Nosara’s organic market, every Saturday morning in the parking lot of the Tropicale Giardino restaurant and hotel, is a unique shopping experience that offers not just organically raised vegetables and meats, but a variety of prepared foods and juices, cosmetic products and jewelry and crafts.
Locals know to arrive close to 8 am to ensure the best selection of fresh vegetables, grown on a certified-organic farm at the village Cerro Negra about 30 kilometers up the Rio Nosara. The market, in its second year, continues through most of the low season with a smaller array of vendors, but is still worth a visit.
Some vendors, like Toni and Siggi who organically raise chickens, pigs, sheep, tilapia and sometimes rabbit at their farm in Hojancha, post a schedule of their visits during the low season. Hojancha is a village in the mountains near Nicoya that is cited and surveyed in the book Bluezones for its high number of centenarians (see earlier blog, “There’s something in the water…”). Their meats are outstanding, and Toni is a skilled butcher and excellent German sausage maker.
The offerings are diverse. J.P., a raw foods chef who hails from Texas, offers his signature ‘bliss balls,’ a carob and coconut confection that my wife buys in bulk to feed her healthy addiction. Goat cheese and spirulina are some of the more ordinary wares. At a table next door I buy a bag of chamot, a root vegetable that I’m told is similar to potatoes. I’m always game to try something new, and this market is a good place to find it. Bottles of noni juice are offered, popular as an overall health tonic and much cheaper here than one would find in the states.
Jewelry made from recycled material, including pop tops and clothing remnants, is featured at one table, with information about organizations that help promote recycling in Costa Rica. Green shopping bags are available for purchase, part of the local campaign to cut down on the use of plastic.
Natural essences handcrafted in Costa Rica are featured with handmade jewelry items at another table, and I try a sample of orange jasmine on my wrist. Labels on the bottles promote the olfactory consciousness of ‘passion’ or ‘bosque’ (forest), among other sensory destinations.
At another booth I buy fresh bread and drink a glass of tamarindo juice, a delicious drink prepared from soaked tamarindo seeds with honey. A glass of fresh squeezed orange juice at another booth is mandatory, especially at 500 colones or less than a dollar.
Even if you’re staying at a hotel with no cooking facilities, a visit to this market offers a special shopping experience and great opportunity to sample healthy snacks and shop for souvenirs that will help you hold on to your Nosara experience.