New bit

[Andy Hamilton]

Another new bit inspired by new people Bec and Julian. They just mnoved here from Aus and did not know about the local farmers market in Islington. So what is on your doorstep, tell us all about it so that people like Bec and Julian won't be left in the dark again. Would be good to have a new topic for each Place so it is easier for people to navigate.

cheers

[Andy Hamilton]

Well lets get the ball rolling here. In Bath (UK) we have a farmers markets every Saturday, finishes at 2pm, it is occasionally on a wednesday too. We have a green grocers in the bus station that sells some locally produced food. As do the greengrocers on Bear flat (wellsway) and the Oldfield Park greengrocers (Moorland Road). And the greengrocer in Larkhall is very good for local produce.

Butchers - Town centre on Green street some organic meat. Weston village is the best place for organic meat though. Also try Larkhall butchers on the high street.

food co-ops on the London Road and in southdown (unsure of the address).

Harvester down Walcot Street is another good one for all organic produce and the only place I have found that sells live yeast.

Two pubs for organic booze, the Bell (walcot street) and the only place I have ever seen organic larger is The salamander on Trim Street.

Will post more as I recall it.

[angelbabe]

Well theres loads in Bristol and i know i'm not gonna be able to cover everything!!

I live in Montpelier which has been described as a 'New Puritan' area of the UK! we have an organic Bakery- Herberts, Radford Mill Organic Farm Shop (with juice bar!)...as well as an Italian Deli, huge corner shop, the Thali Restaurant (very cheap veggie curries and excellent take away service!) and the Sally Army charity shop!

Up the road is Gloucester Rd- here you'll find loads of great charity shops, Harvest Health Foods, Scoopaway (my most fav shop- cheap and no packaging- you just scoop what you want in to bags...they have everything from herbs, to pasta, to coffee, cereals, dried fruits.....), La Ruca- health food shop and cafe, more cafes, Bishopston Trade Company (fair trade clothes for adults and kids, toys, jewellry, fabric..)

then theres the Better Food Organic Supermarket in St Werburghs (sorry Better food peeps- i dont shop there- too expensive and missing that 'small friendly' feel that little health shops have- and i havent found their stock to be that great )

Clifton hosts Fresh and Wild- extremely expensive organic supermarket and cafe, Wild Oats-health food shop, Neals Yard Remedies..

there's a Farmers Market in the centre by St Nicholas Market every Wednesday.

ok, running out of ideas- but i'm sure any other Bristolians will be able to add more!!

[diver]

Hi, I live in Merseyside and there is an excellent farmers market in Liverpool City centre every alternate Saturday morning ( London Rd.)...it's quite big with organic butchers..can't say how good they are as I am veggie...lots of local produce...double yolk eggs are my fav, duck eggs and home made cakes, herbs, bread ..try it it's really good

[sunpuppy]

Near where I live (Thames Ditton in Surrey) there is a weekly Farmer's Market in Twickenham, on Saturdays 9-1pm. It's at the Holly Road car park, of King St. It has organic meat, vegetables, cheese, cakes (yum), preserves, pickles and honey.

In Kingston upon Thames, Food For Thought is a great health food shop - everything you'd expect, but with a wider choice than most health food shops. Can also recommend it for its extensive range of organic and natural beauty products.

[cheddarpaul]

Where we are in Somerset we are spoilt! We have farmers markets in Cheddar and Axbridge on 3rd Saturday and 1st Saturday respectively. We have an ace bakers in Winscombe (Birds), a good cheese supplier in Banwell (Ducketts), very nice cream and yoghurt from Mark (Rookery Farm), cider from Thatchers in Sandford (or West Croft in East Brent, or, Chestnut Farm in Edithmead, or, well, I could go on...). For a shops selling local produce there is Hartleys in Wells, or Alvis Bros on the A38 in Redhill (and Pitney Farm Shop in Pitney but I have yet to try them).
On top of all of these there are plenty of WI markets, etc selling really nice home made pickles, jams, etc.
I could go on (it is my mission in life to try as many local producers as possible), but then I would probably become boring (perish the thought).

Hope this is helpful to anyone living in Somerset and North Somerset.

[Lyds]

Hot news - at last, here in Dartmouth we are having a farmers market monthly. We have a market here on Tues (tiny) and Friday (large) in the old market place and Buttermarket. We really need it here as we have very few useful shops left, I always shop there on a Friday. Unfortunatly Dartmouth has lost the bulk of its real shops and is now THE PLACE for art galleries and high class everything else. The common man needs a good bakery, butcher, greengrocer and healthfood shop, which we still have, praise be. I always use my local shops though I have to go some distance for our clothes and shoes as all we have here are designer places which I would not buy even if I could afford it. We have a couple of good charity shops , though the Cancer Research shop does tend to price things rather high.

