November 05, 2015

Transition Farm - Spring 2015

November 05, 2015/ Robin

A good rainy morning is a wonderful chance to share what has been happening this Spring on the farm. We spent the Winter reflecting on our farm, completing much overdue book work and looking ahead - setting new goals and refining old ones. Crop seeding began in early August and it has been a busy time as we nurture the heat loving crops in the greenhouse and wait for warmer nighttime temperatures to transplant them into the field.

This has been a very different Spring with us making the decision to sow another green manure crop over the whole farm, resting our fields and building more hummus in the soil.

The fruit trees bloomed spectacularly and the garlic started to bulb up!

September and October were very dry and we had days over 30C which is "unseasonable" for Spring. Farmer friends had broccoli crops bolt with the heat and winter sown legumes dry out before the beans had developed. The Winter grain crops in Victoria have suffered from the lack of water. Our green manure crops thrived with irrigation. But most of the apricots, peaches and nectarines fell to the ground. The hot heat at this time of the year caused the trees to drop fruit.

The time for field planting is here. And we are busy trying to take advantage of the rain we have received in late October/early November.

The Spring flush of aphids has come but so have the beneficial insects that feed on them. We buy lacewing larvae in to kick start the farm population which we hope will multiple and thrive for the whole growing season.

Our CSA Summer Share sign up is starting soon. If you are thinking about joining our CSA, here's a link to 9 things your farmer wants you to know. We are trying to make joining our CSA easier for you and for us by having an online shop. It should be available soon and we will let you know!

The crops are looking fantastic - filled with vitality. We have continued our applications of biodynamic preparations 500 and 501 to support the soil life and hummus formation - give plant's feeder roots lots of great stuff to sink into and to support the plant's natural ability to photosynthesise - turn sunlight into energy.

You can see photos of the day to day activities on the farm on Peter's and my instagram accounts.

We also thought you might be interested in a few links:

Tammi Jones of Jonai Farm has written a great series about Grow Your Ethics. The third part in the series relates to "ethics of scale", "radical transparency", fair treatment of all farm helpers and connectedness - to other producers, the community and to those that eat what her farm produces! Her post has so many common truths with the way we feel about what we are doing - Tammi says it all so well - definitely worth a read!!

The lovely Belinda, who worked with us last year and did the weekly vegetable box deliveries, will be working with another new grower, Erin, growing food for their local community in Albury/Wodanga! We are so excited for them. You can follow their adventures on instagram.

Signing up for the Summer Share starts in December and we will send another email letting you know when and how to join. The Summer Share boxes will be for the months of January, February and March with the Autumn Share following from April - June.

Glad it is raining today! There are more flowers to plant as well as the second planting of cucumbers and zucchini! The soil feels great, the seedlings are thriving and we are excited about the upcoming season.

Happy Spring!!

Robin and Peter

July 01, 2015

Why We Grow the Way We Do

July 01, 2015/ Peter Carlyon

Our CSA is not just about providing a box of fresh vegetables. We are trying to provide nutrient dense food grown in a sustainable way to our local community - nourishing them, ourselves and the earth throughout.We have identified several sustainability indicators which we are trying to achieve on our farm:

Providing local food security
Conserving the natural resource base
Being socially responsible

We are trying to achieve these goals through:

Respecting all life on the farm - human, animal, plant and mineral;
Providing nutrient dense food to the local community at a price which reflects its true cost to produce;
Building soil life and soil humus;
Protecting soil life, our clean water supply and our ecosystem by not using chemicals;
Using energy efficient farming practices;
Trying to reduce our farm inputs and sourcing those that we do need locally;
Involving the community, through conversation and work share programs, in the story of how their food is grown;
Building relationships with the community based around the produce they are eating and we are growing in order to better provide for each other;
Using soil blocks (which are pressed seedling blocks that use no plastic) for our seedlings;
Using many recycled products on the farm such as recycled wood, recycled plastic seed trays, old farm machinery;
Reusing plastics that we need for several seasons.
Offering a fair wage and/or fair exchange to all those who work on the farm;

We are so happy to have our CSA members alongside us in this.

June 18, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #12 (17 June/19-20 June)

June 18, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #12 Thank you for supporting our farm and helping us grow as growers!!! It is the last week of our CSA season...even though there are crops for next season already growing. It has been really helpful to read the surveys that have come back thus far. It has also been quite heart swelling reading some of the comments. Peter and I really love growing food and feeding local families. We are thrilled that so many of you enjoy the food and hope that we can refine our service to better suit your families. We will take the time during Winter to share the results as they do affect how and what we will grow next season. If you have not yet done so, please do take the 5 minutes to fill out the survey.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING This weeks box includes crops especially planned for this week. We have also been cleaning out the fields, harvesting what is left of some crops and dividing this between the members. One of the things I love about our CSA is that their is no food wastage on our farm. If things are no longer of high quality for the box, we either feed them to the chickens or compost them.

We had planned to have Brussel Sprouts, celeriac, romanesco broccoli and raddichio in the boxes these last few weeks. The brussel sprouts are filled with aphids. I am sure they are lovely but they way off the quality we like to have. While the celeriac stalks are lovely, and their taste would add alot to a stock, the roots (which is the part you eat), are not fully developed. We have a few ideas why and will try again next year!. the raddichio is just now starting to form heads. We may end up with 200 heads ready in three weeks! The romanesco broccoli is slowly forming heads but again, it looks as if we will be harvesting this through the Winter. We apologise for not being able to include these crops this year.

The pea crop this Autumn has been very disappointing. The peas we have harvested have been wonderful. But the germination was about 50% and of that, the crop was very damaged by winds resulting in very small harvests each week.

We also had a lovely braising mix and more spinach planted for these last few weeks of boxes. The cool Autumn has not allowed for these crops to grow at the speed that they did last year. They too will be ready in the deep winter.

We appreciate how the lack of these crops affects the diversity of the boxes and also appreciate you being along with us in this growing adventure. Our boxes are a direct representation of what is growing well for us, here on this farm during each season. We enjoy sharing that story with you.

With the solstice this weekend, our sunlight hours will slowly increase each day. Happy Winter!

THE FARM WILL BE CLOSING FOR WINTER ON SATURDAY 20 JUNE AT 11AM.

This week, the boxes will be ready earlier for Farm Pick Up. Please come on Friday from 11am - 5pm or Saturday from 8am-11am.

Any boxes left on the farm on Saturday 20 June after 11am will be donated to families in need.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies. We envisage that many of the vegetables you are receiving this week will last for two weeks with careful attention to storing upon arrival. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption. We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days. While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

Apples Baby Red Bok Choy Broccoli Carrots Fennel Garlic Kale Leeks Onions Pumpkin Tatsoi Thyme Turnips

Extras Cabbage Celery Lettuce Radishes English Spinach Rosettes Snow Peas Sugar Snap Peas RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Sesame Salmon with Honey Bok Choy - This recipe is great with tatsoi too! Tatsoi and Cabbage Stir Fry Fennel and Radish Salad Warm Kale and Roasted Vegetable Salad Fennel, Lemon and Thyme Roasted Chicken

I found the following on the internet, which includes great photos. I altered the recipe slightly as per below.

Ingredients 2 lemons 1 whole fennel 2 cloves garlic salt pepper olive oil Method 1. Preheat oven to 180C. Slice lemon and fennel root. 2. Crush garlic and combine with 1 tbsp fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Gently separate the skin of the chicken breast from the meat (without removing it). Place 2 tbsps butter, some of the fennel leaf fronds and the herbs in between the skin and the meat. 3. Salt and pepper chicken and rub it with olive oil. Put the chicken on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. 4. Add fennel root, lemon, and thyme to the cavity of the chicken. 5. Add the leftover fennel fronds and lemon on top of the bird around in the roasting pan. 6. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 65C degrees. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving (temperature should now be 75C)

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

June 11, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #11 (10 June/12-13 June)

June 11, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #11 As the constellation of the scorpion rises high in the sky, winter is here! We had rain, hail and sunshine harvesting!! Next week is the last CSA box of the season. Please make sure to leave something for us to put your vegetables in (BIG basket, BIG esky, bags, etc) as we will not be leaving the crate. Please also ensure that crates are left out for us to collect - Thank you!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

While there are still green manure crops to sow, the ones Peter put in four weeks ago have germinated but are moving at a snails pace compared with the ones we put in six weeks ago (which are already well past our ankles). Our days are almost at their shortest and even with sun, the air is decidedly cold. The next five weeks, growth slows right down on the farm, waiting for longer days to resume again.

