daylesford organics

Market report.

2012-01-16T19:14:00.000+11:00

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.

2012-01-05T10:40:00.000+11:00

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.

2011-10-21T22:48:00.000+11:00

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.

2011-06-01T20:48:00.000+10:00

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.

2011-05-19T15:50:00.000+10:00

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

Crimes of Farm Fashion Part 2.

2011-05-17T18:10:00.000+10:00

Dear Delicious magazine,

2011-05-09T07:34:00.000+10:00

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

Roasted beetroot divine!

2011-05-06T21:08:00.001+10:00

Happy weekend folks!

To celebrate weekend eve, we made the yummiest dinner. Every single ingredient except the olive oil and the feta was grown right here at Daylesford Organics and everything except the garlic was picked less than an hour before it was cooked.

Four colours of heirloom beetroot. From left: Detroit, White Blankoma, Golden, Chioggia.

Eshallots

Tossed together with some garlic and olive oil, baked for an hour and then served with a lettuce and fetta salad.

It doesn't get much better than that. Simple, colouful, fresh, seasonal, organic, delicious!

We hope you have the most wonderful weekend.

Day trip.

2011-04-25T19:14:00.000+10:00

Early this morning we hit the road and took a drive to visit a couple of our newest customers.

First stop Colliban Food Store in Trentham. A gorgeous and glamerous new restaurant and food store just off the main street.

Paul the owner, came to see us about a year ago to tell us of his vision for the store and talk about what produce we could supply him. It was a sunny Autumn day and we stood around in the farm stall and chatted. It was a fantastic feeling today to see him and his team and his dream come true.

You can buy our eggs and seasonal vegies in the store to take home or you can have them cooked for you in the restaurant and eat them there.

Then we drove on to Kyneton and to deliver eggs to organic patisserie, Inner Biscuit.

That's Mara there at the coffee machine. Inner Biscuit is her gorgeous cafe. I love everything about her place. I love the way she's decorated it, I love that all her ingredients are organic, I love how friendly her and her staff are and I loved our coffees, lemon cookies and almond croissants. Yum!

I bet I'm not the only one to leave that place and consider starting an enamel tea pot collection.

All in all a wonderful day and some fabulous coffee. I think we might have to do a tour of some of our Melbourne customers soon.

Have a wonderful week.

Crimes of Farm Fashion Part 1.

2011-04-14T12:20:00.002+10:00

I'll be back as soon as I get over those fluoro vests to tell you about the other fun stuff that's been going on here at Daylesford Organics lately. There's been honey collecting and spinning (possibly another fashion crime), preserving, 600 baby chickies, carrots, apples, beetroots and all sorts of other fun farm stuff.

See you soon.

ps stay tuned for baby chicken live cam.

Rainbow carrots are back!!

2011-03-31T14:02:00.000+11:00

Hooray for the very first bunch of rainbow carrots of the season.

I know they are small and not all that impressive but we are thrilled!! This bunch got three cheers. We've been waiting a very long time for our own carrots this season and because of all the floods they are two months later than usual.

Late but still delicious. This bunch were gobbled up less than a minute after the photo shoot.

Actually, that's not entirely true...some were set aside a few minutes to decorate lunch.

The top orchard.

2011-03-27T20:30:00.000+11:00

Ten years ago we bought this farm off a guy called Tom and his wife Lois. When Tom and Lois first moved here about 15 years before that, they hadn't been too sure of what to do with this place, so Tom made an orchard up near the house and planted one of every fruit tree he thought might do well and then watched them to see what would happen.

He planted a few varieties of plum, lots of different apples, some pears, a quince, cherries, apricots, lemons, mulberries and peaches.

After a few years he saw that this area is not suitable for growing peaches and apricots and lemons because it gets too cold but he also saw that the apples thrived.

So Tom set about planting an apple orchard and while they lived here he grew and sold certified organic apples.

In the ten years since we have been here we have planted about five hundred more apple trees and lots of other fruit trees too. These apples are the working apples. The farm fruit trees. But the top orchard is a bit like the home orchard. It doesn't always get as well maintained as the other orchards and often the fruit doesn't look as good and the birds and kangaroos get a lot but its always worth a walk through in Autumn to see what's around.

Today we found lots and lots of apples. Most are spotty and starchy still but we'll keep checking them now and pick them as they ripen.

We picked the last of the plums, including this love heart one.

A crate of quinces.

A crate of Pepper.

Jazzy upside down fruit.

And loads and loads of pears.

Its been a horrible year for the farm apples with the humidity and mould, but somehow these fruit trees on the top of the hill haven't done too badly. I'm not going to question why, I'm just going to enjoy them.

Have a wonderful week.

Puppies.

2011-03-16T21:52:00.000+11:00

I know I haven't posted on this blog for a month, far longer than I had intended.

But do you mind if I start from here? Is it OK if I skip over the past few months that should have been full of vegies and harvesting and colour and excitement but weren't and start again from now?

The puppies are almost twelve weeks old now.

At six weeks old they moved from our back deck to an enclosure on the other side of our house. A couple of chooks and then some roosters were introduced bit by bit.

And then when their Mum Willow looked exhausted all the time and couldn't escape them, they took their first car trip down to the paddock and joined their Dad Nick and a flock of 500 chookies.

They have been running and chasing and playing and wrestling ever since.

They are getting a bit rough for Miss Pepper though, bowling her over and scratching her face. They must sense that we call her Puppy and want to play and wrestle with her too.

But for now its safer to play from this side of the fence.

The first puppy to leave us last week was a girl. The new owner is a ten year old boy who has started his own chook business. he decided to call her Joey which made me happy as that's the name we gave her sister when she was first born.

Its exciting and a bit sad to think that one day the others will be off on their own Maremma journeys. I hope when the time comes there will be less tears from the Farmer girls than last week.

So that's it, I'm back.

See you soon.

Garlic bulbils.

2011-02-13T10:00:00.001+11:00

Do you know what this is a photo of?

These are garlic bulbils or garlic flowers.

They grow from the top of the stalk of the hard neck varieties of garlic.

They start off white and as they dry out they become more and more purple.

Many farmers of hard neck garlic remove the bulbils as they are forming to promote the growth of the bulb below the ground. At Daylesford Organics we believe in allowing a plant to grow in its natural form so we leave the bulbils on the plant. Cutting them off is like cutting off its reproductive organs.

The advantage of not removing the bulbils is that we harvest them as well as the garlic cloves when they reach maturity.

There are several things you can do with these flowers.

You can replant them. This is an economical way of building up your planting stock. It will take two years of replanting for the bulbs to reach a decent size. Alternately you could plant the bulbils in your herb garden and harvest them as spring garlic, like spring onions.

The other use for the bulbils is the one we are most excited about and that is to eat.

Over the past few weeks we have been sprinkling these gorgeous seeds on salads, bruchettas, stir fries and eggs.

They look gorgeous as a garnish, they give that delicious garlic kick and all without the bother of having to peel them or prepare them in any way.

Can you tell we are excited!!

If you buy some garlic bulbils from us over the next few weeks, we would love you to share your own personal bulbil recipe with us. Please leave a comment on this blog or email us at kate@daylesfordorganics.com

See ya.

Optimistic.

2011-01-29T12:48:00.000+11:00

I've been thinking lately that the dictionary definition for the word optimistic should include the word farmer and more specifically a farmer planting a crop.

When a farmer plants a crop she/he hopes for the perfect weather conditions to enable that crop to germinate, to grow and to thrive. It cannot be too hot, too wet, too cold or too humid. The farmer hopes that the irrigation pipes don't block or burst, that pests leave the crop alone, that there are no diseases, not too many weeds and enough water to irrigate it. He/she hopes that there is no flood or fire or wind storm. The farmer hopes that Mother Nature is kind and enables a delicious crop to be picked at the end of the growing season.

