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Guelph Farmer's Market
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
3 reviews for Guelph Farmer's Market
3 reviews in English
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Review from Chantal m.
Scarborough, ON
4/10/2010
I went here after seeing the first review about the market. I was going to guelph to visit my cousin and I figured I'm always down for a good farmer's market.
We went about an hour before it was due to close and the place was crawling with people. However, that being said you can get some really good deals! A litre of wonderful apple cider - $2, cute baby cucumbers (maybe about 6) - $2, 2 mammoth grapefruits - $2 (like they weighed down my purse big), and a loaf of fresh baked rye bread - $5. Now here comes the zigger, my boyfriend saw a pastry stand and wanted this huge cake/pastry thing, so I said alright. Went back for this cake - $5.50!!!!! Mind you it was thick but it was just one piece!!! It was downright delicipus and he sat there saying, I love this like a fat kid loves cake.
I would go back again FOR SURE, but I would go earlier, and maybe when more fruit was locally in season. They did however offer a wide range of ORGANIC vegetables that any vegetarian or veggie lover would appreciate.
NB bring your own bags or else you'll end up carrying around your goodies in your purse. -
Review from Catherine F.
Guelph, ON
12/29/2010
It has taken me quite a while to face up to the task of writing this review -- which is much how I feel about actually going to the Guelph Farmers' Market. Saturday mornings involve the girding of the loins, preparatory to doing battle in order to put food on the table... easy to sympathize with the viking raiders.
I'm a locavore. The farm-to-table movement is enormous where I come from -- fresh, local, seasonal foodstuffs full of nutrients and flavor, without the huge carbon footprint of long-distance shipping, while keeping my money in the community and supporting my local growers, blah blah blah... lots of reasons I went this direction. Having become horribly spoiled by the Farmers' Markets in Oregon (Willamette Valley, end of the Oregon Trail and all that), and having learned that Guelph is in the middle of the big growing area in Ontario, I had high hopes when I moved here.
Enter, disillusionment.
First thing: parking is a beast. Even with a handicapped placard (people often disregard the handicapped only sign). And even though most people don't file into Harvey's for a hamburger before noon (which is when the Farmers' Market closes), the Harvey's people are out there patrolling their empty parking lot, to make sure none of those damn hippies going to the Farmers' Market don't park there.
OK... did you catch that the Farmers' Market is open one day a week, for half a day (7-12)? Seriously? The Market has its own building, so what gives on the miserly hours? Oh and P.S. -- most good stuff sells out by 10 AM.
Next thing I noticed: everything is cash only, and there are no ATMs (sorry... ABMs in Canada) anywhere nearby.
The aisles are entirely too narrow for the ravening hordes packing the building. I mean, there must be some major breakage of the fire marshall's codes. Trying to move from one seller to the next involves appalling invasion of personal space, squeezing up against total strangers, tripping over their double-wide strollers (strollers? Here?), stepping on their feet and breathing in their faces. I feel like I ought to get an introduction first. Or at least a drink.
But here's the kicker: the majority of sellers are reselling foodstuffs imported from far, far away (mostly the U.S. and Mexico).
So, in summary: no parking, no convenient ways to pay, no convenient hours, miserably crowded... for very nearly what you'll find at your local supermarket.
There are a few noteworthy exceptions, which is the only reason I still attempt the Market, from time to time:
Thatcher Farms (http://www.thatcher-fa...) -- local, naturally-raised beef, pork, lamb and chicken, delicious meat pies, and THE ONLY nitrite/nitrate-free bacon to be had ANYWHERE in Guelph. (Sorry; as a veterinarian, I just know entirely too much about what those chemicals do on a cellular level. Not interested. I'll do without bacon, first.) Did I mention that the meat pies are truly delicious? Mmm, Irish stew.
Funky Maven crocheted (and felted) hats (http://www.funkymaven....). (Yes, you all know I have a weakness for hats, by now.) Wonderful, creative, warm -- and Charlene gives terrific advice on making hats, if you're a DIY sort (which I occasionally am). She gives lessons, too! I'm hoping to catch up with her in the new year, to learn felting.
Brantview Apples & Cider (http://www.brantviewap...). No, they're not organic. They will, however, bend your ear about minimal spray (if you ask). They feature a pretty large selection of apple varieties, and grow my all-time absolute favorite -- the Honeycrisp (ripe in early fall). Their fresh-pressed unfiltered cider is the bomb, and their apple mustard is dynamite on roast beef or sausages. (And hey, if you let the cider go bad, it makes for some spectacular cider vinegar.)
River's Edge Goat Dairy (http://www.goatmilkpro...). Fan-freakin-tastic chevre -- plain, dill, or garlic blossom (OMG). And very mild, creamy goat milk.
Backyard Bounty (http://www.backyardbou...) -- wonderful fresh veggies and fruit grown on converted back yards around Guelph. What a wonderful use of land! Down with useless, water-guzzling grass! (And the veggies are mighty tasty, too!)
Cedarvale Farm -- beautiful fresh brown eggs, inexpensive boneless/skinless chicken thighs (superior to breasts, in my book), and delicious whole roasting hens (I brined and roasted one of their birds for christmas, and it turned out juicy and tender).
And the lovely people at Shepherd's Watch Sheep Dairy Farm (http://www.recipestoex...) who always offer not only delicious, no-antibiotic lamb, but gorgeous soft skeins of spun wool. (Look out, once I learn to felt hats and slippers!) -
Review from Christine C.
Etobicoke, ON
11/16/2009
There is lots of chatter these days about "thinking globally, buying locally". Well I'm happy to say that this particular tenet is alive and well at the Guelph Farmer's Market.
My daughter Meg attends the University up in Guelph and she is pretty much a regular visitor at the market on Saturday mornings. The GFM has a permanent site located right in the historical downtown of Guelph itself. When weather permits there are also outside vendors. I paid my first visit this past Saturday and was really amazed at how just about every single vendor at the market really was a local producer/grower/crafter/baker/farmer etc. I was also amazed at how crowded and well attended the market was. The market is permanently opened on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to noon and right up until closing time it is just jammed full of people.
Vendors include local farmers selling all sorts of meat products, including venison & elk. There is a very large contingent of Mennonite vendors who bring in home baked goods that are just so reminiscent of my childhood that it took all my will not to buy everything I could put my hands on. There are cookies, preserves & jams, scones, breads, baps (it's a Scottish thing), traditional loaves and lots of specialty baked goods appealing those with gluten & sugar issues. I've learned that there is a 60's throwback hippie group alive and well in Guelph and their visibility jumps tenfold on Saturdays where they are found in the market selling their hats, their crafts, their honey, their beeswax candles and their whole earth goodies. I scored some incredibly tasty and well made dumplings (ginger beef) that I ended up serving for dinner and even reheated they were delish. One needs a real willpower not to be chowing down on all the bits and pieces you can nibble on as you meander through the crowds.
Most of the produce is seasonal so that means that this past weekend it was all about apples, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, cabbages & kale! Fresh cut local flowers are still available and one couldn't help but to ogle the lovely bunches of Asters and fall Mums.
Recalling the prices....Oatmeal cookies $3.50 (13 cookies); Bag of Honeycrisp apples $8; small basket of fingerling Sweet Potatoes $3.00; bunches of Kale $1.00; Large Onions $1.00; Dozen Ginger Beef Dumplings (with a container of dipping glaze) $7.50; Scones $1.50 per.....and so it goes.
In the end I left feeling that this particular Farmer's Market is one of my most absolute favorite spots. I definitely make the effort to return to this particular market.
