London Farmers' Markets 10th Anniversary

Saturday 6th June
Farmers' market picnic and fete on Islington Green; 11am – 4pm
A farmers market, plant & home made food barter stall, traditional fairground games, Islington Woman's Institute afternoon tea tent, white elephant barter stall; Plant and home made food barter stall; sustainable hot and cold food from; Clerkenwell Kitchen, Madam Gautier, hog roast from Parsons Nose, spit roast lamb from Layer Marney Farm, home made ice cream from the Waffle Bar, and much more.

The event is in aid of the Islington Mayor’s Charity Room2Heal ( www.room2heal.org). Anyone who wins on the side shows will be entered into a draw with prizes generously donated from sponsors including The Duke of Cambridge, (www.dukeorganic.co.uk) S&M café, Konstam, Dorling Kindersley, City Leaf urban gardening advice (www.cityleaf.com), Waterstones Islington and Unpackaged (http://beunpackaged.com).

Please bring a home made food product/home or allotment grown plant to barter.

Sunday 7th June
Islington Farmers’ Market, behind Islington Town Hall Upper Street N1; 10am – 2pm
A huge anniversary cake to share. Islington Farmers’ Market

Sunday 14th of June
A giant garden plant fair outside Islington Town Hall. Upper Street N1; 10am – 2pm
Around 12 nurseries with hundreds of varieties of English grown plants, herbs, salad and vegetable seedlings sold by the people who grown them. Expect expert advice and enthusiasm!

Garden Plant Fairs 2009 at the Farmers' Markets

Spring is in the air at last and the nurseries are returning to market. This year we have some excellent new nurseries attending the garden plant fairs throughout the spring. There will be a huge selection of bedding, annuals and perennials and also herbs and veg plants for those of you that want to grow your own. The plants on offer are great quality as they have all been raised by the nurseries selling them. So get out into your garden, allotment or window box now and prepare the ground ready for your new plants. Nurseries will offer great advice on how to grow the plants that they sell. Garden Plant Fairs offer one of the best selection of plants in London and as there is no entrance fee they are much better value than some of the big garden shows. So all you keen gardeners out there put the following dates in your diaries and tell your friends.

12:20pm Pancakealympics 22nd -24th February

Thank you to everyone of all ages who bravely wielded a frying pan and ran in our first Pancakealympics in London last weekend. We've raised money for charity, had lots of fun and revived an age old tradition whilst keeping our pancakes local! Competitors included the very enthusiastic Mayor of Islington, alongside brave teams of firemen and police. Our chocolate medals seemed to go down very well. Here's to next years races...

Easy Pancake Recipe

1 egg, 125g plain flour, 300ml milk, pinch of salt

Make a mound out of the flour, create a hole in the middle so you have a volcano looking mound of flour, add salt, beat egg and milk together in jug and then gradually pour into hole in flour beating with a whisk as you go gradually incorporating the flour until smooth. Leave to stand for an hour before use.

Chinese New Year

Celebrate the Year of the Ox with these two delicious recipes: Five spice spare ribs by Jenny Linford from her London Cookbook. And - beef with garlic greens by Rose Prince from her New English Kitchen, Changing the Way you Shop Cook and Eat.

Spare ribs are easy to cook, delicious, inexpensive and available at most of our markets. In addition, you can be sure that they come from pigs that are well looked after, with the highest welfare standards and if you want to know more, the farmer is often there to ask! Rose shows that it's possible to use cheaper cuts of meat for frying if you follow her method and you'll be guaranteed to find a whole range of cuts of beef, all hung for the optimum time.

Join the London Farmers' Markets mailing list
To join the London Farmers' Markets mailing list, please email info@lfm.org.uk, and specify which farmers' market you would like to be kept informed about.

2009 Marks the 10th year of farmers' markets in London
In June 1999 we opened London's first farmers' market in Islington. In 10 years farmers' markets have a come a long way from the handful of stalls that turned up on Islington Green that Sunday. Keep a look out for special events this year at markets, organised to celebrate this landmark and to raise the profile of farmers markets across the capital.

Finchley Road farmers' market now back in Swiss Cottage
We've moved back to a purpose built home outside Swiss Cottage tube station opposite Hampstead Theatre. All your favourite stalls are there, plus the return of some old and new faces. More information >>

Where can I find unpasteurised milk at our markets?

We're always receiving enquiries about unpasteurised products. Following the recent Telegraph article (link below) here's the full list -

Lincolnshire Poachers bring their milk and cheeses on the fourth week of the month to the following markets:
Ealing, Notting Hill and Pimlico on Saturdays
Islington, Marylebone, Queens Park, Clapham and Walthamstow on Sundays

Alham Wood organic buffalo farm bring unpasteurised milk to all markets on a weekly or bi weekly basis

Olive Farm are at Notting Hill weekly, Islington and Marylebone weeks one and three in the month
They can also be found at present at Queens Park weekly whilst Keith Jefferson Smith is away from market.

Redlays Farm bring their milk and dairy products weekly to Blackheath

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2008/01/18/edmilk118.xml

Many of you have asked for details of the farmers who do not attend weekly. Click here to be taken to the Walthamstow market page