Dear Friends and valued customers,

Well, you have all experienced the atrocious weather over the last few months and believe me it has been a very trying time producing enough to come to market each week. This week was no exception. Sunday morning was brilliant and I thought we’ll have plenty for next Saturday. But a solid dump of rain (flooding in some parts) and grey skies all weeks have not helped. BUT I FEEL CONFIDENT WE WILL HAVE A FULL RANGE NEXT WEEK.

ROCKET, WILD ROCKET, BABY SPINACH, LIMES, AND PLENTY OF MESCLUN AND SPICY SALAD.

Be early next week to ensure you don’t miss out and to be certain of your Xmas fare from us please ORDER FOR NEXT WEEK and we will put it aside.

Wishing you all a very enjoyable Christmas and a good rest, (if like me you need one)

Very best wishes

Michael Champion

G’day everyone. 4 days without rain is what we have been promised, 2 down lets hope they don’t break their promise. We had local flooding in our area, not what anyone needs before christmas. Hope you all were ok.

First this week i know this is our second last week but for those who are going on away next week, we would like to thank all of you for coming and supporting the farmers at the markets this year, without you guys these markets would not work and there would be a bigger gap between the farmers, the produce, and your plate. We enjoy coming into town every week and selling our produce and educating the consumers on the who where and how it is grown. Special thanks to the market organisers, it takes a lot of work to get all together and make it work so thank you. Now the most important people, the readers of the blog, wow there are so many of you guys that come up and commented on the blog, i didn’t think anyone read it but Michael and Susie, but the more i blog the more people have been commenting about it, even one young lady (i wont mention your name Keely) who moved to japan and still reads it every week, so thanks, next year i will try and get the facebook page running with photos and more explanations on the day to day going ons on the farm.

This week there will be Santa Rosa plums are in, just, they might need a day or two to ripen but are as sweet as lollies to eat when they do.

We have more Spanish onions and lots of Roma tomatoes, and for your roasts we will have the only organic garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary and our olive oil. I think we should sell them in a pack for a special price, come and talk to me.

Hope to see you all tomorrow and if not next week have a good christmas and a safe and happy new year.

G’day everyone. Well it is officially the coldest start to summer in 51 years, and if it continues to next week it will be the coldest start to summer since 1936, which makes it hard to know when and what to plant.

Once again not much whole lettuce and our tomatoes and basil is coming on slow, though we do have some. We also have some Romano beans or Italian flat beans, and purple beans. i have a recipe for garlic beans with crushed pecans. I have put the Romano beans in the recipe but you could use either or both.

Garlicky Romano Beans with Crushed Pecans

Total Prep Time: approximately 10 minutes

Servings: approximately 6

Ingredients:

· 4 cups Romano beans

· 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

· 1 tablespoon crushed pecans or walnuts

· 3 small cloves of minced garlic

· ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary

· 1 tablespoon of grated or shredded parmesean cheese

· Salt to taste

Directions:

· Add Romano beans to boiling water

· Boil beans for approximately 5-8 minutes or until tender

· When beans are boiling, in a small bowl, mix extra virgin olive oil, pecans or walnuts, garlic, rosemary, and parmesan cheese together (dressing mixture)

· Once beans are done cooking and tender, remove from stove, drain water, place back in pan or in a medium bowl, add the dressing mixture and salt to taste.

Hope you enjoy and we will see you at the market.

G’day everyone, hows your week been? I think i speak for everyone when i say we’re over the rain. Not as much as last week but enough to make it a long week.

I would like to thank all the faithful people that turned up last week even though the weather was ordinary, it was much appreciated.

Due to the weather we have had we are short on spinach and rocket and whole lettuces, but we have some bigger zucchinis that are good for stuffing on these winter like nights.

We will also have wilson plums. mmm my mouth is watering at the thought. These are an early season plum that come in season in time for the work Christmas party or eat them as i eat them, like lollies.

We here’s hoping for sunny weather tomorrow, and we look forward to seeing you there.

G’day everyone, on monday i was listening to a weather report on the abc radio and they said an estimate of 50mm of rain by friday, i wasn’t looking forward to that but when we had 50mm by wednesday i knew we were in trouble. We are past saturation point and this is no good for anything.

Not all doom and gloom though, are beans have started, green beans will start at taylor sq sustainable market this week and purple king beans will start at everligh farmers market. Hopefully next week we will have enough to take some to each market. Also the garlic plats have been a huge success we have plated up some more so come and get them while they are there. We also will have our first gold beetroot for sale, come and get some and tell us what you think of it.

Plums aren’t far either, i saw the first box today, still hard, though when these ripen up yummy is the only word to describe them.

