Today a new (our only?) Farmer’s Market opened in the city so I popped along for a look. This was its very first day, so there were only about twenty stalls, but they were interesting, and I came home with some lovely local produce (old-ewe smoked sausage, special bacon, handmade soap). Lovely, but pricey. Hopefully the market will grow and have more variety and perhaps better prices. Its special point is that it is easy for me to get to, being right by where I get off Mr Bus in the city.
I took along my camera and got some snaps, but as it was a dull day, and I got mainly the backs of people peering into stalls, most of the snaps were dull and uninteresting. However, the very first one I took I forgot to adjust the exposure. Doh! I’d thought it was a write-off (amazingly I didn’t delete it on the spot), but when I got home I discovered that out of all of them, it had the most interest.
Otherwise I have spent the day tottering about the garden. Some pumpkins and zucchini seedlings (very large!) went out into the garden – I’ve had to put plastic ‘guards’ about them to stop the effing blackbirds covering them up with mulch (God, please,please come and take all blackbirds up to heaven!!!). I weeded one of the onion patches. I watered (my gardening life is now slowly starting to swing into a summer watering pattern). The potatoes and leeks are looking fantastic, everything else still too young. My ‘good’ batch of tomatoes continue to do brilliantly (although I see we are supposed to have a cold night tonight, I might pop them into the greenhouse just in case).
Oh, and I have started off the rhubarb champagne. 
My Guinness casserole turned out foul. I say, young Jamie (Ministry of Food book), that was a bum recipe you put in there! I’ll have to cut the beer by about half to two thirds if I ever try this again. Better in the glass than in the casserole.
I am going to try elderflower champagne next. (My elder is almost flowering.) I was greatly amused by a recipe put up on the web by Mr Hugh F-W. When the recipe first went up, he overdid the sugar by about triple the amount. Consequently everyone who tried it had most of their bottles explode as the champagne fermented to profusion. The comments after the recipe are hilarious. Then Hugh corrected the recipe and everyone was truly pissed off as they hurried off to remake the champagne. 
You can see the recipe and all the comments here.
Ewwww I went to Hugh’s site ..and while browsing noticed the most icky recipe I can imagine ..How to prepare and cook SLUGS!!! SLUGS ..OMG …never never never ..bugger the protein ..
Farmer’s market? – cool. I’ll have to spread the word – weekly? monthly? where-a-bouts?
I also looked for a recipe for rhubarb champas. Is it posted here or is there a particular site i should check out?
perhaps it was for using English beer? Ours is better tasting has more flavour so perhaps less is more you should write and tell him, maybe he’ll come and look at your garden, he has apparently embraced gardening now.
I’ll pop up the recipe for the rhubarb champers (gold-winner Hobart Show!) later. It tastes fine now even after only about 12 hours (*must* stop sampling LOL).
I have been on a mission to find out what I can make from my own garden drink wise recently and have some interesting recipes collected – will be trying them all out over the summer.
The market is on Melville St car park in the city centre – really think about the corner of Elizabeth Street and Melville Street and you’ll find it as the entrance is from Elizabeth street (well, that’s where I barged in, anyway! LOL).
Had to grin Sara. “old-ewe smoked sausage.” Did she have yellow teeth?! Farmers markets are the best. I hope you’ll post your elderflower champagne recipe too. Your garden is sounding better all the time. Yeah!
I actually found the farmers market cheaper than buying at most stores. Especially when buying for one person. Got a lovely shoulder of lamb for 12.50, and greens for 4 dollars. Falafel mix for 4 as well. Where were the ewe sausages?