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Sunday 11 July Market Day
Coming back from a visit to Ballarat (to plan the Goldfields
Regional Food
Newsletter with its editor Jackie Cooper), Jan and I chose the slightly longer path
back to Bungendore via the Midland Highway. As a scenic drive it was a bit
wasted until we got to around Bendigo as the normally picturesque
countryside was lost in a heavy fog. We travelled through a grey
tunnel with the vista reduced to about a hundred metres with this strange
green stuff on the edges (I figured it was grass. It's been pretty dry
around our way.)
The route goes through Daylesford and when the Daylesford Sunday Market
loomed through the mist, although the car was warm and the outside world
dreary, I just had to stop.
While the weekly Daylesford Market has fresh produce
stalls, it isn't just for food, there's lots of the usual craft and trash and
treasure, and hot takeaways. The venue is the Daylesford Railway Station
where the restored steam engines run tourist trips on the day.
It was the food that interested me of course, here are some photos and
comments. You can click on some of them for a bigger picture.
Cold? You bet, especially when you're standing waiting for customers.
Harcourt Apples $2 bag. Bargain!
Jan quoted the axiom "There's no such thing as bad weather, just
inappropriate clothes" and at least the babies and dogs took heed.
I was surprised at the size of the crowd on such a dull day, but the
market is apparently a big success around the area and people know it will
be on rain, hail or snow.
While some stall holders were equipped with vans (and heaters) most were
in the open or tents.
Gareth Devenish runs Organic Tree Oh and offers high quality trees and
seedlings at the market, as well as the Permaculture knowledge of where to plant them.
The queue to the Dutch pancakes and espresso coffee stall attested to how
popular they were.
Pofertjes are a small Dutch cake or pancake and are made in these heavy cast
pans with small hollows.
To make a good pancake, of course you need good eggs...
...
and at this stall you could have the standard weights well known from
every supermarket shelf - Bumbusters, Jumbo, and Xlarge.
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Think dark and gloomy. It did get a little brighter as the morning went
on.
The stall below fronts the highway and the owner's cheery smile was a great welcoming
attraction.
As was this smile from Peta who was looking after this produce from organic growers
Fernleigh Farms.
It was their stall that put the
winter seasonal food into perspective for me.
One of the problems with regular Farmers' Markets is the lack of
produce during winter months in southern regions. Many markets close down
and that sends an immediate message to their customers. This stall had a perhaps just a half
dozen winter vegetables and potatoes but it was beautifully presented and challenged you
to consider seasonal recipes using them.
With our shift to supermarkets with their interstate and even imported product, we
are not forced to eat just what is locally available. While I can agree that's
a modern world improvement we're unlikely to change, the downside means we've stopped eating the local fresh food
of the season. That means we also stop learning how to cook it and stop passing on recipes.
Unless you've grown up with these winter vegetables, lots of people look at a swede
turnip and wonder what to do with it.
Traditionally, we would have stored up the summer and autumn's fruit and
vegetables in jams and preserves to last through a winter. A good example
of this at Daylesford was the goods on offer from the Rustic Pantry.
The Rustic Pantry business card features the (above) banner that goes around their orange
tent. The orange roof means that their range of cakes, cookies, jams and
sauces all took on a nice warmth on a grey day.
Like using sugar to preserve fruit in jams, honey also stores that food energy from sunnier days.
I was impressed by Des and Debi O'Toole's well planned trailer stall. But the bulk honey refills
on offer might have
needed a bit of heating to flow through to your refill container on this winter
Sunday.
Apples and pears last months in cool storage and longer if preserved in
gas environments, but thankfully local producers can get their product to
customers without artificial means. Pears are still in season and this
stall offered William, Buerre Bosc, Pakham and Josephine varieties (and a
regional favourite), fresh Harcourt Doctor Apple Juice.
Parked on the street was a ute (I guessed from the O'Toole's) with this
number plate which made me smile as did these buskers and some
cheery (artificial) flowers. They were all part of the Daylesford market colour.
I resolved then and there to get out my beetroot recipes and look up some
for swede turnips. Every local market has a different feel and seeing how
other producers present their product passes on these ideas. That's
something that Regional Food newsletters will facilitate and introduce
even more people to outlets for good regional food. Thanks Daylesford,
we'll be back.
Fred
Harden
Contacts:
Fernleigh Farms, Bullarto, Vic. 3461.
Phone: 03 5348 5566 Email them
Website:
www.fernleighfarms.com.au
Rustic Pantry, Charlton, 3525. Their product is great but
their
Webpage - hmmmm!
Organic Tree-oh Permaculture Nursery
41 Calder St. Smeaton, Vic 3375.
Email them
Des O'Toole Honey, 143 Jubilee Lake Rd., Daylesford). Open daily. (03)
5348 2997.
The market is run by The Central Highlands Tourist
Railway as the sign says. Contact details and stall prices are on
their website.
A beetroot salad anyone? There's a Recipe
here. |
