As Malta begins to lean towards summer, the shoreline slowly comes back to life. The boldest swimmers never really left; others return cautiously, testing the water one foot at a time. Around them, families unpack portable barbecues, friends pass around bottles of cold beer and paper-wrapped ftajjar biż-żejt, and walkers pause beside the sea with snacks tucked into their backpacks.
Of course, a day outdoors is about more than the food. Yet food has a way of revealing how people live: what they carry, what they share, and what they consider worth eating under an open sky.
For travellers, a picnic assembled from a Maltese farmers’ market offers something especially rewarding. It replaces the anonymous hotel-room snack run with a morning among growers and producers, where fruit still follows the season and local specialities come with a conversation. Malta’s regulated farmers’ markets are intended for the direct sale of local agricultural produce from farmers and producers to consumers; imported produce cannot be sold from licensed stalls.
A morning at Ta’ Qali
Ta’ Qali is Malta’s principal farmers’ market and the more expansive of the two official options. Set near Ħ’Attard, in the island’s green central belt, it is less polished than a gourmet food hall—and all the better for it. Produce is arranged in crates rather than styled displays, vans double as shopfronts, and the rhythm is briskest early in the day.
The market operates on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Official permit conditions list its hours as 7am to 3pm, although traders may finish earlier when produce sells out. As of 15 September 2026, it has been temporarily relocated beside the Pitkalija wholesale market while a new farmers’ market project is under way, so checking the Malta Food Agency’s latest notice before setting out is advisable.
Come early for the widest choice and the pleasure of seeing the market wake up. Chefs scan the stalls for ingredients, home cooks fill wheeled shopping bags, and producers answer questions about varieties, ripeness and how something is best prepared. The setting may be practical, but the experience is deeply personal: this is food with a place, a season and often a family story attached.
What to put in your basket
The selection changes naturally through the year. In spring, expect tender greens, artichokes, peas, broad beans and fresh onions; as summer approaches, tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, peaches, melons, and figs begin to take over. Exact timing varies with the weather, which is part of the pleasure—arrive with curiosity rather than a fixed shopping list.
May is particularly evocative. Black mulberries, known locally as tut, have a short season and are worth buying when spotted; Friends of the Earth Malta identifies May with the black mulberry and spring with fresh chickpeas. Mulberries bruise easily, so carry them carefully and eat them soon—preferably chilled, spooned over yoghurt or transformed into a deep-purple granita.
Fresh chickpeas, ċiċri, make excellent market-walking food: split the pod and eat the young peas as they are. Peaches become softer and more fragrant as the weather warms, while early figs arrive closer to summer. For a simple picnic, pair ripe fruit with Maltese cheeselets, good bread and something sharp or salty from a jar.
The markets are not limited to fruit and vegetables. Depending on the producer and the day, stalls may offer ġbejniet (Maltese cheeselets), eggs, honey, fish, meat and preserved products such as capers; official rules require these goods to be locally produced or derived from local primary produce and to meet relevant packaging, labelling and temperature controls. Historically, Ta’ Qali traders have also sold rabbit, pork, chicken, wine, and mushrooms alongside fresh produce.
Look out, too, for bigilla, Malta’s rustic broad-bean spread, and jars of olives, onions, or capers. If buying pork, the Majjal ta’ Malta label denotes Maltese-grown pork. Local honey makes an elegant edible souvenir, but the familiar claim that Malta’s name derives from honey should be treated as a romantic possibility rather than settled fact: the island’s name may instead descend from a Phoenician word associated with a haven or refuge.
The Birgu alternative
For visitors staying around Valletta or the Three Cities, the smaller Kottonera farmers’ market offers a more compact alternative. It is held on Saturday from 7am to 11.30am along Triq il-Ġublew tal-Fidda, on the Birgu–Bormla side of the harbour. Although a market event was promoted there in April 2023, official agricultural policy records a Birgu farmers’ market operating since August 2013, so 2023 should not be described as its original opening.
The journey can become part of the morning. Bus route 2 links Valletta and Birgu, while the ferry crosses the Grand Harbour between Valletta and the Three Cities. Arriving by water gives the outing a cinematic beginning: bastions rise from the harbour, small boats sit beneath the fortifications, and the market becomes the first stop in a day exploring Birgu’s lanes and waterfront.
Build a Maltese picnic
A luxurious picnic need not be elaborate. Start with a crusty loaf or ftira, add fresh or peppered ġbejniet, tomatoes at their best, olives, and capers, and finish with whatever fruit looks and smells most convincing that morning. A jar of local honey, a chilled bottle of Maltese wine, and linen napkins elevate the basket without losing its sense of place.
Ask before sampling, bring cash as well as a card, and carry several reusable bags—including one that can protect delicate fruit. A small insulated bag is useful for cheese, fish, or meat, particularly once temperatures rise. If the picnic includes a barbecue, use only designated areas, follow local fire restrictions, and leave the shoreline exactly as found.
The appeal of these markets is not simply lower prices or fresher vegetables. It is the chance to understand Malta through ordinary rituals: a grower explaining how to cook a vegetable, a family choosing fruit for the week, or a visitor learning that the finest souvenir may be something destined to be eaten before sunset.
Getting there: Route 56 serves Ta’ Qali, while route 2 connects Valletta with Birgu. The Valletta–Three Cities ferry is the most scenic approach to the Birgu area; schedules vary between winter and summer and should be checked before travel.
