A regular market goer is me these days. Most markets are permanent or regular here so there is not the same urgency to get there early as in Auckland. They also usually go from dawn to about 6pm so there's no rush, plenty of time when time is your friend.
The occasional markets however are for the worm catching early birds and the Veg Out Farmer's Market is one of this category. On the corner of Shakespeare Grove and Spenser Street behind Luna Park is the curiously named Peanut Farm. Don't ask me what it historically refers to I haven't found anyone yet who can tell me (most Melburnians seem largely ignorant about their city beyond their own small piece of it). What it is today is a St Kilda community allotment of gardening projects. It appears to have quite strict rules for what is essentially a hippy and kiddie's veggie patch. I find it absolutely charming, a place for butterflies and bees to party which is incongruously juxtaposed by it's proximity to the shriekings from the party at Luna Park next door.
The Veg Out allotments are well laid out and very personalised. There are granny scarecrows, over-sized model pirate ships, web-footed birdman angels, rainbow benches, rusted fireplace barbeques, there's no limiting the imagination in this garden. It is like walking through Lewis Carrolls' living flower patch in Alice's Adventures Through the Looking Glass. I expect the tiger lilies to growl at me as I pass and the snap dragons to snip at the hem of my skirt. It is a place to amuse myself unsuccessfully chasing white cabbage moths with my camera and the buzz of bees all around is blissfully pleasant to my ears. The birds that enter this arena are also far more attractive and sociable than the nasty ravens and crows that are synonymous with St Kilda. They freak me still where as the rosellas in this garden add a further splash of beauty to the colours. It's all very cool and begs the question why doesn't Auckland have community gardens like this one?
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