London's Best Farmers Markets and What to Buy in Season Right Now

Soft fruit is everywhere. British strawberries, gooseberries, and the first of the summer's broad beans are hitting market stalls across London this week, and growers say the warm June has pushed the season two weeks ahead of schedule. If you've been meaning to swap the supermarket for something better, this is the month to do it.

The timing matters for reasons beyond taste. With household food budgets still squeezed after three years of elevated grocery prices, buying directly from producers at farmers markets cuts out multiple layers of markup. A punnet of Kent strawberries at Borough Market on a Saturday morning typically runs £3.50 — competitive with major supermarkets, but the fruit was picked within 48 hours and hasn't spent a week in a chilled distribution depot in the East Midlands. The nutritional case for seasonal, local produce has been well documented by dietitians: certain vitamins, particularly vitamin C in leafy brassicas, degrade measurably during prolonged cold storage and long-haul transport.

Where to Go This Weekend

Borough Market in Southwark remains London's flagship. Open Tuesday through Saturday, it draws around 95,000 visitors a week in summer and hosts more than 100 traders, a significant number of them direct from farms in Kent, Sussex, and Essex. Right now the stalls to seek out are the soft fruit sellers and the allotment growers offering courgettes, peas, and the first outdoor-grown tomatoes of the year. Arrive before 10am on a Saturday if you want the best pick without the tourist crush.

Marylebone Farmers Market, tucked behind Marylebone High Street on Cramer Street car park every Sunday from 10am to 2pm, is smaller but has built a devoted following since it launched in 1999. It's run by London Farmers Markets, the not-for-profit organisation that operates nine markets across the capital with a strict rule that all produce must come from farms within 100 miles of the M25. That policy keeps the offering genuinely seasonal — no imported Spanish tomatoes dressed up as local. Traders here this July include several Hampshire growers selling garlic, which reaches its UK peak in mid-July, and at least two farms offering fresh-pulled new potatoes.

Further east, Walthamstow Farmers Market runs every first and third Sunday of the month on Walthamstow Town Square, E17. It's smaller and less well publicised, which means prices tend to be sharper and queues shorter. Local shoppers know it for its herb growers and free-range egg suppliers from farms in Hertfordshire.

What to Actually Buy in July

Broad beans are at their absolute peak and will be gone by late August. Buy them young, when the pods are no longer than your hand — older ones develop a tough grey skin that most cooks remove anyway. Courgettes are abundant and cheap right now; expect to pay around £1.20 to £1.80 per kilo from farm stalls, versus closer to £2.50 in many central London supermarkets. Garlic, both wet (freshly harvested, with moist skin) and dried, is worth stocking up on this month. British new potatoes — Jersey Royals are past their best, but Cornish varieties are still coming through — are another July essential.

Cherries are the luxury purchase. British cherries, grown largely in Kent orchards, have a commercial season that lasts roughly six weeks from late June. They're never cheap — £4 to £6 per 250g is standard at Borough — but they are genuinely different from the imported Turkish or Spanish product that fills supermarket bags from March onwards.

A word on planning: London Farmers Markets publishes a full seasonal calendar on its website, updated monthly, which maps each crop against the markets most likely to stock it. It's worth cross-referencing with the Royal Parks-adjacent markets — Notting Hill Farmers Market on Saturdays at Kensington Place, W8, for instance — before setting out, as smaller markets can sell out of popular lines by 11am. Bring a proper bag, some cash (several stalls still don't take cards), and budget around £20 to £30 for a week's worth of vegetables and fruit for two people. Your GP is unlikely to object.