Monday, May 05, 2008

Organic Markets

I while back my friend Meaghan mentioned that there was an organic food market that had started up at the Addison Road Centre, a community co-op type place in Marrickville, about a twenty minute walk from my house. That information sort of lurked in the dark recesses of my brain until I saw an ad on tv for the website www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au. This weekend was lovely and mild, so after a bit of searching on the website I discovered a listing for the Marrickville market and decided to head on over on Sunday.



This Way



The Addison Road Centre is a funky place, a collection of buildings around a central green space and car park, that houses a number of co-op businesses and community services.



Market



It was a lovely mild day and I had a nice time wandering around the markets. Aside from a number of places selling organic fruit and veg there were stalls selling cheeses, bread, pastries, hot food, second hand books and a big selection of plants grown by the community garden.



Bromeliads

Stunning bromeliads on sale from the community co-op garden.



One of my most favourite places in the world is Reverse Garbage, which is part of the Addison Road Centre. OMG. It's like an Alladin's Cave of... well... stuff. Industrial offcuts. Factory seconds. Odds and ends. Crap. It's a great resource for schools, kids, and middle aged gay men with an overactive Graft Gene. So. Fabulous.



Reverse Garbage

Behold the wonders of Reverse Garbage!



It's even a home to things that could be best described as: Nice. Different. Unusual.



Nice. Different.  Unusual.

A little something for the "Kath & Kim" fans.



Best of all I scored a bounty of yummy organic vegetables, and some awesome natural Light Rye Sourdough (made by an equally yummy baker) from 13 year old natural sourdough starter. A world of delicious! The baby asparagus were so cute I felt like cuddling them. (But that would be weird, right?) And Rhubarb! OMG, favourite wintery comfort food.



Bounty



It was such a nice morning, wandering, spotting cute puppies and cute young dads (like, really), sipping coffee and shopping for spectacular quality veg. I'm definately going to make it a regular thing.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish i lived in sydney, because i know that there is probably a lot more foods being sold at your organic markets than the ones over here. Having said that we shop at organic markets every week and have been doing so for over a year now, I love it! Buying fresh produce that has been grown by the people selling it to me is fantastic, and the bread, it's almost as good as when i make it myself!

Babs
ps. i'm thinking about knitting some mittens in my school holiday's in July...

The Other Andrew said...

Knit those mittens! (It's addictive...)

I'm definately going back to these markets, they're small enough that it isn't a huge bun fight to get to stuff, and yet large enough that there is choice. Plus the atmoshpere is really chilled and friendly. I haven't tried making bread, I've put that into the Too Hard Basket but I might try it one day!

evilsciencechick said...

jealous!!!

we have nothing so amazing here. :(

Mikey (TLE) said...

Aarrgh! I'm having a "Stuff White People Like" overload...

Anonymous said...

As I said on Stilgherian's blog today, I think those markets have become the village well for large numbers of my friends. Hope to see you there soon - it's a bit like bush week.

freakgirl said...

Lovely photos and I want some of that bread! I can't wait until we start getting local produce. :)

The Other Andrew said...

ESC, we are pretty lucky. I love the area of Sydney I live in, such an area of contrasts.

Mikey, I must admit I had a few moments like that. Especially watching all the double-income-one-child young families, she in yoga gear and he in a Free Tibet t-shirt & baby sling.

Quatrefoil, wanna make it a date next Sunday? (BTW I ran into Stil & 'Pong there, but you probably already know that)

Freakgirl, thanks for the comment on the photos! The bread is nummmers. I sliced it up and froze the rest in a ziplock bag, because it's kind of hard to get through as just one person. It toasts just as well thankfully.

The Other Andrew said...

Oh, I should add that the hot seller at the bakery was a caramelised onion and garlic bread which apparently is AMAZING.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good - I'll aim to be there by 10 am if that suits.

The Other Andrew said...

That does suit! It's a date.

worldpeace and a speedboat said...

aha! I might have to gatecrash the party, if I may - I've been wanting to check out those markets for about a zillion years but never got my sh!t together.

also, I'd love to know how it compares to Alfalfa House, because that's somewhere else I've never gotten to, just driven past for a decade or so. have you been in there at all?

The Other Andrew said...

Come along Speedy! 10am is the meet-up time.

I've been by Alfalfa house many a time, but never shopped there. Some of my friends do and swear by it. I think there is a bigger choice at the markets, but more emphasis on fresh fruit and veg than all the other things (dried legumes etc) that Alfalfa House has.

worldpeace and a speedboat said...

cool TOA, I'll be there, you just have to promise not to let me go anywhere near Reverse Garbage ;-)

the fruit and veg angle is definitely what I'm aiming for, so sounds like this suits me well.

and sourdough... ooohhhh...