Totnes (15miles) is a jolly good place to shop esp on a Friday when they have an excellent market. The Common Loaf Bakery always have a stall there, has anyone tried their bread, it is excellent - see their website
www.commonloaf.com. Totnes also has an organic butcher and a couple of good healthfood shops.

[Mad Dad]

There is a farmers market every 2nd Saturday at the Historic Quay in Hartlepool. Its not big but most of the bases seem top be covered. Stalls include Organic veg, game, preserves, pottery, soap etc...

[ina]

I'm turning green with envy seeing all those opportunities you have! But then, "The South" has always been a bit more advanced in that respect...

Farmer's markets only happen once a month, if at all, in this region. The nearest ones to me are Aberdeen (well, that's a general market), about 30 miles away; equally far away is Forfar (every second Saturday) - organic meat, sometimes organic veg and eggs, non-organic just about everything, and my favourite - Cairn o'Mohr wines (yes, Scottish wines!); Stonehaven has just started a market, that's only 15 miles away. Oh yes, there's another one, in Banchory, about 20 miles, but unfortunately one very big hill between them and me, and my little car isn't really up to that much climbing...

There is a farm shop on the A90 (Fourdon), but only in summer, they sell their own strawberries and raspberries (non-organic) and local veg/eggs/other stuff. Not too far away (about 20 miles, in Muchalls) is at least one organic farm that grows veg, but their shop is never open when I pass; they (and a number of other farms in Aberdeenshire) run a box scheme.

My favourite shop and cafe is at the Camphill Community in Newton Dee/Aberdeen. They sell not only organic stuff, but all their fruit and veg is (some of it local); they bake phantastic bread and cakes, and have a very pleasant cafe (albeit very limited menu).

And the Third World Shop in the centre of Aberdeen (next to Starbucks! ) sells fair trade organic clothes plus coffee, tea etc.

It's all there, I just have to do a lot of travelling - or rather, I have to organise my trips so I avoid unnecessary miles. And I use mail order occasionally for the stuff I can't get here - organic wool, for example. There's an excellent place in Wales www.organicpurewool.co.uk. Sad, but true - loads of sheep around me, but wool is almost impossible to buy. Another reason to learn spinning.

Ina

[Maranne]

Hi Folks
I've been away for a few weeks so I am just catching up with what you all have been chatting about.
Here in Orkney we have a farmers market once a month (usually on the last Saturday but I think it may be more frequent now as I've seen a sign up for this weekend) held in Broad Street carpark Kirkwall.
Last time I went, there weren't a lot of stalls but some good organic veg, meat and fresh fish as well as other produce and craft goods. Not all the good stuff is in the "Sooth" Ina

Cheers
Martyn

[IrishAbroad]

We're lucky where we live. There's a farmers market every Wednesday in the village and every day is you are prepared to travel to the neighbouring villages.

Prices here are comparable to supermarket prices but there is of course a small premium for quality and freshness.

It's a shame England moved away so much from local trade to the convenience of the large supermarket chains.

The only think I found difficult here was the fact that most poultry is very fresh, and the farmer will quite happily do a little neck snapping while you wait Three years on and it still makes my stomach turn

[Millymollymandy]

I'm always hearing of people singing the praises of French markets. The ones round here are truly naff and the produce is v. expensive, the choice is poor and the quality is dreadful. Couple that with all the stalls selling nylon blouses, going to a market is not a treat!

I bought my chooks from a market and having seen the way they handle them/cram them in tiny cages, I'm just glad I was able to give 3 of them a good life.

[gunners71uk]

well dont forget the good old womens institute think its got a new name now get all sorts of nice stuff there thats at worksop 8.30 -11am slack walk , then the third sat of the month a farmers market at retford,dont forget fetes bazzars etc and little cottage industrys like on your markets ie home made pickles etc,

[CityBoyDreaming]

where i live we have a german market every few weeks (cheadle) and its very good, lots of nice meat and sausages, cheese and other nice treats. I ts also reasonably cheap compared to supermarkets. Thats all my area has im afraid because expensive clothes and ready meals seem to be more important,

oh dear

[ina]

A German market??? My goodness, that's the first time I've heard of it! Usually what they call an "international" market here is 99% French, with the odd token Belgain, Dutch, Spanish or German stall. OK, we did have a weekly market in Germany, but that was mostly more basic food, more like a farmer's market here.

If I ever get to Cheadle or thereabouts, I'll have to check that out! I wonder if it's anything like a German Christmas market at this time of the year? They tried that here, too, and I was bitterly disappointed. It was just the usual "international" (i.e. French) stuff, with a bit of Christmas decoration, and lots of loud music. Not at all Christmassy, despite the German guy selling mulled wine. He had to tell me not to walk away from the stall with it while drinking, because that isn't allowed in Britain.

Ina