Monday 19 March 2018

From the Farmers Market

Once a month, on a Sunday morning, a street in a nearby suburb is blocked off as local traffic makes way for the stalls of a farmers market. 

A local street is closed for a farmers market.

Up the street and back again takes you on a happy, crowded and mouth-watering stroll. There's fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables displayed on trestle tables; their vibrant colours so inviting. (I never feel this way about the fruit and veggies at the supermarket!)


Baskets of fresh Summer vegetables.
(No styrofoam trays and plastic wrap either!)

As well as fruit and veggies, there's nuts, cheeses, meats, breads, cakes, fudge, flowers, coffee and much more. 

Lots to choose from!

There's the wafts of delicious foods cooking as you pass by. Everything from fresh Turkish breads and spicy sausages to hot crepes and little poffertjes (little Dutch pancakes). Following one's nose at the market can often lead to all kinds of delicousness!


Little Dutch pancakes cooked while you wait.
(Soft, hot and drizzled with maple syrup ... Mmm!)

There's the farmers and producers themselves, standing behind their stalls or out in front offering samples of their amazing food. If you ask them, they'll tell you when, where and how it was grown or made, when it was picked or baked or bottled, why it tastes so good! The conversations to be had about food and produce, with the people who actually grew or made it, are one of my favourite things about the markets. It's how to find out where your food comes from and what's in it or on it! 


Tom grows apples in his orchard near Tenterfield (about 3 hours away)
 & his free samples were fresh, crisp and delicious!

And ... just as you go over the railway line to enter the market or just before you cross back to leave, there's a guy wearing a fluro high-vis vest. You can't miss him and for relatively few bucks he'll sell you a copy of The Big Issue with a "Gday!" and a smile. His presence reminds me that there are many in our community who fall on hard times (for whatever reason) and that abundance (in whatever form) can be shared to make someone's life that bit better. 


Lots of fresh food, and food for thought, from the markets.

In my market basket, along with my copy of The Big Issue, there was pumpkin from a farmer who also grows sunflowers too.  Two types of bananas from the grower who helped me choose some that are ripe now and some that will ripen over coming days. There's corn so sweet you can eat it raw on the cob and sweet potatoes sold at the stall that has the most beautiful classical music playing in the background. (I talked about pianos and guitars with that grower, not veggies this time:) Little new potatoes and lettuce and capsicum came home with me as my garden has none of these growing over the Summer. (Try as I might, I am rarely successful at growing capsicums!) An armful of Tom's crisp and crunchy apples made it into my basket too, his free samples were soooo good!

Do you buy some of your fresh produce at a market? If you do, what do you love about your market?

Meg



















20 comments:

  1. I love a Farmer's Market too Meg, and we are very fortunate in my area to have markets three times a week! (One Organic, the others not)

    I go irregularly, mostly because I can't get myself organised to menu plan and shop around when the markets are on, but I love it when I do get there.

    That produce looks so vibrant.

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    1. Oh, you are spoilt with markets three times a week! I used to go in to the city farm's organic markets every Sunday for a long time but it's more of a drive, it's gotten very crowded and parking is a nightmare. Now, I only go occasionally. The markets of this post are held monthly, much closer to home, and I write the dates in my calendar so I don't forget! Meg:)

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  2. I would rather buy from markets than the supermarkets, everything always looks much more appealing.

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    1. Me too, Marlene. I love the colours and smells of the markets. The produce always looks super fresh and the growers/producers are always keen to chat about what they've been growing. It's a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning! Meg:)

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  3. Our local market is a sad affair, the fruit and veg stall (there's only one) sell produce past their best, they buy cheap to sell cheap. We do have a very good plant man there, I but most of my plants from him, he often gives me a bunch of flowers for free. The rest are all clothes. How I envy your market.

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    1. It's a shame that your market isn't a place where you can buy some lovely fresh produce, Marlene. It's good that you can get plants there though. What a lovely gesture free flowers are. Lucky you! Meg:)

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  4. Farmer's Markets are where the mundane of shopping becomes an experience not to be missed. We're fortunate to have a wonderful Barossa Farmer's Market where I can purchase the things that we don't grow ourselves. I wish we had a Big Issue seller here though, as our nearest are all in the City. As well as the characters who sell the copies I really enjoy the mag.

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    1. It is such a different experience to pushing a trolley around supermarket aisles! It's colourful and bustling and noisy and delicious. I love chatting with the growers and will often bump into people I know too. Definitely not mundane! Meg:)

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  5. I love heading to the markets. I do, however, have to keep myself focussed or I end up coming home with two-three times the things I actually need (is that just me?)!
    Did you chat to Tom about your apple tree dreams? I'm envious of you being able to buy locally grown bananas - sadly I don't think I'll be realising that dream in Canberra.
    Enjoy the fresh produce.
    Cheers,
    Laura

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    1. I take a list with me, Laura, otherwise I too would come home with more in my basket than I intended (It's not just you!). I tend also to admire but not purchase the gourmet products like spiced nuts, incredible cupcakes etc. because I can make them here at home (Well, perhaps not intricately decorated cupcakes but I can do plain icing;) and they would really blow my market budget! Tom told me all about how he grows his apples, though not organically, he minimises sprays and digs waste back into his soils and doesn't wax his apples. I must remember to ask him what he knows about tropical apples. I know they are available through Daley's Fruit Tree Nursery. I think it's good to have an understanding of what will and won't grow in particular climates. With the whole range of fruit & veg at supermarkets, often year-round, it's easy to forget that constant availability comes at a cost and after long journeys from one part of the country to another. Meg:)

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  6. Meg, we have a Farmers Market each week which is great and there is one on a Sunday at the PCYC but I don't usually get there. It has been going for many years. When I go to Caloundra I always buy some of those Dutch pancakes at the Bulcock Street Market. It is my sugar hit of the year. LOL!

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    1. There is a weekly market not far from us here too, Chel, but I don't go because the quality of the fruit & veg isn't great. It's not a farmers market as such, more trash and treasure type stalls. I love Dutch pancakes and think they are a great choice for your yearly sugar treat! Meg:)

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  7. No Farmers Market here Meg, but there is a fruit and vegetable shop that only sells local produce so that's were I shop.

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    1. That's a great place to buy your fruit and veg from, Jan. Lucky you! Meg:)

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  8. I love going to Farmers Markets and haven't been to those ones in a few years. Our local one in our suburb that our community initiated lasted for 3 years and sadly just closed down. Some of the stall holders are now at another local Sunday market which I might try. As we usually had football on a Sunday morning for 6 months of the year we don't really get to them very often. The Saturday Kelvin Grove markets are excellent and you can get parking for $5. My order of seed potatoes from Green Harvest is on it's way so hoping to get some potatoes planted this year. We grew some about 5 years ago and the kids had fun digging around for them.

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    1. I was just thinking that I need to get some seed potatoes too, Kathy. Green Harvest has a great shop/garden up in Maleny and I don't need much of an excuse to go visit! Meg:)

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  9. We have a weekly market and I volunteer at the church stall once a month, so pick up some things then. I dont always make it to the markets on the other Saturdays though.

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    1. It's great that you have a weekly market that's nearby so that you can go along if it fits in with the other things you are doing. I'd love it if this market were on a little more often. Meg:)

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  10. I love Farmers Markets, but don't have one nearby. The one I like to go is about 45 minutes away, so I don't go often.

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    1. It's a shame you don't have a market nearby, Nil. I used to drive in to the city each Sunday to go to the markets at the city farm but I haven't done that for a long time now. Meg:)

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