Queen St Farmer's Markets Brisbane & Epicurious

When travelling I'm always keen to incorporate some foodie related activities. I love checking out markets, cruising through botanic gardens and eating out at places that showcase regional produce.

On our recent trip up the North NSW coast and through to Brisbane I was able to take in markets, some gardens and enjoy some local produce and products. I thought I'd highlight a few on the blog.

Farmer's markets are a pretty common sight in most cities and towns across Australia these days. The quality varies of course and some are more markets, less farmers but I'm always keen to check them out. So, I was very pleased when I found a mid week market in Brissie - the Jan Power's Queen St Markets.

Fresh market produce.

The Jan Powers crew host several markets across Brisbane, most of which fall on a weekend. We were only around during the week though so it was great to see a mid week option. If I lived in Brissie these would be so convenient as I often find weekend markets overly crowded and not always easy to get to around other commitments. If you worked in the city it would be so handy to be able to pop out in your lunch break or on your way home to grab supplies for the week or even just dinner.

These markets were a good mix of fresh produce, locally produced products and food options to enjoy on site. We popped in to grab some supplies for dinner and to enjoy a few of the 'eat now' options available.

My girls were very excited to see berries in season. They LOVE their berries so we picked up three large punnets of strawberries and some raspberries (which didn't take long to disappear!). I was most excited by the avocados - four varieties available at once. I love finding different varieties of fruit and veg. Our supermarkets, and even many local fruit & veg shops, are so uniform and have such limited varieties. In the Southern states you generally have one variety to choose from - Hass. So it was nice to see and taste the variations in flavour and creaminess. I took the opportunity to pick up a couple of Fuerte avocados - so full of flavour.

A variety of avocado varieties.

Also on offer around the market along with the wide variety of fruit and veg were smoked goods, fresh seafood, cheese, plenty of gluten free products, delicious baked goods (we enjoyed a German apple pie for morning tea) and great looking bread.

If you're visiting Brissie I'd definitely recommend checking out the market if your days coincide. We caught the ferry into North Quay to access the markets, but being on the end of the Queen St Mall (main Brissie city shopping strip) it's well serviced by transport options. The markets are held on Wednesdays 8am - 6pm, Reddacliff Place.

A nice stroll over the bridge and through the Southbank precinct (or a quick ferry ride across the river) brings you to another draw card for foodies and food gardeners - the Epicurious garden.  A public access food garden that encourages people to see, smell and taste the plants on offer.

For someone who has only ever gardened in a temperate climate it was interesting to see the different varieties of tropical and subtropical plants growing. There is  a picking protocol to keep the plants and space semi-protected and a garden cart where you can pick up produce and cuttings that the staff/volunteers have picked. Unfortunately the cart wasn't open when I went through, even though it was within the time advertised and there were no gardeners around to chat to. But I still enjoyed having a wander. Here are a few pics:

Giant Red Mustard leaves.

Coffee plant.

I'd definitely recommend taking a look if you are in the South bank area. There is also a nice rain forest walk in the precinct as well as a great kids playground where we spent quite a lot of time.

Do you like to take in gardening and foodie things on your holidays?