The Stoke Newington Farmers' Market

The Stoke Newington Farmers' Market takes place at William Patten School, on Stoke Newington Church Street, London, N16.  It is open every Saturday, (except for Christmas and New Year) from 10am till 2.30pm.

All the produce at the market is organic, biodynamic or wild and is sold by the producers themselves who all come from within 100 miles of Hackney. There is a wide range of produce on sale as well as hot food and organic Fair Trade coffee.

William Patten School is hosting the market as part of their Healthy School initiative and to reinforce and increase the school’s existing links with the local community.

 

Market Chef at the Farmers' Market

We'll be launching our search for Hackney’s answer to Gordon, Jamie or Nigella at the Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market on Saturday September 13th as part of Organic Food Fortnight. Growing Communities, who run the Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market the only all-organic weekly farmers’ market in the UK - are looking for local people to demonstrate their favourite seasonal recipes at the market using ingredients from the market.  All food will be cooked in a purpose built outside kitchen.  As well as watching the demonstrations – visitors to the market on September 13th will be able to taste the final dishes – and give their verdict.

This is a great way for local people to impress their friends, show off their favourite recipes for seasonal food and give everyone a chance to learn more about how to make delicious meals from the fresh, organic food on sale from the farmers. Although we can’t promise you your own TV series – we want to make Marketchef a regular feature at the market –we’d also like it to be a launchpad for some new Hackney-based organic food businesses – who could sell at the market

 If you would like to take part in the Marketchef project please contact Growing Communities on 0207 502 7588 or growcomm@growingcommunities.org

On your bike for Brian and Derry’s ice cream! June 08

Derry Nairn and Brian Shaw, originally from County Wicklow in Ireland but now resident in Hackney, are launching their new home-made ice-cream this week at the Stoke Newington Farmers’ market.  Their company name “the Irish Ice cream Peddling Company” reflects both their Irish roots and the way in which they will be selling the ice-cream from their specially adapted blue and yellow bicycle!  

Derry and Brian have sourced organic eggs and milk from farmers at the market and are set to delight our tastebuds with their delicious ice-cream flavours based on fresh seasonal fruits and cream.  They plan to start off with traditional favourites such as strawberry and vanilla but will introduce their special Guinness and butterscotch flavour soon. Samples will be available!

The Irish Ice-cream Peddling Company will be the market throughout the summer months.

May Bank holiday birthday “knit-in” at the Farmers’ Market Saturday 3rd May

The Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market celebrates its 5th birthday with a vegetable “knit-in” on Saturday 3rd May from 10am till 2.30pm.  The Cast-Off Knitting group will be displaying their amazing vegetable creations while running a knitting workshop on hay bales among the market stalls.  There will also be a birthday breakfast table with a chance to sample food from the market and find out more about how it’s produced.  The Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market is celebrating 5 years of providing locally grown, organic food to the heart of the city.  Over 1,600 people every week now flock to what is still the UK’s only all-organic weekly farmers’ market.

 

“We hope that people will want to find out more about the farmers and the food at the market – we know that not everybody likes vegetables but who could resist a knitted cauliflower? said Kerry Rankine, Growing Communities’ market organiser, “But at the same time as enjoying the food, (and knitting), by shopping at the market, people are reducing their own carbon footprint while helping us to support small organic farmers and re-localise London’s food supply.”


Lots more Greens at the market

From Saturday 1st March, Sarah Green will have a monthly veg stall at the market. Sarah has converted her small farm in Tillingham, Essex to organic over the last few years and now runs a small box scheme and a farm shop – as well as growing a wide range of organic veg – helped by her dad.  Sarah is the 3rd generation of Greens to farm the family farm which is rented from St Paul’s Cathedral, the original tenancy was taken on by her grandfather.  Sarah will come to the market once a month, on the first Saturday of the month, which will be the first time she has had a stall at a London market and should help her to expand the amount of land she has under organic cultivation.

 

We will continue to have our regular vegetable stalls at the market : Ripple Farm and Perrycourt Farm from Kent and Adrian Izzard from Cambridgeshire – who have been with us for several years and who have all been able to expand their growing as a result of selling at the market.  By providing extra spaces for Sarah and Simon Faithful, who also attends the market once a month – we can help even more small organic farmers around London to prosper and make even more locally grown organic veg available.

To find out more about Sarah’s farm click here.

Let them eat cake

Local Hackney resident Anne-Marie Ryan is now selling her home-made organic cakes and pickles at the market. Trading under the name of Fat Cat Catering.  Anne-Marie makes a range of traditional cakes such as coffee and walnut, lemon drizzle and a luscious chocolate cake alongside her home-made cookies, (such as white chocolate and apricot) and iced cupcakes.  Anne-Marie uses organic eggs from Stocks Farm, (who sell at the market), as well as organic flour, sugar  and butter.  All food colourings used in her products are made from natural products.  Fat Cat Catering also make a range of pickles based on seasonal produce from farmers at the market, current favourites include cucumber “bread and butter pickle” and beetroot and red onion chutney.  Anne Marie will be selling her cakes and pickles at the market every week.    

