Marketestalls, a popular shopping portal for homemade goods, have launched a new forum for buyers and growers who want more info about farmers markets.

The site, named farmersmarketforum.co.uk, allows users to talk about establishing new markets, ask questions about existing ones, or recruit new stallholders. There is also a forum for reviews, and a ‘traders helpline’, offering advice on everything from where to buy hexagonal jam jars, to how best to set-up a generator.

Pamela Robson, creator of the forum, said it was set-up in response to a long string of queries she could not answer. “Since Market eStalls was launched a year ago I have continuously received questions from traders and shoppers - some of which were quite bizarre. Someone asked me where they could find quail eggs for hatching,” she said.

“Before the forum, there wasn’t really anywhere you could go for this sort of help. There is an official farmers’ market website which has the basic information such as times and dates of events - but nothing that offers advice or a place for enthusiasts to interact.”

The marketestalls website works by allowing sellers to rent a space or ‘eStall’ for less than £1.75 per week. On each eStall there is space for photos, descriptions, background information, and links to their own websites or addresses of where buyers can find them in the real world. Buyers can also place orders and pay directly on the website.

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