Our favourite reason for shopping at a farmer’s market is to get really fresh food that hasn’t travelled long distances to reach us. Not only does freshly picked produce taste better, but it’s also a great way to support our local economy. One of the regular vendors at Bo.lan’s Eat Responsibly Day farmer’s market is Green Earth Farm, a local pesticide-free vegetable farm that produces coconuts and vegetables. Prices were extremely reasonable at just THB15 for an entire head of coconut. We joyfully sipped on our chilled coconut juice as we browsed all the various stalls.

Just across from the Green Earth Farm booth was a table covered with jars of natural butters and jams by the newly launched Heimat brand, which debuted their goods at the farmer’s market. Founder and creator of Heimat, Bendjamin Udomkaewkanjana, was thrilled.

‘It was amazing! We are very excited to interact with our customers who have an appreciation for and great understanding of quality, hand-crafted, natural, artisan foods.’

Since Heimat is all about natural goodness, they even provided environmentally friendly miniature wooden tasting spoons for guests to sample their products. The Almond Praline Spread was already sold out by the time I discovered my love for it, so I went home with a jar of sweetly satisfying Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam instead, which I polished off in just two days!

While we were swooning over the variety of freshly made butters and jams, our noses caught the inviting smell of something delicious. Chef Jess Barnes of the soon-to-open Quince Eatery & Bar and Chef Peter of Smith Restaurant were cooking surprise dishes made with hand-picked ingredients from the vendors. It was a great example and proof that you can make a great meal with just one trip to the farmer’s market! Since the cooking stations were packed with spectators and food critics, we were only able to catch a glimpse of what Chef Jess Barnes made: a little salad with some seared pork loin from an organic farm in Sisaket, topped with a relish made from sautéed shallots, cherry tomatoes and some smoky eggplant and basil. He added some hom mali rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and pennywort in there as well. At the bottom was a slice of char-grilled sourdough bread with buffalo ricotta and almond butter from Heimat, and he garnished the dish with a little black pudding and pomelo. If your mouth isn’t drooling at the freshness and variety of the ingredients, let me just say — it tasted incredible!