Fit Fare

If you watch a lot of movies, then you’re probably familiar with Toronto’s City Hall building and the adjoining park, Nathan Phillips Square. Starring in 2004’s Resident Evil and 2006’s The Sentinel, our futuristic city hall gets a decidedly more rural look each Wednesday morning as the farmers roll in and set up their wares.

As the Ontario growing season is short, the Nathan Phillips Square market runs from the first week in June until usually the first or second week of October; its yearly ending designed to co-incide with Canadian Thanksgiving, which falls on the second Monday of October.

Beneath the curves of steel and glass, Torontonians gather for some of the best and freshest produce in southern Ontario. The Nathan Phillips Square market requires that all products are grower-sold – nothing can be imported or brought in from elsewhere. While this means that customers have a limited selection at the beginning of the season when the only things available are strawberries and asparagus, it ensures a level of quality not available elsewhere.

Aside from the ever-changing array of produce; berries, greens, and asparagus in June and July, stone fruit, corn and muskmelons in August, then pears and an array of apples in September and finally pumpkins and squash in October; the market also boasts a variety of flower vendors, a ginseng vendor, a sweet potato farmer, two bakeries, a farm that specialized in herbs and vegetables for South East Asian cuisine (ah, the smell of fresh Methi!), and an organic vendor who offers vegetables as well as baked goods. One vendor whose sales have been hurt this year is my beloved “jam lady”, a lovely woman who runs an orchard and who also makes a variety of delicious jams. Changes to Ontario’s food and safety bylaws now require that all prepared foods sold at farmer’s markets in the province be prepared in a commercial kitchen, and as she makes her jam in her farmhouse kitchen, she is no longer permitted to sell her jams at market. Sometimes the government gets a little too zealous in its desire to protect our health.

Situated right in the middle of downtown, the market’s clientele is decidedly well-dressed, as nearby office workers wander into the square on their lunch hour to do some shopping, grab a bit of lunch and sit around that very famous fountain watching the resident pair of ducks. From noon until 2pm, market shoppers can take a break and enjoy some live music at the stage set up in the middle of the square, part of a series called “Fresh Wednesdays”.

Serious shoppers know to arrive early to score items such as fresh currants and rare types of apples (gingergolds, anyone?) before they sell out. The market gets extremely busy at lunchtime when a combination of the aforementioned office workers, groups of pre-schoolers, and busloads of tourists flood the square and occasionally jostle for space with a couple of police officers on horseback.

One smart move that sets the vendors at Nathan Phillips Square apart is how well they know their market. Most fruits are available singly for folks who want one apple to have as a snack, and many vendors put together “variety baskets”. For instance instead of a big basket of just peaches, I can buy a basket with a couple of peaches, a few apricots, some plums, etc. These baskets change in content throughout the summer as fruit comes in and out of season. You can even buy a mixed box of cherry tomatoes – all different varieties – which is perfect for salads.

The Nathan Phillips Square farmer’s market is a favorite for most Torontonians, as it’s central location and mid-day hours make it easily accessible.

Wednesdays from June 7th – October 18th
Hours: 10am – 2pm
Location: Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto