Bullet-hard tomatoes shrink-wrapped to styrofoam trays not for you? Me neither. But while farmers markets may be your best option for dewy, full-flavoured, just-plucked produce (not to mention a good chinwag with a farmer), what happens when, mid-week, you're gagging for homemade soup and find yourself clean out of parsnips? Or broadbeans? Well, if you lived anywhere near Cotton Tree, you'd be scooting on down to Get Fresh. Sure, the name's not the most original, but apt it most undeniably is: this produce is not just fresh - it's alive and kicking.

Jamie Oliver once said you can tell the quality of produce by the care and attention with which it has been displayed. Well feast your eyes upon this gorgeous harvest tableaux:


Only an artist could compose such a glorious still life. Were he or she around in the 16th century, they'd have easily picked up a gig as chief food stylist to the Dutch Masters. If only I'd remembered to pack an easel, canvas and oil paints. A camera - pfffff - so ill-equipped to capture such blushing, veggie loveliness. Oh what buxom aubergines, what chubby cherubic mushrooms. What a garden of earthly delights!


Don't you just want to randomly bite everything? Or is that just me? I can be a wee bit obsessive about veggies. Bordering on lust. I'm the first to admit it.
And if you can pull your gaze from those graceful, leggy pasnips - take a look at these handsome, bloke-proportioned jars of jam. Sit a be-ribboned selection of these under the Christmas tree and you'll have one classy and delicious alternative to the socks and undies option.


But Get Fresh isn't just fruit and veg - you see, there's also a bakery section. And yes, it is all incredibly scrumptious. Absolutely top notch. So good, in fact, that it deserves its own post.
You'll be hearing from me.

Get Fresh sits prettily amongst the leisurely village ambience of King Street, Cotton Tree.
After some happy veggie perusing, you can indulge in a deeply satisfying hot chocolate next door, at Silva Spoon.
(And fellow veggie obsessives can find more leafy loveliness over here at Salad Ware.)