As the sun goes down on autumn, and winter begins to set in, we welcome the aptly named Sundowner apple from Mark & Christine – Gravensteins are the first to be picked, and the Sundowners are the last. Apples (and pears) have traditionally been cultivated not just for how delicious they are freshly plucked from the tree, but for their capacity to store through the winter when other fruits are a distant memory. The science of storing apples over winter has come a long way since the days of cellaring, and for long-term storage apples are kept in special cool stores with controlled oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity levels to vastly slow the ripening process, allowing them to be kept fresh and crisp for months at a time. You’ll see many of these large storage facilities dotted through the Huon Valley, Tasmania’s biggest apple producing region.
Even with advanced hothouse growing techniques, capsicums and tomatoes will only be available for a short while longer, and salad veg start to slow down also. However, root veg come into their own at this time of the year, and brassicas (kale, cabbage, sprouts) become sweeter as the cold weather hits. Autumn pumpkins are also a great winter treat, and go nicely with the nuts that also become available at this time of year.
This week’s $40 boxes get another warming wintery staple – locally grown rolled oats from Lauran and Henriette, who grow a range of other grains including spelt, buckwheat and quinoa. (If you’d like bulk quantities of any of these please let us know and we’ll do our best to supply.) All in all, a great box staying in, keeping warm, and getting your roast on!
Here’s the full run down:
