| rev:text
| - There are two types of farmers markets in this city - markets to complement your grocery shopping, and markets for frolicking, snacking, seeing and being seen.
The farmer's market at Wychwood Barns falls into the latter category. It is a nice place to visit. I go all the time. But there are some things you should know before trucking it in from East York or Swansea.
** Avoid driving
All side-street parking between Bathurst and Christie is full before 9. If you have to drive, park on St. Clair.
** Come early
Most stalls close earlyish - often by noon, sometimes as early as 11. St. John's Bread regularly sells out before 10 AM and closes up thereafter.
** But not too early
They're sticklers about start times. In the summer, I've been turned away from fully set-up stalls, vendors whispering apologetically that they can't sell until all stalls are ready. In the winter the market is held indoors and if you enter before 8, you will be escorted out or made to wait in the corner until 8.30 or 9, when someone rings a cowbell and calls "the maaaaaaarket is ohhhhhhhpen!!!". Contrived and absolutely the opposite of a real "farmers" market.
** Shower first
Joking aside, be prepared to rub shoulders and physically run-into-people because in the summer it is packed with people who just stop mid stride ("oh, I would have never expected anyone to be walking behind me!?"), coffee sippers (lounging in the most inopportune places), dog owners playing fetch (often not in the offleash park), impromptu volleyball games (often not in the volleyball court), parents teaching their kids to ride bikes (seriously), moustachioed hipsters playing catch (vintage baseball not optional), and of course parents who just happened to run into some friends (whilst abandoning their children to the completely over-run playground.) I live in this neighbourhood. In the summer, it's a zoo. Wychwood Market is the place to see and be seen.
** Bring lots of money
This is an expensive market. You're not going to score any deals. Come with a full wallet, be prepared to leave with an empty one. My last visit: three cinnamon buns, a 250 ml jar of jam and a pack of crackers - 35$.
** Do your normal grocery shopping before you come
About 70% of stalls are for snacks, pies, and lifestyle products. There isn't enough variety to do your week's fruit/veg shop...unless you're the kind of person that gets their vitamin C from baked spelt fruit loaves and their veg intake from artisan pot pies.
The biggest complaint -- ** Bring change and small bills
Vendors here are notorious for being unable (or unwilling?) to break bills. Some of them are really anal about it too. And it's not just one or two grouches.
Maybe it is a tactic to get you to forgo your change. Or to buy more products so you don't end up with change. Maybe it is hippy-dippy absentmindedness. Or the inexperience of home-based, part-time vendors who haven't learned how to price items in ways that make them easier to buy/sell.
I'm a frequent visitor and I make my best efforts to come with small bills and I've been turned away by stall owners who refuse to take money unless it is exact change or you let them keep the rest.
Forgoing your change at a market this expensive that adds up, and it is frustrating when you get out there are the guy behind the table selling a 3$ item can't break your five or ten or sometimes even two twonies - at 9.15 AM no less.
** Have fun
Give the place a try. It is worth visiting. Don't be discouraged. Just don't bring all your reusable shopping bags expecting to have a relaxing outdoor grocery-shopping experience.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)