Shopping at Farmers Markets has been a revelation for me. It's enjoyable, relaxing, exciting, fun and inspiring. It makes me want to be a better person - to buy sustainable, local and ethical produce. I'm not satisfied until my enviro-bags are near full to bursting. I look forward to exploring the various markets around Sydney, ear-bashing the stall holders about how great I think their produce is (and vice versa). You couldn't pay me enough me to miss an outing to a farmers market.
My recent dog/house-sitting stint in the inner-west meant I was a 5 minute drive to the Sunday markets at Marrickville. Even though I wasn't doing much cooking during my inner-west holiday (why cook when King Street is only up the road) I couldn't resit visiting the Marrickville Organic Markets and stocking up on a few goodies...and a coffee to kickstart the morning.
There is LOADS of fresh produce available - I picked up a good sized bag of mandarins for $5. There are quite a few stalls selling great sourdough bread (which would go well with my tinned soup during my "bachelor-ette month").
Truffle season has just begun when I visited and the "truffle dealer" was attracting quite a bit of attention. Sniffs of the truffles were free, but anything more than that would cost you.
The mushrooms looked very tempting (same people selling here as at Castle Hill Markets) but in the end I walked away with some Smoked Salmon Pappardelle and an Olive and Mushroom Pasta Sauce which set me back $10 and will last for two dinners - again, excellent bachelor-ette food.
I was pleased to see a good offering of pasture-raised eggs as well as a butcher or two with pasture raised meat...though my favourite market Free Range Butcher didn't seem to have a stall.
The Marrickville Markets feel a lot more relaxed and alternative to say, the spiffy Eveleigh Market which comes across as a lot more polish and chic with its fabulous under-cover area. Ever second person has a dog along for the shopping trip (something that most other markets don't allow). These markets feel "more organic"...more earthy. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was shopping in Armidale or Lismore and not just 5ks from the Sydney CBD.
The Marrickville Organic Market is on every Sunday between 9am and 2pm at The Addison Road Centre - 142 Addison Road, Marrickville.
