Food
Opinion : Bowral Farmer’s Market in Moss Vale
We’ve been hearing a lot of debate lately about Bowral Farmer’s Market’s move to Moss Vale Show Ground. Naturally the Bowral old guard are moaning. Are they mourning the convenience or is it an inherent snobbery about Moss Vale’s perceived lower social-cache? The southern villagers have been celebrating the move. While we also love Bowral, we are very excited about the Markets’ new home. Moss Vale is incredibly central for those of us living in the southern villages of Berrima, Exeter, Bundanoon, Penrose and Robertson. And the Showground has the capacity to provide a springboard for so many other community events. Some of the confirmed events planned by Julia et al are Night Noodle Markets, Christmas Markets, and a curated flea market – a SoHi favourite! So much consideration has gone into the move and SoHi would like to state for the record that we are 100% in favour of parking, room to grow, and recentralising our community in a more geographically friendly way. We will see you there tomorrow!
Bowral Farmer’s Market
After seven wonderful years at Bowral Public School, the Bowral Farmers’ Market is moving to Moss Vale Showground. The new site is incredible with virtually limitless parking, only 7 minutes from Bowral, and has the capacity to house all the new events that are going to be held there. There are lots of dates to make a note of in your diary, so grab your calendar and a biro:
Saturday 14th November 2009 is the first day Bowral Farmers’ Market will be at Moss Vale Showground. Don’t go along to the school as it’s now a virtual construction site! It’s still on the second Saturday of each month.
Sunday December 6th 2009 is the date of the first ever Sunday Flea Market. We can’t wait to report back with new material for SoHi Thrifty! There will be coffee to go, garage sales, dealer sites, and entertainment.
Wednesday 23rd December 2009 will be a special Christmas Market with pre ordered meat available for collection, seafood and Summer produce, plus last minute stocking fillers and of course, local wine.
Thursday January 14th – Saturday January 16th, 2010 will see the Night Noodle Market at the show- ground featuring the best local wine, food and tunes.
Go online at www.showgroundmarkets.com to subscribe to the RSS Feed or phone 0248 69 5898 to make stall enquiries.
This post currently has no responses - Comment Now
Growing the Perfect Lemon
In this our midspring issue, we’re looking at growing lemons and other citrus, and what to do when your crop is incredibly successful, in fact, too successful. It’s timely, as midspring is the time to plant, and if you already have citrus in your garden, it’s about now that you’ll probably be wondering what you can do with all those lemons. We have a few ideas on how to make sure none of your crop goes to waste. And we spoke to Tim Sansom, the plant manager at online seed and plant store, Digger’s Club, about growing citrus at home. Tim is the resident citrus expert and has been passionate about home gardening since he was a boy. In his work he focuses on productivity in the home garden, which sits nicely with SoHi’s focus on practicality, convenience, abundance and participation. We asked Tim a few questions, assuming that, like us, some of our readers won’t know much about growing citrus. We hope our line of interrogation will inform us citrus-dunces and enlighten even a lurid yellow-thumb.
RW: When should we plant citrus trees?
TS: The biggest mistake people make when planting citrus is to plant them too early.
The best time to plant is in spring as the soil warms up. Always avoid planting citrus in cold soils – they’ll forever struggle to establish, making for a weak plant prone to insect attack and die-back.
RW: What does the citrus-care calendar look like?
TS: Well, it’s probably round in shape and yellow or orange coloured! For citrus trees to flourish, there are a couple of key times of the year when they need attention.
Feeding: It’s best to apply a general fertiliser in early spring as the soil warms up and the plant goes into a growth spurt. Use blood and bone for the main nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus; add trace elements if you have sandy or poor soils.
Pruning: Citrus don’t need heavy pruning unless they are affected with disease. A light trim of the leaves after fruit harvesting will keep your tree healthy and in good shape. If you are training it flat against a wall, prune and tie-in throughout the growing season to encourage growth where
you want it.
Harvesting: Different varieties yield at different times, but the bulk of citrus is harvested in winter and spring. Lemons will produce throughout summer, and Valencia oranges will also be around for summer juicing, but the rest are most productive from July to December. Make sure you remove all last year’s fruit, so the following year’s flowers can come through in abundance.
Watering: Citrus are shallow-rooted, so they are prone to both over and under watering. Make sure the soil beneath them stays moist in the summer and not too wet in the winter. So plant in a well-drained position, provide some supplementary water via drippers, and mulch with at least 5cm of mulching material to keep the sun off the soil.
RW: How do you maximise your yield?
TS: Follow my guidelines and you should get a bumper crop. The most important thing to keep an eye on is water. And don’t let your trees get dry in the summer.
