onionbagblog

And so the morning after the night before and it was return to the scene of the hyperlocal high spirits with a visit to the monthly Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market. Twelve hours previous and the Congregational Hall had hosted the wall-to-wall salutations of the Wiv Soc Wine Tasting evening.

Back to basics on Saturday morning. Back to the beetroot.

Blimey.

The Wivenhoe Farmer’s Market deserves a dedicated spot on Autumn Watch. It is well placed to observe the changing of the seasons, with the departure of the summer guard and the welcoming of the produce for the winter months ahead.

Strawberries were out; potatoes stock was in. I still managed to sneak in a frozen pizza from the Co-op en route to the Congregational Hall. That should go down rather well with a generous serving of stewed cabbage.

Many of the regular stall holders reflected this change, offering up for sale the delights that these darker months has now delivered. Our friends from the Friday Frinton Farmer’s and Craft Market were well stocked for carrots, cauliflowers and onions. I bagged mine up - and then blogged about it.

It is always good to see some new traders try out their fine produce on an appreciative Wivenhoe shopping crowd. The Cantonese Wok and Roll stall was as enthusiastic as the pork was tender, all at 9am on a Saturday morning as well.

Christmas cakes were positioned towards the top end of the hall, somewhere roundabouts near to the red wine section from the Wiv Soc Wine Tasting the night before. There’s probably a Master Chef message in there, Comrades.

Chin Chin.

The lovely folk from the Colne Soap Makers had a fine selection of locally produced products on sale. @AnnaJCowen surprisingly scrubs up rather well, especially after a mouthful of Christmas cake and a swig from the red wine bottle. I bought the girl something to help her along with this cleaning up process, come Christmas Day.

And so sometime just after twelve hours since the last drop of Wiv Soc plonk was washed down, we left the Congregational Hall having now been fed on a hangover diet of sausages from Great Bentley, Irish soda bread and Cantonese pork.

Never turn down a free breakfast, or even a free sample from the welcoming traders that come to Wivenhoe each month. That soap actually almost looks edible, especially after a night out on the Wiv Soc lash.