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MARKET BLOG.
April 2010 So far this year we have only attended two markets because of the dreadful weather! Both were quiet and not surprisingly so as the weather at both left much to be desired! We are hoping for good things this coming Sat (May 1st) at Huntly! We have made the decision (sadly) to no longer attend Elgin Farmers Market. We have struggled on with this sadly dying market for the past year and have seen its decline! Now it is so full of 'bought in' goods that it can hardly be called a Farmers Market any more. If it were to be relocated to a more visible part of the centre of Elgin I am sure that it would do very well, but that seems unlikely! so as the Forres Town Farmers Market is now well underway (First market of which we attended) we feel that this market is a far better and well organised venue for us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday Sept 19th 2009 Elgin Farmers Market. A quiet market but much improved on last month! More people about and many looking for christmas gifts which was good for us! There are simply not enough stallholders attending however to make the most of this market, and some of the goods are not made but bought in...which is a shame in a Farmers Market...however it was an improvement on August! Saturday Sept 8th 2009. Forres Green Food Fayre. This Market didn't seem to get going this month...After being so promising for us the month before, this week was very quiet with not really enough people visiting to make it worth while...quite a shame for the organisers who are putting a lot of time and energy into the project...My own feeling was that the signs advertising it were poor and not really too noticeable in the town...They may find that asking local shops to display them would help? never the less we will continue to support this monthly event and hope that it 'gets there' eventually! Apparently the fruit & veg stalls did very well! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday Sept 5th 2009 Huntly Annual Food Fest & Farmers Market. As is usual with Huntly this was a good market...well attended and with a lovely atmosphere... although there were lots of other events happening on the day, and in Huntly itself...it was a good market for us and as always with Huntly, very enjoyable and well organised day! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday August 15th 2009 Elgin Farmers Market. A quiet and somewhat dismal market...which seems to be the norm for Elgin Farmers Market at the moment...there were too few stalls attending, and very few 'foodies' ....this market is really getting hardly worth attending, and I believe it is mainly because there are so few stall-holders willing to attend. If I am honest I have to say that we only keep on going to keep the market going, but I feel that next year we may have to re-think our position on this as we plan to attend some of our local Highland Games.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday August 8th 2009. Forres Green Food Fayre. This is a new venue just off the centre of Forres...I believe that this was only the second fayre held. We went to this market with some trepidation as we know from experience that markets not in the centre of a town generally do not do so well...however we were very pleasantly surprised! It was well supported with a constant stream of folk walking down from town and visiting the market. And we found that most of the people who troubled to come did actually buy! We especially liked the idea of small tables in the centre of the space and refreshments available...that made it a better prospect for shoppers to sit and chat and then browse. We had a very good day...the fact that it was warm and sunny helped of course, but we have booked up for the next three markets this year, and hope to join the Forres Farmers Market when it gets going Easter 2010. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July 30th 2009 Homecoming Event Huntly Castle. This was a brilliant day! with loads of visitors coming to see and listen to the mass piped bands...an impressive sight as they marched up to the castle from the centre of town. All in all this was a lovely day with a lovely atmosphere...which is usual with any of the Huntly events! Well organised and lovely weather! This was followed by the usual Huntly Farmers Market on SAT AUG 1st A somewhat quiet market as there is so much else going on on this Saturday...such as Speyfest. Our son, partner and young family were at this market for us so limited stock was taken. We were at Speyfest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday July 18th Elgin Farmers Market. again a very quiet and somewhat disappointing market, quite a compliment of stalls, and a good variety of goods, but there was simply not the people attending, and this may well have been because on that Saturday there were quite a few other events locally... in the afternoon it did pick up a good bit, but really not enough to warrant all day standing in a very cold and damp position! It has long been my thought that at this market would be far better positioned differently, and that instead of standing at the side of the church which is cold and rather dreary, we would be better a little more out in the open as there is plenty room in the centre of Elgin. Hopefully one day somebody else will come to the same conclusion and perhaps we can get this potentially very viable market back on its feet again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday July 4th Huntly Farmers Market. a splendid farmers market! The square was full of people coming and going, and there was a generally good atmosphere as people enjoyed the sunshine (and the showers!) And went about their business. Again we seem to have a full complement of stalls, together with coffee and pancakes always very welcome! as ever this market is lives up to its growing reputation, and it is well run, enthusiastic and well worth a visit! We have learned that there is hopefully soon be a farmers market in Forres.... we are hoping to be able to attend this when it gets going later this summer, having attended the Forres Highland games recently, and the Forres theme day, we are quite enthusiastic about starting