A couple of years ago we happened to hear of a farming family in Cressy whose son wanted to make a little extra money for flying lessons; with a little help he had put in a paddock of pumpkins and was selling them at the farmers market. We bought a heap of them that year and put them in the boxes, but sadly, last year they didn’t have as good a season. This year, Charlie and family decided to sink a bit of extra time and effort into the crop – making sure they got enough water and the nutrients they needed – and coupled with almost ideal weather, they got a bit more than they bargained for! Even with 250 boxes a week, we simply can’t buy all ten tonne plus of their pumpkins, but we’ve put a decent dent into the tonne that came down with SRT on Tuesday, with all $20 and $25 boxes getting sweet grey and $30s and $40s getting butternuts. Something tells me that Charlie won’t have any trouble paying for flying lessons this year…
Over Easter we also had an email from a grower in Maydena with the tail end of a bumper crop of broad beans and some field-grown green tomatoes – we jumped at the chance and these are in $30 and $40 boxes respectively. Green tomatoes aren’t great in a salad, but when cooked they take on a deliciously meaty flavour – their tartness can easily be balanced out with a little sugar (e.g. in a green tomato pickle) or salt like in the traditional fried green tomatoes eaten in the U.S. On the other end of the spectrum, Premium Fresh – one of the biggest vegetable producers in the state – passed on the great news that Brussels sprouts started last week, and we’re definitely very pleased that this most delicious winter vegetable is going to be a regular inclusion in boxes again!
