Welcome to Square One Farmers’ Market! Our first time here!
Last Sunday, Raj and I visited Square One Farmers’ Market for the first time before they wrap up on November 2nd. This year, the annual Square One Farmers’ Market in Mississauga runs on Sundays (June 1st through November 2nd) from 8AM to 4PM at the Mississauga Central Lions Club and on Wednesdays (July 23rd through October 29th) from 11AM to 8PM at the Mississauga Celebration Square. This farmers’ market is smaller than the St. Lawrence Farmers’ Market and the Evergreen Brick Works Farmers’ Market in Toronto. It also features less prepared foods than the ones in Toronto, so don’t expect much of a selection if grabbing breakfast, lunch, or snacks here. Nonetheless, Raj and I had a blast checking out all the fresh foods and chatting with the vendors.
The first thing that caught our eyes: a bushel of habanero chili peppers for $25! We LOVE chili peppers!
Raj and I absolutely LOVE chilies and anything spicy! So a bushel of habanero peppers for $25 was the first thing that caught our eyes. Perfect for homemade chili sauce!
Such a great selection of fresh fall vegetables! Look at all those gorgeous and vibrant colours!
What’s fall without fresh, local apples? So many varieties to choose from!
Ontario grape season is almost over, so enjoy while you still can! Once the season is over, we’ll be paying more for imported grapes. Boo!
The freshly baked breads from COBS Bread smelled divine!
Although you can’t see it in the picture above, the bees seemed to love COBS Bread! More bees were buzzing around COBS than any other vendor. Their breads are baked fresh daily and any leftover breads are given to local charities. If you are sensitive or allergic to gluten, you can only enjoy the aroma of their breads unfortunately since COBS does not make any gluten-free products. However, all their traditional and artisan breads are free of any preservatives, sugar, dairy, and colouring.
The honey soap was handmade with local honey and it came in a variety of natural scents. The coconut scented one was Raj’s favourite.
‘Tis the season for pumpkins and squashes!
I love squashes for soups. Nothing like a warm bowl of homemade soup as the weather gets colder. Mmm…
We sampled almost every product from Alphonsa’s Gourmet who sources most of their ingredients from the market. Their chili sauces were our favourite!
Raj and I are always immediately drawn to hot sauces. We just love chilies! So when we spotted the homemade chili sauces at Alphonsa’s Gourmet, we HAD to stop by to pick some up. We learned that most of the ingredients in their products are sourced from the market! It’s always great when companies use local products. The owners were very passionate about their products and ended up encouraging us to sample almost all their products. We tried almost everything (all their hot sauces, the Sweet Ginger BBQ Sauce, the Mango Lime Sauce, the Pineapple Peach Salsa, all four flavours of their homemade hummus, and more).
From Alphonsa’s Gourmet, Raj picked up their Fiery Hot chili sauce and I picked up their Mango Pepper chili sauce. Happy customers!
Although everything tasted great at Alphonsa’s, we ended up getting hot sauces to add to our ever-growing collection. Raj decided on their Fiery Hot hot sauce (the hottest of all four hot sauces) and I decided on their Mango Pepper hot sauce. All their hot sauces are made with Scotch Bonnet peppers. While they are all quite spicy, they all have a nice balance of heat and flavour.
At the market that day, Raj and I got a chance to sign the petition to protect Ontario’s Greenbelt. Afterwards, we got a reusable tote bag to help raise awareness.
Our last stop at the farmers’ market was a non-profit booth supporting the Greenbelt Foundation. We had a nice discussion about environmental issues with two supporters of the Greenbelt Foundation and we signed their petition to help protect Ontario’s Greenbelt. Our Greenbelt provides farmlands, local produce, forests, wetlands, fresh air, clean water, biodiversity and jobs, so it is important to keep the area protected.
All in all, we had a lot of fun at Square One Farmers’ Market. It was great meeting and chatting with all the vendors. Raj and I are hosting a dinner for friends this weekend, so the excursion was great for healthy dinner menu ideas! We will share what we end up making for the dinner in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!
XOXO,
Addy
Raddy Health 