Purple Love Week - win a purple love box

Purple Love Week is back - Seven Days of Loving Great Food. Purple Places with special purple farmers markets include;

Saturday 9th February - Stroud

Sunday 10th February - Swindon

Thursday 14th February - Stow on the Wold

Friday 15th February - Gloucester

Come along and vote for your favourite purple place at the market - the stallholder who is purplest! Enter our free prize draw at each market to win a Purple Love Box crammed full with purple produce.

Leap Day Market

Gloucestershire's first ever leap day farmers market. Come to Gloucester on Friday 29th February for our special Leap Year farmers' market - there won't be another one for some years, so don't miss this one!!! With the BBC Radio Gloucestershire breakfast team broadcasting live from the market.

Fairtrade Fortnight

During Fairtrade Fortnight we shall be having a stall at each market selling farmers market fairly traded tea towels and re-usable shopping bags, made from organic cotton and fairly traded by Bishopston Trading.

Saturday 1st March in Stroud - come and visit the fair trade stall run by the Stroud Fair Trade Group

Friday 7th March - Gloucester

Saturday 8th March - Stroud

Sunday 9th March - Swindon

Thursday 13th March - Stow on the Wold

Friday 14th March at Gloucester

Saturday 15th March - Stroud

Sunday 16th March - Swindon

Sport Relief

Friday 7th March - Gloucester Farmers Market

We have invited teams from Gloucester Rugby Club, GL1, The Gloucestershire Regiment and Gloucester Farmers Market to take part in our wacky sports day. Races with include free- range egg and spoon race, leek relay, and more. Teams will be competing against the farmers and hoping to raise lots of cash for comic relief.

Featuring the Gloucestershire Regiment recruitment caravan, information about events at GL1 and more...keep checking for updates.

To take part, or enter a team, call us on 01453 758060.

Birthday market in Gloucester - Friday 2nd May - 5th anniversary farmers market in Gloucester - free birthday cake baked by the stallholders using local free range eggs.

Compost Awareness Week -

Friday 9th May - Gloucester farmers market - home composting information stall from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Order your compost bin with free home delivery in Gloucestershire.

Sunday 11th May - Swindon farmers market - home composting information stall from the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Order your home composting bin with free delivery in Wiltshire.

Month of Taste - 15th June to 20th July

Come along and discover the fantastic flavour of fresh and local food at your local farmers market. Incorperating strawberry week.

Birthday market in Stroud - Saturday 5th July - 9th anniversary farmers market in Stroud - free birthday cake baked by the stallholders using local free range eggs.

Organic Fortnight come and meet the local organic farmers who produce great tasting food and sell through local farmers markets.

Friday 5th - Gloucester - Cullimore's organic burgers and salt marsh beef and lamb, Ruddle Court organic camembert and fresh cheese, Whitfield organic beef, Simon Weaver's organic soft cheeses, Ogg Valley organic vegetables.

Saturday 6th - Stroud - Adey's Farm organic burgers and beef, pork & lamb, Whitfield organics beef, Newark Farm organic vegetables, Hotch Potch organic vegetables and flowers, Alderton Nurseries organic tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, Simon Weaver's organic soft cheeses, Hobbs House organic bakery, Jesse's ladies organic milk and cream.

Sunday 7th - Swindon - Pirton House organic vegetables and eggs.

Thursday 11th - Stow on the Wold - Simon Weaver's organic soft cheese.

Friday 12th - Gloucester - Cullimore's organic burgers and salt marsh beef and lamb, Ruddle Court orgnaic camembert and soft cheese, Whitfield organic beef, Simon Weaver's organic soft cheeses, Ogg Valley organic vegetables.

Saturday 13th - Stroud - Adey's Farm organic burgers and beef, pork & lamb, Whitfield organics beef, Newark Farm organic vegetables, Hotch Potch organic vegetables and flowers, Alderton Nurseries organic tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, Simon Weaver's organic soft cheeses, Hobbs House organic bakery, Jesse's ladies organic milk and cream.

Sunday 14th - Swindon - Pirton House organic vegetables and eggs.

British Food Fortnight

British Food Fortnight runs from 20th September to 5th october 2008.

Events throughout the country. Find out about the diverse and delicious food that Britain produces - visit your local farmers market for special events and lots of tasters. Discover the benefits and pleasures of eating quality, fresh, seasonal and regional produce. Look out for special events at our markets. More details nearer the time.

