One of the things I love about living in this town is the abundance of great markets. I don’t mean the highly touristed Rocks Market with its saturation of Australiana crafts (though I do love that fudge stand with its richly decadent sweets) or the somewhat high-brow Paddington Market crawling with wannabe glamour girls and boys with blotchy spray-on tans and designer garb.

I’m talking food markets. Artisan breads, imperfect-looking carrots and meats raised and produced with time and care. Stuff you won’t find at Coles or Woolies. One of my favourites is (unfortunately) only held on the first Saturday of every month.

neoaustralia.com.au

Located in Pyrmont Bay Park in the shadow of our hideous Star City Casino, the 80-odd stalls at the Sydney Morning Herald Growers’ Market have a great selection of fresh fruit and veg, colourful flowers, meats, baked goods, coffee, preserves, olive oil, you name it. The location is perfect. The tented stalls hug the edge of the park and harbourside boardwalk and the central grassed area is buzzing with people sitting and eating, walking their dogs or just playing with their highly-energized offspring. There’s even the occasional cooking demo.

Here’s a selection of stall-holders that grabbed my attention.

• Sydney Morning Herald Growers’ Market
• Pyrmont Bay Park
• Pyrmont 2009
  02 9282 3606
• This market is now permanently closed