Remember how carrots used to taste? Sharp, rich – carroty, frankly. They
looked different, too: gnarled and witchy, often Siamese or amusingly rude –
and always topped with the green shoots of a thousand home science projects.
Nowadays, they look like nuclear missiles and taste like potatoes.
Thank heavens for farmers’ markets. For many of us, visiting one of the
hundreds of local-produce markets that have opened up across the country in
the past decade is an act of rebellion against bland Frankenfoodery. For me,
it’s naked nostalgia – buying food that tastes as it should.
For that reason, the pleasure of shopping and cooking from a farmers’ market
seemed like an excellent addition to a break in the British countryside,
converting the selfcatering holiday option from a cost-cutting chore into a
restorative, wholesome treat.
To road-test the theory, we set off for Pembrokeshire, and a cottage within
striking distance of the award-laden market stalls of Haverfordwest. There,
on a Friday morning, the cheery riverside shopping precinct was given over
to produce from within 30 miles away, or your money back.
After starting gently, picking up some Welsh cakes for afternoon tea, I fell
into a frenzy. Benni Thomas’s Cig Lodor Farm turned out bacon steaks so
dense and flavoursome that applying ketchup would be a crime – so I got some
spicy green tomato chutney from Christine Evans, next door, and finalised
breakfast with a grab of six giant free-range eggs. Old-school carrots and
proper muddy potatoes went in the bag, too, from Tim and Julie Bodfish’s
place. Then there was sheep’s milk cheese to try and buy, and dinner from
Lucy at the Vicar’s Mill Trout Farm – the rainbow still gleaming on the
fresh-caught scales.
Finally, the crowning glory, worth crawling the length of the M4 on your
elbows for, was the chunkiest, most ruby-red Aberdeen Angus sirloin I’ve
ever seen – reared, loved and hung for an age at Penclippin Farm, on the
Carmarthenshire border.
Pembrokeshire was reliably lovely, all clifftop bluster and pub suntraps –
but it was what we dished up to eat each day that stuck in the memory. The
bacon was heroic, the trout a reprimand to every flavourless fish in the
freezer section; and there are dark, desperate crimes I would commit for
another one of those steaks. As for the carrots – they tasted,
magnificently, of carrots.
Details: the market takes place on alternate Fridays (Sept 14 and 28,
Oct 12 and 26, 9am-3pm; www.pembrokeshirefarmersmarkets.co.uk
). You’ll find most of the stallholders at Fishguard farmers’ market on
alternate Saturdays (Sept 8 and 22, Oct 6 and 20, 9am-2pm). For a home
delivery of priceless steak, contact Angus Meats Wales (01994 240987, www.angusmeatswales.co.uk
).
Where to stay: the Barn, at Scleddau, has two properties in the grounds
of an organic smallholding, with a lovely garden and country walks from the
door. A week at the smaller cottage (two people) starts at £250 in
September, through Coast & Country Cottages (01239 881397, www.welsh-cottages.co.uk
; weekend breaks available in many properties).
Five more market breaks
STROUD, Gloucestershire
Something of a national flagship, and largely responsible for turning this
once humble Cotswold town into a scarily fashionable address, Stroud
farmers’ market is now held every Saturday morning, bustling with up to 50
traders. Local-origin rules are strictly enforced, and the market’s website (www.fresh-n-local.co.uk
) has a generous selection of recipes you can prepare from the seasonal fare
on offer. Treat yourself to a traditional British celebration of sugar and
stodge from Peccadillo Puddings – after all, you’re in the centre of the
south Cotswolds, so can pedal or walk any calorific guilt away. Where to
stay: Westley Farm (01285 760262, www.westleyfarm.co.uk
), a 15-minute drive from Stroud, has five cottages spread over its bucolic
land, all with gorgeous views; they sleep from two (£115 for a weekend) to
eight (£205).
ORTON, Cumbria
Where the Lake District tails into the Dales stand the Howgill Fells, wild,
craggy and with cheeringly few visitors – perfect territory for the long
walks that will earn you a few indulgences at Orton farmers’ market (second
Saturday of the month, 9.30am-2.30pm; (www.ortonfarmers.co.uk
). This tiny village is in game country, so you’ll find pigeons, rabbits and
game birds for the pot at Austen Davies’s stall – and something to warm your
cockles at the renowned Weardale Soup Company. To show you how far this
whole foodie movement is progressing, the Cumbrian Fair Trade Cooperative
will also be there, for more exotic goods. Most of the stallholders also
crop up at Brough (third Saturdays) and Pooley Bridge (last Sundays until
winter). Where to stay: Meaburn Hill Farmhouse (£250 for three nights;
01931 715168, www.cumbria-bed-and-breakfast.co.uk
) has a lovely four-berth cottage with a dinner-friendly kitchen; the
hostess will provide a starter pack of local produce. Or try Orton Hall
(0151 482 5543, www.ortonhall.com ).
