Make sure the future generation knows where their food comes from…

Pledge a ticket for a school child to visit a local sustainable farm at:

http://startsomegood.com/farmtours

Known as scallions in the U.S., this week our Small, Medium, Large, and Veg Only customers will be treated to a healthy dose of shallots in their box. Incredibly abundant in Vitamin K – the mysterious vitamin – Rita’s shallots will give you a lovely hint of the onion flavour you love in doses that won’t send you rushing for chewing gum. Shallots are pretty happy-go-lucky as far as vegetables go, they tolerate light sauteing, go easily into salads, and make great bedfellows with eggs in dishes such as quiches, omelets, and scrambled eggs.

Our new farmer, Martin from Griffith, is behind the delightful valencias in your fruit only, small, medium, and large boxes this week. Don’t be fooled if they don’t look the greatest – this late in the season typically produces some of the best fruit because the fruit has had a long time to take in a lot of sugar, resulting in some of the finest valencia flavour. Valencias are actually quite popular in the food industry as juicing oranges (but they’re pretty tasty eaten too!), so why not juice those oranges for a bit of extra vitamin c zip in the morning, weekdays or weekends, the oranges won’t mind.

Straight outta Dapto, courtesy of farmer Lance and Mountain Range Nursery, we bring some late season cucumbers for y’all to enjoy. Cucumbers spread to Europe through the Roman empire, and it is said that the emperor Tiberius ( 42BC – 37AD) had them at his table all through summer and winter (talk about demanding). If putting them straight in a salad doesn’t float your boat, trying finely chopping them with yoghurt as a refreshing topping for a mouth-watering (literally!) curry, or enjoy them with nothing more than a humble sprinkling of salt, which will draw out the moisture and leave you with crisp and tasty snackage.

Phwoar! Pink lady apples are back in your fruit only, small, medium and large boxes this week. They were developed at the Department of Agriculture in West Australia by John Cripps, who crossed the Australian lady williams apple with a golden delicious. The result is a tart and crisp apple that will make you sit up and take notice. Perfect for fruit salads and is a veritable piece of candy eaten from the hand.

Stop the press! Broccoli is set to return to Food Connect and will feature in our veg only, small, medium and large boxes. Containing more nutrients than an average Greco-Roman wrestler, Broccoli does it’s Mediterranean heritage proud and is an amazing source of anti-carcinogens, antioxidants, vitamin C, and dietary fiber, as well as being delicious raw, sauteed, baked, steamed or fried.

When Phil our potato farmer in Kangaroo Valley said the drought had affected his crops and we weren’t able to receive any we were devastated. So we’re very pleased to announce that Joy and Lester from Crookwell have started harvesting their crop for us. Look out for a range of potatoes from your regular sebagos and pontiacs through to more gourmet varieties like nicola, charlottes and dutch cream!

For better or worse Easter is now inseparable from Easter Eggs! So we thought we’d take this opportunity to have Ian our egg farmer tell us exactly how to tell if you’ve got a good egg or not. And if you really want to go traditional, you can blow your old eggs out and paint them the old fashioned way. No mention of chocolate in any of that I’m afraid!

Our order of swedes went a little pear (and avocado) shaped this week, but instead we are proud to be giving our Vegetable-Only, Medium, and Large box customers avocados instead. Humans have been feasting on avocados in Central America for at least 10,000 years, and this week you get to take part in this culinary legacy too! Combined with half a lime, a dash of Tabasco sauce and generous lashings of salt and pepper, it makes a Guacamole that will make you weak at the knees. They are rich in Vitamins B,E, and K, and contain more potassium by weight than bananas! When you get your Avocados they could be a little on the hard side though, so remember to store them somewhere warm and dry, and if you want them in a hurry, place them next to (or in a brown paper bag with) a fruit that produces ethylene naturally, such as bananas.

Swedes are a traditional staple for those of Scottish ancestry, where they’re called ‘neeps’ (best known as an accompaniment to haggis). Also known as the Rutabaga (and the butt of jokes), Swedes actually originated as a cross between a turnip and a cabbage and have a rich and wonderful flavour. They are divine when mashed with butter, salt, black pepper and a little sour cream or yoghurt, or you could just roast them with other root veg buddies such as pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes and herbs.