Market manager Kardien Gerbrands talks about Swindon farmers' markets

AS I write, there is glorious sunshine beating down and the temperatures are rising; ripening and bringing on all those wonderful summer vegetables and soft fruits (especially) that help make summer so wonderful.

Styan’s Family Produce, now in a new location adjacent to Hinton Marsh Farm, are stocked with new potatoes, broad beans, asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, rocket, radishes and a host of other produce while Siddington Farm’s Strawberry Stop has also returned.

As these crops become available to us at the market we are once again able to really understand why the farmers’ markets around the country have become such a success.

It’s not just about supporting local farmers or enjoying the chance to get to know the producers themselves or indeed just about the reduction of food miles and maintaining a culture of small family farming in the UK.

It is mostly about the quality of the produce. The vegetables and fruits at the market are so fresh and so tasty it is hard to go back to the supermarkets once you have got used to that level of quality.

I had new potatoes and broad beans the other day and they were just fantastically fresh and full of flavour; it made me happy!

You too could be happy like me by visiting the farmers’ market on Train Street at the Designer Outlet every Sunday from 10am to 4pm and stocking up on some of that produce, which also happens to be very reasonably priced.

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