Saturday May 10th
Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear Crystal Palace Food Market, happy birthday to us!
One year ago we held our breath & took a leap of faith & here we are now 52 markets later! To celebrate, we’ll have balloons for kids & cake (a massive double carrot cake, courtesy of our very first stall Brett & Bailey) for everyone who gets there quick enough.
Also, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the many people who have been involved in the market, and all of those who have supported us, both within Crystal Palace Transition Town and the wider community.
CRYSTAL PALACE FOOD MARKET bottom of Haynes Lane / top of Bedwardine Road. Saturdays 10 am to 3 pm.
“Meat, vegetables, fruit, eggs, honey, bread, cakes, salads, hot foods, the Cafe Thing, coffee, tea, pastries, cheese, dairy and munch munch more.”
Meat of the week: Spicy, gluten free merguez sausages – special price this week £8 kg.
Hot lunch: Chas & Momo will cooking up Asian street food at very reasonable prices. Lunch box with vegetarian fried noodles, with sesame chicken wings, or slow roast pork ribs, or vegetarian spring rolls, or vegetarian sushi maki, also pork and prawn steamed dumplings and a pulled pork asian bun.
Store cupboard refills from The Grain Grocer: Nuts, seeds, flour, oats, oils, cleaning products and much more. Bring your own container, or buy pre-filled from them. They’ve got bulghur wheat back in stock, so get stocked up with fresh parsley and make some tabbouleh. The grocers will also have vegan chai for sale.
Brockman’s Farm (was Perry Court): Paul down on the farm says “We are down to the last 2 bins of Kent apples this week, so it will probably be the last time we have them at market until the discovery’s come along in August. New lines this week are Spring onions and the first of the “wet” garlic.”
Cakes: Joe says “Never mind whether the sun is shining – the Brett & Bailey stall will be bursting with summer flavours this weekend. We’ll have the return of our baked berry cheesecake, packed with raspberries and blueberries; our lemon and almond meringue cake, featuring a rich seam of blackberries in the middle; and some brand new strawberry and cardamom danishes. Elsewhere we’ll have brownies, blondies, sticky buns, and Matt’s all-new and incredibly chewy oatmeal cookies are not to be missed. Finally, other starring roles in the cake parade will go to our pistachio and honey cake, chocolate Guinness cake, double carrot cake, and there’ll be a very special cameo from our apple and salted caramel cake – it may not be so summery, but it’s bloody good ;)”
Music & Facepainting: To round off the festivities, the aunties, Jacqueline & Rose will be painting faces & playing gramophone records. Buskers Paradise: Live music in the market every week, arranged by local musician Steve Broe. Get in touch with Steve if you’d like the play some time.
News from the kids book swap last week: Joseph raised £79 for our local library. Top work Joseph!
Handmade Palace: Find a gift and card while you do your food shopping. This local artists and makers showcase stall is now weekly. Check out their facebook page.
West Norwood Food bank collection: every week at the market. This is their shopping list – which changes every so often. Last week we dropped off 22 kilos of food to a very happy volunteer in West Norwood – so thanks everyone for your donations so far.
Transmitter Magazine: We have copies of the excellent, independently run local magazine at the Patchwork Farm stall.
Follow us on twitter @CPFoodMarket or join us on Facebook.
____________________________________________________
“THEN SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENED….”
(Or: HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL PALACE FOOD MARKET! )
by Anita-Clare Field from Lover of Creating Flavours
Laura (left), Rachel, Karen and Rory (Picture caption competition anyone?)
I have lived in Crystal Palace for more than half my life and witnessed much change. Some I have helped fight against, some I have embraced and some I have been utterly indifferent to.
My big passion is food. Back in the day we had a butchers and a bakers, a fishmonger, even a real life green grocer. Everyone shopped locally, so in that respect nothing has changed.
Then one by one the local food business’ of the 90′s disappeared, either forced out by the likes of Safeway’s and latterly Sainsbury’s or hit by the recession.
Then something wonderful happened. Someone attending the Crystal Palace Transition Town AGM asked a very pertinent question. One that was going to shape the future of locally produced food, Saturdays in Crystal Palace were never going to be the same again.
“How can we increase sustainably produced local food in SE19?” someone asked at our Transition Town AGM. Crystal Palace had no grocer, fishmonger or butcher, just a Sainsburys.
One year later, a small dedicated team led by volunteers launched in earnest. Could a market of sustainably and locally produced food survive in urban SE19?”
Well of course the answer was yes and a crack team led by Karen Jones, Rachel De Thample and Laura Marchant-Short together with an army of volunteers and advisors breathed life into the market which officially launched a year ago this weekend.
Crystal Palace Food Market is now a much loved fixture on the weekend calendar for many Palacians “The place to go” brimming over with community spirit, the market has bought local business’ and local people together.
Local politicians support us, Ed Milliband and Chuka Umunna even visited us on ‘Small Business Saturday” 2013. More importantly though, our regulars now come down every week, even in the pouring rain, our producers feel like family and the local shops now count us as one of them.
The market has also been a fabulous platform for many small local food business’ to launch so far there have been 13 successful launches:
Hot food is supplied by Gunpowder Pie & mash; Margosa (Authentic Sri Lankan curry) and ATE(street food (sliders) served in thier vintage Citroen van).
