North Essendon Farmers Market

Lincoln Park on the third Sunday of the month is a straightforward proposition: growers, a coffee cart, live music, and a slow lap of the stalls with half of Essendon and their dogs. Eight to one is a farmers market window rather than a brunch one, and the produce end of it takes that seriously.

Growers first, then everything you would want with them

The stall list runs local produce, bread, honey, meat, eggs, biscuits and cakes, fresh flowers, and beer and wine, with hot food and coffee to eat there. Handmade gifts and children's activities fill out the edges. It is a market you can do the week's shopping at and still stay an hour longer than you meant to.

Rain or shine is the operator's own promise, and a monthly market that keeps it earns a following fast. There is no point building a Sunday around a market that cancels when the forecast turns.

Good to know before you go

Eight is an early start and the growers reward it, so aim for the first ninety minutes if produce is the point. Lincoln Park sits behind the North Essendon shops, so there is a strip of cafes right there when the coffee cart queue is long. Bring bags and cash. Bring the dog. If you are coming from further out, five hours is a generous window by farmers market standards and the middle of it is the liveliest, with the music going and the hot food stalls at full tilt.