Slow Living magazine has featured CSA’s in their next edition ‘The Future of Food’ which comes out Wednesday 10 June. We have written an article about our CSA.

Please look for the survey we are sending out this week and take the five minutes to complete it to help us grow better for you!

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. If you are running late, please do ring to avoid disappointment.

Beetroot Carrots Garlic Kale Leeks Onions Parsnips Parsley English Spinach Rosettes Sweet Potato

Extras Broccoli Cauliflower Coriander Lettuce Pumpkin Radishes Snow Peas Sugar Snap Peas RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

Spicy Roasted Parsnip Soup Pumpkin and Spinach Curry Roasted Beetroot, Carrots and Parsnips Winter Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Sugar Snap Peas KALE CHIPS

This recipe comes from a CSA member Nadine Jolley. We love kale chips for morning tea and crumbled on the spicy parsnip soup!

Ingredients

One bunch Kale

Two tablespoons of olive oil

Two tablespoons of nutritional yeast

One tablespoon sweet paprika

Two teaspoons turmeric

Half teaspoon of sea salt (we use pink salt)

Method

Preheat oven to 120 - 150 degrees Celsius.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper (to make clean up easier)
Make a dressing with the oil, yeast, paprika, turmeric and salt and set aside.
Wash and dry kale, then tear the leaves from the stems and place in a large bowl. (Don't discard the stems, you can add to a veggie stock or to the compost)
Pour your prepared dressing over the leaves and massage the dressing into the leaves until they are coated evenly.
Place on your baking tray and evenly spread out without overlapping the leaves to ensure an even cooking time. Then place in oven to cook for aprox 30 minutes until crisp.
Let cool slightly before serving as they will crisp up a little more.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the inclusion of a whole pumpkin (the full shares received about a 3k piece).

June 08, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #10 (3 June/5-6 June)

June 08, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #10 Today Peter is disassembled a 60m greenhouse. We are hoping to be able to put this on rails-allowing it to move through the paddock- and use it throughout the growing season. It will help with crops like tender greens and lettuce in the Autumn, early peas in the Spring and eggplants in the Summer.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

I feel the lack of celery in this weeks box. We have 100 feet of celery planted but it is still not ready for harvest. I checked the celeriac we have planted hoping that maybe it would be ready but it too is not quite there.

This is our second season growing through the month of June and the weather has been very different to last Summer and Autumn making the timing of things different as well. It is great to have more data to help us better plan for all seasons in the future.

We have topped the brussel sprouts in hopes that they will be in the last weeks box. The final broccoli planting should be ready for harvest next week. The side shoots have finished on the other plantings.

The white and green cauliflower are almost finished as well. There are still heads to harvest in the purple cauliflower and we are hoping more romanesco will be ready in the next few weeks too! We have only harvested two heads so far-more are forming.

There are still rows of young greens in the field. They are slowly growing. There are also more beetroot, sweet potatoes, carrots, leeks, onions, parsnips and pumpkin.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. If you are running late, please do ring to avoid disappointment.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

BAKED EGGS WITH ROCKET, YOGURT AND CHILLIES

From the much-loved Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’ cookbook.

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch Arugula

1/2 cup Greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 tsp kirmizi biber*

(or a mix of chilli flakes + sweet paprika)

3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

6 sage leaves, shredded

salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C.

2. Place the rocket and olive oil in a large pan and sprinkle over a little salt. Sauté on a medium heat for a few minutes, until the rocket wilts and most of the liquid has evaporated.

3. Transfer to a small baking dish (or leave in the pan, if ovenproof) and make four deep indentations in the cooked rocket. Carefully break an egg into each hollow then place in the preheated oven to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until whites are set.

4. While the eggs are baking make your garlic yoghurt and chilli butter. First, stir the garlic through the yoghurt and season generously with salt. Set aside.

5. In a small saucepan, melt the butter then add a pinch of salt and the kirmizi biber (or chilli flakes and paprika) and fry for a couple of minutes until the butter starts to foam and take on a golden red hue. Add the sage and cook for a few more seconds. Remove from heat.

6. When your eggs are ready to your liking, take them out of the oven. Spoon on a large dollop of garlicky yoghurt and pour over the hot chilli butter. Serve immediately.

* a spice with a sweet aroma and varying levels of spiciness, can be found in Turkish grocers

RAW TUSCAN KALE SALAD

Ingredients

1 bunch Tuscan kale (for ex: black or lacinato)

2 thin slices country bread, or two handfuls good, homemade coarse breadcrumbs

1/2 garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch

1/4 cup (or small handful) grated pecorino cheese, plus additional for garnish

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for garnish

Freshly squeezed juice of one lemon (scant 1/4 cup or ~50ml)

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Trim the bottom few inches off the kale stems and discard. Slice the kale into 3/4-inch ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place the kale in a large bowl.

2. If using the bread, toast it until golden brown on both sides and dry throughout. Tear into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until the mixture forms coarse crumbs, or crumbs to your liking.

3. Using a mortar and pestle or a knife, pound or mince the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a paste. Transfer the garlic to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, pinch of salt, pepper flakes, and black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the kale and toss very well (the dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat the leaves).. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with the bread crumbs, additional cheese, and a drizzle of oil.

Source: 101 Cookbooks -- Adapted from the Raw Tuscan Kale Salad with Chiles and Pecorino recipe in Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite.

IRISH STEW

This is a recipe from Matt Moran chef and co-owner of ARIA Restaurant. It was printed in the AGE. Thanks to Peter’s mother, we had it over the weekend - Fantastic!

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cooking time 2 hours

Ingredients

1.5kg lamb neck chops

50g butter

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, roughly diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

400g potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

2 litres chicken stock

1 tbs celery salt

1 bouquet garni

400g kipfler potatoes, peeled

½ cabbage

100g butter

1 tbs chopped parsley

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C.

2. Place the lamb chops in a saucepan, cover with cold water and season with a good pinch of salt. Bring the saucepan to a simmer; skim any impurities that float to the surface. Drain the lamb and set aside.

3. Using a heavy-based ovenproof saucepan, melt the butter and add the chopped onion, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and gently cook the vegetables for 5 to 6 minutes without any colour.

4. Add the blanched lamb, potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to the simmer and skim any impurities and fat from the surface. Stir in the celery salt and bouquet garni, cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the preheated oven for 1½ hours.

5. Remove from the oven, the lamb should be tender. Leave the stew to cool for about 30 minutes then carefully remove the lamb chops. Remove the bouquet garni and discard.

6. Blend the vegetables and stock together using either a hand blender or liquidiser until smooth. Strain into a clean saucepan and return the lamb chops to the sauce.

7. Place the kipfler potatoes in a saucepan of cold, salted water, then bring to the boil until tender.

8. Shred the cabbage. In a clean saucepan, melt the butter and add the cabbage, season with salt and pepper and stir together, cover with a tight- fitting lid and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

9. Warm the stew and stir through the chopped parsley and serve with the boiled potatoes, cabbage and a pint of the dark stuff.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the inclusion of a whole pumpkin (the full shares received about a 3k piece).

June 08, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #9 (27 May/29-30 May)

June 08, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #9 The eggplant and capsicums were composted last week and we have harvested the last of the sweet corn (which Friday members received last week). With winter upon us, our warm weather crops have finished.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The cold seems to have settled in, even though we have been lucky with some sunshine the past few days! Peter and I walked through the remaining crops over the weekend and talked about the slowed growth due to lack of sunlight. The final planting of mixed greens may not be ready for the last week of our CSA...just three more weeks to go!

