Saturday, July 10, 2010

Christchurch Farmers Market

Every Saturday morning, without fail, Paddy and I can be found at the Christchurch Farmers Market. With the exception of that I grow myself or get from generous friends, I buy all of our produce and eggs from here. We eat very little meat in our house but are looking to start purchasing this from here as well. I love knowing I am supporting local businesses, with the added bonus of most of the produce being either certified organic, or at least spray-free, and freshly picked that morning. And on top of all of that, it is no more expensive than going to a supermarket. I highly recommend everyone hunts out their local farmers market and pays it a visit!

Aside from good coffee (my one a week), gorgeous, fresh, local produce and friendly stall-holders, the whole vibe of the place is great. It is always chock full of kids and dogs and people pleased it's finally the weekend!

There is always live music as well, and this morning, much to our delight, our favourite was there! Craig Smith is a very talented musician, and was the sunshine to my already wonderful morning. I highly recommend his CDs, and especially his children's one.

The Wonky Donkey Song is without a doubt, my favourite children's song. New Zealand obviously agreed, as it won the Apra Children's Song of the Year in 2008. Another great thing about Craig is all his CDs are packaged in recycled materials, AND he gives a proportion of his earnings from CD sales to various community organisations such as kindergartens and Women's Refuge. What a great guy!

Here is my haul from the market this morning.

Curly kale (organic), two pumpkins, a leek (organic) and a dozen free-range eggs.

Smaller than usual as we still have some left over produce from last week due to a lovely two days away in Wellington. It is slightly frustrating for me to be buying kale as I have four plants of it in my garden! However, they are spindly wee fellows and if I tried to pick their leaves, there would be nothing left of them! Hopefully they will take away in early spring and see me through summer. I can't get enough of kale! I like it roasted, steamed or sauteed mostly, but I'm sure there are many other delicious ways to have it. Does anyone have any great kale recipes they wouldn't mind sharing with me?

It is the last weekend of my university holidays so I have lots of tidying of a very neglected desk to do, as well as some cooking and baking. A ton of silverbeet from some friends will become Hunza Pie and I have a new (secondhand, but new to me) bread book that I am very excited to make something from, in addition to my standard weekend loaf of sourdough. Carbo-loading anyone?!

What are you up to for the weekend?

6 comments:

  1. Farmers Markets are ace! I checked out your link and the Christchurch one looks really awesome. Our Feilding market is growing steadily - it already has everything we need but it's nice to see more stalls. We have the roasted nut guy this winter. Mmmmmm hot roasted chestnuts...

    The Wonky Donkey is where it's at. I have a groove/sing along every time they play it at Soph's kindy.

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  2. Tee hee just had a chuckle - the world verification for my last comment was "wingual". That's funny right? Tell me I'm on the right path here, you know, speech therapy...

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  3. Hahaha I love it! 'Wingual'... maybe I'll get my next articulation client to say that. If so, I'll record it just for your entertainment.
    I just had conniptions of excitement when I saw I had so many comments on my wee baby blog, you brighten my day :)

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  4. I heart leeks so much!!! I made leek and potato soup last night and I am so excited to be eating it for my lunch today.

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  5. I love Farmers Markets. Love them, love them love them. And if I had gone to the Christchurch ones while I was there, I'm sure I would have loved them too. Such a beautiful city, I could easily live there.

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  6. Hey Amy - it's Sam. Saw your blog link on FB and had a good read. Love it :) I wish I had a garden! Just a question.. I see Kale EVERYWHERE in London and I don't know how to eat it, but I want to. 1) what does it taste like and 2) how do you cook it? x

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