Temptation of Brockley Market

Me, back in the day at Acton Farmers Market

I am a stay at home mum. I am saying this out loud. It has taken some getting used to, but I am much more comfortable with how it sounds. My son recently turned one, and I am lucky not to have to return to work. It was always the plan, however my answer to the inevitable party question “what do you do for a living” fills me with dread. But, the up side to this (I am a half full kind of person) is that I get more time than most to potter around in the kitchen cooking things from my Cooking Project List and batch cooking family meals.

It isn’t the idyllic picture I paint though. Constant washing up, emptying the dishwasher, refilling the tupperware drawer that my little man has emptied for entertainment has a certain repetitiveness to it. But I am growing to enjoy this new rhythm. I spend a lot of time at home and locally then escape for precious me time at the weekend usually to a food market.

As a past employee and longtime customer of London Farmer’s Markets, I am extremely loyal. As one of their auditors I know how strict the standards are for stallholders and find the loose definitions of ‘local’ at some farmers markets only serve to confuse the already confused public. Where can you grow olives in the UK? But any weekend we are in London I love to take time out from being a mum and immerse myself amongst the stalls of seasonal goodness. This is a time I like to get my brain going thinking about what to eat in the week and choosing a seasonal application for my Cooking Project List.

Normally, I make a beeline for the heaving stands of Blackheath Farmers Markets, heading straight for staples from known stallholders. However I have been tempted away. A little closer to home over in Brockley a new food market has sprung up in Lewisham College car park. It’s closer and it’s on a saturday. I used to do my market shopping on a saturday back when I ran Acton farmers market and then spent most of the sunday cooking, braising and baking. It was my natural rhythm of the week. But there is no decent farmers market in South London at the start of the weekend so I have shifted my shopping and cooking to a sunday. But the temptation of a new bunch of food businesses to peruse closer to home excites me and so this weekend I am going to see what it’s like. I am expecting great things and hope to be roasting, baking and slow cooking for the rest of the week. As well as picking up the tupperware from the kitchen floor a few times too.