After a month of 'will we or wont we's', the last few days at Daylesford Organics were spent ploughing, laying irrigation lines and planting out a couple of gardens of carrots and beetroots.

Where other years we plant many, many different varieties of vegetables and lots of successions of each, this year we are most grateful to get anything in at all.

We are optimistic.

Fish?

2011-01-25T15:44:00.000+11:00

We're still in clean up mode after the flood. We're chainsawing and pulling down and mulching and mowing. We're exploring and hunting for parts of our property that have washed away.

Yesterday Farmer Bren was walking around and found a fish. Just lying there in what used to be the market garden.

Maybe all those jokes about certified organic trout weren't so silly after all.

Have a great day.

Water.

2011-01-23T18:58:00.000+11:00

At this time of the year my blog should be bursting at the seams with photos of gorgeous rainbows of fruit and vegetables. Hundreds of varieties in all different shapes and colours. This week last year I was blogging about beetroots and peas and rocket and radishes. This year you get the puppies.

This ain't no ordinary season. This certainly ain't no ordinary January.

Actually, the truth is so far in our ten years of organic farming we have learnt that there is no such thing as an ordinary year. Some years there's too much wind, some are too hot, some bring fires and other other crazy weather patterns. As farmers we have learnt to listen and watch and to adapt.

But until this year the one constant has been the respect and love we have to have for water. Water is good.

When we moved here we became self sufficient in our water supply for the first time. We have had to be mindful in washing and drinking and laundering and bathing even in the middle of winter, to ensure we have enough for the coming summer. Our house water comes from the rain that lands on our roof and is precious.

Farm water has always been a constant topic for discussion too. We have bores that fill dams, we have dams that fill irrigation systems and we have irrigation systems that are always being planned and fixed and tested and diagrammed and updated.

On a farm water is life giving, water is precious, water is the topic of so many discussions.

Most years the running joke around here is that Bren has another girlfriend called Tap who he is always rushing off to meet and spend time with.

But then this year something happened to turn our whole theory of water on its head.

We learnt that water can also be destructive. Water can ruin your plans, stop you from planting a crop, turn your crop to seed or to mush, it can take years of carefully maintained top soil and send it off down the creek. Water can be scary. Water is a contradiction.

And everywhere we go there are more crazy water stories. The lettuce grower who had to plow in ten acres of flooded lettuces, our neighbours at yesterday's farmers' market who had to sell so much of their strawberry crop as seconds, our friends Andrew and Jill who lost their entire crop and left a gap where their stall usually stands opposite us...I could go on and on, I'm sure you could too.

So now we are living through the rest of this crazy season. We are grateful for our chookens who continue to lay, that we don't have enormous machinery and input costs and that we never put a crop in so we didn't lose one. Our hearts go out to those less fortunate.

Please buy local where you can, buy direct from the farmer where possible and look out for those that are producing the food that you eat.

After the rains.

2011-01-14T16:00:00.000+11:00

After more than 200mm of rain and crazy winds, we left the safety of our home on the hill this morning to survey the scene.

The girls were just happy to be outside after days and days inside the house.

We found a smashed up poly tunnel,

an underwater car park,

lakes and more lakes where once were paddocks ready for the full moon planting out.

Artichokes ready to be picked but impossible to get to.

Rows of ripe berries and currants again impossible to get to to pick.

Wet.

Another reason why we wont be opening our farm gate stall this year.

Farmer Bren in his fancy pants.

That corner is the furthermost corner of the market garden. Gone. Washed down the creek. All that precious top soil, gone.

Seems ridiculous to find a sprinkler in the midst of it all.

And bush land that had a bush fire rip through it two years ago, now is full of heavy, wet, soggy and fallen trees. This is the part that really terrifies me living in the middle of the bush.

Despite the loss of income, the loss of years worth of carefully maintained top soil, the loss of the chance to express our true passion and plant an heirloom vegie crop and so much devastation, the truth is we know we are the lucky ones. In a few days the waters will subside and we will clean up and move on. We have a dry house to return to and chooks that were moved to higher country and still seem happy enough to lay eggs despite the wet.

Our thoughts go out to all those less fortunate.

Stay safe.

Floods & dogs.

2011-01-12T16:52:00.002+11:00

Our farm gate stall will not open this season.

The market garden is under water for the third time since September. When and if the ground dries out enough to plant a crop, there will not be a long enough growing season to ripen it.

You can still buy our certified organic, free range eggs and garlic from Tonnas and Harvest in Daylesford, from The Slow Food Farmers' market and The Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' market in Melbourne, from The Ceres shop and from Organic Wholefoods.

Farmer Bren just emailed me this photo from his phone and as I type this the rain is crashing down.

This week's The Weekly Times's letters section has one that reads:

Man and his dog just clicked

I would like to compliment the photographer of the brilliant picture for October in The Weekly Times' 2011 calendar.

It is without doubt one of the best pictures seen anywhere in a long time.

I also compliment the gentleman in the picture for his compassion and appreciation, clearly expressed in the picture.

He has obviously spent considerable time and effort training this loyal dog-just look at the connection between the two.

The trust and appreciation they show for each other is very touching.

The composition is sensational-the brilliant colours and the way it captures the emotional interaction between man and his faithful dog.

Knowing the wonderful loyalty of Maremma guardian dogs, I appreciate the connection between this dog and master.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. It is impossible to put a figure on the number of words condensed in this picture.'

Gavin Wall

Mt Evelyn.

Thanks Gavin, you've made our day.

Thanks also Jane for letting us know.

And while we are on the subject of Maremmas, look who opened their eyes two days ago. Willow's six puppies are super cute little fat fluff balls. Their fur is white and thick and the pads on their feet and their noses have turned from pink to black. Their legs are still not strong enough to carry them, but they can certainly move around to get to their Mama. Willow is still being patient and kind with them although she is taking a break occasionally to lie under the house. She seems much happier for us to have a cuddle these days too.

And finally, our thoughts go out to all those affected by the devastating floods in the North of our country. Wishing you and your families safety, dryness and relief from it all.

Dog blog.

2010-12-28T18:02:00.000+11:00

The Maremma puppies are now three days old and still haven't opened their eyes. They are just too cute for words and we are spending oh so much time watching them and discussing them. When we left home earlier today for the first time since they were born, I missed them and couldn't wait to get back to them to see what they were up to.

Mostly all they do is feed and sleep, but they have also started to make little squeaky barking noises and sort of drag them selves along the ground if they get too far from their mama.

And today they started to wag their tails too (see above pic). This mostly happens when they are feeding and is too cute for words.

And their Willow mama adores them. She has taken a few quick walks away from them to eat and dust bathe and dig but constantly looks back to them and rushes back the moment she sees one of us touching them or if one of them cries.

She does not like us cuddling them at all and watches us and sometimes cries until we give them back to her.

A few times I have seen her try to pick one up in her jaw to move it but she has quickly put them down. I wonder if she'll bite the skin at the back of their necks to carry them or is that only with cats?

So apart from the farm chores and some berry picking, that's what's been going on here at Daylesford Organics for the past few days. Real work, hopefully ploughing up some vegie beds if its dry enough, resumes tomorrow.

The farm shop which was meant to reopen in January will remain closed until further notice due to the flooding and the delayed planting.

Bye for now.

Puppies!

2010-12-26T11:08:00.000+11:00

Last night at 7pm, after a day of pacing the backyard and digging holes to lie in, Willow the maremma had her first puppy. A girl called Joey.

It was wonderful to watch her doing her thing. Even though it was her first litter, she knew to lick the puppy to clean her and to stimulate her into life, she knew to bite the umbilical cord and to eat the placenta.

Joey came out wet and mucky, above, and pretty soon she had her clean and fluffy, below.

There was a stage before the first one was born where all we could see sticking out of her vagina was Joey's pink nose and mouth, it was so scary and exciting and we were all crying.