RW: What are some of the known problems with citrus and what organic products can we use to prevent or cure these problems?
TS: The most common problem with citrus is nutrition. Yellowing leaves are the usual symptom, followed by all manner of insect and disease problems. Keep your plants healthy with adequate nutrition and water. Scale and sooty mould are common on trees that have been neglected. You can easily treat these conditions with an application of horticultural oil in November – this will also get rid of mealybugs and aphids.
RW: Can you tell me which are the best varieties in your opinion:
TS: Dummy-proof: lemons, in particular Meyer. Produce the best yield: cumquats, especially Marumi. Best tasting: This is very subjective, but my faves are tangelos, fourer‚ mandarin, lemon and lemonade. Most frost-hardy: Meyer lemon and grapefruits.
RW: Which varieties are best suited to our region?
TS: In cooler areas, the best bet for the open ground is the Meyer lemon; but in a pot, in a protected spot, you can grow any of the citrus varieties, save the Tahitian Lime.
If you follow Tim’s advice closely you will find you have citrus growing in abundance. Click here for some delicious ways to use the fruits of your labour, courtesy of SoHi’s down-home cooking queen and caterer, Jane Crosland.
Text: Rebecca Wolkenstein & Tim Sansom
Photos: Janyon Boshov
This post currently has no responses - Comment Now
Jane Crosland’s Lemons with a Twist
Here’s a yummy way to use your preserved
lemons with couscous:
Prepare the couscous by boiling about 4cm of water in a small saucepan. Remove water from the heat and pour in 1/3–1/2 of a packet of couscous, so the water still covers the couscous. Replace the lid and leave to steam for 6 minutes.
Remove the pulp from two quarters of preserved lemon, then rinse the rind in fresh water and slice into very fine strips.
Finely chop an onion and caramelise slowly in olive oil and rock salt, over a very low heat.
To the couscous now add a handful of sweet organic currants (SoHi buys from the Organic Whole Food Store, in Bowral) the caramelised onion, 1/2 cup of coriander leaves, a sprinkle of tumeric and a thread or two of saffron. Serve with grated beetroot or a tagine.
How to make preserved lemons:
10 large lemons, scrubbed
Approx ½ cup coarse sea salt
½ tsp dried hot chilli flakes
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
lemon juice
Quarter the lemons, leaving them intact at the base. Pry the lemons open and sprinkle with salt and spice mix. Pack tightly in a sterilised jar, add bay leaf and cinnamon stick, top with lemon juice and seal. Leave for at least three weeks before using, to allow skins to soften.
Lemon Curd Recipe:
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup caster sugar
60g unsalted butter
100ml lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
Melt butter gently in heavy-based pan with lemon juice and zest, add yolks, off the heat, and stir until combined. Return to heat, on medium, stirring continuously until thick. Remove to cold bowl to cool before putting into sterilised jars and sealing.
Limoncello Recipe
6 lemons
1 cup caster sugar
750ml vodka
1 1/2 cups water
Place the lemons in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Soak for 1 hour, then drain and pat dry. Finely grate the lemon. Combine lemon rind and vodka in a large jug. Meanwhile, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat. Stir for 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 3 minutes, or until the syrup thickens. Set aside to cool. Add syrup to the vodka mixture. Pour into sterilised, airtight bottles. Seal and store in a cool, dark place, shaking occasionally, for 1 month, to develop the flavours.
Strain the vodka mixture through a fine sieve. Discard the rind. Pour into a clean, sterilised, airtight bottles.
Text: Jane Crosland and Sarah King
Photos: Janyon Boshov
This post currently has no responses - Comment Now
Which Came First?
I doubt there is a man alive who knows more about chickens that Mr Neil Parker, president of the Moss Vale Poultry Society. I went to speak to Neil about backyard chicken keeping and happily, there isn’t a lot to know. Keeping backyard poultry is incredibly easy, breeding them for show is another matter.
Neil loves animals. He works at the Coolaroo Alpaca stud near Joadja. He grew up on a dairy farm in Kangaloon and has been around animals for as long as he can remember. Moss Vale Poultry Club was formed in 1945 and Neil has been a member since he was five years old! The club has grown in recent years with this year’s entries into the poultry show almost doubling from 400 to 700 entries in 12 months. Mr Parker kindly spent an hour with me showing me his chickens. He keeps layers, meat chickens and show chickens at his property in New Berrima. It seems that chickens are fairly simple creatures with only basic needs and wants, and dead easy to keep at home. I am sure that if you want to show chickens, the subtleties within and between the various breeds are a total minefield of variation and nuance, but the purpose of my report is to investigate whether anyone can keep layers, even in the city. As Neil most kindly explained, there isn’t much to it.
