Farmers Market Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand’s Oldest

Wine Travel to Farmers Market in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

One of my favorite stops when traveling are Farmers Markets, where I merge my love of food and wine with local produce. A few years ago, I visited New Zealand’s oldest farmers market, Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market. This is where the locals go to socialize the old-fashioned way and buy fresh produce, sample home made food, and sip wine from various local wineries.

Open every Sunday, rain or shine, year-round at the Hastings showgrounds, Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market is home to the region’s finest producers and artisans selling their products, from farm-fresh produce to Hawke’s Bay hand made, cheeses, breads, and olive oils. Local Hawke’s Bay vineyards also serve up samples of their wines, including during my visit the FARMGATE Wines, seasonally releasing a new varietal that profiles a unique Hawke’s Bay food producer. The current vineyard at the farmer’s market is Vidal Estates, one of the region’s oldest boutique wineries.

I’d heard Hawke’s Bay was the largest farmers market in New Zealand, but you have to see it to believe it as hundreds of locals and visitors gather in the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of a traditional village market every Saturday morning. There’s a sense of neighborly excitement as you enter the Hastings showgrounds.

It’s a small community where most everyone knows each other. Kids are tugging the hands of their parents while clamoring toward the grassy knoll of Hawke’s Bay Farmer’s Market to climb the trees and meet up with schoolmates. Couples meet other couples for a day out without the kids. Grandparents play with their grandchildren. And politicans smooze with the locals (as the prime minister did during my visit). Many tote their lawn chairs to cluster in groups and catch up. But the pivotal focus is the fresh produce and products at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market.

The Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Markets showcases several dozen assorted booths where you can see, touch, smell and taste the goods — and then buy knowing that they are fresh from the source. Meet the grower, producer or maker and talk with them about their products.

Start the morning with hot freshly roasted coffee – Kiwi flat white, if you please (my favorite and oh I so miss it!) — and a choice of breakfast fare. Then take in the live music, the smells of cooking and the produce and color so vibrantly fresh it’s difficult to resist filling your basket.

As I wandered around listening to live music, I stopped to admire the fresh produce. My visit was during November and spring Down Under (while it’s winter in Denver). I wandered amongst an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit – asparagus, tomatoes, kiwis, strawberries, avocadoes – many organic. Fresh baked bread, farm-fresh eggs, pickles and preserves straight from the producer, locally grown meat, artisan jams, jelly and sauces. This list goes on and on.

Farmers Markets: Discover New Tastes

I made two yummy discoveries while at Hawke’s Bay Farmer’s Market:

1. The Village Press: Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The Village Press olive oil is produced from quality olives pressed in the old style by Hawke’s Bay’s first and New Zealand’s largest traditional press. A sample of the Village Press Olive Oil with a crusty morsel of bread was divine. And oh my – the Garlic/Rosemary infused olive oil was made for bread. I also tried the Lime and Lemon Infused. I bought all three, the latter two made n excellent light drizzle of salad dressing.
2. Aromatics, Hand Prepared Mushroom Products Intensely flavored, ready to use. Their Wine Barrel Smoked Mushrooms are award winning — and seriously, they had me at “wine barrel.” (TIP: GOT to their website, which features recipes, such as Lemon Risotto with Wine Barrel Smoked Mushrooms & Magical Mushroom Essence.)

Plan to spend a day at Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market. Bring your own basket to fill up on fresh produce and discover the wide range of products grown and produced in the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand.

Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market
Every Sunday 8.30am – 12.30pm
Hawke’s Bay A&P Showgrounds
Kenilworth Rd, Hastings

Although I was a guest of Hawke’s Bay during my travels, the money I spent at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market was all my own.

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