There is more kale, silver beet, rocket, spinach and hopefully lettuce still to come. We also grew Brussel Sprouts this year for the first time. These plants were hit early on by aphids but are still growing and we are hoping to be able to harvest these once a true frost has sweetened them. We have had a light frost which killed the tops of a late season basil crop experiment. We harvested our first head of Romanesco broccoli this week too. With its incredible fractal spirals and great green colour, this is a wonderful winter crop.

The importance of light is one of the big differences between biodynamically grown food and organically grown food. Organically grown food may still be grown with nitrogen boosting "fertilisers" - even though these will come in the form of a natural product. In biodynamics, manure may be applied to fields but this is usually done before the green manure crop is sown. When the green manure is tilled in, the goal is for the digestive powers of the earth, which include soil microbia, to convert the inherent proteins of the grass itself into the hummus layer in the soil. Plants then use extensive root systems to tap into this hummus layer to feed themselves and they also rely heavily on sunlight which is converted through photosynthesis into plant energy. If the plant itself is fed through fertilisers, it may not make an extensive root system or need to use as much sunlight to grow - the nitrogen will force feed the plant.

Our days are continuing to shorten as we head towards the Winter Solstice. The sun today though is still warm and wonderful!

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. If you are running late, please do ring to avoid disappointment.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Roasted Cauliflower Cauliflower Gratin - from Martha Stewart Spicy Roasted Parsnip Soup Warm Kale and Roasted Pumpkin Salad Heidi's Winter Pasta Cauliflower Casserole with CheddarYou can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe pagePlease note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the inclusion of a whole pumpkin (the full shares received about a 3k piece).

May 14, 2015

Palate VM - Transition Farm Movies

May 14, 2015/ Peter Carlyon

Happy Late Autumn! The storage crops are all harvested and the first storm of the Winter season is raging outside - gale force winds, heavy rains and hail! With tender late season greens tucked under row covers, and the harvest for the deliveries completed yesterday, we can spend the day in the office - catching up on newsletters and bookwork.

The lovely Dylan and Priya from Palate came down to the farm and made a couple of short movies (click on the photos) a few weeks back now. We think that the photography is pretty awesome and the movies give a great insight into how and why we farm the way we do - if you are interested to watch we hope that you enjoy. Thank you Dylan and Priya!

Conversations in the field can be quite varied...and sometimes can become passionate discussions. This week the lovely Belinda, who has worked with us this season, and Trent, our Autumn intern, attended the screening of the Fair Food documentary and discussion afterwards in Melbourne. We have many ideas about what Fair Food means...two of them being localizing the food system...as here in Australia 80% of the food choices are controlled by major corporations... and directly supporting those who are keen to grow great food in an ethical and ecologically supportive way. We would like to see more small scale farms in Australia and would love to spread the word that farming for the local community can be financially viable. If you feel inclined to share the video to spread the word, please do!

We are racing the sun to get the last of the winter green manure crops in the ground. We have lots of things to share over the late Autumn and Winter about our season and our plans for the next, so more news to come.

To see more photos of the farm and our farming, please check our instagram accounts - transitonfarm and transitionfarm_robin.

May 14, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #7 (13 May/15-16 May)

May 14, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #7 The harvest was for stew and the weather is complying with gale force winds, heavy rains and hail! Even though it is late Autumn, it feels like winter! We have waited to harvest the parsnips and turnips as the cold sweetens all of the root vegetables. These are lovely roasted and also add a great flavour to stew!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING We have started picking the sugar snap peas. The germination was not great and thus far there has only been enough for the full shares. The snow peas were looking thick and strong and starting to flower. The howling winds we have had this past week have snapped some of the pea stalks. We will have to wait and see how they get through the weather.We have also started harvesting cauliflower. We are growing white, yellow/green and purple varieties. Cauliflower is an item we rotate through the boxes. Unlike broccoli, the planting does not mature uniformly. We keep track of whom has received it and whom has not to ensure everyone receives some. While we try and keep track of which colour you receive, we can not guarantee that you will receive all three colours.

Cauliflower is also different from broccoli in that once we have cut the head, the plant is finished. With broccoli, we are able to cut the main head and the side shoots giving us many weeks of harvest. We try and make the most use of the small space we are cultivating. The cauliflower we are harvesting now was sown in January. It is in the ground for five months before it heads. The space they are taking up is only able to be used for quick Spring greens before being sown down with a summer green manure crop to prepare the soil for the nutrient hungry brassicas. Although a popular Autumn vegetable, because cauliflower is not a very efficient space user for our intensive market garden, we cannot plant alot of it.

We are starting to think now about our season next year and planning all of the crops we are going to grow and how we will fit them into our 2.75 acres of cultivated land. It really is a great organisational feat to work out the crop rotation, plan the many crops, when to seed them, when to transplant them, when they will be ready for harvest, all in hopes of having a varied box with a consistent number of items each week. We will be sending out a survey in the next fortnight asking for your inputs into what you would like to be eating next year. We also welcome any email comments you have. We look at ourselves as your growers and really would like you to have your say in the planning process.

This sort of weather is the worst for all the crops above ground. Think of how you feel after a day in strong wind...a bit wiped out. The plants are the same. The hail can bruise and rip leaves. The wind has been relentless for the last 24 hours with hail falling through the night and again today. We have row covered tender greens. There is nothing else we can do but wait and watch.

Side Note - I apologise if anyone has tried to reach me via mobile phone. My phone was stolen over the weekend. If you need to contact us, please use Peter’s email petercarlyon@gmail.com or our home phone number 5988 5287. I should have a replacement phone by next week. Thank you.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST

Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies. We envisage that many of the vegetables you are receiving this week will last for two weeks with careful attention to storing upon arrival. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption. We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days. While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

1/4 share: 5-7 items 1/2 share: 8-10 items Full Share: 10-12 items

Capsicum Carrots Celery Kale If you are unsure what to do with your kale, Gourmet Traveler has over 20 kale recipes which look perfectly seasonal and wonderful!! Onions Parsnips Potatoes Rosemary Spinach Turnips

Extras Broccoli Cauliflower Sugar Snap Peas Thyme

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

Hearty Winter Vegetable Stew Spinach, Herb and Goats Cheese Tartlets Roasted Parsnips and Carrots Spinach and Chicken Curry Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables

Braised Kale Ingredients 150 grms curly kale (tough inner stalks removed and leaves coarsely torn 100 ml of rich veggie stock or veal stock 2 shallots, thinly sliced 1 tbsp olive oil Method 1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. 2. Add shallots and saute until tender and brown (about 3 minutes). 3. Add kale and toss until wilted, then add stock and toss just to combine. 4. Season to taste. Serve warm under a grilled steak, roasted chicken or fish.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

April 01, 2015

CSA Autumn Share 2015-Week #1 (1 April/2-3 April)

April 01, 2015/ Robin

CSA AUTUMN SHARE WEEK #1 Welcome to the Autumn Share! Autumn is the season where we continue to enjoy all the fruits of our Spring and Summer work, prepare the soil and our bodies for winter and plan next year's season. This weeks box is extra full. That happens sometimes when crops come on sooner or later then expected. The box quantity does vary from week to week as we always harvest crops when they are perfectly ready for consumption.

SWEET CORN - This is best eaten TODAY to enjoy the sweetness of freshly picked sweet corn. There may be corn borers (caterpillars) in the tops of some of the ears. They love it as much as we do! Although they make a mess, you just need to cut off the top of the ear and there is still plenty for you to enjoy. Don’t Panic - It’s Organic!!

Our wonderful Summer Intern Tahlia leaves on Wednesday when we will be joined by Trent, our Autumn intern. Tahlia heads back up north where we expect to hear all about the wonderful things she is growing in her tropical climate.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING For the sake of the new CSA members who have joined the Autumn Share, below is a run through of what is growing now. All of the produce in the weekly box is grown by us on our farm. We do not supplement the box with food from other growers.

Our what's in the box is normally not this long...I do hope you enjoy the detail. I’m going to think through each growing area so this list is in a random order.

