Northey Street Organic Market

Ethikl recently visited Northey Street City Farms Organic Market. There is nothing I enjoy more that doing my shopping at markets, I gather so much pleasure from wandering around under the trees listening to live music, meeting the sellers and bumping into friends.

Unlike many people who go to conventional supermarkets it is not something I rush, when I go shopping I am usually there for hours and end up enjoying a coffee in the gardens and snacking of fresh produce. What makes Northey Street different to all the other markets is that while you are there you can walk through the city-farm which produces some of the fruit you buy.

This is a real grass-roots experience in one of Brisbane's most diverse neighbourhoods. Northey Street features certified organic and fair trade items such as fruit, vegetables, dairy and dry goods. There's also coffee, sausage sizzles, fresh soup, artisan bread and the perennially popular Chai Cafe. Friendly stallholders will tell you how something is made or grown – in some cases from beds only 20 metres away in the city-farm where there are also permaculture workshops and seedlings available.

I was delighted to meet David from Healthy Friend and try some of his popular handmade, natural ranges of Bites, Savoury Trail Mix Nibbles, and Toasted Muesli that he makes with brown rice puffs, organic tahini, organic rice syrup, natural Australian macadamias, and sunflower kernals. They are delicious and a make a great healthy snack for my two boys who also got a sample from David. The boys loved the market and loved wandering through the gardens, meeting the chooks, sampling the food and climbing the trees.