I was expecting to see more fresh produce, but I must have gotten there a bit late (11am?). A lot of the produce stalls were nearly empty when I got there!
It was pretty packed and I had to circle around a couple times to find a good spot. Next time (when I am not so pressed for time!) I'll make an effort to walk or skytrain down.
Blue Comet stocked some smoked salmon products, while Geldermanfarms offered farm-fresh pork and pork products.
To round out the meat spectrum, Jay Springs Lamb had different cuts of lamb available for purchase, as well as something extra - yarn! There were lots and *lots* of beautiful shades of yarn at their stall, I only wished that I had brought more money so that I could stock up on some hand-dyed yarn! What was also nice was that it was quite reasonably priced - hand-dyed, variety of weights, variety of colours. I love it!
In the middle of the aisle a band was playing. I guess there were of the funky folk genre? They called themselves Blackberry Wood. I *love* that they had a trumpet player (who also was the lead singer) as well as an accordian player. :)
I wound up buying a whole bag of mushrooms from the Richmond Specialty Mushroom Farms stall and was quite enamoured with the bright beautiful packaging at Kalley Kandy. They sell one product - fresh nougat that is made in Vancouver and let me tell you, they are quite delicious! I shared some with my mother, hairdresser, and hairdressers' assistant, and they all asked me where I got them. It goes to show that fresh is better. :)
There were six pieces in a bag and each bag was $5 for one, or $9 for two. Kalley took the care to toast the almonds, so they were a nice crunchy contrast to the soft and tender nougat.
As I wasn't going home after the farmers market, I didn't pick up any leafy vegetables (as they'd probably wilt away to nothing by the end of the day). I'll have to make an effort to get to the Celyddon stall next time as the line up was enormous - I think it stretched to four stalls long at one point!
The most unique stalls went to Don Aspirin, for his beautiful presentation, cutting, and cheese boards, and the lady at the south end of the market with her antique, one-of-a-kind repurposed windchimes. The only problem if I ever bought one of the cutting boards would be that I wouldn't have the heart to really use them - they are that beautiful!
Afterwards I wound up at Whole Foods on Cambie. They had a vendors market, featuring some local entrepreneurs and their products. What impressed me though, was that Whole Foods had engineered some "green" aspects to their building design. The outside of the building had plants "tiled" along the exterior. Love it.
Here's to a local, green, long weekend. Have a good one!
The Trout Lake Farmers Market runs on Saturdays from 10am - 2pm at the Trout Lake parking lot at Victoria Drive & 15 Avenue. Every Saturday until October 10th!
More photos at my flickr photoset.
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