Autumn Peas - The first crop of Autumn peas is just reaching the lowest point on the trellis. We are still about 5 weeks away from any harvest. Kale- The Autumn kale is looking fabulous and should start appearing in boxes in the next few weeks. Cabbage - There may be more red cabbage next week. The green cabbage is growing well but still not close to heading. Broccoli - We have six broccoli plantings in the ground at various stages. This week there are great heads. That planting will then send out side shouts. There may not be broccoli every week but expect it throughout the Autumn Share. Cauliflower - The first of the cauliflower plantings may start heading in a few weeks. We have white, green , purple and Romanesco broccoli planted and all are growing well! Beans - We are picking the second to last bean planting of this season. It’s top leaves were lightly frosted a few nights back. The beans are definitely a warm season lover so enjoy these while they are here. Zucchini and Summer Squash - We are picking our third planting of both of these warm season squashes. The plants do not like the cold dew filled nights and will succumb to powdery mildew at some point in the next month. Lettuce - We try and have lettuce each week but had a seeding fail in the glasshouse. This leaves a gap in our lettuce plantings. We have planted other greens to help fill that gap which will start next week. Eggplant - Our eggplant crop was infested with Red Tomato Mites. We were able to use a predatory mite to almost completely eradicate the bad ones (fantastic!!). The eggplants are healthy looking now with many flowers and small fruit but I am not expecting to have a huge eggplant harvest. These are rotated through the boxes and we still have many members who have not yet received them once this season. Capsicum - Our capsicum crop has been growing strong and there are many large fruit still on the plants waiting to turn to red and yellow. There are also many flowers and smaller fruit growing. These plants should continue to grow until the cold really settles in. Tomatoes - The tomato plants are succumbing to fungal disease. We are still getting big harvests but are expecting for these to dwindle in the next fortnight. Sweet Corn - We are harvesting our 5th sweet corn planting this week with one more planting after that. We are hoping that the 6th planting will pollinate well, even though the temperature is getting colder. Brussel Sprouts - We are growing our first brussel sprouts this year. We hope to harvest these after a good frost (June) as they are noticeably sweeter after a frost. Parsnips - Our first planting of parsnips did not germinate well and then died in the heat of January. We re-seeded and have a strong crop growing now. They will be much smaller then last years though. Parsnips are also much sweeter after a frost so we have no plans to begin harvesting these soon. Leeks - We have started harvesting leeks and these will continue to appear in the boxes throughout the Autumn Share. Carrots - We should have carrots every week. We have had great crops this year. Some of the coloured carrots have very brittle tops so we will be bagging these in the weeks to come as opposed to bunching them. Spinach - We have great crops of English spinach growing which will appear in the boxes throughout the Autumn Share. Silver Beet - We have four different varieties of silver beet growing. All of the plantings look wonderful! Celery - The celery this week is glorious. We have two more plantings growing which we hope will be just as wonderful. Celeriac - We are growing this very tasty root this year which makes wonderful Autumn soups. Spring Onions - We have one or two more weeks worth of Spring Onions in the field. We have not planted any more as we have so many storage onions. Brown Onions - Our crop of these wonderful storage onions is drying in the store room. The onions grew really well this year and we will be getting these into the boxes throughout the Autumn Share. Garlic - Our garlic was harvested in December and is still hanging from the rafters. We will be planting next seasons crop in the next fortnight which will give us a good idea of how much garlic we have left for our CSA members. Beet Root - We have several beetroot plantings growing at various stages of being ready for harvest. We did have some huge beet root a few weeks ago but have moved into newer plantings with smaller roots. We hope to continue having enough beetroot throughout the Autumn Share. Turnips- The turnips are growing really well. We have several varieties. The first to harvest will be the smaller Japanese Turnips which are great roasted or stewed. Fennel - We had to harvest the fennel small this week as they have started to bolt (go to seed). I hope that the next plantings growing will form larger bulbs as the weather cools down. Asian Greens - We will continue to have Asian Greens throughout the Autumn Share. Unlike lettuce, they do not mind a frost and love the cool weather. Bok Choy is higher in nutrients than broccoli and great raw and cooked. Pumpkins - We have many varieties of pumpkins which will appear in the boxes through Autumn. We have not yet done our big pumpkin harvest as we like to let the skins harden in the cool nights which helps the pumpkins to store better. Potatoes - We are slowly harvesting all of our potatoes. We wait until the tops die down which allows the potato skins to protect the potatoes better. Sweet Potatoes - Our first crop has been harvested and went into the boxes last week. Although we have two more plantings, sweet potatoes really like the warmer weather and will succumb to the lightest of frosts. We are hoping that they keep growing longer to form larger tubers.

I may be forgetting some crops, but this should give you a great overview of what is growing for the Autumn Share. This is the time of year when we till crops in and sow green manure crops to cover the soil and protect all of the soil life through winter.

The tomatoes are starting to succumb to summer disease. We are still picking though! The cherry tomato crop is still producing for “Pick Your Own” during farm pick up times! Please bring your own containers. Limit a 1 kilo bucket per family. I imagine that this will only continue for a few more weeks.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. Cherry tomato picking is only available during farm pick up times.

Tomatoes

Extras Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Eggplant Pumpkin Silver Beet Summer Squash Zucchini

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

Pasta with Fennel, Rocket and Lemon Central American Black Beans Ministrone Soup Fennel Salad with Rocket and Orange - An internet find that is easy and delicious Bok Choy, Broccoli, Capsicum, Carrot Stirfry - This recipe can include any protein source - tofu, chicken, beef, mung bean sprouts. We made it with onions, capsicum, carrots, broccoli and bok choy and it was delicious! Bok Choy Salad - Crispy and delicious with roasted veggies and crunchy Asian noodles

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the inclusion of a whole pumpkin (the full shares received 2 kilo pieces).

March 26, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #12 (25 March/27-28 March)

March 26, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #12 The last week of the Summer Share...Thank you for your support of our farm and growing endeavours. You have been a vital part of our continued desire to grow nutrient dense food for our community in a sustainable way. We look forward to the next 12 weeks of our CSA season.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Tahlia Gregori, the intern that has been working with us for the past three months leaves next week. She has been a fantastic intern and we wish her the best in her growing endeavours!

We have started harvesting the first of the Autumn broccoli crops. If you did not receive any this week, you will next! All of the brassicas love the cool nights we have been having and the rain has been welcome, too. We have also started harvesting our third zucchini planting. We hope that it will be able to ward off powdery mildew and keep growing until the frost. The next corn planting will be ready next week.

The sweet capsicums are still coming on. If you are receiving more than you know what to do with, you can slice them and freeze them to use in stir-fries and sauces through the winter!

We will have lettuce this week and next and then there will be a gap in the head lettuce. We have planted many other greens so that this gap will hopefully not be felt in the boxes. The lettuce seed does not like to germinate when it is hot. We do several things to work around this but had three weeks of lettuce not germinate in the glasshouse. The current lettuce seedlings are doing well but not even in the ground yet.

All of the Autumn brassicas are glowing and the parsnips and turnips are growing well. The transition into Autumn is always softened by the great flush of Summer vegetables still enjoying the warm soil. The bean picking Tuesday was not as heavy as summer weeks. There will be more beans next week.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. Cherry Tomato picking is only available during farm pick up times.

Beans Bok Choy Red Cabbage Capsicum Carrots Chilies Coriander Lettuce Spring Onions Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Watermelon

Extras Broccoli Cherry Tomatoes Chilies – 'Pimiento de Padrons'. Eggplant Melons Zucchini

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

Roasted Sweet Potato, Sweet Capsicum and Carrot Soup - An internet find soup with delicious flavour Watermelon, Feta and Toasted Pumpkin Seed Salad Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad - This is an adaptation of a fantastic Tassajara Restaurant recipe Broccoli, Capsicum, Carrot and Bok Choy Stir Fry - This recipe can include ay protein source - tofu, chicken, beef, mung bean sprouts. We made it with onions, capsicum, carrots, broccoli and bok choy and it was delicious! Bok Choy Salad - Crispy and delicious with roasted veggies and crunchy Asian noodles

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

March 26, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #11 (18 March/20-21 March)

March 26, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #11 We started harvesting the leeks this week! Perfect soup weather with the nights cooling down and the coming of the Autumn equinox. In France the 'Galeux d'Eysines' pumpkin is mostly used for soups, sauces and preserves such as pumpkin butter because the texture of the cooked fruit is very smooth. One of the tastiest pumpkins!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The next plantings of sweet corn and beans are not ready for harvest yet. The broccoli is heading up...unsure if it will be ready for next week but definitely the following. The red cabbage is forming heads as well - Enter the Autumn brassicas! The third zucchini planting has many small fruit so we hope to able to start harvesting zucchini again next week.