For those with a sweeter tooth, Demi Pastisser (Catalan sweets) Brett & Bailey (Best baker boys on the block)Artichoke Hearts NB (Delicately flavoured cakes, macaroons & original salads) Cookie & Biscuit (US style cookies and cakes).
Gluten-free products are covered by Owl Kitchen (home-made fare from local coeliac Mel Whitlock)
So a year since its launch footfall is up month on month and the market continues to support many sustainable farms and local Crystal Palace business’.
The market is hugely innovative and partner project ‘ Patchwork Farm ‘ provides an outlet for local produce, grower networking opportunities, with produce, plants and knowledge as currency.
Each week the volunteer run stall sells,swaps gluts and produce from ‘Patchwork Farm’ & nearby allotments,back gardens and parks.
On Mondays, Rachel de Thample leads Patchwork Preserves which makes any Patchwork leftovers into preserves. Patchwork Bread is an initiative which aims to bring bread making skills into SE19, led by Colin Wilkie-Jones and Heaven Preserve Us (a brand extension of Lover of Creating Flavours) Potions, Preserves, Pickles and more led by Anita-Clare and Caroline Field.
The market continues to support 14 small organic/biodynamic farms and all profits are ploughed back into local growing initiatives in Crystal Palace.
It maintains five community gardens – Edible Garden in Westow Park , Museum Garden in Crystal Palace Park,Tipsy Garden behind the Grape and Grain, The Permaculture Garden on Central Hill and one in St John’s churchyard.
Volunteers meet regularly in the Edible Garden and St John’s. Patchwork Farm now receive produce from 42 growing spaces around Crystal Palace all of whom sell on the Patchwork Farm stall. We also grow in a number of gardens around SE19.
Education is also a key part of the market. Initiatives include “Food for Thought” posters, “Did you know?” newsletter facts and foraging forays, to Rachel De Thample’s weekly seasonal budget recipes, we actively engage with the local community on food issues.
The market uses its social media channels to raise awareness and coverage in the local press, blogs and magazines highlights the market’s values regularly.
The Heart Of The Market
Weekly produce is supplied by Jacob’s Ladder Farms, Brockmans, Brambletye Orchard, Wild Country and Calazaba Farm. There are 14 biodynamic/organic farms in total supported by this market, mainly in Sussex and Kent.
London Cheesemongers,
Veasey & Sons (sustainably sourced seafood,much caught with their own boat from Eastbourne);
Grain Grocer (offers the best in ethically sourced organic only whole foods & eco household items – run by Crystal Palace locals – Wade & Tara
Bread Bread (artisanal baker in Brixton)
Comfort & Joy (deli/wraps shop in SE19)
Cafe Thing (Volcano coffee/artisan teas)
Handmade Palace (Artists’ & Makers’ stall – run by local ceramicist Beth Mander ).
The market also has stalls on a rotating basis
Chas & Momo (eastern street food),
TY Janick (Britanny based crepes),
Pizza forno viaggiante (Croydon based wood fired oven pizza in a Citroen)
Casa Cuba (Cuban Street Food),
Flipping Nell (Flat bread wraps)
The Tartlettes (cake making yummy mummies),
Mr Muffin (SE25 based muffin making dad)
Blowing Dandelion SE19 artisan chocolate maker)
Crystal Creams (ice cream).
Elvira’s Secret Pantry is a gluten free baker, Calabaza farm -is a Sutton based organic farm, Pastificio Mansi is a SW2 based artisan pasta maker, Bees & Beansare Elmers End beekeepers, honey producers & bee friendly plant growers,Tigerspring Teas is a South Norwood-based tea producer. Imogeni is a SE19 based forager, jam & pickle maker, Pek’s Preserves is a Brixton based allotment pickle/jam maker, Mad Ass Chilli is a Croydon based hot sauce makers, Catherine Piddington Jams is a SE19 based jam maker and Clairoflora is a Croydon based allotment flower grower.
Crystal Palace Market Supports local community initiatives including: Crystal Palace Transition Town; Mwah (Intergenerational community group); Untapped Free School Campaign; Fairtrade Campaign/Stall; Crystal Palace Youth Orchestra; Rockmount School; Kingswood Primary; Elmwood School Choir; Crystal Palace Festival; Master Gardeners Seed Sap; Library storytelling, Crystal Palace Scouts, Salvation Army and Upper Norwood Library
BUSKERS PARADISE
The market works closely with Steve Broe, who promotes musicians & buskers – numerous local and not so local musicians have played at the market over the year.Some even in a boat!
Kids
There are also a fabulous array of regular events for children so they are entertained whilst the grown-ups shop.
Storytelling for kids (Fiona from Library/Brooke (West End Actress))
Facepainting – The Aunties
Yoga for kids
Magic for kids
Fire-engine;
Farm visits (visited Romshed Farm in April 2014 with 15 kids/15 adults – visit planned for June)
Maypole dancing!
We have a lot to be proud of, our amazing market has something for everyone, its key messages are embroidered throughout the entire fabric of the market:
Community
Local
Sustainability.
Crystal Palace Market is quite simply one of the best community based initiatives I have seen in my time here in our glorious town and we cannot wait to join the family officially next week. In the meantime, Crystal Palace I ask you to charge your glasses and drink to its increased success in everything it tries to achieve in the years to come. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL PALACE MARKET !
