I’ve been going to the Sunday vegetable market in Wellington ever since I first came to Wellington to study, some 8 years ago. Mr Dreamy and I love vegetables and fruit. We have a massive fruit bowl, and if we got to design the ideal refrigerator, it would be 50% vegetable bins.
Fresh flowers at the market entrance: buy your favourites before they sell out, and get the flower ladies to hold them while you do the rest of your shopping
My vege buying habits are just as extravagant, but my market going has changed a little since 8 years ago. I’ve moved from the Aro Valley market which was near the university housing, to the waterfront market, which is more convenient to where we live now.
Also, it has way better views.
Seriously. Way better views.
The market has changed a little too. When I first shopped there, it was a mad dash for cheap vegetables: long lines at every stall, all the veges sold by bulk resellers, and no time for chatting and visiting.
Mounds of vegetables
The market has slowed down a little since then, has diversified, and gentrified.
Now you can sit in the sun and eat a breakfast bought at the market, or stop for a chat with the organic apple growers who have their own stall. People bring their kids and dogs, and you are guaranteed to run into a few friends.
Fragrant thai herbs
You can buy Thai herbs from the ladies who grow them in their own backyard, Brazilian food from a vendors cart, and rewena paraoa (local bread made with potato and air-gathered yeast).
Local (particularly Maori) specialty breads and jams: rewena paraoa and kamo kamo chutney
You can also do almost all your shopping at the market: from venison salami, to local cheeses, to fresh breads, and of course the vegetables and fruit.
Fresh summer peaches and mandarins
The vegetables and fruit are the one thing that really hasn’t changed. The market is still by far the cheapest place to buy the widest array of vegetables, from parsnips to pak choi, carrots to kai choi, and the freshest fruit.
Delicious carrots and spinach and kai choi and cilantro and gai lan
This time a year I sometimes miss the market. The weather today is abysmal: freezing cold and pouring rain, with a blowing southerly wind coming straight off Antarctica. The last thing I want to do is go out and pick out wet veges with numb fingers.
Onions and parsnips and kumara (sweet potatoes) and beets
I think I’ll stay in and enjoy images of the bounty at last summers farmers market, when bell peppers were under $7 a kilo (this week they are $27!), tomatoes were a rich red, and peaches and cherries were abundant.
Oh bell peppers? When will I be able to afford you again?
Oh summer. We miss you! Come back!