this as a new venture, since we have recently decided not to attend the Aberdeen country fair for the moment. Aberdeen country fair was a lovely event and still is, but it costs us a great deal of money to pay for the stall and to get there and it takes us from 5.30 in the morning till 5.30 in the evening...quite an exhausting day and at the moment not financially rewarding enough to maintain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday June 20th Elgin Farmers Market. quite a good market weatherwise, and there were quite a few new stalls this time, which is good for the market generally and definitely attracts more customers. Rather a quiet day however and I think that at this time of year we have to say this is the recession biting deep at last! Nevertheless it was a pleasant day, we saw many regulars and old friends, and enjoyed our coffee treat in Starbucks before the market started. Generally speaking Elgin market is not nearly as good as it used to be in years gone by... partly this is the recession, but also it is because there is no one really interested enough to inject some fire and enthusiasm into this farmer's market. But we live in hope! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday June 6th Huntly Farmers Market. a somewhat quiet market today with unsettled weather, but a good nevertheless! And when we got sunshine it was really nice. Not so many people about and I think this is because there were a lot of other events going on on the same day. But we do tend to get regular customers at this event, and it was a good turnout of stalls, 25 I believe which makes the square in Huntly look really attractive! The farmers market is a real addition to this small country town, and I noticed that people use it as eating place on market day are very social events indeed! As always we thoroughly enjoyed the market and the crack! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday March 21st. Elgin Farmers Market. The day started out fine and sunny, but soon changed to dark skies and a few drops of rain...fortunately they soon cleared up but we didn't see much of the Sun for the rest of the day. It was a quiet market with only five stalls beside ourselves... which was a shame because there were plenty of people going about and in fact we had quite a good day, with regular customers visiting us and from people looking for Mother's Day gifts. Unfortunately there was no vegetable stall on the market which we heard people commenting about (you would always expect a vegetable stall at a farmers market!) It is a shame that this market never seems to really get off the ground, considering what a large catchment area it has, I believe in part this is due to where we are situated opposite the Saint Giles Centre, (an overcast and somewhat draughty alleyway) if we were a little more central in the square (and when available in the sunshine!) I think people would be more inclined to stop and browse. I also feel that any market needs to have enough of a variety to make it attractive to the general public, and at the moment this market simply does not. Whether we continue to attend is debatable, we are hoping that it will pick up somewhat with newcomer stallholders during the spring and summer... it certainly needs a bit of a makeover if it is to be really attractive to other stallholders... and could definitely learn a few lessons from Huntley's Farmers Market! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday March 7th. Huntly Farmers Market. A pleasant morning weatherwise...followed by a downpour at about 12 mid-day! thankfully it didn't last long and there were plenty of folk going about to make it a successful market even for March. This little country market has grown over the past year and is both diverse and interesting with lots of lovely 'foodie' stalls and crafts. A very warm and thriving market, placed around the centre of the square in Huntly. The committee that runs the market is very friendly and helpful ...making for a lovely atmosphere! We had a lovely day...met new folk...and tried some lightly smoked cottage cheese from Devenick Dairy that was scrummy! with some fresh local bread for our lunch. A good day out! we would recommend you visit this 'now not so small' farmers market when you are in Huntly on the first Saturday of the month! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday Feb 29th. Belmont St. A lovely sunny day in Aberdeen! perfect for a market...no wind and although still cold a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. A quick apology to the customer who came looking for 'rough crystals' having seen and read about them on our www.madeinmoray.co.uk site... we cut down on the stock that we brought with us on Sat as we didn't expect so much interest for February market! we will learn from our mistake and make sure that we do so next month! We were advised by Apardion who run the Belmont St. Market that they may be running extra markets during the summer months, unfortunately we wont be able to attend any more that those we have listed on the Aberdeen Markets page, as they will be on the first Saturday on the month, and that is when we attend Huntlys market. There will however be extra markets in Aberdeen during December this year...dates yet to be fixed! I have decided (with the blessings of the organisers) to bring my spinning wheel and home-spun wool to the spring/summer Aberdeen & Huntly markets when the weather is suitable! so watch out for the 'spinning wifey' on the pavement next warm market day! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday Feb 21st Elgin Market. A windy but not too cold a day in Elgin. Very quiet with not many folk going about, and a very small market with only five stalls attending. Never the less Derrick, Joyce and I had a lovely day, and it is always good to do the Elgin market where we are so well known with lots of customers past and present popping in to say hello! Started the day with a hot choc from 'Starbucks' which is our Elgin Market treat! Hopefully the market will have more stalls next month as we believe that the more interesting the market, the better people like it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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