We look forward to seeing you at the markets tomorrow and hope there is no more rain.

G’day everyone, Again the weather is all over the place, hot and humid then wet and cold, we knew the rain was coming but when was any ones guess.

Tomorrow we will have the last of the Chioggia beetroot, for a while, but we have the Detroit beetroot which is the normal red beetroot starting.

I will also be bringing down some of a neighbours  peaches and nectarines, although these aren’t organic, and i wont be selling them as organic, they are the best around, his fruit always fetches the best price in the wholesale markets, you will be able to get them direct from us tomorrow.

I brought some Zucchini flowers down last week to see if they would create any interest, and i will bring some down again tomorrow. if your not sure what to do with them you can stuff them or make fritters with them. Here is a recipe i just got off the net, but there is a lot of recipes on the net with different ingredients to put in them.

Ingredients

150 g (1 cup) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
250 ml (1 cup) water
1 tsp olive oil
1 egg, separated
16 zucchini flowers
150 g marinated feta, drained
10 basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Oil for deep-frying

Sift flour and salt together in a bowl. Whisk water, olive oil and egg yolk together, then whisk into the flour until combined. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Beat egg white until soft peaks form, then fold through the batter just prior to using.

Gently open each zucchini flower and remove the stamen. Wash gently if needed and dry well.

Mash feta slightly with a fork. Chop basil leaves and add to the feta, seasoning with pepper. Place a heaped teaspoonful of the filling into each flower and press the petals back around it firmly.

Pour a 4–5 cm layer of oil in a large saucepan or wok and heat over a medium–high heat. Dip the zucchinis flowers, one at a time, into the batter and into the hot oil. Fry until golden.

Drain on kitchen paper, season with salt and serve immediate

G’day everyone. What a week its been, its warming up. Nothing new this week but last week i didnt put all the new lines in the blog so we have red salad onions, these are red onions picked early so that they have a sweeter taste. Zucchinis have just started as well, a few customers last week thought these were so good they were buying them for snacks.

And a new idea for the cucumbers, try cutting a few slices up and put them in a glass of chilled water. Awesome for a hot afternoon.

See you at the markets.

G’day everyone. Today has been a big day, we have had a student from an American college working with us the last 2 days, Sarah, she is studding sustainability and focused on organic farming close to cities. She was a good student and we wish her all the best for her studies.

Now the exciting news, Lebanese cucumbers are back in. I don’t need to talk these babies up, you know them and love them and from tomorrow we will be selling them.

Short and sweet today but we will see you tomorrow at the markets.

G’day everyone, how are we all this week, hope you all stayed dry and out of the rain. I’ve been promised that the rain wont come on saturday till after we pack up, so don’t get scared by the weather report and come out and see us.

Scapes are new this week. What are are you ask? they are the flower shoot from the garlic and are absolutely beautiful to cook with. Garlic scapes work well in soups, salads, stews, salsas, dips, guacamole, omelettes, frittatas, souffles, marinades, pesto, salad dressings, and stir-fry. They can also be pickled and added to homemade flavored vinegars. Scapes are also delightful when cooked into sauces.

Limes are also coming back, we have a few but more will come as the season progresses.

Due to the excitement around the salad eggs i will continue to bring them in till the chickens grow and the egg get bigger.

Here is an idea, how about making a salad using our mixed leaves, garlic scapes, and the salad eggs, and limes in our olive oil for which i have a recipe for.

• 1 fresh lime juiced
• 1 tblspn. of honey
• 1/2 tsp.chili powder
• 1/8 tsp. cumin
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1 lg. garlic clove fine minced
• 1 tsp. fresh lime zest
• A splash of vinegar is suggested as needed or to taste (optional)
• fresh herbs could also be added such as mint to taste (optional)

G’day everyone. How good was this week. Great weather the beans and tomatoes plants have made a move for the sky this week. talking about hot weather a summer salad would be in order and at Taylor Square this week we have some very special eggs, a new batch have come in and we have some Salad Eggs, thats right these eggs are the perfect size to boil and put in to a summer salad. The chickens will grow though so they wont be this size for long.

There is no other new produce this week but some of the produce is looking and tasting soooo good, the herbs are plentiful, salads and greens are super the fat hen is making a comeback in small numbers but the chickweed is going, Sorry Bentley restaurant.

Also if anyone else was interested in the puppy’s there are still more that need a good home so come and see us at the stands to find out more.

With all the complements we had with the mandarin juice we have continued to make some this week, so if your hot and want a refreshing drink (if i haven’t drank it all) be sure to get one tomorrow, see you there.