The Guelph Farmers' Market

Girl Gone Guelph
Mar 16, 2021
2 min read

Updated: Apr 8, 2021

A vibrant community food hub.

Open Saturdays from 7 am to 12 pm

My bounty from my recent visit to the Guelph Farmers' Market was more than I could carry.

The Guelph Farmers’ Market is old, 194-years-old to be exact. Although it has changed buildings and exact locations over the years it has always remained downtown. It’s a lively community hub filled with farmers from the region and vendors making a wide variety of international foods.

My first stop was with Heritage House Farms where I met Brenda and Mark Kupferschmidt. It was the epitome of what I want at a farmers market - to meet and talk to the farmers. I love to get to know producers. It makes me feel connected to their business and their products. And I love supporting local small businesses. They are the backbone of great cities and towns and reflect the personality of the community.

I picked up some lovely banana fingerling potatoes and then realized Heritage House also had a display of pork, beef and poultry. That’s when I started talking to Mark. With a gleam in his eye, he proudly tells me Heritage House is a family-run business; he and Brenda are here at the Guelph market while their daughter, he gushes, is at the farm running the store. His daughter is helping run the business! You can feel the pride emanating from him. He hands me a beautiful business card, and as I enthusiastically point to what I hope will be our Easter ham he says “I need to check with my daughter”. He shows me a text from her: Someone at the farm store inquired about my ham. These farmers know their products and want to meet their customers needs. They care. He checks in, the ham is released to me and I’m on my way, a happy girl.

I bought a corn cake, inquired about some planting potatoes, picked up a chicken curry pie and then checked out the Mushroom Ladies. They had a lovely assortment of fresh organic mushrooms, and some Ontario garlic, but what I thought was super cool was their dehydrated mushrooms and mushroom powder. I keep hearing about mushroom powder; people say it adds a lovely umami flavour, it’s great for replacing salt and it’s a superfood. I grabbed a jar, along with the most beautiful oyster mushrooms.

A stand of vivid greens then caught my eye as I was introduced to Gamble Farms Live Microgreens. The bright live sprouts scream health and vitality. Farmer Kip Gamble explains that these tiny plants pack a nutritional punch: They have up to 40 times more nutrients than mature plants. I’m astonished. He explains that these shoots can live on my windowsill for two weeks so I can continue to enjoy them until my next visit. I buy garlic-chive, pea, and broccoli.

On my way out, Brantview Farms had a beautiful display of apples - a classic Canadian fruit. I had to purchase the largest bag of Ambrosias available. I left dreaming of what I should make with my bounty.