to market, to market

The Boy is at uni during the day both days this weekend so this morning I decided to take advantage of the combination of:

• the alarm going off at 7:30
• not having to go anywhere
• having the morning to myself
• to walk over to exhibition park and peruse the farmers market.

We had been through in a hurry last week, but I was keen to have a better look around myself - and there is certainly lots to look at! (and lots of people looking!) =)


The farmers market is just how it sounds - farmers from the region come with truckloads of fresh fruit and vegetable produce which they sell directly to the customer. Today I saw a guy who had giant squash (you know the little yellow ones) which were the same size as the minature pumpkins =)

Besides fruit and vege there's also a variety of plants (herb/vege/floral) for the garden, and all sorts of homemade preserves etc.
These chilli plants and herbs are all grown outdoors, rather in greenhouses, so that they're used to Canberra's sometimes plant unfriendly climate.

Then there's the bakers with all kinds of delish fresh bread, and a some local coffee
roasters with espresso machines so you can have a cup of coffee then, or take beans home for later, and the nut guy with garlic peanuts, vienna almonds (I love vienna almonds!) and maple pecans.

Speaking of sweets, the fudge people are there too =)
- all this time I thought I had to go all the way to the bus depot markets to get my hand on some of that sweet sweet lavender & macadamia fudge!

Along with stuff to take home there are also a couple of areas set up where you can sit down for a coffee and something to eat.

There's a guys who makes some kind of frozen banana thing - he freezer the bananas then squashes them or something and they come out like softserve icecream.
Apparently its really good (if you're into banana-ey stuff).

Someone else makes "stick-bikkies" - dutch stroopwafel, which are wafery waffley kind of biscuits filled with caramely syrupy goodness and are delish still warm.

There's also an african stall where they sell little savoury and sweet fried polenta cakes, and an asian stall where you can get black sticky rice or something wrapped in banana leaf (mmm very mysterious!).

My favourites are the pancake people - $5 gets you two enormous fluffy pancakes with a choice of topping (I chose the soup ladle of maple syrup!)

I did manage to fill up my hawks shopping bag with goodies to bring home (and it was definately a good idea to only take $25 with me! There's so much you could buy!), and pick up a couple of plants too =)

- french lavender (I have english and hidcote varieties on the balcony already), and
- chocolate mint - hey, with a name like that how could you not?! (And look at it with its octopus arms it looks so excited to have a new home!)

Inside the bag (oooh, its like being on Ready Steady Cook.
The real one though, on the BBC.
With Ainsley and Antony, and James and *sigh* Gino =))

Ummmm, ooh, yes in the bag.
I've got:

• marinated kalamata olives (I didn't know we did local olives, but there were a couple of stalls, selling olives as well as olive trees and oil),
• fudge (lavender & macadamia, jersey caramel and latte),
• tamari almonds (tamari sauce is kind of like soy, so these guys come out salty and a bit sweet or smoky or something),
• corn on the cob (I love fresh corn on the cob!),
• eggplant, and
• date paste. (yes date paste. stop sniggering. I'm talking to you, yes, you know who you are.)

This afternoon I've got footy cupcakes on the go - pics tomorrow, I hope =)

besos =)