This Week at The Market
7th March 2026
This Week at the Farmers Market
Kia ora
It’s National Farmers’ Markets Week this week – NFMWK is an annual celebration that highlights the vital role farmers' markets play in the nation’s food system. We celebrate this year with the theme ‘Taste the Difference’ & many of our vendors will have samples for you to try. Authentic farmers’ markets are different from any other kind of market or shop in that the person selling the food is usually the person who’s grown, caught or made it, so there’s a direct link between farmer and consumer. Be sure to enter a OFM free raffle when you make a purchase this weekend at your favourite or regular stall to go in the draw to WIN a $100 Market Voucher (we will draw this mid-week & the winner will collect it the following week at the Market). You can drop your entries into the bucket at our OFM caravan at the front gate. You can enter from any or all your purchases. Free fruit for the kids at the caravan & there are kids colouring competition entries there also (or to drop off).
Congrats to our vendors Chad & Jess at Dunford Grove on their wedding recently – find the newlyweds up on the platform with their fresh olive oil & refills this weekend.
Earnscleugh Juice Co now have their fill-your-own-bottle-dispenser available at the Market for pressed juice from certified organic apples from their orchard in Central Otago. It is a more affordable and sustainable option. It will still be pasteurised juice in a sterile container, which then gets decanted into a dispenser in small batches. Therefore the shelf-life time only starts upon the dispenser being filled. The glass bottles will remain as a hot filled and sealed option for those who want the longer shelf life prior to opening and Amy is hoping to start bringing hot spiced apple juice shortly too.
Port Larder, Moturata Garlic & Gud Coffee unfortunately can’t make it on Saturday but will be back next weekend.
In Season: NEW in: Peacherines, Black Doris Plums, Omega Plums, Summer Passion Apricots, plenty of freestone fruit, new season garlic, romanesco cauliflower, French & English greengages, flatto peaches, blackberries, fig leaf gourd, new season apples & pears, apricots, blueberries, organic apples, cavolo nero, dahlia’s, sweet peas, rhubarb, nectarines, kohlrabi, peaches, plums, red cabbage, tomatoes, cherries, beans, aubergine/eggplant, zucchini/ courgettes, organic produce & fruit, new season potatoes, coloured carrots, Chinese cabbage, beans, strawberries, cucumbers, radishes, cucumbers, capsicum, chillies, garlic, rhubarb, daikon, BioGro NZ organic certified eggs, variety of tomato plants. New season extra virgin olive oil. Baby & water spinach, autumn seedlings, leeks, broccoli, red & brown onions, celery, beetroot, salad greens, basil, coriander, kale, silver beet, cauli, oyster mushrooms, bok choy, walnuts and plenty more!
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10 Reasons to Support Farmers’ Markets:
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1. Know Where Your Food Comes From
Meeting and talking to farmers, horticulturalists and food artisans is a great opportunity to learn more about how and where food is produced. -
2. Taste Real Flavours
The fruit and the vegetables you buy at the farmers’ market will be harvested just before market day and will be the freshest and tastiest available. -
3. Enjoy the Season
The food you buy at the farmers’ market is fresh; the flavours will be at their best and you can properly celebrate the season. -
4. Support Small Scale Local Food Production
Small scale growers are vital for providing local food resilience (especially when weather impacts on large industrial growers) and by selling direct, the grower and customer get a better deal. -
5. Variety
Farmers’ markets provide more variety than supermarkets – you can experience the colourful heritage varieties that past generations enjoyed before industrial, monoculture practices. -
6. Nourish Yourself
Most food at farmers’ markets is minimally processed, using fewer chemicals, sustainable techniques and picked just before the market so they retain nutrients. -
7. Connect With Your Community
A farmers’ market is a community hub, a place to meet friends and gather, bring the family, enjoy the day and local buskers while shopping for the best food around. -
8. Learn Cooking Tips, Recipes and Meal Ideas.
Farmers and food producers passionate about the food they produce and can provide tips on how to store and cook it (& check out our website for hundreds of seasonal recipes gathered over the years at the Market). -
9. Shorten the Food Chain
Farmers’ markets don’t have long food chains that cause extra transport emissions and requiring lengthy storage. -
10. Promote Humane Treatment of Animals.
Most farmers’ markets support free range and organic practices that are more humane for the animals.
The Farmers’ Market movement is about supporting the local food economy, giving consumers access to regional food and building and strengthening local communities.
Farmers’ Markets can be found across New Zealand from the Bay of Islands to Invercargill, in rural and urban locations providing the freshest, most local food to their communities. Every purchase supports a small local business rather than the supermarket duopoly.
There are approximately 25 FMNZ farmers' markets around New Zealand which make up 1000+ small food businesses, with an estimated 50,000+ customers supporting them every week of the year.
Prices can be cheaper than the supermarkets and many staples can be purchased – seasonal vegetables and fruit, meat, fish, eggs, dairy produce and bread. With the prices of food escalating in the supermarkets, shopping at a farmers’ market is a viable option and National Farmers’ Markets Week is one way of promoting the markets to the wider public that are not yet market shoppers.
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If you have any spare good condition mugs at home that you want to clear out, then we are accepting more cups / mugs for all our cup libraries. Feel free to drop them to the Market caravan, many thanks.
Remember, that only all our authenticated, verified Otago Farmers Market vendors are all WITHIN our gates (unlike others roadside profiting off our brand). Many thanks as always for your loyal support to our OFM vendors inside the Market and along the railway platform.
For those of you who maybe isolating or homebound we have a few vendors that can deliver to your door during the week:
Ettrick Gardens, Ronia & Pippi, Agreeable Nature Eggs, Tartan Sari, Dunford Grove, Happy Farm, Deep Creek Deli, Evansdale Cheese, Pane Ora, Harbour Fish, Mihiwaka Honey, Blueskin Bay Honey, Port Larder, Judge Rock Wines, Matheson & Roberts, No8 Distillery, Whitestone Cheese, NZ Nuts, Breads & More, Dunedin Craft Distillers, Princes St Butcher & others.
You can find their details in the HERE.
If you want to BORROW A PLATE or CUTLERY for ready to eats, just swing by the caravan or get from one of our cup libraries for a clean one (and return it back there for washing and sterilising or in the drop buckets). We also have bags you can borrow for produce or shopping too if you forget. And we have AgainAgain cups for you to use if you have the phone app.
Bring CASH as some of our vendors are cash only.
Shop your way around Otago this weekend…. at the Market!
Mā te wā, see you later. And Taste the Difference every week as the seasons change - we already know that our Central Otago stone fruit tastes better than anywhere, don’t we!
Michele Driscoll
Market Manager
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Header image: Waikouaiti Gardens
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This Week in the Kitchen
I’m not ready for summer to be over yet, so let’s make the most of sunny days with quick and easy recipes—a creamy peach tart and a fresh, not‑your‑ordinary salad. —Helen (Assistant Manager)
PEACH, NECTARINE AND TOMATO SALAD WITH CORIANDER GARLIC DRESSING