She went on to have another girl at 9pm, a boy at 11pm, another boy at 1am, one over night and her sixth this morning at 8am.

Willow has been so patient and silent and calm during the process.

Its now three hours since the last puppy was born and she's finally put her head down and closed her eyes. She must be exhausted. The puppies on the other hand are feeding and jostling each other out of the way and clambering over her and all without even opening their eyes.

It has been such an honour to be allowed to witness such an incredible life event.

Congratulations Willow!

Strawberries!

2010-12-22T10:02:00.001+11:00

With all the rain we've been having, I worried that the strawberries would be a big, soggy, mushy mess this year. But thankfully, we've had our best crop ever!

Masses of the delicious, red fruit.

You can't help but smile whilst harvesting them, and eating them. Its a bit like 'one for the bucket, three for me...'

There are lots of picking helpers too when we are harvesting such a delicious crop.

Thanks Mum and Dad!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So far there's been many, many strawberries eaten, one and a half kilos turned into eight jars of jam and still more put aside for ice cream.

Is there a better way to start the day than with strawberry jam on toast?

I don't think so.

And don't forget we'll be at The Slow Food Farmers' Market at The Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne tomorrow evening (Thurs 23rd) from 3pm-8pm with the freshest, most delicious free range organic eggs and garlic.

Have a great Wednesday!

Misters October.

2010-12-15T18:11:00.000+11:00

When you buy a copy of this week's The Weekly Times you get a dog calendar as a free gift. The calendar is full of gorgeous photos of man's best friend.

When October 2011 comes around, you get to look at our Farmer Bren and Bingo for the whole month. Now that's something to look forward to.

Our calendar is already hanging in the kitchen open on October which is making our two little October babies just a bit excited thinking they might have birthdays all year through.

In other exciting news, we've started harvesting our garlic.

We've spent the past few days while the sun has been shining pulling up the glorious, juicy bulbs.

We've got many rows left to harvest, but I have to tell you that it feels great to stop worrying about the wet and the locusts and to focus on something positive for a while. Great!

After we pull up a row, we rack it all up to cure for a few weeks.

You can get your hands on the best, most delicious garlic in town, at the Slow Food Farmers' Market next Thursday the 23rd of December at The Abbotsford Convent from 3pm-8pm.

Garlic toast for dinner tonight I think.

See ya!

Indi's duck eggs.

2010-12-08T16:46:00.001+11:00

Every evening after dinner but before bed time, our Indi takes a walk through the forest to the ducks. When she arrives they are expecting her and are waiting noisily up by the fence. She feeds them their dinner, she cleans out their water, she makes sure they are all healthy and accounted for and she closes them into the area where their food and house is and out of the dam.

Early every morning before school, our Indi walks back to the ducks, she collects the eggs and lets them into the area with the dam so they can spend the day the swimming and splashing around.

Last Saturday Indi designed a label for her duck egg cartons.

And last Sunday she sold her first three half dozens.

This lady was her first ever customer. I think she was as excited as we all were.

This Saturday Indi will be setting up her duck eggs stall next to our chook egg stall at The Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market. Her duck eggs are certified organic and free range and delicious.

Why don't you come and see her and try some for yourself?

Your local farmer's market.

2010-12-03T16:17:00.000+11:00

Please do me a favour and visit your local farmers' market this weekend.

So many farmers are doing it tough right now. After 10 years of drought, over the past few weeks we have had hundreds of mls of rain at the wrong time, humidity and unseasonably cool temperatures.

The start of the season looked so promising, like the best season in years. But since then nothing has gone to plan. Top soil has been washed away, stone fruit has swollen and split, crops are rotting in soggy soils and I don't even want to think about what damage the hail storm that has just passed through central Victoria will do.

So please go and visit your local farmers' market this weekend. Say g'day to the farmer who has gotten up early, driven to town and set up a stall to sell you the freshest, most delicious produce. Plan your weekend's menu around it, make an outing of it, take the kids or the grand parents and don't forget your brolly.

Farmer Bren will be selling the best eggs in town at The Melbourne Show ground Farmers' Market on Sunday and I know he'd love to see you.

The Big Wet.

2010-11-28T12:28:00.000+11:00

We've had 120ml of rain since Wednesday night.

I think the drought we've been living in for the last ten years has broken.

We've had enough now, thanks!

More than enough!

This is the farm stall where we sell our fruit, veg and eggs.

This is the farm shop car park.

This is the shop garden that Bren ploughed up last week in preparation for the new season's planting.

This is The Short Creek Paddock, again freshly ploughed.

And the tyre swing.

This was the driveway into our place.

This morning all our guests had to leave their cars on this side and wade their way across.

This is Farmer Bren checking to see where his beloved top soil has been washed away to.

This is our new waterfall.

Muskvalley Falls has a nice ring to it.

Certified organic trout?? Rice??

This is where I stood to photograph the flood waters and almost got knocked over by the current.

This is where I left my car at the bottom of our hill, afraid to drive any further.

And this is my Farmer Boy going to check out the damage, trying his hardest to remain optimistic despite the fact that more rain is forecast this week and we probably won't be able to plant a vegie crop this year.

Bring on Summer, I say.

Organic inspection.

2010-11-25T11:20:00.000+11:00

This is Doune (left).

Doune has come to Daylesford Organics today to perform our annual NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia) inspection.

As a Certified Organic farm, each year we are visited at least once by an inspector who comes to ensure that we are complying with all the NASAA standards.

This inspector reviews all our records from the past year. This includes all our planting, harvesting and sales records, as well as proof that everything bought onto the farm as an input was Certified Organic.

Doune will also have a physical look around and may take some tissue or soil samples to make sure there are no risks from contamination or other potential problems.

There are three elements that are linked in the certification process and they are the people, the land and the product. A combination of all three is an organic management plan.

For the past seven years we have been Certified Organic with NASAA and have the license number 3500. It's a lot of work and a lot of record keeping but we are proud of our certification and like that it gives our customers confidence in who we are and how we are growing.

Farming our future.

2010-11-19T12:52:00.000+11:00

Over the past few weeks I have overheard Bren on the phone to different restaurants around Melbourne telling them how due to the large amounts of rain and the cold Spring whether, that our season is really late this year and we may not have any produce until mid January.

You'd think he would be stressed about not producing anything yet, about letting them down and about constantly having to deliver the same bad news.

But he's not.

After almost ten year of working in so closely with Mother Nature, he knows that she is calling the shots and there's nothing he can do about it.

I also know that to my husband what grows above the surface and what is harvested from the plants is an added bonus. What he really cares about is what is going on below the ground. He is obsessed with the health of his soil. I have heard him talking on more than one occasion about taking a few years off from growing stuff and just focusing completely on his beloved soil and compost.

I also know that he is looking at the bigger picture.While I am concentrating on what we will have to take to the farmers' market this weekend, he is looking way down the track into the future months and the years to come. He speaks often of the olden day farmers who would get one bumper crop about every seven years. Growing a crop takes so much out of the soil that he wants to make sure he is putting as much, if not more, back in.

Any minute now the ground will dry out, the boys will work the soil and plant the seeds and then there will be the never ending cycle of weeding and picking and planting but for now we are just waiting, watching, planning, composting and enjoying our children, the next generation.

Have a great weekend every one.

And there's an interview with me over at Thea and Sami today if you want to go and check it out.

Mercurio's menu tonight.

2010-11-13T15:20:00.000+11:00

I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Victoria, Australia it is raining cats and dogs. We've had 33mm so far this weekend and it doesn't look like its stopping any time soon.

So when its so wet and horrible outside, what better way to spend the late afternoon than getting cozy inside and watching the episode of Mercurio's Menu filmed in Daylesford last March.

Its on channel 7 at 5.30pm tonight.

I blogged it way back here.

I wonder if you'll read my blog differently after you have heard my speaking voice.

