To market, to market

Do you visit Farmers Markets? There are several fairly close to me, and a few more further afield.My favourite at the moment is the Parnell Farmers Market, held every Saturday morning from 8-12pm in the car park of the Jubilee Building at 545 Parnell Road. I like the mixture of fresh produce, cheese, bread and fish, you can stock up for a whole meal in one hit, which is always satisfying. The other thing I really enjoy about visiting a market is the seasonality of the produce, if it isn't growing right now, you aren't going to eat it, simple as that.

But what is available will be very fresh (it may well have been picked that morning, early!), and could be something you have not cooked or eaten before. My current devotion to both celeriac and Jerusalem artichoke is a direct result of seeing them at the market, reasonably priced and so fresh they pretty much jumped in my capacious Kikki K shopper (pristine white on it's first jaunt out, now a slightly dingy cream I don't dare wash in case I end up with a handbag.....) Stalls may vary slightly week on week, but it is generally always possible to get lovely fresh eggs, a decent selection of different cheese, interesting bread (the kumara bread from Pukeko bakery is top with soup)........are you hungry yet?

You can wander if you wish, or do a determined whirl through, stopping long enough to grab a coffee to keep you going if needs be. There is also an Eftpos cash out facility which really is clever, I never remember to take enough cash.......

Unfortunately the market is not covered, so it can be a quick dash in bad weather, but I think it is important to support these kind of ventures (use it or lose it as they say....) which support local growers and producers, and give us as consumers quality and choice......and a good reason to haul myself out of bed on a Saturday morning.