On offer are stalls packed with in-season produce  such as avocados, lettuce, potatoes, and strawberries, as well as others hawking year-round treats such as coffee, meat, and doughnuts.

The market is more than its produce and stallholders, it is the environment that is created.

A lot of what customers see on these stalls is fresh produce picked that morning of the markets or, at the most, the day before.

Many of the market stallholders come from a corporate background and have changed their lifestyles so they can work for themselves, which has given them a lot of freedom.

But they also have full accountability for their product – so they know it well and are open to discussing its merits when a customer asks them a question. Often, the discussion revolves around the use of chemical sprays.

Market manager Susie Martinson has been in the role for five months now and is keen to educate customers on the delights of eating within the seasons.

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Susie says by purchasing fruit and veggies at a farmers’ market customers support their community and sustainable economy.

By-and-large farmers’ market stallholders share this view that a weekly community gathering helps keep money from going off-shore.

This coming summer season the Cambridge Farmers’ Market will double in size, going from the 20 winter stalwarts to more than 40 stalls to cater for all the fresh produce.

Susie mentioned the market speeds up in the summer months as stallholders get busier in the better weather.

Susie really likes the vibe that the markets create with the opportunity of having it outdoors, with the kid’s activities and the live performances from the band.

Chris Gubb, owner of Sunset Orchard, runs an avocado orchard that sells its produce  at the Cambridge Farmers’ Markets.

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Chris and his wife Karen go to the Cambridge and Hamilton markets every weekend usually between July and the end of January/February to sell their fruit.

The markets allow producers to increase profit as they allow them to cut out the middleman,  making sure their hard work pays off.

Chris found the markets by doing research. He had a look around and saw what was available, thinking that if he is going to do all this work with the avocados, he may as well gain more of a profit.

Chris thinks that the markets are a good environment because people are getting a fresher product from growers who are passionate.

The Cambridge Market is a great place to come to get cheaper, fresher produce with a known origin along with producer tips such as recipes.

Chris didn’t originally plan on growing and selling avocados. He originally planned on buying another farm as he was a farmer for 21 years prior to buying the land where the avocados were grown.

Chris originally had a beef manager job offered to him but the guy who had given him the opportunity had left him out on a limb. He then later had a job as a farm manager for a year and a half, before the land was sold. After that he decided to concentrate on growing  avocados.

Chris originally couldn’t come up with a name for the orchard. The name originally came when he had dinner one night with his wife Karen and saw the sun setting behind the neighbouring mountains. They looked at one another knowing that would be the name.

This coming season will be Chris’ 5th year growing avocados. He still considers himself new to the industry as he is still learning things every day, and is looking at ways to improve.

Not wanting a farm, the avocado lifestyle block allows him to be self-employed.

In regards to Chris’ crops, his fruit has increased in size and flavor. This is because he changed the fertilizer and the nutrition of the trees, as his avocados weren’t as sweet and creamy as he wanted them to be. This led to a bigger impact on the trees by size and taste.

Chris usually picks his avocados 3-4 days before the markets depending on how ripe they are,  so he can put them in the classes of fruit, from small to big, and he takes out ones that look damaged or don’t look good.

There are many challenges that Chris faces when growing avocados – the major one being the weather. A lot of wind can have an effect on the avocados such as loss of fruit at various times of the year. Bugs are another challenge as they do come in and mark the fruit.

It isn’t always about the dollars. It is a huge joy to Chris when customers have smiles on their faces when they purchase their avocados.

Chris went on to say when having a business like this, you must be on your game on to spot problems and get on it quickly because if not, the avocados are not saleable.