Devonport Farmers Market

The Devonport Farmers Market runs twice a month rather than weekly, on the second and fourth Saturday, which is a deliberate scale choice for a farmers market in a region this size. Fortnightly gives north west Tasmania's growers enough time between dates to have something worth bringing, and it keeps the showground on Gunn Street busy on the mornings it does trade.

What the north west coast brings to Gunn Street

This is prime growing country, and the stall list reflects it. Tasmanian growers bring seasonal fruit and vegetables, with meat and seafood alongside them, and the value-added end covers handmade preserves, bread and pastries, and artisan cheeses. Flowers are a regular fixture. Food vans and coffee handle the eating, and live music runs through the morning, so the market functions as a Saturday morning outing rather than a shopping errand. The stallholders are the people who grew or made the thing, which is the point of the format and the reason you can ask what to do with the carrot tops.

The showground is the right venue for this and the wrong one for a browse. It gives the market hard standing, room for vans and trailers, and parking that a town square could not manage, but it also means the site is open and there is not much shelter if the weather off Bass Strait turns.

Good to know before you go

Get the date right first: second and fourth Saturday, not every Saturday, and the gap between the fourth and the following second is the one that catches people out. Arrive closer to 8:30am than to 12:30pm if produce is the reason for the trip, because the best of the seasonal fruit and veg moves in the first hour. Bring your own bags and a cool bag if you are buying meat, seafood or cheese. The showground is an easy detour for anyone coming off the Spirit of Tasmania on a market morning, which makes it a good first stop in the state. Dress for the coast: it is open ground and the wind matters. This is Pallittorre and Punnilerpanner country.