EDINBURGH
The 2007 Farmers’ Market of the Year is the Castle Terrace market, in the
shadow of Edinburgh castle. There are more than 70 stalls here every
Saturday until 2pm, and there’s a surfeit of quality grub. Local seafood is
always on offer, but it’s the meat that will really get the juices flowing.
Head to the Puddledub stall for a water-buffalo steak from Scotland’s only
commercial herd (half the fat of beef, and tasty with it) or try the
Fletchers of Auchtermuchty for their visionary venison. This being Scotland,
top-quality Angus beef is also on offer – the Well Hung & Tender
operation does exactly what it says on the stall. Where to stay: Edinburgh
Self Catering (01875 341490, www.edinburgh-selfcatering.co.uk
) has a tasty selection, including 6 St Giles Street, in a listed building
that overlooks the Royal Mile. It sleeps two (and two more on the sofa bed);
from £200 for the weekend.
FROME, Somerset
This county is probably the epicentre of the British food movement, with trout
farms and organic orchards around every bend, so it’s almost unfair to
single one out from the vibrant network of local markets that are now in
place. A gastronaut could gallop to Wells every Wednesday morning, hit
Axbridge on the first Saturday of the month, spend the second Saturday in
Keynsham, the third in Crewkerne, and the first Friday in Wincanton.
Perhaps the pick, though, is the 30-stall market in Frome, on second and
fourth Saturdays – not least because this compact town has so much else
going on, particularly in its vibrant arts and theatre scene. Local pig
farms are in fierce competition to turn out the finest sausages and bacon.
There’ll be a bonanza of apple juices, excellent Somerset cheeses and almost
always fresh trout (www.sfmdirect.co.uk/markets
). Where to stay: at the elegantly decorated Lazy Dog Cottage (01373
855275, www.lazydogcottage.co.uk), in the centre of town. The owners will
put local produce in the fridge for your first night, including the makings
of a full English breakfast. It sleeps two; £95 per night. Or try West
Country Cottages (01803 814000, www.
westcountrycottages.co.uk ).
WYE, Kent
Rather than just pottering around the garden of England, you can eat it: the
picturesque town of Wye hosts the oldest farmers’ market in Kent (first and
third Saturdays; www.wyefarmersmarket.co.uk
). Fruit and veg are the stars of the show here, but there’s also
good-quality game and livestock, and you’ll often find the Botterells stall
selling fish hauled in that very morning. Jays Fish, www.farmersmarkets.net meanwhile,
specialises in smoking, so pâtés and fillets abound. This is also
bee-keeping country (try the lavender honey).
If you want local produce cooked by a pro, eat one meal at the renowned Wife
of Bath in Wye (01233 812232; £50 a head, booking essential). Where to
stay: Mulberry Cottages (01233 813087, www.mulberrycottages.com), which
specialises in Kentish selfcatering, has Rose Cottage, a lovely two-person
bolt hole in the minute hamlet of Withersdane, near Wye. Weekend breaks
start at £140 in September or October.
...but what is a farmers’ market?
CERTIFIED farmers’ markets get their badge from Farma, the National Farmers’
Retail & Markets Association. To qualify, a market has to meet three
broad criteria. First, what’s for sale must be overwhelmingly local –
normally, it should come from within the same county, or from within a
radius of 30-50 miles of the market. Second,there’s a “no middleman”rule –
the guy selling you the steak should have reared the cow, and the lady
surrounded by jars of chutneys should have stirred them herself. Finally,
there’s an expectation of transparency – if you’re paying Portuguese schoolboys
tuppence a day to tend your steroid-bloated battery hens, then that’s
exactly what you have to write on the egg box.
I have to take objection to the comment from "Will , Bucks, England". I'm from Stroud and know many of the wonderful stall holders at the market. They ALL "actually rear and produce the products that they sell". I think Will is just used to being manipulated and lied to by the supermarket chains and prefers to tar the world with their brush.
Sarah, Stroud, Glos
We like to call these markets as "Farmers" markets, but to be honest, how many of the stallholders do actually rear and produce the products that they sell. Even most of the stall holders that do produce there own usually suplement their product range with cheap, bought in alternatives.
Will , Bucks, England