Best eight farmers’ markets
Nearly every downtown ’hood has a farmers’ market now, and although the best one is almost always the one closest to you, these markets are worth the trek.
DUFFERIN GROVE FARMERS’ MARKET
The year-round Dufferin Grove farmers’ market is one of the oldest in the city. Vendors are from mainly organic farms, and you can do all your shopping here: fruits and veg, meat, and smoked fish from First Nation fishing operation Akiwenzie. Forager Jonathan Forbes always has something obscure on offer, whether it’s stinging nettle in springtime or paw-paws in the fall. Thursdays, 3–7. Dufferin Grove Park, 875 Dufferin St. (at Bloor St. W.). Open now.
EAST LYNN FARMERS’ MARKET
This market doesn’t have an organic focus, which has its advantages: corn, peaches and apples (all notoriously hard to grow in Ontario without some kind of pesticide) abound in late August. Braided local garlic is a big seller; if you buy a few for storage, you may be able to liberate yourself from the woody Chinese stuff. Thursdays, 3–7. East Lynn Park, 1949 Danforth Ave. (at Woodbine). Opens June 3.
EVERGREEN BRICK WORKS FARMERS’ MARKET
You might see Jamie Kennedy frying up some Yukon golds for his son’s chip stand. Cookstown Greens always has something interesting; early in the season, look for Welsh onions. Watch for a St. Lawrence Market–style year-round food hall once construction finishes in September. Saturdays, 8–1. 550 Bayview Ave. (at the Bayview Extension). Open May 29.
GUILDWOOD VILLAGE MARKET
This picturesque market by the Scarborough Bluffs is the only market where you can buy chef turned organic farmer Elaina Asselin’s superlative heirloom tomatoes (she grows hundreds of varieties in all shapes and colours) from Northumberland County. It’s also one of the few markets to feature Fisherfolk’s sustainably harvested seafood from Nova Scotia. Thursdays, 2–6. 85 Livingston Rd. (at Guildwood Pkwy.). Opens June 10.
NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET
This is the best place to buy a picnic lunch in the downtown core. Such prepared foods as roasted corn and kebabs can be augmented with obscure farmhouse cheeses from Gurth Pretty’s Cheese of Canada table and a half pint of cherry tomatoes. Wednesdays, 10–2:30. Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W. (at Bay). Opens June 2.
RIVERDALE FARM FARMERS’ MARKET
For a full farm-to-table experience, there is no better place than Riverdale, where patrons can commune directly with the chickens and goats at the city-run farm. Tuesdays, 3–7. Riverdale Farm, 201 Winchester St. (at Sumach St.). Opened May 18.
SORAUREN FARMERS’ MARKET
It’s hard to believe Sorauren has been operating only since 2008; it’s already a fixture in Roncesvalles. Novice FarmStart farmers bring their crops to this market; in springtime, Matchbox Garden and Seed Co. sells an excellent collection of heirloom seeds and seedlings. Mondays, 3–7. Sorauren Park, 50 Wabash Ave. (at Dundas St. W.). Opened May 17.
THE STOP’S GREEN BARN FARMERS’ MARKET
The newest year-round market is housed in the old Wychwood streetcar barns. Harry Stoddart, a grain and livestock farmer in the Kawarthas, offers duck eggs that regularly sell out by mid-morning. Summer: Saturdays, 8–12. Winter: Saturdays, 8–noon. Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St. (at St. Clair Ave. W.). Open now.
You missed the best summer market–Liberty village. It’s the only Sunday market, has lots of parking and has the best produce. Also, this summer Monforte cheese and Monckton breads will be back.
Are the Monkton breads from Georgetown, Ontario?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OO4KatP2WE Tuesdays are the day for the Keady Market! Every Tuesday Rain or Shine — Come and visit our farmer’s Market at Keady. Take a stroll through rustic alleys packed with 250 vendors selling a wide variety of produce ranging from Niagara peaches to deli meats, home baking, crafts and a broad assortment of other goods. And while you’re there, check out the three livestock auctions beginning at 10 am.
Come out to tThe Stop’s Farmer’s Market at the historic Artscape Wychwood Barns every Saturday.
The Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market at Crawford and Dundas, (the North end of Trinity Bellwoods Park), on Tuesdays is a hidden gem. It appears understated but the vendors have been carefully selected so that we in Queen West eat like Queens and Kings.
Delicious wild blueberries in abundance throughout the summer, the best sheep and goat cheese in Canada I’m certain, small trout from a spring fed trout farm that uses no antibiotics or hormones- exquisite!!! Yummy baked goods that are unrivaled at any other market, organic meat to die for my son tells me, fresh from Gerald and of course the fabulous matchbox vegetables like spicy arugula and tiny sweet beets and the sweetest heirloom tomatoes. The list goes on and on- fab mushrooms and beautiful wild flowers weekly. Thank God for the Farmers market. How did I survive without it all those years? Once winter comes, I’ll have to make the trip to Dufferin Grove which is also good, (but perhaps not quite as distinctive).