Birthday market in Stow on the Wold - Thursday 9th October - Anniversary farmers market in Stow on the Wold - 6 years old today! free birthday cake baked by the stallholders using local free range eggs.

Apple Days

Saturday 18th October in Stroud. 9am to 2pm With a special exhibition from Days Cottage of 50 varieties of traditional Gloucestershire apples to see, feel , smell and taste. Bring along your windfalls and a bottle to make juice in our mini-apple press. Learn all about local apple varieties and have free tasters of freshly pressed apple juice.

Sunday 19th October in Swindon. 10am to 4pm. Bring along your windfalls and a bottle to make juice in our mini-apple press. Learn all about local apple varieties and have free tasters of freshly pressed apple juice.

Pumpkin Days

Friday 24th October in Gloucester

Saturday 25th October in Stroud

Sunday 26th October in Swindon

Bring your pumpkins along by 11am for judging and put them in our pumpkin patch - stick a label on the bottom with your name on so you can collect your pumpkin at the end.

There will be prizes for the biggest pumpkin and the most interesting pumpkin, so come along and join in the fun. Everyone who takes part will get some free pumpkin recipe sheets to try out at home. Prizes for coming along in fancy dress, so come along as a witch or a ghoul and brighten up your half term.

Birthday market in Swindon -

Swindon Designer Outlet, Sunday 9th November, Anniversary farmers market in Swindon - 4 years old today! free birthday cake baked by the stallholders using local free range eggs.

Christmas Shopping

Get away from it all and have a relaxing Christmas shopping experience. Buy from the grower, get great cooking and serving tips, and have your freshest Christmas Dinner yet from the farmers' market.

During December we will be having special entertainments at Stroud, and hope local singing groups will join us at Swindon and Gloucester to add to the festive cheer.

Stallholders will be offering the very best in Christmas produce, from sprout stalks to sweet parsnips, Christmas puddings to delicious apple juice, wine and real ale.

Christmas shopping was never so much fun. Don't forget to bring along some re-usable shopping bags and cut down on plastic - or buy one of our organic cotton fairly traded shopping bags from our information stall.

2008 Archive...

Farmhouse Breakfast Week

Celebrate Farmhouse Breakfast Week - come along and sample the delights of fresh and local breakfast ingredients direct from the people who grew and baked them - free range eggs, tasty farmhouse sausages, home cured bacon, freshly baked bread, delicious croissants, lovely jams and spreads, new season's apple juice and even breakfast cereals at some markets.

Friday 25th January at Gloucester - pick up some free recipe leaflets, look out for the farmhouse breakfast week posters on the stalls selling yummy breakfast ingredients. Try buying fresh free range eggs, freshly baked croissants and great tasting freshly baked bread. Try some free-range chicken sausages and organic salt marsh beef sausages, lamb and rosemary sausages or organic lamb spicy merguez sausages, everything direct from local producers.

Win a farmhouse breakfast week hamper from Gloucester farmers market only in the Citizen.

Saturday 26th January at Stroud - The Big Stroud breakfast will be on the menu at the Green Man cafe and there will be lots of tasty farmhouse breakfast

Win a farmhouse breakfast week hamper from Stroud farmers market only in the Stroud News & Journal.

Sunday 27th January at Swindon

Farmhouse Breakfast Week is an annual campaign that emphasises the importance of eating a healthy breakfast every day. 'A Great Start' is the theme of this year's celebration to encourage everyone to wake up to a balanced breakfast as part of a healthy and active lifestyle. Nutritionists agree that a healthy breakfast is essential for starting the day. Breakfast provides 'A Great Start!' to the day, no matter what you have planned.

Win a farmhosue breakfast week hamper from Swidnon farmers market - fill out a free entry form at the farmers market this Sunday and enter our prize draw.

Breakfast facts

The word breakfast literally means 'breaking the fast'. Overnight our energy stores are used up, so eating breakfast will top up the energy that has been used whilst sleeping and give us the energy needed to start the day.

The 'traditional' breakfast staples such as cereal and toast remain the most popular choices in the mornings. Most households have four different types of breakfast cereal in the kitchen cupboard.

The world's first breakfast cereal was created in 1863 and comprised of dense bran nuggets that had to be soaked overnight in order to be chewable. (We won't be selling THAT at any of our markets!)

