Backyard Bounty all-Tasmanian Vegie box: 17th September

Spring is traditionally described as the “hunger gap”, a time when there’s not a whole lot growing; however, this week’s box, full of lovely treats, begs to differ!

The return of cherry tomatoes from the Brandsema family in Turners Beach is of course one of the most exciting shifts in the eating season this week, but there’s plenty of other special things too. With all Tasmanian lemons being home-grown rather than commercially cultivated it can be hard getting enough to put in our most popular box – the $30 box. This week, however, thanks to Moonah home-grower Sandra, we’ve been able to put not one, not two, but three lemons in each $30 box! Whatever you do with them – they’re very versatile – don’t waste the zest; Meyer lemons like these have the most exquisite perfume in their skins, which is carried in the oil that you’ll see spritzing into the air when you peel or zest them.

$30 and $40 boxes also have Red Foo potatoes from our potato grower John, which are red all the way through, and also delicious and fragrant sage from Hills Hydroponics. It’s also sometimes easy to forget that Elphin Grove’s celeriac is a special thing, until you visit the fruit and veg section of shops which rarely stock it, or if they do tend to only have terrible shrivelled up little bulbs at eye-watering prices…