Keep warm and dry out there and have a great weekend.

Four things.

2010-11-10T15:06:00.000+11:00

As well as the usual farm jobs, there have been some new and exciting things going on at Daylesford Organics lately.

The first one being this new/old truck that Bren drove home from Seymour last night. He had to get a special license to be allowed to drive it. It has a cool room in the side and storage in the back. It doesn't have a radio though. Yet.

I think the best part about the new truck is its number plate.

It makes me feel like a real farmer.

Second, is the load of our new personalised cardboard boxes that arrived this morning. Don't they look great! Its so much fun to pack our orders in them rather than in the generic apple boxes we've been using for the past ten years.

From now on all our egg, vegetable and fruit orders will go out in Daylesford Organics boxes.

The third thing is that Pierre turned 27 yesterday!

Hip hip hooray!

And fourthly and finally, Farmer Bren will be at Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market this Saturday the 13th of November from 8am-1pm selling the best eggs in town.

Hopefully he'll see you there.

Buzzy bees!

2010-10-28T10:44:00.001+11:00

Animated gif maker

The blossom in our orchards is out, but the forecast for the next week's weather isn't great. It looks like today will be THE POLLINATION DAY.

Bees like still, warm weather.

Look at what a wonderful job that bee is doing. It is amazing that he be able to fly with all that pollen on his legs?

Go bees go! Pollinate the orchard, make lots of fruit for this season.

And thank you for the wondrous, important work that you do.

To market - to market.

2010-10-22T12:44:00.000+11:00

So it seems spring had finally sprung and our chookies are laying like crazy and we have lots and lots of the most wonderful and delicious free range, certified organic eggs.

Why don't you come and visit us at The Slow Food Farmers' market at The Abbotsford Convent tomorrow and get yourself a dozen or two.

The market is on from 8am until 1pm and is at The Abbotsford Convent, St Heliers Street, Abbotsford, Melways ref 44 G5.

See you there.

Yellow!

2010-10-17T13:07:00.000+11:00

Its that time of the year when everywhere you look there's something yellow.

Wattle.

Daffodil.

Kale.

A different wattle.

Yet another variety of wattle (yes, that's its Latin name.)

Is this a daisy, a cape weed or a dandelion?

Unfortunately we know too well that this is the dreaded gorse flower.

Swede.

I hope your Sunday is a funday.

The last few weeks.

2010-10-11T14:47:00.000+11:00

Its been a crazy few weeks here at Daylesford Organics.

We said goodbye to our best friend for the past 12 years, Pixie. Pixie was the most loyal farm dog and we miss her immensely.

Last week Bren picked up 300 one day old baby chicks.

Its been a year since our last batch and I forgot how cute those little balls of fluff are.

And we picked up a new egg seller, Garden Organics, who are located in the Victoria Markets.

Thanks for the pics F.D.

So here we are in the middle of spring, the paddocks are finally drying out, the dams are full, the blossom is just beginning and we are starting to enjoy the fist vegies of the season.

Mmmm there's nothing quite like a frittata with new season's asparagus and garlic for lunch.

I hope this finds you happy and healthy whereever you are.

Ducks.

2010-09-14T09:30:00.001+10:00

Last September we brought home 26 Khaki Campbel ducklings.

They were so cute and fluffy and we looked forward to watching them grow and learning all about them.

So its been a year now since they've been living at Daylesford Organics and we're learning more about them everyday.

We do know that they are hardier than chickens, their poo is disgusting and sloppy, they love to swim, they make everything dirty especially their drinking water, their eggs appear to drop out of them wherever they are, they are extremely shy and wont come anywhere near us and we know that we can herd them from one area to another.

We still don't know how to get them to lay in any sort of nest. We have seen them swimming on the dam late at night and have no idea if they sleep there or if in fact they sleep at all.

This is the shed the boys built for them a while back. They take the wheels off it whenever they move it to ensure the ducks don't lay underneath. They don't sleep in it and they don't use the cozy, straw filled laying nest on the right side either.

We do know that we love hanging out with them and their bossy, quacky sisters.

And we do know that there are some women that buy duck eggs off us at market and adore them. They get so cross with us if we forget to bring them their fortnightly supply. And we do know that Chef Hat winning chef Andrew Dennis of A Perfect Drop in Daylesford, loves our duck eggs too. He uses them to make the most divine pastries.

Happy first birthday duckies!

Flooded farm.

2010-09-04T10:44:00.000+10:00

Happy spring!

Its been raining and pouring here.

We've had 40mm of rain since midnight last night.

A dam up the road has broken its banks and the bottom of our property is under water.

This photo shows one of the reasons why we close the farm gate stall over winter. You'd have to get your bathers on to get to that little shed stall today.

The last time we can remember it raining like this was in 2003 when we'd just spent a small fortune redoing our driveway only for it to be washed up stream.

So today we are thinking about organic trout or organic rice.

And we are optimistic about the coming fruit and vegetable season.

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

Oh, and thanks so much Mitch for the great pics. X

Roosters?

2010-08-31T15:00:00.000+10:00

I've been thinking a bit about keeping roosters lately. To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

We have two flocks of chooks at the moment; the flock of chooks that came to us at one day old and had a couple of roosters in amongst all the hens, and a flock that we bought at point of lay with no roosters at all.

The reason I've been thinking about them is because after a few rooster attacks on me and the girls while gathering eggs, we are all a bit afraid of visiting that flock. I'm sure they are only protecting their girls but gosh it hurts and I have some scars to prove it.

But one of the most important things to us at Daylesford Organics is biodiversity and we don't believe you can be bio diverse if you have 1000 female of a species and no males.

Also, we feel that it is our responsibility to provide a good life for our hens. A life that is as close to their natural life as we can facilitate whilst protecting them from predators and the elements. This means keeping roosters.

The flock with the roosters appear calmer than the one without and if you watch them carefully, you'll see the roosters calling to the hens to alert them to something to eat or to a threat.

And I guess what's a farm without the early morning crow of the rooster?

Even if it means always maintaining a supply of ear plugs when they are up near the house over winter.

Its a hard one, but we are lucky enough that none of the boys seem to mind visiting the rooster flock to feed them, move them along or to collect the eggs, so we don't have to make any difficult decisions at the moment.

But I do believe that keeping roosters is probably the difference between a free range organic egg farm where the chooks have a lifestyle and an egg factory.

But its interesting to think and talk about. To consider from all angles and to make our minds up and then change them again. After five years in the egg business, we are still learning every day.

Nick & Willow.

2010-07-31T15:55:00.000+10:00

Allow me to introduce you to the two newest members of the Daylesford Organics team.

Meet Nick.

And Willow.

Nick and Willow join our other two maremmas Bingo and Banjo.

Our maremmas live with the flocks of chooks and protect them from foxes. They do a fabulous job and to date, we have never lost a chook to a fox on their guard.

Hopefully at some stage in the near future Nick and Willow might be the parents of some baby, puppy maremmas. We'll keep you posted.

We are pretty excited to have them here, doing their fantastic and important work. Its day one and they are already settling in beautifully and taking their job very seriously.

We hope you guys are having a great weekend.

Oh and if you are looking for our eggs in Melbourne this weekend you can buy them at Organic Wholefoods in Smith Street Fitzroy, at the Ceres shop or from Ceres Food Connect.

2010 Delicious Magazine Produce Awards.

2010-07-21T12:50:00.001+10:00

We had such a fabulous night last Monday night at The 2010 Delicious Magazine Produce Awards at Circa @ The Prince.

There were 18 finalists in our category, From The Earth. 18 amazing growers and managers who we felt honoured to be included among.

For most of the night we hung out at the cheese table eating what is undoubtably the best cheese in Australia, La Luna. The Holy Goat girls, Carla and Anne-Marie, won the cheese category again this year.

