Falkirk Farmers’ Market

I love a good Farmers’ Market. I posted about the one in Partick not long ago and I kind of have plans to visit as many as I can, although, admittedly, not plans that I’ve worked very hard to put into action. I knew that Falkirk had a Farmer’s market and, as a local, I really wanted to go, but I’ve been living in Falkirk for nearly a year now and hadn’t done it. Why? Because it’s on the first Friday of every month, between 11 am and 3 pm.

So, since I work, I couldn’t go. Which was very frustrating. Presumably, unless you’re lucky enough to work from home, or not work, or are retired, or work in Falkirk’s town centre and have time to leave the office at lunch, you’ve got no chance of trying this particular farmers’ market. And maybe you don’t care. But I did. Since I have time off at the moment I decided I would take this one opportunity and visit it. Honestly, though, I kind of hoped it was rubbish. It wasn’t.

It’s not huge. Falkirk isn’t a huge town, after all. With a medium-sized town centre and a population of 35,000, it would be surprising if the farmers’ market were enormous. However, it does have all the key stalls that you’d hope to see. I got started at the Rhone Cottage stall which was selling fresh produce as well as jams, honey and cheese. Ok, so some the cheese was Arran cheddar, but the rest was produced in Ayrshire. I picked up a punnet of raspberries and an Arran cheddar with cracked black pepper. I don’t have many rules in life, but one of them is that if you’re selling Arran cracked black pepper cheddar, I am buying Arran cracked black cheddar pepper. I’m an addict.

 

One day I’ll branch out and try the other Arran cheeses, but not today.

 

Next, I wandered over to the Different Breid stall. Made in Bonnybridge by Andrew Wilson, Different Breid has enjoyed a good deal of success recently, and you can find it in plenty of Glasgow restaurants these days. I chose a Walnut and honey sourdough loaf, which I was reliably informed I could freeze if I didn’t think I’d eat it all (hah!) and just managed to avoid buying even more cheese. Just.

 

Not a bad haul

 

I walked around the corner to The Cedar Cottage Country Foods Stall, which proudly proclaimed it was the home of The Hairy Beast Steak Pie. Tempting, but thinking about what I already have in my fridge at home, I wasn’t sure when we’d get the chance to eat it. I decided to play it safe and chose a pack of their beef link sausages instead.

For similar reasons I didn’t buy the delicious mackerel that I sampled at the Arbroath Fisheries stand, nor their crab, mussels, or tuna, even though it all looked amazing. How much of a waste would it have been if I’d bought it and we didn’t use it? However, I couldn’t leave without a pot of their smoked salmon pate, so that went in my bag as well.

I chose a fresh donut from the Donut Kiosk and happily ate it on the way home, planning a particularly delicious lunch, and having spent less than £15 on fresh, organic, seasonal, local produce that I couldn’t wait to try. My only regret is that I have no idea if or when I’ll be able to go back.