In winter, sticking to local veg can be a bit of a bind - what do you make with three pounds of curly kale and one kholrabi? - but I can vouch for the great value of the East Oxford Farmer's market in mid-October, at least!

For £11.50 we got a butternut squash, a fat and beautiful red cabbage, two heads of garlic, one of the finest, sweetest celariacs I've ever eaten, a large and varied collection of hot and sweet peppers, and a pastry-and-stew-based lunch.

One thing that always bothers me about the prospect of organic veg is the number of creepy-crawlies I expect to spew out onto my chopping board, but everything we bought, even the cabbage, has proved to be as free from bugs as the most toxin-saturated Tesco produce. But a great deal tastier than Tesco and, yes, apparently fresher, which I wasn't expecting. There's a bit more dirt to wash off, which is probably why it's tastier (the supermarket tactic of cleaning to make fruit and veg shiny is a disaster for flavour).

I will definitely be going again (until the depths of the curly kale season, anyway).

This is a weekly market in the East Oxford Primary School, Union Street, the other side of the car park behind Tesco on Cowley Road. It has a great community feel to it, with a diverse set of stallholders and customers, as might be expected of the area.

Students rub shoulders with long-term residents, kids run around (there is a playground to the back which is very popular when the weather's right!), older people chat with younger ones - and there's plenty of different languages spoken!

Stalls are inside and out, with a market cafe in a room off the main hall, where people sit and chat around large tables while having a drink and yummy food (sweet or savoury, depending on what you fancy). You can buy all your staples (bread, eggs, cheese, veg, dairy, pulses, nuts and rice), including refills (also for washing and washing up liquids), with produce either made or processed within 30 miles - plus different types of take-away food, sometimes flowers, crafts, and also beer or cider. Halal meat from Willowbrook Farm is available too.

Some come weekly, some fortnightly, some monthly, some seasonal so there's always a surprise! Very friendly and welcoming, a real community spirit to it! Recommended. :)