Amidst tending the brassicas, curing sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes cured for a few weeks are sweeter then those straight from the ground!), harvesting all the potatoes and storing onions and seeding more greens and roots for Autumn, we are preparing areas of the farm for the green manure crops we LOVE! These crops make a winter blanket, protecting the soil from the wind and rain of winter while providing all of the soil microbes roots to continue to feed on. Then in Spring, they become the soil’s salad - a mixture of nutrient rich grasses, legumes and herbs which build the humus layer in the soil and feed the plants throughout the season. It is wonderful to watch the farm slowly transition from tired crops, to bare soil, to sprouting green growth.

Peter and I have been taking lots of pictures of the farm and posting them on instagram. There are small thumbnails on our website home page. You can click on these to see them bigger.

The cherry tomato crop is still producing for U-picking during farm pick up times! Late summer is a great time to see the farm with late blooming sunflower rows, 2m high corn stalks, Autumn brassicas, beans, Autumn peas germinating, the pumpkins ripening, chickens in the buckwheat green manure crop...It looks fantastic and abundant! Please bring your own containers. Limit a 1 kilo bucket per family.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. U-pick is only available during farm pick up times.

Basil Beetroot Capsicum Carrots Chilies Leeks Potatoes Pumpkin Silver beet Spring Onions Tomatoes

Extras Cherry Tomatoes Chilies – 'Pimiento de Padrons'. Coriander Eggplant Lettuce Melons Radishes Silver beet Watermelon

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Carrot and Leek Soup Creamy Pumpkin Soup Breakfast Slab Pie - This is a hearty silver beet pie recipe that works great for afternoon picnics, breakfast in the car, Saturday dinner. It is from from Deb Perelman who shares loads of great food at www.smittenkitchen.com

PASTA WITH SWEET CAPSICUMS I find that sometimes the simplest of recipes allow each ingredient to be savoured. Ingredients 2 sweet capsicums sliced thinly into strips 2 cloves of garlic olive oil fresh basil leaves, ripped roughly salt and freshly ground black pepper Shaved Parmesian cheese Pasta of your choice (penne, bowties and angel hair really hold the flavours of this sauce) Method 1. Prepare pasta according to instructions 2. Put a generous jug of olive oil into a fry pan over moderate heat. 3. Add crushed garlic and sliced capsicums. Fry until the capsicum is soft and slightly carmelised. 4. Add to pasta with fresh basil, salt and ground pepper and parmesian cheese.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box except fot the whole pumpkin (full shares received 1/4).

March 12, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #10 (11 March/13-14 March)

March 12, 2015/ Peter Carlyon

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #10This is the time of year of making big compost piles and planning the green manure crops for winter. And then there is the huge harvests still to come of storage onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes and pumpkin. The weekly harvests and plantings for the Autumn share and there is still plenty of weeding to keep us busy!

We have had several members let us know how the box is working for them and send through recipes that they have enjoyed. We really appreciate the feedback (as we start planning for next season in April) and the tested recipes are a great addition to our newsletter! Please email or talk to us on the farm. We really do want to know what you are enjoying and what you find more challenging to work with.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING We have been bringing in parasitic wasps to combat the many caterpillars in the crops at this time of year. Even though they work on the eggs of the corn borers, you may still find the caterpillars in the tops of your corn. Although they can make a mess, it is usually pretty simple to just cut off the top and have the rest of the untouched ear for yourself!

The cherry tomato crop is open for U-picking during farm pick up times! Late summer is a great time to see the farm with late blooming sunflower rows, 2m high corn stalks, Autumn brassicas, beans, Autumn peas germinating, the pumpkins ripening, chickens in the buckwheat green manure crop...It looks fantastic and abundant! Please bring your own containers. Limit a 1 kilo bucket per family.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. U-pick is only available during farm pick up times.

Our third zucchini crop is flowering. We hope that the cooler nights still allow the fruit to set so that we can keep having it for another month!

Although the tomatoes have slowed a bit with the cooler nights, the plants are still healthy and producing.

The second cucumber planting is succumbing to powdery mildew so there is quite a reduction in cucumbers this week. It is hard to say how long the planting will continue for. The third planting was really hit by the winds last week and although it has begun to flower, we are unsure if it will bear fruit.

We welcomed a new intern to the farm last week! Sapote Hudd heralds from NSW. She will be with us through Autumn.

Tomatoes

Extras Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Eggplant Melons Pumpkin

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Cream of Celery Soup Carrot and Radish with a Moroccan Dressing Lentil Stew

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box except fot the whole pumpkin (full shares received 1/3).

March 05, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #9 (4 March/6-7 March)

March 05, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #9We will open the cherry tomato crop up to U-picking! This is the last week we will harvest cherry tomatoes for the boxes as the crop will be available for you to U-pick during farm pick up times. Late summer is a great time to see the farm with late blooming sunflower rows, 2m high corn stalks, Autumn brassicas, beans, Autumn peas germinating, the pumpkins ripening, chickens in the buckwheat green manure crop...It looks fantastic and abundant! Please bring your own containers. Limit a 1 kilo bucket per family.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. U-pick is only available during farm pick up times.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Our first zucchini crop which has been producing since November succumbed to powdery mildew. The second crop is as well. We have a third crop planted but it has not yet started producing so there may be a few weeks of no zucchini. The cooler nights and heavy evening dews do bring powdery mildew. The cooler January did not help with this. We are seeing the mildew in the melons, cucumbers and zucchini crops.

The beans are still going strong as is the sweet corn. And we have begun harvesting pumpkins! This week there are Pottimon and Butternuts. The larger pumpkins are still ripening in the field. We also had a look at the sweet potato crop. We will begin harvesting those in about two weeks and then cure them to allow the sugars to fully sweeten. The leeks are looking great! And there are plenty of carrots. The storage onions are beginning to dry and we have parsnips and turnips growing. The first of the Autumn broccoli crops looks to be a few weeks away from harvest. And the Autumn peas have been planted!

We will be sending a letter in the next week to confirm your interest in the Autumn Share which starts in April and goes through until June.

Beans Basil

Beetroot

Carrots Chilies Corn Cucumbers Garlic

Lettuce Onions Potatoes

Pumpkin

Spinach

Tomatoes

Extras

Cherry Tomatoes

Capsicum

Chilies

Coriander

Eggplant

Melons

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

EGGPLANT IN A THAI GREEN CURRY

This fantastic Thai green curry recipe features eggplant and red pepper (carrots make a great substitute if these are not in season). You can add cauliflower, zucchini, beans…really any other stir fry vegetables you have in the fridge. The homemade green curry paste is what makes this dish such a lovely combination of distinct flavours, so don’t be tempted to substitute the store-bought variety. Top the curry with fresh basil.

Ingredients

1 can good-quality coconut milk

3 Asian eggplant (the long thin ones), sliced diagonally into 1cm thick rounds

1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces

1/3 cup fresh Thai or sweet basil

1/2 cup stock (I use chicken)

Green Curry Paste

3 stalk fresh lemongrass, minced

250 grams green chilies, sliced (if you can’t find Thai chilies, jalapeno will work)

1 shallot, sliced OR 1/4 cup diced red onion

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup of fresh galangal OR fresh ginger, sliced

approx. 1 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro, leaves & stems

1/8 cup coriander seeds, roasted and ground

1 tbsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground

1/2 tsp whole white pepper, ground

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

Method

1. Place all ‘Green Curry Paste’ ingredients together in a food processor, blender, chopper, or pestle & mortar. Add up to 1/4 can of the coconut milk, enough to help blend ingredients (reserve the rest for later). Process (or pound) well to create an aromatic Thai green curry paste. If you don’t have a food processor or chopper: try using a blender, or finely mince all ingredients by hand and stir together well.