We watched the foodie world as they mingled and shmoozed all around us. There were farmers and growers and chefs and food celebrities and all sorts of food lovers.

I read somewhere online that morning, (but I can't seem to find it now), an article telling people not to bother going out for dinner in Sydney that night as all the best chefs were heading down south for the awards. And they weren't wrong it was a whose who of the food world and it was wonderful to be a part of it.

Our gorgeous friend Matt Wilkinson was the amazing chef charged with showcasing all the wonderful finalists' produce and he certainly did us proud.

Rather than include our heirloom vegies in another dish, he made them the hero.

Our rainbow carrots, beetroots and baby turnips were only slightly cooked and looked gorgeous standing up proud in all their glory.

We didn't win our category outright this year, we won a gold medal, but by the way Matt Preston was gushing about our farm and our heirloom vegies we felt like winners anyway.

Yay!

Miranda Sharp and The Collingwood Childrens ' Farm Farmers Market won the award for the Most Outstanding Farmers' Market.

Yay!

I discovered that farmer's wives don't wear frocks (except me).

From left Vicki Sher (Sher Wagyu), Lizette Snaith (Warialda Belted Galloway Beef), me, Miranda Sharp (Melbourne Farmers' Markets).

Probably the best part of the night though was sharing dinner after the ceremony with these gorgeous women and their partners and Matt and a few other producers. Usually we see these growers at farmers' markets where we are busy working, so it was wonderful to relax and have a drink and enjoy the night with them.

And soon enough it was time to take the party shoes off, get the farm gear back on and come back down to earth.

'Hi' to everyone who told me they read this blog. Thanks for the offers to take photos for me and for the encouragement. I hope you are settling back into your real life ok.

Have a great Wednesday.

From The Earth.

2010-07-16T11:44:00.001+10:00

The boys have been picking and washing gorgeous heirloom vegies to send off to Circa The Prince for this year's Delicious Magazine's Produce Awards cocktail party on Monday night.

They picked rainbow carrots, white and yellow baby turnips,

as well as four varieties of beetroots.

Last year we were lucky enough to win the From The Earth category. This year we have been included in the list of finalists but will have to wait until Monday night to find out.

I have a gorgeous new frock to wear and now I just have to decide between last year's shoes or my Hunters, it is the produce awards after all.

Have a great weekend.

Harvest festival promo.

2010-07-13T09:04:00.004+10:00

Check this out; its the video Richard Cornish made to promote the Daylesford Macedon Produce Harvest Festival.

Its a freezing cold morning this morning in Daylesford. The big girls are at school, Farmer Bren, Liam and Pierre are moving the chooks and Pepper and I are making bread for their lunches.

We hope you have a great day too.

10 things.

2010-07-08T21:44:00.001+10:00

10 things I love about farmers' markets - in no particular order.

1) I love that feeling of setting up the stall first thing in the morning and then stepping back and feeling amazed and proud that we've grown such gorgeous produce.

2) I love our wonderful helpers. Thank you John, Rene, Viv, Roscoe, Danielle and Mark! We couldn't do it without you. XX
3) I hate the feeling of knowing that the health inspectors are doing the rounds of the market. But I love it when they tick all our boxes and walk away.

4) I love selling our wonderful, colourful, tasty produce to people who care about and appreciate good food.

5) I love how every market we sell at has its own personality. I'm not sure if its the mix of stalls, the market managers or the different sites. But I do enjoy attending all the different markets we do.

6) I love thinking up exciting and innovative things for the littlies to do while we are selling our wares.

7) I love that most of the markets we do, and almost all of the stall holders at these markets, have been accredited by the VFMA. This means the public can be confident that the stall holder they are buying the produce from actually grew or made the product.

We buy and swap so much of our groceries from the other stall holders at the markets we attend and feel absolutely certain that we are buying the best there is.

In this photo Simone (market manager Daylesford Farmers' Market and Melbourne Show Grounds Farmers' Market) is awarding us our accreditation certificate. Yay!

8) I love it that our customers care about where their food comes from. They quiz us on how it was grown and how they should store it. And they discuss what they are planning to do with it.

Some growers sell their produce to middlemen/wholesalers. I cannot imagine not having this connection and feedback from our customers. We look forward to it.

9) I love that you never know who you'll bump into at the farmers market. So many of Melbourne's top chefs come and visit to find suppliers for their restaurants. As well as other celebrities, people I went to school with and family and friends always pop in too.

10) I love it when its all gone.

Please support the people who grow your food.

Come to your local farmers' market and say 'hi'. We'd love to meet you.

We'll be at Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market this Saturday.

Nine years today.

2010-07-01T17:25:00.001+10:00

Nine years ago today we left our Melbourne home and moved to our 55 acre farm on the outskirts of Daylesford.

It was a glorious sunny winters day and we were finally on our way to making our dreams come true. Sure we didn't know a soul in Daylesford, we had an eight month old baby and barely had a clue about organic farming, but we couldn't let that stop us, we had ideals and we had to have a go.

In retrospect we might have been a bit naive.

Organics were not then what they are now.

We had to convince our families, our friends and the bank manager that we could make a go of it, but to be honest with you, I don't think we really understood what we were doing until we got here.

Nine years ago we made two ten year plans. The first ten years were to set up a model of succesful organic farming and the second ten were to educate people to do it for themselves. We've got one year left on the first ten and I think we are already moving into the second. Stay tuned for course dates, they'll be coming soon.

Nine years ago we got here and the fun and games began.

I don't think we've looked back or questioned our move since.

Happy nine year anniversary Daylesford Organics!

There is an article about us in this week's issue of The Weekly Times.

You can read it here.

There is also an article about my craft blog Foxs Lane.

You can read that article here.

Just a quick note for those of you in NSW.

The Mercurio's Menu shot in Daylesford will be shown this Sunday at 5.30pm.

I'll let you know as soon as I know when it will be screened in the other states.

Oh and we'll be at The Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers' Market this Sunday with lots and lots of eggs. Why don't you come and say hi and check out the new market.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Our cover boys.

2010-06-23T13:24:00.001+10:00

Look at those gorgeous boys on the cover of this week's The Weekly Times.

I know you might think I'm biased, but it really demonstrates their special relationship perfectly. Look at the way Bingo has his leg on Bren's leg and the way they are staring into each others' eyes. Love it!

This morning when we were driving out to take the girls to school, one of the chook fences was down and Bingo was patrolling the border making sure none of his precious chickens escaped. One of the girls joked that the chooks wanted to head into town to buy the paper that they too were on the cover of.

This is what the cover looks like and no, the 'Mutton madness' has nothing to do with us. There is another photo and article on page four but the real, full length article will be in next week's issue.

Who would have thought that Victoria's mainstream rural paper, 'The voice of the country since 1869' would put a half page photo of an organic farmer on its cover? Good for you for moving with the times Weekly Times.

I made him pose for this photo when we went to buy the paper this morning, but I wish I'd also taken one of the excited newsagent staff reading their copies and telling us what a great photo they thought it was.

Last week's The Weekly Times also had this photo of Bren and Joel Salatin accompanying an article about Joel's visit to Daylesford.

And I just found this photo on their website taken at last Saturday's Show Grounds Farmers' Market.

Phew, what a great week for Daylesford Organics in the news. The scrap book is getting fatter. And all of this without paying a publicist, yay!

I hope you are having a great week out there.

Closed!

2010-06-17T11:44:00.001+10:00

Our farm gate stall is now officially closed for the season.

Today seems like such a perfect day to close as we have had more than an inch of rain over night and the temperature now at 11.53am is 3c. The farm is muddy, wet and freezing cold.

We have had the most fantastic season since we opened for the first time in January.

We have loved having you here walking through the rows of vegies, discussing growing techniques, recipes and menus. We have loved meeting those of you who came from far and those who were excited about the small amount of food miles from our place to yours.

