A farmers' market is not a supermarket with worse parking. The stalls change with the month, the person handing you a bag of apples probably picked them, and the best thing on offer in February looks nothing like the best thing in July. That rhythm is the whole point, and it rewards a little planning. Whether you are shopping in Salisbury's broad market square, through the streets of Taunton, or under the shadow of Winchester Cathedral, the same habits serve you well: buy what the season is actually giving, talk to the people selling it, and let the cooking follow the shopping rather than the other way round.

The season sets the menu, not your recipe book

In Wessex, as across most of Britain, the growing year arrives in overlapping waves rather than neat monthly blocks. Late winter and early spring are the lean stretch that growers call the hungry gap: stored roots, hardy greens and whatever survived the frost, with not much else. Then the year opens up quickly through May and June, peaks in a glut of soft fruit and beans through late summer, and slides into apples, squash and game by October.

This matters practically. If you arrive in April looking for tomatoes, you will find them — flown in, grown under glass, or imported — but you will pay for them and they will not be worth it. Come back in August and you will be tripping over the things. The market is at its most rewarding when you shop for what is abundant rather than what you had in mind.

What to buy, month by month

Treat this as a rough guide rather than a timetable. Weather shifts everything by a few weeks, and a stallholder will always know better than a calendar.

• March to May: the last of the forced rhubarb, purple sprouting broccoli, leeks, kale and cavolo nero, wild garlic, watercress, spring salad leaves and radishes. English asparagus starts in late April and improves through May, along with spring lamb, sorrel and the first outdoor rhubarb.
• June and July: asparagus until midsummer, strawberries, gooseberries and the first cherries, broad beans, peas, courgettes, beetroot, elderflower, and new potatoes lifted that morning.
• August and September: tomatoes worth waiting for, runner and French beans, sweetcorn, plums, blackberries, garlic, onions, early apples and the first pears.
• October and November: apples and pears in variety, quince, squash and pumpkins, cobnuts and walnuts, wild mushrooms, game birds, and cider apples pressed into juice or fermented.
• December to February: parsnips, swede, celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, sprouts, stored apples, cheese, cured meat and preserves — the quiet, sturdy part of the year.

A useful test of a stall is what is missing from it. A table groaning with tomatoes in February, or with asparagus in September, is telling you something. Ask where things come from; the good sellers will answer without hesitation and often with a field name.

Market etiquette: the unwritten rules

Farmers' markets run on trust and small margins. A few habits keep you welcome on both sides of the trestle table.

1. Bring cash as well as a card. Most stalls now take contactless, but signal can drop in a crowded square and coins move a queue along faster.
2. Carry your own bags. Boxes, baskets and sturdy totes are expected; plastic bags rarely are.
3. Ask before you handle. With fruit, vegetables and bread, pick up what you intend to buy rather than pressing every peach. With cheese, meat and preserves, point and let the seller serve you.
4. Ask questions. What is best this week? How should I cook this? What is coming in next month? Stallholders would rather talk than watch you guess.
5. Do not haggle. Prices are set and the margin is thin. Bulk deals, late-day reductions and pre-orders are fair game; arguing over a pound is not.
6. Step aside once you have paid. Queues form in narrow spaces, and a chatty customer parked at the front slows everyone behind them.
7. Check the rules on dogs before you bring one, and keep them clear of food stalls either way.
8. Pre-order for the big occasions. Christmas birds, half a lamb, a cheese for a wedding — arrange it weeks ahead, not on the morning.

On cheeses, cured meats and raw milk, ask whether a product is unpasteurised. If you are pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised, take advice from a GP or midwife before eating unpasteurised dairy.

Salisbury, Taunton and Winchester: when to go

Salisbury

The city's market tradition is old and the square is one of the roomiest in the region, which makes it a comfortable place to start. Aim for May and June, when asparagus, salad leaves and early soft fruit fill the stalls, or September and October, when game, mushrooms, apples and the county's bacon and cheese take over. Winter visits are quieter but still worthwhile for roots, preserves and cheeses.

Taunton

Somerset's strength is cider, orchard fruit and dairy, and late summer through autumn is when the town shows it off. Go in August to October for apples, cider, blackberries and squash, or in spring for lamb and the first greens. Taunton is also a good market for buying in bulk — trays of fruit, sacks of potatoes, a box of apples for juicing at home.

Winchester

Winchester's market has a strong food-and-drink leaning, and Hampshire chalk country shows up plainly in the watercress, trout, berries and beers on offer. May and June suit anyone hunting watercress, asparagus and early strawberries, while the late-November and December markets are the ones to plan a gift shop around.

Days and times vary between towns and change from year to year, so confirm the details with the market's own listing or the local council before you set out.

Before you set off

Check the date and opening hours. Arrive early for the best choice, or in the final half hour if you are happy with what is left. Park once and walk the whole market before buying anything, so you do not spend your budget on the first stall you like. Bring cash, a couple of bags, and a cool bag in summer if you are travelling any distance. Then break your own rule: ask one seller what they would buy today, and take it home. That single habit will teach you more about eating with the season in Wessex than any list.

Photo: Michelle-Maria / Pixabay