2. Heat a wok or deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2-3 Tbsp. oil and swirl around, then add the green curry paste. Stir-fry briefly to release the fragrance (1 minute), then add the vegetables which take the longest to cook like carrots and cauliflower. Stir for 2 minutes coating with spices.

3. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir and reduce heat to medium or medium-low. Simmer 6-10 minutes (until the carrots start to tender).

4. Set aside 1/4 cup coconut milk, reserving it for use later (the thick cream is best). Add the rest of the coconut milk to the curry, plus the eggplant and beans (if using). Stir everything together, cover, and simmer another 7-8 minutes, or until eggplant is tender enough to pierce with a fork.

5. Add the bell pepper. Cover and simmer another 2-3 minutes, or until everything is well cooked.

6. Remove from heat and gently stir in the 1/4 cup reserved coconut milk. Taste-test, adding more fish sauce if not salty or flavorful enough. Add more lime juice if too salty or sweet for your taste. Add more sugar if not sweet enough. More chili can also be added.

7. Serve with a generous amount of fresh basil and or more coriander.

BEET AND CARROT SALAD

This is a quick recipe (10 minute) that we make alot for farm lunches.

Ingredients

2 large beets grated

2 large carrots grated

100 grams feta crumbled

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. I use a food processor to grate the beetroot and carrot.

2. In a bowl, crumble the feta. Add oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and coriander.

3. Add beetroot and carrot and mix roughly. Serve over lettuce or as a side.

MINISTRONE

...if you find that your fridge is starting to stockpile old veggies, Make Soup!

I have been told that every region in Italy has its own ministrone. Keep that in mind when you are making this, substituting and adding anything you feel works. I have written the straight recipe from Slow Cooking by Joanne Glynn.

Ingredients

220 gms dried borlotti beans

50 gms butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

15 gms parsley, finely chopped

2 sage leaves

100 gms pancetta, cubed

2 celery stalks, halved then sliced

2 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, peeled

1 tsp tomato paste

3 roma tomatoes chopped or 400 gm tin chopped tomatoes

8 basil leaves

3 litres chicken or vegetable stock

2 zucchinis, sliced

220 gms shelled peas

120 gms green beans, cut into bite sized lengths

1/4 cabbage shredded

150 g small pasta

6 tablespoons pesto

grated parmesian cheese

Method

1. Put the borlotti beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.

2 Next morning, drain and rinse thoroughly under water.

3. Melt butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic, parsley, sage and pancetta. Cook over a low heat, stirring once or twice, for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden.

4. Add the celery, carrot and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes, basil, and borlotti beans. Season with plenty of freshly ground pepper.

5. Add stock and bring slowly to a boil. Cover and leave to simmer for 2 hours stirring once or twice.

6. If the potatoes have not broken up, roughly break them up with a fork against the side of the pan. Taste for seasoning and add zucchini, peas, beans, cabbage and pasta. Simmer until the pasta is al dente.

7. Serve with a dollup of pesto and Parmesan.

Source – Slow Cooking by Joanne Glynn

ROASTED POTTIMON PUMPKIN

The wonderful nutty flavour of the Pottimon pumpkin skin lends itself beautifully to pumpkin wedges

Ingredients

'Pottimon' pumpkin, deseeded and sliced into wedges (DO NOT Peel)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tsp mustard seeds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Remove and discard seeds from pumpkin. Cut pumpkin into 4cm thick wedges. Combine oil, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add pumpkin. Toss and rub to coat.

2. Place pumpkin in a single layer, on prepared tray. Roast for 25 minutes. Turn pumpkin. Roast for a further 10 minutes or until tender.

3. Remove from oven when toasted. Top with coriander and serve with yogurt (with a bit of harissa mixed in)

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box except for the whole pumpkin (it depended on the size).

February 28, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #8 (25 February/27-28 February)

February 28, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #8 In addition to a very full harvest day, we did an application of Biodynamic 500 last night and Biodynamic 501 this morning. Back to back applications of bd500 and bd501 can help invigorate plants at the end of their growing cycle. We are hoping this helps them to ward off insect attacks.There may be caterpillars in the corn. This is un-sprayed corn and the caterpillars like it as much as we do. They are usually only in the top of the ear. You can simply cut that off and enjoy the rest.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

I was happy to see that the capsicums are starting to turn red and yellow - sweet capsicums are on the way! The fruit have been on the plants for a long time waiting to turn. Some have been sunburned, others eaten by caterpillars. There are still lots of capsicums there - and some are huge. Seeing them changing colour is exciting.

Pumpkins - we will start to harvest a few varieties of pumpkin next week. And the first crop of Autumn broccoli looks only about two to three weeks away from harvest. The long sunsets are a sign that the seasons are changing and seasonal eating is too.

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am. Pick up is available at other times by appointment only.

Beans Carrots Cherry Tomatoes Chilies Celery Coriander Corn Cucumbers Lettuce Onions Potatoes Tomatoes Zucchini

EXTRAS Basil Capsicum 'Pimiento de Padrons' Eggplant Kale Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS S zechwan Green Beans - Our kids LOVE these! Tomato Salsa Grilled Zucchini and Summer Squash Salad Ceasar Salad Dressing Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Kebabs

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

February 19, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015-Week #7 (11 February/13-14 February)

February 19, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #7 We had our first big tomato harvest with the field tomatoes really coming on! There are big bags in everyone's box. There may be caterpillars in the corn. This is un-sprayed corn and the caterpillars like it as much as we do. They are usually only in the top of the ear. You can simply cut that off and enjoy the rest.We have had several members let us know how the box is working for them and send through recipes that they have enjoyed. We really appreciate the feedback (as we start planning for next season in April) and the tested recipes are a great addition to our newsletter! Please email or talk to us on the farm. We really do want to know what you are enjoying and what you find more challenging to work with.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING With Autumn, comes weather perfect for fungal diseases. Our first plantings of zucchini and cucumbers have started succumbing to powdery mildew. Some seasons you can keep these away but the cold, damp summer we have had has been perfect for spreading these diseases.

We have also seen an increase in pest bugs in the tomatoes and cucumbers. We are doing what we can to try and curb the population...including hand collecting to make biodynamic insect peppers.

We are back harvesting beans! There are more plantings coming on too so this is not the last of them! The sweet corn is also continuing.

The brassicas are looking great in the field with the kale set to be planted this week. We have also introduced a wasp which lays its eggs into the eggs of the white cabbage moth. The wasps nymph then eats the baby caterpillar emerging from its egg cell. Predator bugs that are working with us! Once out in the world, the wasps feed off of nectar, highlighting again the value of having lots of flowers in the vegetable garden. We keep trying to provide an ecosystem for all of these creatures to breed and be happy! Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am. Pick up is available at other times by appointment only. There may be more boxes of cucumbers available for preserving. If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com. We will be finishing with the first planting soon and the second planting is smaller. If you are thinking about preserving, now is the time.

