Morning at the Farmer’s market
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Two months ago I read on the local newspapers that a farmer’s open market was launched in Ta’ Qali, so on Saturday I made my way there to discover this new culinary exhibition.
I must say that the area is very well organised and most sellers are set up under small white marquee tents. This market is a great opportunity for Maltese farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers.
The exhibitors had a variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables for sale all grown on their own land. The fierce scents of land, soil and freshly cut grass was soaring all over the place. Many of the stalls had signage indicating in which region of the islands the vegetables were grown and also the nicknames of the vendors like ‘Il-Brodu’ and ‘Il-Hassu’.
Prices were quite reasonable especially when considering the quality and freshness of the items. As we went round we tried to capture a glimpse of the prices to identify whether these varied from one stall to another. Overall the prices varied by approximately 10 to 20 euro cents.
Present at the marketplace were also stalls with other Maltese products. There were sellers of jams, marmalades, and honeys; others were selling live rabbits, fresh local pork and also traditional Maltese biscuits and other products.
After touring all the stalls we made our way to the ones which attracted our attention and bought our share of fruit and vegetables. We went home with a cheap and wide selection of fresh and genuine vegetables, including broccoli, fennel, carrots, endive, strawberries, jerusalem artichokes, new potatoes and more.
Make sure you pay a visit to the Farmer’s market you will realise that local produce is by far the tastiest, freshest and cheapest choice.