We loved passing on our knowledge and doing tours for the old,

and the young.

We met celebrities,

were featured in the media,

and made great use of the scales.

I think my favourite was the guy who handed Bren his shopping bag and asked him to fill it with ingredients for a stir fry for four people.

So a HUGE thank you from us to you.

Thank you for supporting us and helping to make our dream a reality.

Thank you for walking through the rows of vegies to the stall.

Thanks for asking and caring about where your food comes from.

Thanks for appreciating great, in season, local and organic.

Thank you for emailing us when you got home to tell us how much you loved the experience.

Thank you for tuning Indi's guitar.

I could go on and on...

So until January when we reopen the stall, come and see us at Collingwood Children's Farm or The Abbortsford Convent Slow Food Farmers Markets.

And keep checking this blog for updates of what we are doing here on the farm, tour and course dates and anything else we find relevant.

Henny Penny.

2010-06-09T09:44:00.000+10:00

We are into the second week of winter and it is cold and wet in this part of the world. According to the weather station it is currently 4.2C outside. Brrrrrrrrrr.

This is the time of the year when all our flocks of chooks get moved to higher ground or to areas where they can get inside the hothouses.

We've been taking so many photos of the chookies lately trying to get a great one for our new egg carton labels that are being designed at the moment. If I didn't know any better I'd think they were posing.

Aren't they gorgeous!

Our chooks are laying like crazy at the moment. Every chance we get we are heading to the egg room to roll a few more through the sorting/weighing machine.

The boys are getting through quite a few of them at lunchtime every day but we still have a cool room full.

We'll be at Collingwood Childrens' Farm Farmers' Market this Saturday from 8am til 1pm with dozens and dozens of our free range, organic eggs, why don't you come by and say hi and get some for yourself?

Hope to see you then.

ps. Happy Birthday Roscoe! XX

Daylesford Farmers' Market.

2010-06-05T16:44:00.001+10:00

You never know who you'll bump into at the farmers' markets.

This morning two of our food heroes, Maggie Beer and Stephanie Alexander were doing the circuit at Daylesford.

Last week Joel Salatin popped by for a purple carrot.

And if you stand still long enough, you might get miked up for a segment on Daylesford for the Postcards show.

Alla Wolf Tasker told Shane Crawford all about why our eggs are different coloured, (they are laid by different breeds of chooks).

And of course there are our wonderful customers who come and see us in the heat and in the rain. You guys are the best, chuck out the rest. Thank you, you make it worth getting out of bed each Saturday.

Go and do your shopping at your local farmers' market people.

Meet and support the people who produce your food.

You never know who else might be shopping there that day too.

Joel Salatin @ Daylesford Organics

2010-05-31T12:44:00.005+10:00

So as we come to the end of autumn we also come to the end of The Harvest Festival.

We had a fantastic week running and attending activities, but of course the highlight was the self proclaimed lunatic farmer himself Joel Salatin.

Thanks so much to DMP and to The Lake House who brought Joel out from America. The Daylesford Organics team attended every seminar he gave, but the best part of all came last Friday when Joel came to our farm to walk around and talk to us.

Nine years ago when we started farming organically and were on the steepest learning curve imaginable, it was Joel's books that advised us on many of the particulars like movable chook houses and electric netting fencing and indeed gave us permission to believe we could do it.

When not many other farmer's wanted to share their knowledge with us, Joel's books did.

Nine years ago, many of Bren's sentences started with 'Joel says...' and this renegade farmer gave us permission to do things in an unconventional way and to make our farming dream a reality.

Nine years later on a wild and wet afternoon, Joel came to our farm and spent the best part of an hour walking around, looking at our systems and discussing our plans with us. Of course he recognised a lot of his own systems and ideas but he was also very complimentary and interested in our methods too.

It was one of those fantastic full circle life events. Here we were with the master showing him what we had learnt but also how we had developed our own farming systems.

We spent the last part of Joel's visit discussing future directions Daylesford Organics could take and let me tell you, watch this space because we are pretty excited to put some of his suggestions in place.

As Joel was leaving our farm Bren asked him to sign one of his books. The book is called You Can Farm and in it Joel wrote 'Oh yes you can - and yes you are.' How cool is that!

Saturday brought with it the publication of one of my photos in the A2 section of The Age newspaper. There was a 'top 5 farm gates' and they listed us as number one.

When I opened the newspaper up in the car park of the local service station I screamed. Loudly. I was thrilled they had made us number one and that my photo was enormous.

I guess we do owe an apology though to those who read the bit in the paper and then came to visit us yesterday only to find we were closed. Unfortunately, while we knew the piece in the paper was coming, we had no idea which date it would be published and it was bad timing that it coincided with an all day seminar by Joel. The seminar was called 'How to scale up without losing your soul' and was attended by our whole team leaving no one to man the stall.

We do feel terrible if you made the journey and we weren't here and hope that you found other ways to busy yourselves in the area.

Have a great week out there.

Weather @ Daylesford Organics

2010-05-25T20:44:00.004+10:00

Do you want to know what's going on with the weather at Daylesford Organics at the moment?

If you click on weather at the top of this page, it will take you to a page full of information including the outside temperature, the amount of rain we've had (this will be updated soon), the bottom row (soil temp 1) is the temperature inside the cool room and you can even see the temperature inside our house.

You should definitely check the weather site before coming on the Walking the Talk tour this Saturday, so you know whether to wear your gumboots or your sunhat.

We had such a great time on the first tour last Saturday.

I just got this email from two of the girls who came along:

Dear Brendan and Kate,

Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful tour on Saturday. So enjoyed seeing your beautiful farm and all that you have achieved there in 9 years - truly inspiring!!! Left feeling so grateful there are people like you, so passionate about what they do and willing to share it with others. My little one loved the chooks!!!! And eggs are delicious!!!

Kind regards,

Bryony and Maeve

Here are the details again;

Date: Saturday 29th May.

Time: 2 - 4pm.

Place: Daylesford Organics. 19 Foxs Lane Muskvale.

Cost: $20per person, 15yrs and under free.

Booking: Email info@daylesfordorganics.com

Hopefully: See you then.

Garlic @ six weeks.

2010-05-19T18:40:00.006+10:00

Our garlic has been in the ground for six weeks.

This year we've planted most of it in between the new apple trees.

Better look busy, the supervisors are on their way.

Farmer Bren is checking how much the roots have grown in six weeks.

Pretty impressive huh?

Once you remove last year's garlic clove,

you are left with the start of this year's bulb.

He likes to taste things to see how they are going, but can't understand why I wouldn't kiss him for the rest of the afternoon.

The other Brendan is using the wheel hoe to weed in between the garlic plants.

Liam is hoeing between the little garlics,

and playing funny buggers.

Its looking like a wonderful crop so far.

Want to see it for yourself?

There's still a few places for the Walking The Talk farm tours.

Date: Saturday 22 and Saturday 29th May.

Time: 2 - 4pm.

Place: Daylesford Organics. 19 Foxs Lane Muskvale.

Cost: $20per person, 15yrs and under free.

Booking: Email info@daylesfordorganics.com

Hopefully: See you then.

Walking The Talk.

2010-05-15T14:10:00.005+10:00

Are you interested to hear and see what goes on behind the scenes on an award winning organic farm?

Would you like to hear Daylesford Organics' Farmer Bren talk about his beloved chooks, heirloom vegies, organics, fruit trees, compost, soil and more?

As part of the Daylesford Macedon Produce Harvest Week, we will be holding two farm tours.

Date: Saturday 22 and Saturday 29th May.

Time: 2 - 4pm.

Place: Daylesford Organics. 19 Foxs Lane Muskvale.

Cost: $20per person, 15yrs and under free.

Booking: Email info@daylesfordorganics.com

Hopefully: See you then.

Scarlet runner beans.