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Extras Capsicum Cherry Tomatoes Chilies – 'Pimiento de Padrons'. Eggplant Lettuce Onions Potatoes Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS S zechwan Green Beans - Our kids LOVE these! Herby, Peanutty, Noodley Salad - A River Cottage recipe Pimiento de Padrons- With a big harvest this week, many of you recieved these lovely peppers that make a great tapas style dish.LEMON BASIL DRESSING This is great on a salad, or served over freshly steamed beans. Add garlic and it makes a wonderful marinade for zucchini, chicken or fish. Ingredients 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar ½ cup flax seed oil, grape seed oil or extra virgin olive oil 1-2 teaspoons Dijon-type mustard 1 shallot finely diced 1 tsp of one or a combination of fresh lemon basil ¼ tsp salt Method 1. Add all ingredients EXCEPT oil to the vinegar and gently whisk. 2. Continue whisking while adding the oil in a stream.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

February 12, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2015- Week #6 (11 February/13-14 February)

February 12, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #6 We are half way through our CSA season!! We have had several members let us know how the box is working for them and send through recipes that they have enjoyed. We really appreciate the feedback (as we start planning for next season in April) and the tested recipes are a great addition to our newsletter! Please email or talk to us on the farm. We really do want to know what you are enjoying and what you find more challenging to work with.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

The heat is back which is great news for the second melon planting, watermelons, red capsicums, eggplants, sweet corn and beans! I feel like this next bean planting has taken ages and I am really missing these wonderful warm season vegetable. Peter thought they would be ready today but had a test pick and they still are not. If we try and pick them too young, we damage the plant. So we will see what Friday brings. We do have three more bean plantings after this one...with the last one being seeded this week!The first melon planting is finished now. We have tried something different with the second which is looking good so far - we used weed mat to try and keep the weeds down. The melon plants do not like to have their roots disturbed so pulling weeds is not a great option. We weeded the first crop three times and it was still overrun with large weeds which shaded the plants and fruit. This did not help seeing it was a cool wet season so far. The second planting is virtually weed free and full of forming fruit.We are picking from our second corn planting now and planting our third zucchini planting. The first zucchini planting is slowly sucumbing to powdery mildew. It did fantastic though seeing it was badly hit by frost in November!

Farm Pick Up times are Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am. Pick up is available at other times by appointment only.

There may be more boxes of cucumbers available for preserving. If you are interested, please email us at petercarlyon@gmail.com. We will be finishing with the first planting soon and the second planting is smaller. If you are thinking about preserving, now is the time.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this week. Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop. The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is. We endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items 1/2 share: 8-10 items Full Share: 10-12 itemsBasil – Big bunches of Italian Green basil, perfect for pesto. You can make pesto without the cheese and freeze it for use throughout the winter. You can add the cheese once it has thawed. Carrots – Bunches of heirloom orange carrots 'Little Fingers'. We have cleaned out a planting and will be starting on a new planting on Friday. Some of the bunches for Wednesday did contain "Ugly" carrots. These carrots are still very tasty and nutrient dense! Celery – 'Tall Utah'. There is a great recipe for celery soup (link below) tried by one of our CSA members. Chilies – 'Hungarian Hot Wax' . On the Scoville scale (the measurement of how hot a chili is) these rate at 3500-10,000 (The Thai Hot Chillies rate at 30,000). Corn – Sweet Corn...best eaten on the day you receive your box. Cucumbers – We are growing three varieties of cucumbers in this first planting. Two have dark green skin and small warts (some with little bristly hairs). These are "classic" cucumbers with cool flesh and slightly bitter skin. The third variety is one we are trialling. It has a lighter green colour and the skin is very smooth. This does not have the bitterness of the other two. All three have the wonderfully cooling flesh we all love in this summer vegetable. Lettuce – 'Freckles' or 'Summer Harvest'. Onions – These are 'Cream Gold'. They are a wonderful onion with a full flavour and store well. Potatoes – 'Exton'. With freshly dug potatoes, the skin is very tender. We find a light wash is all they need before cooking.

Tomatoes – We are harvesting the following varieties - all heirloom. 'Rouge de Marmande', 'Marglobe', 'Druzba', 'Oxheart', 'Jaune Negib' (a yellow tomato), 'Grosse Lisee' and 'Black Russian' (which is black). Tomatoes are best left out of direct sunlight and out of the refrigeration.

Zucchini – 'Black Beauty' and 'Costa Romanesco'.

Extras Capsicum – Purple and green capsicums. The purple taste like the green and turn green when cooked. The red, yellow and orange sweet capsicums come later in the season. Cherry Tomatoes – We are growing four different cherry tomatoes this year - 'Black Cherry', 'Sungold', 'Little Yellow Bee' and 'Tommy Toe'. Chilies – 'Pimiento de Padrons'. These are wonderful fried. We rotate the 'Padrons' through the boxes and the harvest has just started. We give you a good size bag to make heating the oil worthwhile. There is a recipe for them here. Eggplant – We have just started harvesting the first of the eggplant. These are 'Long, Thin Purple' great in stir fries and barbecued. The plumper eggplants are forming on the plants and we may start harvesting them next week. Melons – We are harvesting 'Eden's Gem' and 'Early Hanover' both a honey dew and 'Hearts of Gold' and 'Hale's Best' cantaloupes. Radishes – 'Cherry Belle' Squash – 'Golden Crookneck' and/or 'Bennings Green Tint'(also known as Patty Pans - We like them baked. Here is the recipe.)

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Cream of Celery Soup Cold Cucumber Soup Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Quinoa and Feta

Zucchini Fritters - Gluten Free

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

January 08, 2015

CSA Summer Share 2014 - Week #1 (7 January/9-10 January)

January 08, 2015/ Robin

CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #1 I apologise for the late arriving What's in the Box. With the 40C day looming and rain fore casted for the next five days, we started early in the field to try and prepare the crops for the weather. And then we lost power until after 9pm.

We would really like to hear how the box is working for you, what produce you like, what is harder to know what to do with and what meals were a highlight in your house. If you are picking your box up, please do share with us. If your box is delivered and you are home, please chat a bit with Belinda or Peter.

With the days heating up, please do leave a large esky out and we will pack your veggies into to help them cope until you get home. Belinda and Peter do try and find a shady spot for the box but even in the shade, the greens wilt very quickly!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING Heat above 36C does really effect crops. The tomatoes, capsicum and eggplants can drop all their flowers, the cucumbers can just give up, the pumpkins which are starting to grow can get sun scalded as can the capsicums, tomatoes and fruit. The melons, corn and zucchini seem to thrive. The cloud cover in the late afternoon, the cool change and the rain falling now helps!There are melons growing well, with some about the diameter of a dessert plate, and the field tomatoes are ripening. We have welcomed a new intern, Tahlia, who will be working with us through March. The Autumn brassica plantings continue to be seeded as do more plantings of lettuce, basil, beans, corn, coriander, perpetual gator, rocket, spring onions and zucchini.

We were lucky to have the rain after the heat on Saturday. Some of the apples and capsicums were scalded by the sun but most things recovered well with the cool change and rain.

We were excited to spy lots of native Australian bees today. These blue banded bees are great pollinators and wonderful proof that the diversity within our ecosystem is growing!

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this week. Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop. The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is. We endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items 1/2 share: 8-10 items Full Share: 10-12 itemsThai Basil – Wonderful on salads, vegetable dishes and meats. Great mixed into a summer curry with lemon grass, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and soy. Beans – Green and purple French beans. Beet Root – Large bunches of tender beets. Carrots – Bunches of heirloom orange carrots. Green Coriander Seed –The fresh coriander seeds lend so many savory preparations a huge jolt of flavor and crunch. They taste like a cross between fresh coriander leaves and dried coriander seed - bright and verdant but not as intense as the leaves. They are citrusy and slightly nutty, and they pair very well with beans, lentils, rice, and roasted or grilled vegetables.Fresh coriander seed makes a great garnish on rice, in salads, on meats, in sauces. Mix it into marinades and dressings. Try it roughly cracked and with black pepper on any grilled meat or fish. Or sprinkle them on a salad of ripe tomatoes with salt and extra virgin olive oil. You can infuse them in vodka for a wonderful cocktail.Crush them lightly and mix them with ripe peaches for a great salsa. You can replace the dried coriander seeds in a curry but put them in near the end to retain their freshness. Cucumbers Fennel – You can use this as a main salad ingredient or carmelise it with butter and use it to stuff zucchini or as a base for risotto. Great roasted too! Garlic – 'Australian White'. We put the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as the larger ones store better. Lettuce Potatoes – Wonderful boiled, roasted and mashed. With freshly dug potatoes, the skin is very tender. English Spinach – Eat raw or cooked, with eggs or wrapped in fillo.

