Iceland review - 2016, Page 49

ICELAND REVIEW 47
We’ve had a great day so
far,” says Jón Jóhannsson,
farmer and owner of the
Mosskógar Saturday farmers’ market in
Mosfellsdalur valley, a 30-minute drive
from downtown Reykjavík, when the
photographer and I visit one Saturday at
lunchtime in mid-August. It’s a couple
of hours after opening time and finding
a parking spot is getting tough. Judging
by the line, it’s the vegetables people are
here for. Among the more-than-20 vari-
eties are fresh bunches of collard greens,
like green and black kale and rainbow
chard, arugula (rocket), several varieties
of lettuce, green beans, spring onions,
green, red and yellow peppers, rhubarb,
radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage,
carrots, kohlrabi, rutabaga (swede), pars-
ley and red and brown potatoes. “It’s
coming up to meat soup season so it’s the
potatoes, carrots and other root vegeta-
bles which are most popular at this time
of year,” Jón explains. The strawberries
too, sold at another stall, are a clear hit
and are finished long before closing.
DIVERSE FARE
There’s also a queue for apple cake
and freshly-baked waffles, topped with
jam, cream and blueberries. Jón’s wife,
Vala Ólafsdóttir, is busy with the waffle
iron. “I’m flat out today,” she comments.
Several people are sitting at the adjacent
picnic benches enjoying the sweet treats
with coffee. They are mostly locals, but
among them are David and Ruth Leosz,
on holiday from the United States. “We
Fresh vegetables, waffles, coffee and greenhouse camping
are all on offer at the popular farmers’ market in Mosfellsdalur
valley just outside Reykjavík. Zoë Robert and photographer
Áslaug Snorradóttir go for a weekend drive to check it out.

wanted to taste some of the local fare,”
David explains. “We saw the sign for the
market on our way to Þingvellir. All the
locals seem to know about it. It’s small
but it’s nice, the veggies look good.”
Jón has been running the market—
often referred to as the first of its kind
in Iceland—at his farm since 1999. He
grows most of the vege-
tables on sale here today.
Though they have not
been through the organ-
ic certification process,
Vala says that all of the
vegetables they grow
themselves are done so
without the use of chem-
icals.
The market’s offerings
are, however, not limited
to fresh veg. There are also free-range
eggs, fresh bunches of roses, smoked
Arctic char and brown trout from
Þingvallavatn lake, as well as seaweed
products, homemade jams, dried fish,
salt fish, cod, and a berry, moss and whey
beverage. Vala explains that they some-
times also have guest stalls with some-
thing a little different. “We had someone
making paella using Icelandic ingredi-
ents earlier in the summer,” she says.
Today it’s Nepali pork momos (dump-
lings) prepared by Nanu Basnet. Nanu
is originally from Nepal, but moved to
Iceland earlier this year. “There’s a lot of
demand and whenever we’re here, people
ask for us to make more,” she tells me.
I go for a walk with Jón to check
out his vegetable patch, situated behind
F O O D