Let’s go through the considerations of backyard chicken keeping one by one.
Habitat: A prefab aviary is fine, as long as they have a laying box and roosting bars. The Bowral CoOp (+61 2 4861 1500) sell chicken tractors so you can wheel the chooks into the sun which they love in Winter. They don’t need a massive amount of space. Left to roam all over the garden, they’ll eat grubs and bugs, but they may also eat every blade of grass at their level and beyond. Perhaps best to leave them in the aviary and only let them out for a treat. Tractors are fox proof but if you don’t have a tractor make sure the floor is secure and covered completely in chicken wire so foxes can’t dig their way under.
Health: The main health problems chickens have are mite and lice infestations. This can be treated really simply and effectively with powder which can be bought at any produce store.
Bedding: Layers of straw and wood shavings are best. The cages need to be cleaned out each week, and the litter replaced. The cleaner the cage, the less likely your chickens are to get mites and lice. The old litter makes the most amazing compost. Remember to let it rot down as it’s such potent stuff it may burn your plants.
Friendship: Chickens don’t like being alone. Who does? Buy them a same sex friend. They’ll also live happily with rabbits and guinea fowl, who, by the way, terrify snakes.
Care: If you have chickens, you must have friendly neighbours who can feed and water them while you’re away. Large water canisters are available but you couldn’t leave them for more than a long weekend. Chickens drink an incredible amount. Go take a home baked cake to your neighbour and make friends now. Most layers will come vaccinated.
Eggs: Try to buy a chook at point of lay, that is, just before they start laying. That way you’ll have them through their prime laying years. You have to collect the eggs every day or the chook will start to fall in love with them and treat them like her babies. She’ll sit on them and won’t lay again til they’re collected. In case you haven’t guessed, this is called ‘broodiness’.
Council: Most councils don’t have a problem with chooks as long as there are no roosters. Check first if in doubt.
Noise and smell: None that you’ll notice. Sometimes they get a bit excited but it’s not too noisy or offensive.
Meat: You can only use the meat for personal use if that’s your thing. We hear Wollondilly Abattoir in Tahmoor will kill your bird for $2 (I will kill it for $1.50. Only kidding). Remember, if you want to eat your chicken, don’t name it.
Chicken Fancier Diary Dates:
Chicken Fancier Organisations and Resources:
Chicken Tractors and supplies www.planetpoultry.com
Invaluable resource with breeders lists Australia wide www.backyardpoultry.com
Mr Neil Parker’s Details
(if you would like to source your layers locally)
02 48771264 lnpark@bigpond.net.au
Recipe:
One egg a day per chook doesn’t sound like a lot. But if you don’t make an effort to use up your eggs, you’ll be scouring your recipe books for ways to get rid of them. We’ve saved you the effort by inviting Bowral’s top chef, Luke Latimer, from Onesta, to share a family friendly, quick egg dish.
This delicate Italian egg dish, is as versatile as it is flavoursome. Other combinations we serve at Onesta Cucina include, porcini and taleggio or blue swimmer crab and asparagus. Let your imagination and seasonal ingredients guide you, but remember to always use the freshest of free range eggs.
Ingredients:
/ 3 Free Range Eggs
/ 8 sprigs of picked watercress
/ 6 baby basil leaves
/ 100g flaked smoked ocean trout
/ Extra virgin olive oil
/ Sea Salt flakes
/ Freshly Ground black pepper
/ Basil Oil
/ Pangrattata (fresh bread crumbs lightly toasted in garlic oil)
Method
1 / Heat 7 inch non stick fry pan over med/high heat.
2 / Vigorously whisk eggs in a small bowl and season to taste.
(Always season eggs after they have been whisked so as not to oxidise them)
3 / Add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to pan.
4 / Pour egg mix into fry pan. Eggs should not bubble vigorously, but rather set rapidly towards the outside of the pan.
5 / The tricky part is to now tilt the pan while using a flat sided wooden spoon to gather the lightly cooked egg into a neat circular frittata shape. The idea is to chase the uncooked egg around the pan so to speak.
6 / Remove from heat, dress with smoked
rainbow trout and delicately lift onto serving plate.
7 / Lightly dress watercress and basil leaves with basil oil and arrange neatly onto frittata.
8 / Sprinkle with pangrattata and serve.
Interview: Rebecca Wolkenstein
Recipe: Luke Latimer at Onesta Cucina, Bowral
Recipe words: Sarah King
This post currently has no responses - Comment Now
This post currently has no responses - Comment Now