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Extras Broccoli – The last of our Summer broccoli. The crop will be back again in March. Capsicum – There have been a few green capsicums ready for harvest with many more smaller ones growing. The coloured sweet capsicums come later in the season. Chilies – There have been a few 'Hungarian Hot Wax' and we have started picking the 'Pimiento de Padrons'. These are wonderful fried. We rotate the 'Padrons' through the boxes and the harvest has just started. We give you a good size bag to make heating the oil worthwhile. There is a recipe for them here. Peas – Sugar snap peas or snow peas. Wonderful in a salad or a stir fry! Squash

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Green Beans and Potato Salad Spinach and Chicken CurryWARM ROASTED BEETROOT, CARROT AND FENNEL SALAD Ingredients 1 bunch beetroots, peeled and quartered 12 baby carrots, trimmed and peeled 1 brown onion, peeled and cut into wedges 1 fennel bulb, trimmed & cut into wedges 2 whole garlic bulbs, halved across salt and pepper 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar extra virgin olive oil 150g soft goats cheese, cut into thick slices crusty bread to serveMethod 1. Preheat oven 200°C 2. Combine vegetables in a large baking dish and toss through sugar, vinegars and oil. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Roast covered for 35-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 4. Carefully remove foil and place goats cheese over the top. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until cheese becomes soft and bubbly. 5. Remove and serve immediately, with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box with the addition of padrons.

January 08, 2015

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #13 (30 December/ 2-3 January)

January 08, 2015/ Robin

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #13 Wishing you and your families all the best in the New Year! We thank you for your support of our farm thus far this season. This is the last box of the Spring Share. With the beans and tomatoes starting to appear in the boxes, summer produce is truly here! We look forward to continuing filling boxes in this next season!!

Please remember, next week's delivery returns to a Wednesday. Farm pick up returns this week to FRIDAY 2 January 2-5pm and SATURDAY 3 January 8-11am.

With several families being away over Christmas and several un-collected boxes, the farm donated quite a bit of food to families around the peninsula. It is wonderful to be able to offer extra produce to the community. We are lucky to have contact with Lorraine whom works with 'Second Bite', the local Brotherhood centre, and 'Connections', an organisation training disabled people to work in commercial kitchens. We will continue to have some surplus produce that we can pass on to these organisations. We will be hosting a "gleaning" harvest day. With the summer push of growth upon us, we do not have the time to do extra harvesting. With your help, we could harvest surplus produce for these organisations. Please let us know if you are interested.

There are extra zucchini and cucumbers this week as well as extra items that were ready for harvest. The half share boxes have 13 items and the full share 17. We hope that you can take advantage of the extra produce. We have included ideas below as well as preserving ideas.

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING

The growth in the patch is incredible! The corn has begun tasseling and ears are forming. Soon the pollen will fall, hopefully pollinating each kernel so that they fill out forming succulent ears of sweet corn. There are baby pumpkins and the vines have started running. The first sunflower is blooming. There are baby eggplant and capsicums. All of the plants are taking full advantage of the daylight hours with growth in almost double the time of early Spring.

We are harvesting the last of the Summer broccoli. Some of the heads are enormous!! The population of white cabbage moths has increased. This is unsprayed broccoli - do check it for green caterpillars.

We still have plantings of English Spinach coming on for next week but the peas will falter as the weather heats up. This is the last of the Sugar snap peas. We hope the snow peas will avoid the powdery mildew which plagues late pea plantings.

The beans have started. The first crop was stunted by the late frost-there are still beans but it is not a huge harvest. The second planting looks much fuller and healthier. We have seeded planting five of the beans and the sweet corn...we hope to be harvesting these in March! We have also begun the seeding in the greenhouse of Autumn crops.

Basil Beans – Green and yellow French beans. Broccoli Carrots – Bunches of heirloom multi-coloured carrots. Cucumbers Garlic – 'Australian White'. We put the smaller bulbs in the boxes first as the larger ones store better. Lettuce Peas – sugar snap peas or snow peas. Wonderful in a salad or a stir fry! Radishes Rocket – Great for salads and pizzas Spring Onions

Tomatoes

Zucchini –

Extras Romanesco Broccoli – These are best cooked more like a cauliflower then a broccoli. They do not have the size of the Autumn heads. Cauliflower Celery Squash – 'Golden Crookneck' and/or 'Bennings Green Tint'(also known as Patty Pans - We like them baked. Here is the recipe.)

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Beans, Rocket, Black Rice and Semi Dried Tomatoes Tzatziki Dip - Uses cucumbers and is perfect for snacks and entertaining Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic - serve as a bruschetta for finger food or with a fork! Rocket, Blue Cheese, Prosciutto Bruschetta Crunchy Salad - A Jamie Oliver recipe using many of the veggies in the box this week Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon Basil Sauce Zucchini, Prosciutto and Basil Pinwheels - an internet find that is easy, tasty and great for entertaining.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

December 17, 2014

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #11 (17 December/19-20 Dec)

December 17, 2014/ Robin

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #11 We harvested the first tomatoes this morning!

Broccoli Carrots Celery Chilies Garlic Lettuce Mesclun Spring Onions English Spinach Zucchini

Extras Basil Tops Romanesco Broccoli Cauliflower Cucumber Onions Squash Tomatoes

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We have harvested the first tomatoes from the poly tunnel with the cherry tomatoes in the field looking close. We have continued harvesting cucumbers but still not a huge production on the 200 feet of plants...we have only harvested just over 100 cucumbers thus far!

With these few weeks of rain and humidity at times, we made a fermented herbal tea to try and help the plants ward off fungal diseases. We also applied biodynamic 501 to help the plants use light better and to help them assimilate minerals. This also helps the plant pores to tighten.

There is lovely broccoli heads in all of the boxes this week. These were grown in one of the mandala circles which has more protection from wind and insects. They are beautiful!! The next pea planting is finally podding up! We hope to harvest sugar snaps for the Christmas boxes. I spied the first capsicum in the field. Our capsicum are a bit later this year as the whole first seeding died in the glasshouse. We make our own soil mix for the seedlings and the mix we used for the crop was too heavy. Such a disappointment watching them all die over a two week period. But we reseeded the crop and had a healthy batch to plant in the field. The plants look great and are filled with flowers. We are still protecting them almost every night from cold, wind and the possibility of hail.

We planted our second crop of sweet potatoes this week, our fourth planting of beans and corn, and our leek crop for Autumn. The pumpkins are starting to vine out and they look healthy. Early sunflowers are also about six feet high now all over the fields.

There are lots of flowers and herbs to pick during the farm collection times of Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am.

Please remember, next week the boxes will be delivered on TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER. Farm pick up is also on TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER from 9-5. The farm will then be closed for Christmas until Monday 29 December.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Celery Gratin Thai salad Dressing - Great with the mesclun, spring onions and coriander. Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon Basil sauce Quinoa, Roasted Vegetables, Chickpeas and Feta Salad Spinach and Feta Triangles

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.

December 17, 2014

CSA Spring Share 2014 - Week #10 (10 December/12-13 Dec)

December 17, 2014/ Robin

CSA SPRING SHARE WEEK #10 We spied melons the size of golf balls today while weeding!! The first corn planting is hip high. There are orange tomatoes in the poly-tunnel. We harvested basil for the boxes this week. The zucchini are going bonkers...must be summer.

Basil Tops Beetroot Broccoli Carrots Garlic Lettuce Onions Perpetual Spinach Zucchini

Extras Romanesco Broccoli Red Cabbage Savoy Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Cucumber English Spinach Summer Squash

NOTES ON WHAT IS GROWING

We sent a newsletter out with lots of pictures of what's growing. If you are not on our mailing list, you can view it here.

The Spring push continues as we try to keep up with the weeding and continue to seed crops. We will begin our Autumn brassica seeding this week.

There are cut flowers and edible flowers available for U-pick. Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 8-11am. We do have diverse (and not always friendly) fauna so please wear appropriate shoes.

To include edible flowers in the Christmas box, we need help harvesting them. If you can help on Monday 22 December, please let us know.

We are finalizing our list for the Summer Share which begins in January. If you would like to continue receiving veggies, please email to let us know. We will also send an email about this.

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Roasted Fennel and White Bean Dip - A great warm dip for holiday parties. Beetroot Dip Broccoli Fritters Zucchini Brownies - This is a great recipe on Kate - The Lunch Lady's site. Our children and the farm crew love it! Beet and Carrot Salad

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page.

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box.