Farmers' Market
By Kerry Rankine
This is one of the best times of the year for seasonal food at the farmers’ market. The supermarket world of perpetual summer might look good on adverts, but strawberries flown in from half way round the world in January can’t compare with locally grown strawberries and raspberries in June, July and August. We also have traditional culinary fruits such as plums, greengages, damsons, blackcurrants, gooseberries and redcurrants from Marina O’Connell and Alison Bond who have organic smallholdings in Manningtree, Essex. On the vegetable side, there are lots of different varieties of tomatoes, runner beans, peppers, baby beetroot, lettuces – purple, frilly, oakleaf, Cos,yellow and green courgettes, new season spinach and carrots with their tops on…
 Summer meals are not just about fruit and vegetables: for the traditionalists, Stocks Farm cut meat to order as well as making the finest black puddings this side of Wetherby (the bureaucratic nightmare the farm has had to go through to be allowed to make their own black pudding would make your own blood run cold!).They also sell lamb kebabs, pork sausages etc, all ready to chuck on the barbie. All the produce at the market comes from small organic farms within 129 miles of Hackney.
If you are stuck for cooking ideas, we have a new cookery demonstration stall at the market every week from the Concord School of Cookery. Their chef cooks a meal from scratch every week using fresh ingredients from the market –he hasn’t done anything using black pudding yet, but we live in hope!
 The Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market, every Saturday 10am-2.30pm, William Patten School playground, Stoke Newington Church Street.
www.growingcommunities.org for more details or call 0207 5027588
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