Rafi Jaffrey is a professional chef with a passion for seasonal produce – he will be making his delicious pakoras and spicy Indian soups at the market every week.  Rafi will be using organic produce from the market in his pakoras and soups – why not drop in for lunch?

Spice up your life at the Farmers' Market !

Colga Parker's creole food stalls are now at the market every Saturday  selling spicy creole fishcakes, traditional creole vegan soda breads and vegetarian patties and more.  Colga sources most of her ingredients from the organic producers at the market.  Colga has run a food stall at Glastonbury for the past 18 years and she is passionate about good food and organic ingredients.



Patrick Brockmann of Perrycourt Farm in Kent

More about the market

The Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market was set up by Growing Communities in May 2003 – it was the first farmers’ market in the UK to have only organic and biodynamic producers. The market was set up to enable local people to buy locally produced food, produced in a way that benefits the environment. The Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market is certified by the National Association of Farmers’ Markets as a genuine Farmers’ Market where all the producers come from within 100 miles of Hackney and the produce on sale is being sold by the people who grew, reared or produced it.

The organic produce on sale every week includes

  • Chris and Iain Learmonth’s organic lamb, chicken, eggs and pork from Stocks Farm in Essex. Chris and Iain also sell apples from their organic orchards between mid-August and April.

  • Organic vegetables and salads from Ripple Farm in Kent.

  • Bio-dynamic beef and vegetables from Perrycourt Farm, Kent.

  • Essex-grown organic oyster mushrooms from William and Matthew Rooney at Gourmet Mushrooms.

  • Organic greenhouse produce including salad leaves and aubergines and peppers in season from Adrian Izzard in Cambridgeshire.

  • Organic breads, croissants, cakes and quiches from Celtic Bakeries.

  • Organically fish from Channel Fish.

  • Organic juices and wines from Sedlescombe Vineyard.

  • Buffalo cheeses, yoghurts and meat as well as organic cows' milk from High Alham Farm in Somerset

  • Cookies, cakes and pickles from Fat Cat Catering

  • Pakoras and tortillas from Ravi Jaffrey

  • Organic rare breed pork and lamb from Muck and Magic

  • We also have regular visits from Stour Valley Organic lavender products from Essex, seasonal veg from Waterlane Nurseries and Pitfield Beers selling their organic beers, fruit wine and cider.

As the season progresses we will have organic soft fruit starting in June followed by plums and damsons from Essex farmers Marina O’Connell and Alison Bond.

Shopping at the Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market allows you to buy organic, locally produced food direct from the producers.

Why buy direct?

Because all the produce at the market has been grown, reared or produced by the people who are selling it you can find out everything you want to know about the food here by asking the producers directly.
When you buy direct from the producers – the money you spend goes to the people who actually do the work to produce the food you’re eating, rather than to supermarkets and wholesalers – you’re helping small family farms to survive. Small and medium sized farms in the UK are disappearing fast: between 1993 and 2002 over 100,000 farmers and farm workers left farming. While the average age of British farmers is 59, Britain’s high land prices mean it’s getting more and more difficult for young people to get into farming. All the farmers here come from small farms, and most are younger farmers trying to get started. So by shopping at the market you’re helping to ensure that small farmers and producers in the UK have a future!

Why organic?

Unlike most farmers’ markets, Growing Communities only allows local producers selling organic, biodynamic or wild produce to trade. We believe that organic food production is better for wildlife, livestock, people and the environment. We want to encourage more farmers around London to move into producing food organically and to increase the amount of land that is organically farmed. We know that this market is helping to make that happen. Chris and Iain of Stocks Farm in Essex, who sell their apples, lamb, chicken and pork products at the market have now been able to buy more land which they are converting to organic orchards planted with traditional varieties of apple.


Martin and Andrew harvest carrots at Ripple Farm

Why buy locally produced food?

All the produce at this market has been grown, reared or produced within 129 miles of Stoke Newington. By contrast, most produce on sale in the supermarket including the organic produce, has travelled hundreds or even thousands of miles to your shopping bag. Even if it has been grown in the UK it will have been trucked up and down the motorway from farm to distribution and packing centres and back to the supermarket. The food on sale here has come directly from the producers to you. By buying organic food that has been produced locally you are saving thousands of Food Miles. Food Miles is the term given to the environmental and social effects of long-distance food transport. These effects include increased emissions of carbon dioxide which contribute to climate change, increased amounts of environmental pollutants which effect air quality, increased packaging and waste, and the loss of interesting, tasty varieties of fruit and vegetables as growers concentrate on varieties which can survive long-distance transportation rather than on flavour.


Chris picking Spartans at his farm in Kent

Apart from helping the environment, buying local also means that you can stay in touch with the seasons. So there won’t be apples at this market in May BUT when apples are in season, from mid August to March, the farmers will bring in apples direct from their orchards. There will be strawberries and raspberries in July and plums and blackberries in August.

It also means that all produce will have been harvested within the last few days and will be some of the freshest you can buy. The farmers who come to our market have worked really hard to make sure that they can supply fresh produce all year round. They use greenhouses and polytunnels in addition to their fields to produce green vegetables and salad crops even in winter.
 
Growing Communities
The Old Fire Station
61 Leswin Road
Stoke Newington
London N16 7NX
020 7502 7588

growcomm@growingcommunities.org