Saturday Farmer's Market at St. Lawrence Market, Toronto

For many Torontonians, their Saturday morning ritual includes a visit to the Farmer's Market at St. Lawrence Market. Farmer's Markets like this is one of the reasons why I think Toronto is a home cook's paradise.



St. Lawrence Market is the oldest market place in Toronto. It has it's roots as an Indian market place before the days of European settlement. Today, St. Lawrence remains a thriving community hub and was even named by National Geographic Magazine, no less, as the number 1 food market in the world.



Every Saturday, the farmer's market comes alive at around 6:00am with traders and shoppers. The farmer's market is now housed in a temporary white tent on the south side of the St. Lawrence Market.



A larger permanent structure for the farmer's market is now being built at the north side of St. Lawrence Market (right in front of the St. Lawrence Hall).



The Farmer's Market isn't very big - just about 50 or so temporary stalls. But, it complements the 100+ permanent shops in the St. Lawrence Market perfectly, making Saturday mornings the best time to visit the St. Lawrence marketplace.



Let's take a walk around the Farmer's Market and see some of the local produce available on Saturdays.



Most of the produce are grown and raised at farms in Ontario. All uber fresh!



Brussels sprouts have a special place in my heart because we ate a lot of these crunchy greens in the 1980s as they were the closest thing we could get to the taste of kai lan (芥蓝 Chinese broccoli) then. Of course, kai lan is abundant in Canada nowadays.



Canadian potatoes and sweet potatoes are simply the best. Of course, I am shamelessly biased lah 😝



There is always something new at the Farmer's Market because there are seasonal goods.



In Canada, it's a tradition to take home some pussy willows to celebrate Easter. (Whereas in Singapore, we have pussy willows to celebrate Chinese New Year.)



There are a few stalls selling real apple cider which are very popular.



Of course, there's maple syrup, by the gallon even.



There are a few meat stalls. Toronto is famous for their high quality, tasty pork. Since centuries past, Ontario pork is exported from Toronto to England, which earned the city the name "Hogtown".

The Farmer's Market is a good place to get the week's supply of fresh beef, lamb and pork.



Sausages of all kinds are one of my favourite foods 😋 Sausages go well with almost anything from rice to noodles and even on its own 😃



There are also home bakes to take home 😘



👉 If your stay in Toronto includes a Saturday morning, a trip to the Farmer's Market and the St. Lawrence Market is well worth it.

Read more about the St. Lawrence Market here 👈 click

Farmer's Market at St. Lawrence Market (south side)
Address: 93 Front St E, Toronto, ON (8 minutes from King subway station) 
Hours: 5:00am to 2:00pm (Saturday on)
Tel: (416) 392-7219  






Date: 22 Apr 2017