Brrrr! winter is coming - and.....winter means citrus!!
The farm is buzzing with these cool mornings too!
On our farms
After a tough start to Autumn with some hot days, we are now back on track and have a lot of produce in the ground! We're regularly propagating in excess of 5000 seedlings a week including, broccoli, kale, lettuce, cucumber and more.
We're now harvesting:
- Lettuce
- Coriander
- Dill
- Cucumber
- Watermelon (a little)
- Salad Mix
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Eggplant
Fruit
Finally citrus season has started from our friends Neil & Tanya in Gayndah. If you haven't had the chance, do check out our blog post about citrus here. We're enjoying the first harvest of mandarins, oranges, lemons and lemonade fruit. Now that it's a bit cooler the fruit will be even sweeter, so look out for our next delivery and be sure to fill the kids lunchboxes with this yummy fruit.
Apples are in full season now and we are getting these fresh from Stanthorpe. Mick and I also visited our dear friend and apple farmer Denis Angelino on the weekend to see how his season is going, and catch up on all things apple! Denis is nearing 79 this year and has devoted his life to apple farming - wow! We're expecting a delivery of his heritage variety apples from mid May. He grows organically and uses biodynamic methods to improve plant and fruit health. We'll chat more about Denis in a blog post later this month.
Pears are also in full season, although Denis' pears didn't fare so well, so we are sourcing these from another Southern Downs organic grower. They are firm and taste amazing in salad and of course on top of porridge!
Bananas have been a bit tricky of late, seeming to bruise a little more easily than usual. They still taste great but just look a little bumped up currently. Papaya is a bit hit and miss at this time of year (sad isn't it), and strawberry season is shaping up to be a late start but fingers crossed!
Avocados are also a bit late and less than available due to weather - our usual growers have much less fruit on the trees this year than expected :(
Veggies
Where do we begin? So much seasonal variety at the moment! Brassicas including broccoli, kale, and green cabbages are all coming on strong. Red cabbages are a bit short on supply but after visiting some organic farms on the weekend we are certain there is about to be a bit glut of all things brassica!
Cauliflowers will start to hopefully come through in greater supply and ideally a bit more affordable in price. New season beans are coming to us from Gympie, sweet potato, pumpkin and zucchini are also in full supply.
Onions have been a bit mixed in terms of quality but we're hoping things will improve now. We should also start to see winter veg like swedes and turnips coming through soon. Maybe even some brussel sprouts if we are lucky!
Potatoes are having a bit of a tough run believe it or not - some areas have had too much rain so the harvest is tricky.
Overall we are 100% in love with May and all the seasonal abundance! Yay for organic produce :)