2010-05-11T19:42:00.000+10:00

We finished picking and selling the scarlet runner beans a few months ago. Over the season when we sold them to eat fresh we probably sold over a hundred kilograms.

Since then, we have left them on the vines to dry.

Today Liam picked the last of them off the vines.

Don't they look cute peeking out of their pod like that?

I think they are the most gorgeous looking bean.

Over the next few days we'll pod the beans, put our planting stock aside and then divide what's left into beans to sell and beans to use ourselves over winter.

The beans themselves can be used the same way you use any tinned or dried beans, in soups, stews, casseroles, pies...basically any winter dish you cook.

I've just eaten some for dinner fried up with some onion and garlic, a bit of tomato and some spices on toast. YUM!!

Chasing chooks.

2010-04-21T19:22:00.004+10:00

It was a perfect Autumn evening for a stroll.

And then a chicken flew over the fence and made a run for it.

And then we made a run for that chicken.

Almost got her.

Finally she was caught.

And then she was examined,

cuddled,

and sung to.

What a lovely evening for chasing chooks.

Delicious.

2010-04-19T19:34:00.004+10:00

Farmer Bren's hands are clean today because we're doing our tax.

Liam's hands are dirty because he's planting the last lettuces of the season.

And we're in the latest issue of Delicious magazine that came out today.

In an article called pick of the crop, Matt Wilkinson, state judge for the Produce Awards and head chef at Melbourne's Circa, the Prince, showcases our heirloom vegetables in a vibrant salad.

I hope your week is getting off to a great start.

Farmer Bren's talk.

2010-04-16T21:04:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday night Farmer Bren gave a talk about heirloom vegies and eating sustainably at the Home Ideas show.

We took lots of coloured vegies with us for the audience to see and taste.

Bren got a bit excited at times about his beloved carrots.

And of course he did the boring radish,

exciting radish trick with the Chinese Watermelon radish.

Winefoodhotel.com who sponsor the food stage filmed the talk and you can watch a few minutes of it below.

Finally, we at Daylesford Organics would like to congratulate our friends Nicholas and Tara of Embrasse restaurant on the birth of Louis. Welcome to the parenting adventure guys.

Have a great weekend.

Shortlisted!

2010-04-09T14:59:00.003+10:00

We have been shortlisted for the Vogue Entertaining + Travel Produce Awards for 2010 and this is a photo of the produce we are sending to Sydney for the final judging next Monday.

Last year we won the From The Earth category for our heirloom vegies and won a gold medal in the From The Paddock section for our eggs.

Its hard to believe that a whole year has passed since we were in the middle of all this last year. Its all a bit exciting.

To taste some of this gorgeous certified organic produce, come and visit us at the farm stall here on Sunday, or come to Collingwood Childrens' Farm farmers' market tomorrow. To listen to Farmer Bren talking about heirloom vegies and eating sustainably, come to Melbourne Exhibition Centre tomorrow night at 5.30.

Hope to see you soon and have a great weekend.

Bren @ The Home Ideas Show.

2010-04-08T12:46:00.006+10:00

We've just unloaded three of these pallet loads of egg cartons this morning.

Each pallet is made up of 28 bundles of egg cartons, each bundle contains 130 egg cartons which equals 3640 cartons per pallet. Which means, this morning we have unloaded 10,920 egg cartons and stacked them neatly into the shipping container for storage.

These cartons will eventually hold 131,040 eggs.

Are you interested in finding out some more information about the intricacies of running an award winning, certified organic farm?

Farmer Bren will be giving a talk and answering questions this Saturday the 10th of April at the Home Ideas Show at Jeff's shed. He'll be on the stage at 5.30 pm and will be discussing heirloom vegies and eating sustainably.

So why don't you come along?

Its sure to be interesting and if not you can poke funny faces at him and try to make him laugh.

Sunday at the farm stall.

2010-04-04T19:35:00.006+10:00

Bren's Mum asked me to do a post showing what produce we have in season at the moment, so I thought I'd take you on a tour of the farm stall today and show you.

We have basil,

rainbow carrots,

Rainbow chard/silver beet top left and rocket just in front of it.

We have pullet eggs, large eggs and extra large eggs.

We have turnips,

garlic,

red onions,

eshallots,

and four more varieties of onions.

Not in the photo but also available are beetroots and radishes.

Coming soon are potatoes, swedes and kale.

I hope you are having a great weekend.

School holiday fun!

2010-04-03T08:37:00.005+11:00

Last Wednesday we hosted the local school holiday program for a day of farmyard fun.

We collected the eggs.

We dug for potatoes.

Bren taught them the chicken dance.

We dug for carrots.

Everyone was very excited to pull up bunches of multicoloured rainbow carrots.

Bren and Liam washed them.

And then we taste tested them.

A bit more digging.

This time we pulled up onions.

Some were more adventurous than others.

We finished the time here with some egg blowing and decorating but after they left us, the kids went back to the centre and made the best vegie soup ever.

We had such a great day.

Thanks for coming guys.

The answer.

2010-03-30T19:44:00.000+11:00

Its an heirloom radish called Red Meat radish or Watermelon radish.

We don't know a lot about this radish. Bren found it in a seed catalogue and we trialed them this year. They are thought to originate in China and be used as a garnish, sometimes carved into roses.

We will definitely be planting them again.

I told you Bren loves cutting them in half.

We were in Melbourne today delivering vegies and eggs to the kitchens of Embrasse and Circa The Prince and both Nicolas and Matt did not disappoint with their excitement either.

Come and see us at the stall Poni, Cathie, Prue, Leonie and Jess to claim your free bunch.

Veg of the moment.

2010-03-29T14:23:00.004+11:00

This is a thin slice of our new favourite vegetable.

We have just picked three crates of them this morning.

You should see the grin on Bren's face whenever he cuts one of these amazing vegies in half.

Can you guess what it is?

If you guess the right vegetable and then come and visit us at the farm stall, we''ll give you a bunch for free.

Have fun out there.

NUMBER SIX!!!!

2010-03-24T13:19:00.005+11:00

About a month ago I got a phone call from Australian Traveller magazine telling us that out of 1000 nominations we had made it into the top 100 in their 100 Greatest Gourmet Experiences. We were pretty excited at that point. I was mostly excited that they wanted some of my photos to use in the magazine.

Last night there was a function in Sydney to announce the list and out of one hundred we came in at number six!!!!

We had a film crew here from the local news yesterday afternoon to announce it to the region.

We are all pretty excited around here today.

In a list that included eating Vegemite on toast (57), Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden (11), Jacques Reymond (16) and the ANZAC biscuit (63), we came SIXTH!!

There is a whole page article with great big photos that I took. There are lovely words about us and what we are doing and a rave about this blog.

I think it is the first sentence of the article that we are most proud of though, it says;

No-one takes the production of organic yet tasty and interesting foodstuffs more seriously than the folk at Daylesford Organics.

That's been part of our mission statement from the beginning and its wonderful to be recognised for this.

Also in the top 10 is Shannon Bennett's Vue De Monde at number eight who we supply our certified organic, heirloom vegies to and our friends at the Holy Goat dairy at number five.

We do what we do because we believe in it and because we love it but it certainly is a great feeling to be recognised for it too.

Sunflowers.

2010-03-18T21:30:00.005+11:00

Our sunflowers are finally in bloom.

We have rows and rows of them.

If you come by the farm stall in the next few weeks, we'll pick you a bunch.

Just be sure to come in your big car. The first customers to take us up on our offer had to drive home with their sunflowers hanging out the window.

Mercurio's menu.

2010-03-11T20:58:00.004+11:00

Last Tuesday we set up the stall extra nicely because we were to have some special guests.

Paul Mercurio and his Mercurio's Menu crew paid us a visit.

Bren called them the day before to warn them to come prepared because we'd had over 70mm of rain and it was muddy, so they all turned up with matching, brand new, shiney gum boots. Look at the glare coming off them!

