Market manager Kardien Gerbrands talks about Swindon farmers' markets

LET’S hear it for the humble baked potato.

It’s a funny thing with potatoes when you are a local-aholic seasonal veg eater.

When the summer starts those old winter potatoes have somehow lost their allure and the hankering for new potatoes starts.

Similarly this recent spell of chilly weather brought the memory of the delights of a baked potato back to me.

I never eat one at a café or take away so it really was about six months since I last had one.

In an instant my shopping for potatoes habit has changed from looking for small new ones to massive gert big’uns.

I like to coat them in olive oil and put them in the oven for a good hour and a half — this has the double benefit of giving one time to relax while also feeling quite righteous about the fact that “the dinner is on” (and of course the oil gives them a crispy skin).

Obviously baked beans are part of the embellishments and I don’t find them at the market but red cabbage and carrot coleslaw, free range egg mayo and grated cheddar form the framework for the full enjoyment of the potato.

Freshly dug potatoes have a great flavour and boast high vitamin C levels and protein amongst their good bits.

Potatoes are available at the Swindon Designer Outlet every Sunday from 10am until 4pm from Styan’s Family Produce and Paget’s Produce, from whom you can buy loose potatoes or 5kg and 25kg bags. Come and stock up!

Markets

  • Bradford on Avon, third Thursday, 9am to 1pm at Westbury Gardens, BA15 1DE.
  •  Bradford on Avon, last Sunday, 10.30am to 2.30pm at Lamb Yard, BA15 1FG.
  •  Calne, second Saturday, 9am to 1pm, near the library, SN11 0JU.
  •  Corsham, third Saturday, 9am to 1pm, High Street SN13 0HB.
  •  Devizes, first Saturday, 9am to 1pm, Market Place l Malmesbury, second and fourth Saturdays, 9am to 1pm, Market Cross 
  •  Royal Wootton Bassett, fourth Saturday, 9am to 1pm, High Street.
  •  Salisbury, weekly on Wednesdays, 9am to 2pm, Poultry Cross.
  •  Swindon Farmers’ Market, every Sunday, 10am to 4pm, Swindon Designer Outlet, Kemble Drive, SN2 2DY.
  •   Trowbridge, second and fourth Friday, 9am to 1pm, Fore Street, BA14 8HX.
  •  Wanborough, third Saturday, 9am to midday, Wanborough Village Hall.
  •  Warminster, first and third Fridays, 9am to 1pm, central car park, BA 12 9BT