Market report.

We're back at farmers' markets.
Hooray!
We're starting the season at Collingwood Children's Farm farmers' market on the second Saturday of the month and will see how we go.

We packed the trailer and drove down to Melbourne.
We woke up really early and drove to the farm.
We took our usual place between Warialda Beef and Baw Baw Organics.
We put up the marquee and the tables and signs and prettied it all up with some bunting and table cloths.
We caught up with and chatted to fellow stall holders.
And then we drank coffee and waited for the gates to open.

We had the most wonderful market.
We caught up with so many friends old and new.
We ate pancakes and spanikopita and icy poles and ice cream.
We bought a whole crate of food for home.
We swapped lots of produce for eggs too.
Miss Indi worked on our stall and Miss Jazzy and Miss Pepper worked with Anne Marie at Holy Goat.
And we sold out of eggs before the end of the day.
We loved it.

The next Collingwood Children's Farm farmers' market is on on the 11th of Feb.
More details here.
We hope to see you there.

In the meantime there's a fantastic recipe for Herby Whole Egg Mayo on Ruth's blog today.
Check it out here.

See ya. x

currant cordial.

1kg currants.
500gms sugar.
500gms water.
1 lemon - juice and skin.
(half the quantities works just as well too.)

Wash/sterilise bottle.
Place currants, sugar and water in a saucepan on the stove on a low heat.
Stir occasionally until the sugar melts.
Add the juice of the lemon and the skin.
Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.
Stand aside to cool.
Pass mixture through a strainer.
Bottle.
Enjoy with sparkling water and ice. Yum!
or
Enjoy with a shot of vodka. Yum!
Keep refrigerated when not in use.

From all of us at Daylesford Organics, we wish you the most wonderful, happy, healthy and bountiful 2012. xx

Green manure.

I took the photo above about a year ago. It was meant to accompany a blog post I had been thinking about writing about soil. About how much of the farming that we do at Daylesford Organics is not really about the fruit and vegies and eggs we produce, but about the soil they grow/feed/live on.

I was going to talk about how we at Daylesford Organics actually consider ourselves soil farmers. Our work is to constantly improve the soil. To make it healthy and full of nutrients so that it can then do it's own important work.

We swear by this soil philosophy. We observe our soil, we add micro organisms and organic matter and compost teas. We use the chooks to fertilise and we obsessively make and dig in compost. And we don't overwork our precious soil. We let it rest in between plantings and we often plant crops that we plow in to feed and nurture it.

We try to listen and nurture.

After ten years of organic farming and the worst season of farming we have experienced, we decided it was time to look after the farmers of the soil. After the steepest learning curve of moving from the city to become farmers. After building up the wonderful business that is Daylesford Organics and after experiencing some of the biggest highs and some pretty awful lows, we decided it was time to look after us.

To plant a green manure crop.

So in July of this year, our family of five left the farm and drove off in an old caravan we had renovated. We drove up the centre of Australia and are now on our way down the west coast.

We are looking after the farmers. We are taking some time out to look at things from the outside. We are talking a lot about possible new directions we as an organic farm can take. And we are getting inspired all over again.

We are so lucky and grateful to farmers Liam and Pierre for keeping things going while we travel. You guys are ace! x

We have got some exciting plans to put into action when we return so watch this space.

In the mean time feel free to follow our caravan adventure here on my other blog.

See you soon.

Heirloom beetroots and carrots.

It's the first day of winter here in Southern Australia and our little farm is full of rainbows.

Rainbows of heirloom beetroots. Five varieties.

And rainbows of heirloom carrots. Five varieties.

The vegetable cool room is on and full of crates of gorgeous certified organic vegies.

And the farmer boys are a blur of picking and washing and weighing and packing.

It's been a crazy season and we are about five months later than usual, but we are finally doing what organic vegie farmers do and wow it is fun!

Chook love art.

Produced, directed, photographed, fed and tended to by Farmer Pierre.

Crimes of Farm Fashion Part 2.

Other possible titles for this post:

• We are finally harvesting rainbow carrots.
• Our two new green shipping containers arrived this morning.
• Can you believe they let me take this pic even after I told them I would be putting it on the Internet?
• Sorry girls, they are both happily married.

Crimes of Farm Fashion Part 1 is here.

Dear Delicious magazine,

We are sad to have to inform you that Daylesford Organics will not be submitting an entry into this year’s Delicious Produce Awards.

In a world of celebrity chefs and chefs hat awards for restaurants, we think it’s wonderful that your magazine has an award that celebrates the producers.

Our win in the From The Earth category in 2009 and our gold medal in 2010 for our heirloom veggies have been among the highlights of our ten years in business.

Although the past growing season began with great promise, things soon changed. Our market gardens were flooded three times in four months; and we experienced high humidity, not enough sunshine or warmth, and so much rain we considered building an ark. By the time the locusts arrived there wasn’t anything much left for them to devour.

Last year we submitted a rainbow of heirloom vegetables to be judged. So many colours and flavours, shapes and sizes. This year we don't have any produce to pull out of the ground in the submission time.

We are most disappointed for ourselves as well as for the many other heartbroken farmers around Australia who have been affected by the crazy weather.

We hope the judging of this year’s Produce Awards goes really well. We look forward to sending our entry next year.

With best wishes,

Kate and Brendon

Daylesford Organics