To Market, To Market: Warragul Kids Farmers Market

On Friday afternoon we trundled down the hill to Warragul to check out Australia’s first ever kids farmers market – how cool is that! The clever clogs behind the Warragul Farmers Market had put two and two together, seeing all the miniature eager beavers at their monthly markets, so keen on knowing and growing their food. And so the idea was born to hold a kids only market at Warragul Primary School – all the produce would be grown in the children’s veggie patches in their backyards or made with the help of mum, dad, grandparents and helping hands.

The result was the most gorgeous little market, with cute stalls of apples and herbs and lemons galore. Just like at our house, there was an excess of tomatoes and cucumbers! So much effort and hard work had gone in to each of the stalls, the children were pleased as punch to serve you and show you what they had on offer. There were a few lemonade stands, little seedlings potted up ready for you to plant at home or slinky apples from the pre-school stand (Eleanor gave that the thumbs up!) DJ Nige in his blue combi van was pumping out the tunes to create a fun atmosphere and the Gippsland Jersey milkshake van of course was in attendance.

We came home with a jar of passata, a few chillies, some flowers and all the warm and fuzzies from supporting a little idea that had loads of heart. The concept of the market is such a brilliant initiative – teaching our local kids not only all about food production, but valuable lessons in business, enterprise, earning and learning as they work hard together to create something pretty awesome. All the parents, teachers and helpers who made the market happen should be chuffed with the outcome, and it should definitely be run again next year! I’d love our girls to have a little stall with the fruits of their labour from our little patch.

I’m so thankful for events such as these in our neck of the woods, it truly does take a village to raise these little people of ours. And with dedicated sorts like the team behind Warragul Farmers Market in our district, encouraging and engaging the community, the future for Gippsland families looks bright – especially with our mini-marketers coming up the ranks!