Fire up your meals with Rocket!
Next week sees the appearance of certified organic rocket bunches in all of the small boxes, thanks to farmer David out at Bathurst. I included rocket in addition to Rita’s baby cos lettuce so its time to break out those salads – perfect for the sunny autumn afternoons we’ve been enjoying lately. Also, rocket basically goes well with pretty much anything whether its a sandwich, a garnish to some grandiose culinary masterpiece, or anything in between. I hope you enjoy it!
Apples of the Orient!
Also of note next
week are Persimmons in all the fruit boxes and the large boxes. Traditionally grown in Japan they have been called ‘apples of the orient’. I’m not usually a fan of them and so was skeptical when Lily brought some in as a sample the other week. They arrived quite hard but the FC staff all had a munch – it was decided they needed a few days to ripen up. We’re glad we waited! We all arrived back in the office last Monday, having each taken persimmons home the previous week, and we all said the same thing – ‘wow, those persimmons were amazing! There’s something in the air or the soil out at Bilpin because I am now officially a fan of Persimmons! For those of you not registered for our fruit or large box, remember that you can always order Persimmons as an extra item. I’ll also aim to get them in the small boxes at some point soon. With bananas on the way out, expect to see a few fruit alternatives in the coming months.
by Amber on April 30, 2012
In Season
It’s the start of May and change is most definitely in the air. Back in my northern UK home, May 1st is the traditional marker of the start of Summer, with more may poles, morris dancing, bonfires on hill tops and chasing cheese down steep hills than you can shake a ribbon covered stick at. I’ve lived in Sydney for two years, am here to stay and have been slowly adjusting to the year being turned upon its head. Therefore I officially am noting that this week marks the start of the cold dark times – get ready for winter folks, there’s a chill in the air. By the way, for anyone wondering what that Halloween nonsense is all about in October, its based upon an old European harvest festival in mid autumn – its southern calendar equivalent is May 1st. We have plenty of spare pumpkins down at the Food Connect warehouse in case anyone fancies carving a lantern!
As the warmth leaves us the crops change too. Enjoy the last bananas of the year over the next few weeks. Kiwis are making their last appearance in week 19 (a very short season). In another month or two we’ll also lose summer vegetables such as capsicum and eggplant. You’ll be pleased to know that standard tomatoes keep on going, though we’ll have to say goodbye to Rita’s wonderful cherry tomatoes until the next spring.
Don’t worry though, because its out with the old and in with the new. Citrus is still just beginning but soon we’ll be flooded with new produce. Anthony out at Colo River will have his incredible oranges for us in the next few weeks. I’ll also be looking out for more of those wonderful lemonades I found last autumn. And don’t forget the mandarins, which made their big comeback this week. I just tried one today and they’re outstanding! We’ll also continue to see a wealth of beautiful new season apples right into the winter months.
Winter veggies to look forward to are English Spinach,
Snow Peas and Broccolini. We’ll also see the comeback of Kale, which was wiped out in all that summer rain. Kale is not only incredibly tasty and highly nutritious but you generally can’t buy it in the supermarkets. Then there’s the brassicas, the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, which all do well in colder weather. Add an array of spud varieties (from Kipflers to Tassie Pink Eyes) and pumpkins and I foresee some hearty winter stews and bakes coming on!
In the news
Recent news on falling fruit prices demonstrates the need to support our local farmers to avoid major price fluctuations. Natural disasters can send local prices through the roof and a strong Australian dollar can make imported goods cheaper than locally grown. This is good in the short term for consumers, however if our local farmers leave their farms then what will we do when prices go back up or we can only get food that was grown overseas with different production laws and long travel times?
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/interest-rates-to-fall–and-keep-falling-20120424-1xjhf.html
by Amber on April 23, 2012
In Season
Mandarins are back! We’ve all missed this firm family favourite and now that the weather is cooling Lily is bringing us the first of the new season.
Also, welcome to Lachlan Roche’s chemical free apples grown at his orchard in Adelong. Lachlan is a fifth generation apple farmer and values the chemical-free traditions of his forebears. He uses traps for the coddling moth (the thorn in the side of all apple farmers) but refrains from sprays, opting for organic management techniques. Lachlan is bringing us Pink Ladies for all the boxes. We hope he’ll become a permanent part of the Food Connect family of farmers!
What’s that produce?
Is it an albino chilli? No, its probably a banana bullhorn! Rita has been growing this rather wonderful little vegetable as a recent new variety for us. Next week all the boxes get mixed bullhorn peppers (red, green or banana varieties) so look out for them. They’re particularly sweet in flavour, even more than the standard bullhorns. I find that bullhorns also have a mild chilli flavour except no spiciness, which makes a lovely subtle difference to standard capsicum.
News from the Farm
A bit of bad news I’m afraid – Phil Lavers, our potato farmer down in the Southern Highland, called last week and explained that his potato crop is pretty much wiped out by wet weather. This means that he wont have anything for us until the end of this year (probably December). Therefore I’m on the lookout for a new organic potato grower. I think I’ve found one, in the form of Lester and Joy Price out in Crookwell (near Goulburn). The Prices grow quite an interesting variety of spuds, many of which will be new to us at Food Connect. Fingers crossed we’ll have Tassie Pink Eyes for you in week 19!
week are Persimmons in all the fruit boxes and the large boxes. Traditionally grown in Japan they have been called ‘apples of the orient’. I’m not usually a fan of them and so was skeptical when Lily brought some in as a sample the other week. They arrived quite hard but the FC staff all had a munch – it was decided they needed a few days to ripen up. We’re glad we waited! We all arrived back in the office last Monday, having each taken persimmons home the previous week, and we all said the same thing – ‘wow, those persimmons were amazing! There’s something in the air or the soil out at Bilpin because I am now officially a fan of Persimmons! For those of you not registered for our fruit or large box, remember that you can always order Persimmons as an extra item. I’ll also aim to get them in the small boxes at some point soon. With bananas on the way out, expect to see a few fruit alternatives in the coming months.
