The Farmers Market (and Other Such Gems)

A Favourite Place of Mine. And one not everyone seems to have as yet discovered. I am very lucky to have, in the small town in which I live, a farmers market once a month. It is unfortunately on the third Wednesday of every month which falls just before pay day, so I don't tend to have much money then. But some may see that as a blessing.

Anyway, I am concerned about the farmers market. When it first started out some four or five years ago, you couldn't get in the town car park first thing in a morning on the day of the market. When my daughter was at nursery, which is next to the town centre, I always knew it was Farmers Market Day by how packed the car park was. But now, it's not the same. I'm not sure whether the ensuing credit crunch has formed the down turn, or whether it has anything to do with the fact that Woodley Town Council have also now started up a regular farmers market on a Saturday as well. The Saturday market though is a bit of a mish mash, and certainly not much to do with farmers. There are some jewellery stalls, a lady selling hand made cards, another lady selling 'decorate your own ceramic plates' and a stall selling joss sticks and semi precious stones for ridiculously inflated prices. Not impressed.

So back to Wednesdays. The REAL Farmers Market is great. There are stalls from farms all around the area, specialising in all kinds of things. My favourite stall is Eadles, a free range pork farm, who also rear free range chickens. Their prices have risen a little over the past couple of years, but they are having a tough time of it themselves, and even so, still a great price. At Eadles I buy two large whole chickens for £12, and two packs of four (large) chicken breasts also for £12. Two packs of four big pork steaks for around £9, a couple of packs of fat sausages for £5, (loads of different flavours to choose from, so little fat in them you actually HAVE to fry them or put them in the oven) and to top it all, a gammon joint for a FIVER. The chickens, chicken breasts and sausages are packed by weight, but if you buy two of each they sell them at a set price, so I always rummage around for the heaviest to get the best deal. One time I came to the farmers market and Eadles weren't there, I still haven't forgiven them. Apart from fish products, and red meat, this our meat for the month. It will all go in the freezer, and will be brought out and defrosted whenever needed. Apart from the gammon joint. I get home and pull out a big pot. Unwrap the joint and chuck it in. In the fridge I find a couple of carrots and an onion which I sling in as well, then in the herb drawer I find a couple of bay leaves. I haven't got any celery this time so I stick in cloves instead as it's getting wintry. Cover the lot with water and then bring to the boil, turn it down and let it simmer for a couple of hours. Drain, cool, and I now have ham. My family consumes ham like its made out of gold. Most of the stuff you get prepacked in the supermarkets has so much water and chemicals in it, it doesn't even resemble meat any more. Let me ask you, when was the last time you saw a square pig? When I run out and need some quick, I go to the Deli counter. It's good quality ham that actually looks like it may have been near a pig at some point in it's life, but, because it's not hermetically sealed in plastic, it costs a great deal less. BUT still a great deal more than doing it yourself. Home cooked ham though tastes great, and made with fresh free range gammon, there is nothing better. At Christmas I make a massive ham which is cooked in (wait for it)... coke. It's called 'white trash ham' as it is from the Deep South, where apparently they put coke in everything. It may sound disgusting, but don't knock it till you've tried it. Don't use diet though (urgh) it has to be full fat coke. Use that instead of water and just put a couple of onions in as well. When it comes out it's amazing. Tastes all sweet and smoky. The sugar in the coke breaks down the fibres in the meat, so it literally falls apart in your mouth.

Back to the farmers market! After dragging my body weight in meat back to the car I make my way back to the market and have browse around the rest of the stalls. There is a lovely lady that sells plants she grew herself, all kinds vegetable, herbal, and ornamental. I have a look and if something catches my eye (it usually does) I may come back later if I have a couple of pounds left. The goats cheese man catches my eye too. Three hundred million types, flavours, colours and strengths of goats cheese. I never used to like goats cheese, but now I love it. And, it's half the fat of normal cheese, so you can eat twice as much. I buy a couple of wraps and hope to squirrel them away at the back of the fridge so Alex can't eat them. Two vegetable stalls vie for your attention. One is the local pick your own farm where we take the kids in the summer, another is larger and quite frankly cheaper. I head there. Five kilos of potatoes and two kilos of onions later, for pence, drag them back to the car, and back to the market again. I need a trolley. The potatoes most likely will end up as mash (the kids favourite) and the onions will because onion marmalade to make as Christmas gifts. I buy some interesting beef sausages for Alex and myself, as a treat and then head to the egg stall, where you can buy free range chicken, duck and goose eggs. I buy a tray of 30 misshapes for £3. (in supermarkets free range eggs are getting towards two quid for 6) There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, just the British public seem to think as with everything that grows, if it isn't perfectly uniform and smooth, then there must be SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT. Not so. My misshapen eggs are a source of amusement to the kids. Long eggs, round eggs, lumpy eggs, white eggs, thick shells, thin shells, ridged shells, but inside, they all taste the same. Great. We will make eggy (hard boiled or fried) sandwiches, quiches which will go in the freezer, omelettes, carbonara sauce, and a staple favourite of childhood, boiled egg and soldiers for breakfast.

The Farmers Market is a mecca of cheapness and quality. If it ever leaves my little town I will weep. We already lost the organic market (once a fortnight in the Oakwood Centre) where you could buy loose cereals, grains, nuts, dried fruit, pulses, pasta, oils, as well as eco friendly washing products. You took your own storage, filled it up weighed it and paid. It was so cheap. But no-one ever went. So it closed down. If the Farmers market goes the same way, it will be very sad. This is supposed to be an affluent area. You would think that the kudos of shopping at the Farmers Market would be enough for those with more money than sense, but it appears that we would rather have our kudos without added mud, so they stick to Waitrose. Sad.