanson (mezzanine), weekly.
2. Kenny (right) lives on the Lower East Side, runs a graphic-design studio called Coffee Cup Design. He says we're the best flea market in the city, so we now like him. He found the cute 1980 cartoon/character map of our fair city at Lon Black's postcards and ephemera booth, which is always engaging, meticulously organized (by site, topic, etc.), and friendly. At One Hanson, Lon (who's also a cat massage therapist, and an excellent one at that) also has cool city maps and posters that catch your eye upon entering the center aisle. He's also got this funny new Tumblr called Bad Postcards that features a different postcard every day. A hoot! L9 in Fort Greene, #28 at One Hanson, weekly.

Even with a threat of rain than never showed, the shoppers flocked for the deals, steals, and meals. Check out our lovelies.

Coupla cool vintage items for the Hunt, for serious Scavengers. Enjoy!
Note: The Fort Greene outdoor market happens every Saturday; One Hanson is on Sundays only—indoors and outdoors. Both 10am-5pm.
When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.
From left (click to enlarge):
1. Saturday: Wall mirror with eagle detail on red fabric. Vintage
2. Sunday: 1980 New York City character map showing major landmarks including World Trade Center. Vintage

You may or may not have noticed the tables at the Lafayette entrance every week, but these are friends from the neighborhood who generate awareness for their worthy community-oriented projects. Sometimes they even raise a few bucks for their good cause. And the Flea gets to feel like a good neighbor.
Last weekend the Fort Greene Park Conservancy raised $1200 and garnered dozens of new members at its Flea table. The Brownsville Collegiate Charter School's 5th/6th grade crafts class sold its creations—and learned about business—at a free booth inside the market. And the Fort Greene House Tour sold lots of tickets to its upcoming 30th anniversary extravaganza on May 2 (of which the Flea and Brownstoner are proud sponsors).
This weekend, there's more. Next weekend and the weekend after too. Stay tuned to the blog and our Facebook page to see who we're friending that week.
This Saturday, bloggers across America are donning aprons for a good cause: Proceeds from the first-ever National Food Bloggers Bake Sale will go to Share Our Strength, which combats childhood hunger in America. At the Flea a rotating cast of 40+(!) food bloggers—including Amy Cao (Midtown Lunch) and Robyn Lee (Girl Who Ate Everything, Serious Eats)—will be selling tartlets, port-ganache glazed brownies, chocolate marshmallows, candied-bacon maple cream cheese macarons, and more. They'll be in the foodies section.
Also this Saturday, local brownstone contractors Perfect Renovation are turning their Flea booth into the "Art of Recycling" mosaic-art workshop (above right), using remnant tiles from their jobs. They'll have assistants and materials on-hand for kids ages 4-11 (or thereabouts) to make mosaics and collages, in booth B7. You can also snag deeply discounted tiles for your next home improvement or garden project. All proceeds support mural mosaic artist Juan Carlos Pinto. Super-cool!
Next weekend, April 24+25, the Greenmarket will hold its Brooklyn plant/flower/herb sale at both Fleas: at the Fort Greene Lafayette entrance, and in the One Hanson back parking lot. More on that soon.
Saturday, May 1, the folks at PS 20 (Clermont btw. Dekalb + Willoughby) are holding their annual "Spring Fling," and they're looking for vendors if you're interested (above left). Fling and Flea, flabbergasting.