You haven’t really visited Costa Rica until you’ve gone to the farmer’s market.
It’s absurd to think that grocery stores alone could give you the full picture of the wealth of fresh produce abounding in this tropical nation. They can’t give you the cultural experience of rubbing elbows, canvas sacks, and dirty sneakers with the locals while six produce vendors shout their repetitive chants letting passerbys know what’s for sale under their tarp and aromas of fresh coffee and fried chicharón (pork skins) permeate the air.
If you’re in Costa Rica, you simply can’t miss the farmer’s market, called “feria” by the locals. We attend every single Saturday morning for the quality & freshness of the produce, the unparallelled experience, and for the best priced fruits & veggies around. 
We always leave the feria with a new story. A few weeks ago as we sat at one of the many outdoor sodas (cafeterias) in the feria, local priests walked by, “anointing” all the farmers, stands, and even my shoulder with “holy water” in celebration of Farmer’s Day. Some weekends, the local band performs on a rooftop above the sodas. You might get your toes crushed by bad “drivers” of produce carts, shortchanged if you’re not paying attention, or even given freebies, if you ask. Here’s a peek into what the farmer’s market looked like this week…
How many of these fruits and veggies do you recognize? Since first visiting Costa Rica in 2006, I’ve become quite a connoisseur of rare & awkward tropical fruits, many of which I’ve been introduced to here at the farmer’s market. Check out my photos, spanning all the seasons of the year, and choose which finds you’d most like to try.
Note: For those of you trying to figure out the pricing, $1USD ≈ ₡500 Costa Rican colones
Hope your summer’s filled with luscious, local produce too!
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WOW! That looks NOTHING like my farmer’s market! HOLY CHEESE btw! It is so awesome tat you are able to have these adventures and expose your munchkins to different cultures! Eat something exotic for me—vegetarian of course!
You got it! I’ve tons of bananas this week, but that’s not too exotic. We’re headed to the beach this week, so I’ll have a pipa for you. Google that one 🙂
I love exploring markets. The colors are so gorgeous!
Wow! Those are beautiful colors and so much variety! I loved looking at all these pics 🙂 Are carambola called starfruit in English? I think I’ve had those before, but the rest look totally foreign 🙂 Delicious, and thanks for sharing! (Oh, and I prefer those musicians to the some of those who perform at our market downtown 😉 )
Yes, carambola are indeed starfruit. Most of those fruits have English translations, but since I don’t know many of them outside of Spanish, I just chose to keep the Spanish names for the post.
Aaaand now I’m dying to go to Costa Rica! Looks so fun!
If you book a flight, be sure to contact me & I’ll share all my best Costa Rica travel tips with you, Kelly!
Those markets look AMAZING! The colours, the fruit… I’d love to do my shopping there!
It is a wonderful place for fruit shopping. Just got back, in fact, about 30 minutes ago, though this week’s papaya, apples, and banana purchases weren’t as exotic as other days.
Wow, those are incredible pictures. Farmers markets really put the culture of the area on display.
What exactly is a pajibaye? That’s one I’ve never heard of before!
Thanks, Anni. Pejibayes are a fruit that grows on a specific type of palm tree. They’re dry and are incredibly difficult to explain, as I’m finding out right now 🙂 Here’s a link from Wikipedia. Basically, you boil them in salted water, peel them, and eat.
Which town has the best farmers market?
It depends on what zone you’re living in, but in the Central Valley, most towns have very large markets where you can pick up all in-season produce, local eats, and even imported produce. Generally ferias run on Saturdays and Sundays, with exceptions on weekend holidays.
What city/town is this in, could you be specific?
This particular market is in Guadalupe de San José.