red and green

Somehow the first day of December sneaks up on us every year – we wonder where did the year ago, we count on the calendar just a handful of weeks left to the year, we remark how wonderful that advent has begun!

And so we bake fruit cake and wrap it up to age in the pantry, we string up handmade garlands and stars, we find a tiny pine tree in a nearby paddock and adorn it with our funny collection of decorations bought and given and made all over the world, we play finger puppets with mamie and read stories on the bed, we work on handmade gifts, we crochet late at night and sip creamy tea, we light the first candle of the advent wreath and usher soft prayers of hope.

Amidst all the busyness, the hum drum, the deadlines
we pause, we savour this special time of year…

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For those interested we have two more markets left for this year; we will be selling our pasture raised chickens and eggs as well as my European-inspired gluten free Christmas delights. Think dark fragrant gingerbread, moist fruit cakes, dark chocolate, hazelnut + clove cookies, buttery vanilla bean shortbread, dainty mince pies and of course those beeswax baked custards – canéles!

Come along and find some delicious treats to store up and share with loved ones this happy season!

Woodend Farmers’ Market
Saturday December 5th 
8am – 1pm
High street, Woodend

Kyneton Farmers Market
Saturday December 12th
8am – 1pm
St. Paul’s park, Piper Street, Kyneton

slowly seasoning

 This winter I began a sort of visual catalogue of the subtle changes in seasonal produce I could buy or batter for at our local farmers’ markets… see how the apples and pears come in, leeks come in, parsnips come in, daffodils for one weekend only, the last potatoes, the first asparagus, the first strawberries, heirloom carrots…

Its something I’ve really been thinking about in the last few years – the importance, the necessity of truly seasonal produce… I loved that when we lived in France we would go to our weekly farmers markets and you could actually see the changes in fresh produce – the stalls changed week by week – there were the year-round staples (potatoes/carrots/beetroot/lettuce/radishes) and then there were those absolutely wonderful short-season specials – raspberries, asparagus, fennel bulbs, tomatoes, zucchinis, capsicums, aubergines!

I do not accept that we need to have endless variety and colour on our plates all day all year round. If our not so-far-back ancestors were happy and nourished by a simpler diet, with what could grow easily and organically, that I think we would be to – if we tried. If we ditched the latest fad diet and instead focussed our energy and resources on eating locally – ethically – organically, what the season allows us.

And with freezing, drying and canning, and age-old methods of fermentation we can preserve some of the harvest for other seasons too – passata on a pizza base and frozen corn for a soup. But nothing compares to a vine ripened tomato, freshly sliced, with a little sprinkle of sea salt – or the sweet earthy crunch of a carrot freshly pulled…

I’m challenging myself in the new year to only eat the fruits and vegetables I can grow, batter or buy locally grown and raised. I hope this will help us as a collective household to be more mindful of the seasons, to really enjoy produce when it comes, to waste less, garden more and counter the luxury of choice big supermarkets offer us “anything we wish, whenever we wish it”!

It may mean a year without bananas and sweet potatoes and a special request for a box of mangoes for Christmas from our North-of-the-boarder friends… But I have no doubt at all that we will eat very well!