Paul was really lovely. He was enthusiastic about what we are doing, asking lots of questions and happy to taste and smell everything along the way.

This was the prefilming production meeting where we planned the order of filming, the route we would walk and the menu.

And from then on this is what we were looking at for most of the next few hours.

We spent ages walking around the farm and doing each shot over and over from different angles and wide and narrow and with talking and without.

At one stage near the end when the filming was over and everyone was packing up, some of our favourite customers Deb, Alia and Michael turned up. They were so gorgeous and enthusiastic that Paul's producer made the camera man and the sound man unpack to film them shopping.

They were such good sports buying their vegies and eggs over and over again.

We had a great few hours filming but of the three and a half hours of film who knows how much will end up being shown in a 26 minute program of which we are only one part.

A final word of warning to anyone considering doing television appearances. If it is cold then wear your jacket in the first scene, otherwise you will not be allowed to put it on later on for reasons of continuity. It'll be interesting to watch my lips gradually turn bluer and bluer, I wonder how that works in this whole continuity thing.

Rainbow carrots.

2010-03-07T20:01:00.001+11:00

Well hello there lovely readers of the Daylesford Organics blog, have I got a surprise for you. Along with the new blog layout with the extra pages you can click on, we also have a guest blogger today. None other than Daylesford Organics' own Farmer Bren!! Hooray!! Please be nice to him this is his very first blog post.

We call these rainbow carrots and for most people they are a novelty. In reality the orange carrot is only about 500 yrs old where as the purple dates back possibly 5000 yrs.

There are many conflicting stories as to the origins of each colour, but it seems that the purple carrot originated in Afghanistan thousands of years ago, with various yellows and whites crossing along the way until the "Horn" varieties were first recorded in the Netherlands in 1721. These varieties are thought to be the predecessor of all today's orange carrots.

I do find this history fascinating, but that's just me. I have a book in the toilet that I pick up now and then called Hybrid. The History & Science of Plant Breeding by Noel Kingsbury, an interesting read if you are a garden geek like me.

Mostly what excites me about carrots is not their history but their taste, look, smell and crunch.

Why grow only one colour of carrot when each one of these has a distinct flavour?

Washing carrots is not a bad job at this time of year, although I won't be saying the same thing come the May harvests.

To me it is a bit like flower arranging. I reckon they are a bit like bunches of flowers.

Great photo Katie!

Who said carrots were boring?

Green magazine.

2010-02-25T18:44:00.000+11:00

The latest issue of green magazine has just hit the shops and Daylesford Organics are in it.

'Family Farm', that's us.

We are thrilled to have been included in this wonderful magazine that we have been buying and admiring for years.

From Tamsin's superb photographs, to Elizabeth's wonderful words, Jenni's gorgeous design and Tom's fabulous publishing, we couldn't be happier with how it portrays us.

It has been a strange feeling to read these words about this family living this organic life and then to realise that it is us. We are so busy doing what we are doing that we don't stop to think about what it looks like from the outside.

Just a small note that the shop hours should say Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Heirloom beetroot.

2010-02-17T09:57:00.009+11:00

Last Monday the Melbourne Food & Wine festival held their media and industry launch lunch at the Abbotsford convent.

Nicolas Poelaert from Embrasse restaurant created the main course (see above). It was john dory cooked with squid ink, burnt carrot puree, rice paddy herb and that magical colour was our Daylesford Organics heirloom beetroots.

Check out the tummyrumbles blog where the above photo came from for more amazing photos and reflections from the lunch.

These are what the beetroots looked like when we delivered them to Nicolas on Saturday.

We love having such close relationships with the chefs that create magic with the heirloom vegies that we feel so passionate about growing.

I hope you are having a fruitful and delicious week.

Flowers.

2010-02-14T21:04:00.004+11:00

Some flowers from us to you on Valentine's Day.

The calendula flower.

The zucchini flower.

The bean flower.

The corn flower.

The borage flower.

And my personal favourite, the pea flower.

I hope you've had a great weekend. XX

Picking plums.

2010-02-11T20:47:00.005+11:00

I took my number one helper with me this morning to pick some plums.

She started off well and was excited to be able to reach the 'tippy toes ones'.

But soon lost interest and was happy to sit in the crate and eat her weight in plums.

Once home I made plum muffins from this recipe. Substituting the rhubarb for plums.

And a batch of blackberry and plum jam.

Will we see you on Saturday at Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market?

Hope so.

Kanga & Roo.

2010-02-09T20:32:00.004+11:00

Look who came to eat the grass next to where I was picking blackberries today.

Sometimes it is such an honour to live and work at Daylesford Organics.

Lake House producers day.

2010-02-08T19:12:00.005+11:00

We had a fantastic day at the annual producers' market at Daylesford's The Lake House.

The crowds started pouring in before I got a chance to write the prices on the signs and didn't stop until late in the afternoon.

We sold a range of colourful heirloom vegies including sweet onions, snow peas, sugar snap peas, coriander, zucchinis and rainbow radishes.

We sold certified organic wild blackberry jam and quince jelly.

We sold garlic and eggs and meringues.

We met lots of wonderful people, had many, many photos taken, swapped produce, discussed recipes, growing techniques and twitter and had fun.

If you missed out, why don't you come and see us this coming Saturday at the Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market.

Picking peas and beans.

2010-02-06T19:28:00.002+11:00

All these peas and beans as well as so much more will be available at our stall at The Lake House Producer's Day tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

In the meantime, check out a discussion about radishes and a great photo of Daylesford Organics radishes at Matt Wilkinson from Circa's blog.

Heirloom radishes.

2010-02-03T21:49:00.003+11:00

These

become these. And they have been doing so every year since the 1880's.

We will have plenty of these heirloom radishes on our stall at the Lake House Producers Day this Sunday 7th February and at our farm gate stall each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 11am - 5pm.

Hope to see you soon.

Blackberry jam.

2010-02-02T18:47:00.005+11:00

Ready!

Set!

Go!

We'll have some of this jam at The Lake House Producer's Day this Sunday seventh of February. Why don't you come and say 'hi'.

Rocket.

2010-01-26T20:33:00.001+11:00

This rocket salad was eaten ten meters from where it was picked.

We love peas!

2010-01-25T21:56:00.001+11:00

Heirloom beetroots.

2010-01-24T20:26:00.003+11:00

First bunches of the season.

Sold at the farm gate stall today.

Garlic & a blog post.

2010-01-14T18:53:00.003+11:00

These five kilos of garlic were part of an order picked up this morning to be delivered to Circa, The Prince in St Kilda, Melbourne.

A few months ago Juliette from Homingpigeon came to visit Daylesford Organics and interview us for her book. You can check out what she thought of her visit on her blog here.

radish!

2010-01-12T19:30:00.003+11:00

Aren't these Rainbow Radishes just gorgeous?!

I think they are more like a bunch of flowers than a vegetable.

Over the next few days I plan to make this salad, this dip and this bruschetta. Bren will only eat them raw like an apple.

I hope there is a bit of colour in your day.

Sugar snap peas.

2010-01-11T17:17:00.001+11:00

First of the season.

Less than a minute after the top photo was taken.

Scenes from the farm stall.

2010-01-10T18:28:00.003+11:00

So ace to meet you and the family Emma.

Can you see me crocheting under the blackwood?

A most unwelcome guest. Indi named him Simon.

It was a ridiculously hot day today. The customers were few but so lovely.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Mixed brambleberry jam.

2010-01-05T18:17:00.002+11:00

Today I took these red, white and black currants and gooseberries,

I added sugar and stirred them over a hot flame,

and turned them into this jam.

Now I have to wash these dishes.

Farm gate stall.

2010-01-03T20:10:00.004+11:00

We had such a great first day at the stall.

Thank you so much to everyone who came and supported us.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

(Tim I'll post a map tomorrow).