Alternative Edinburgh - Get your kicks at Farmers' Market

Edinburgh's Grassmarket gained notoriety in days gone by as a venue for public executions. The name of some of the pubs in the area evoke these days.

Visitors can discover more about the history of Edinburgh Castle, Castle Terrace, the Grassmarket, the West Bow and the Mound with the Old and New Towns Edinburgh audio travel guide. To hear an audio sample of the Old and New Towns tour please click here.

The Grassmarket is now more likely to be awash with revellers enjoying a drink or two in the pubs and bars that line the area. Every Saturday, nearby Castle Terrace plays host to an award winning Farmers' Market, where over 60 stallholders sell their produce. The Edinburgh Farmers' Market celebrated its ninth birthday earlier this year.

The majority of the stallholders grow or rear what they sell. And they are Scottish based. Around 5,000 members of the public visit the Market each Saturday. The Farmers' Market website lists which producers will be selling their foodstuffs and wares on any given Saturday. The stallholders are grouped under the following headings on the Farmers' Market website: Meat, Fish & Dairy, Fruit, Veg & Plants, Juices & Drinks, Sweets & Baking and Speciality Produce. To see the Edinburgh Farmers' Market website please click here.

In the current economic climate, it is easy to overlook the importance of trying to purchase ethically produced foodstuffs and the benefit to the economy and the environment of buying locally produced food. Food miles is the distance produce travels from a farmer's field to a consumer's table. So, it's great to know that residents and visitors to Edinburgh can purchase some of the the finest foodstuffs in Scotland every Saturday and do their bit for the environment and the Scottish economy.

Visitors to the Scottish capital can further reduce their carbon footprint with two Walk Talk Tour Edinburgh walking tours. Both The Royal Mile & More and the Old and New Towns audio tours are narrated by Scottish broadcaster and producer Graeme Mackenzie.Both tours can be completed in two hours though listeners have the freedom to take as long or as little as they wish to complete their tours.