Research done by the Cardiff University School of Psychology, LED BY Professor Andrew Smith has shown that eating breakfast helps children function better in school than those who skip the first meal of the day. The results revealed children who start the day with cereal are:

• 9 percent more alert
• 11 percent less emotionally distressed
• 13 percent less tired
• 17 percent less anxious
• 10 percent less likely to suffer memory and attention span difficulties, than those that have no breakfast
• 33 percent less likely to suffer from stomach complaints.

2007 Archive of events

Month of Taste 2007 , September 17 - October 23 

Ban the bland' and get full-on flavour from local foods available at farmers' markets and farm shops during the Month of Taste, organised by the National Farmers' Retail & Markets Association (FARMA). The Month of taste focuses on food that tastes great because it is produced with care and respect to be sold as locally as possible to the source of production by people who know about its history.

Throughout the Month of Taste, customers at farmers' markets and farm shops will be treated to a variety of tastings. There will also be cookery demonstrations, with recipes and information about seasonality and varieties of produce. 'In this, its first year, the Month of Taste will begin to show what British farmers are capable of producing,' says FARMA manager, Gareth Jones. 'Thanks to the opportunities created by farm shops and farmers' markets and the strong consumer interest in local foods, many more farmers are selling direct these days. We want customers to appreciate really good food when they eat it.'

At Fresh-n-Local farmers' markets you can enter a free prize draw to win a box of farmers' market goodies, try a huge selection of farmers' market produce, and buy a new fresh-n-local shopping bag! Made from natural biodegradable jute (takes up to 20kg of shopping!) or 100% organic fairly-traded cotton, they're perfect for your fresh-n-local produce!

400 of you took the BBC Nest Box Challenge - click here to view pictures of the events at Stroud farmers market and Swindon Farmers Market

Purple Love Week 2007 - the winners

Congratulations to our "purple love box" farmers market hamper winners, lucky customers Anita of Gloucester, Mr and Mrs of Farmpton on Severn and Mary from Swindon who all won a lovely selection of fresh and local purple produce, cook books and treats from the Made in Stroud shop.

On-the-spot prizes for the best-dressed-in-purple stallholder's were won by Over Farm Market, who won a free stall at the market. Highly commended were the Green Man Cafe, the crepe stall, Rob Wimpress Nurseries, Duncan Paget's stall balloon and everyone who dressed up specially for the day. You wonderful Purple People.

Fair Trade Fortnight 2007 - 26th Feb to 11 March

Special events were held at Gloucester's weekly farmers market on Friday 9th March but you can find the Gloucester Churches Together fair trade stall at the market every fortnight on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, featuring fairly traded essentials and locally made fudge and coconut ice made using fairly traded ingredients

Red Nose Day 2007 - Friday 16th March in Gloucester

We raised £172.00 collecting small change at the market, so THANK YOU for your generosity. Stallholder's dressed up for the occasion, and stallholders have also paid money into the Comic relief bank account following their own collections on their stalls.

Spring Greening at the Farmers Markets - another new idea. We know how interested you are in "green" issues, so we invited our friends from local "green" organisations, renewable energy companies, local councils and environmental charities to come along to the markets on;

Stow on the Wold - Thursday 8th March with the recycling and composting road show from Cotswold District Council - with information on Keeping the Cotswolds Clean, Tips of Home Composting and information on recycling.

Stroud - Saturday 17th March sign up for renewable energy from Ecotricity or Good Energy, find out about bio-diesel, learn about home composting from Nick Brown, Gloucestershire County Council Home Composting Advisor.

Sunday 25th March in Swindon with stall featuring representatives from the Swindon Action network and the local LETS scheme - find out more about how you can get involved in local green projects.

Eggsibition at Stroud on Easter Saturday - supported by Over Farm Market, pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 at Stroud Valley Community School were kept busy painting ostrich eggs!

Winners were voted for by market customers and received prizes from the farmers market at their end of term celebration assembly - Congratulations to all who took part and made this event such a success.

"Knit One, Eat One"

Created by the Stroud Knitting Group and friends with funding from the Lottery "Awards for All".

Come and see the amazing art installation at;

Stroud on Saturday 5th May

Swindon - Sunday 6th May

Malmesbury - Saturday 12th May

Stow on the Wold - Thursday 17th May *

* moved from second thursday due to horse fair on 10th

The knitted fruit and veg stall marked the launch of the Stroud Water Textiles Festival 2007. For details on the Stroud water Textile Trust courses contact www.stroudwatertextiles.org.uk,.