🥬 Farmers' market shopping list

A market rewards showing up without a fixed list — buy what looks good at the stalls that have it, and build the week's meals around that instead of the other way round.

13 items

1. Cash in a mix of notes and coinsPlenty of stalls still don't take card, or add a minimum spend for it.
2. Bags or a basket brought from home×2Most stalls don't provide one, and the ones that do often charge for it.
3. A cool bag for anything that needs it, in warm weatherMeat, fish and dairy have a longer walk home than a supermarket trolley does.
4. A loose meal plan rather than a fixed listBuilt around what's likely to be good, then adjusted once you see what the stalls actually have.
5. What's in season checked beforehand, roughlySo a stall's best produce is recognised as the good buy it is, rather than skipped for something familiar.
6. Arriving early, for the best of what's on offerThe good stuff and the friendliest queues both belong to the first hour.
7. A walk round the whole market before buying anythingPrices and quality both vary stall to stall — the first stall isn't always the best one.
8. Questions asked of the stallholder directlyHow it was grown, when it was picked, what to do with an unfamiliar vegetable — most are happy to be asked and know more than a label would say.
9. Small amounts bought of anything unfamiliarEnough to try it, not enough to have to work out what to do with a whole box of it.
10. Egg boxes or jars brought back, if a stall takes them
11. Bread and pastries bought last, if walking round for a whileSo they're not squashed under everything else bought first.
12. A rough budget in mind before you startEasy to lose track of across several small cash purchases rather than one till receipt.
13. Something bought that wasn't plannedThe actual point of a market over a supermarket — let one stall's best thing on the day change the meal plan.