Oh gosh, honestly this year has just flown by! Doesn’t it feel like it was not so long ago we were rugged up for winter enjoying yummy pumpkin soup, and now it's almost summer again! Spring has been such a strange weather experience with unusual rainfall and temperatures that have caused confusion for some of our farm produce. It certainly is a good time to connect with your food source and find out what's in season or out of season!
On our farm
As mentioned, the extra rain, coupled with hot, hot days has meant a break in availability in some of our leafy greens as well as an early end to the season for others. Limited or end of season lines include Spinach, Rocket, Lettuce, Broccoli, Radish and Chard.
Kale has still been a bit slow growing and not producing so well in its current location. This is due to the rain way back at the start of the year which impacted soil health, although we have supported it as much as possible, that area of the farm hasn't recovered in the way we hoped.
We are celebrating though because we've got lots of.....CUCUMBERS!!!!
When I say lots, I mean over half a tonne a week of lovely field grown cucumbers! Yay x 10!
We are also abundant in Ginger, Zucchini, Choi, Salad Mix, and Coriander.
The team are transitioning to summer mode now which not only means planting Watermelon, Tomatoes, more Cucumber, Eggplant and Capsicums.....but also means 5am starts to get the work and harvests done before the heat of the day sets in! Thank you to our team for your efforts in growing veg for our community!
Veggies
As above, we are finding there are a few in between season lines that are unavailable or limited at this time of year. It's always expected as we shift regions and rely more on down south where it's a bit cooler, but disappointing none the less. You'll find brassicas are limited such as Broccoli and Cauliflower, though we have had a great supply of Baby Broccoli coming through - the purple ones are gorgeous lightly stir fried!
Potatoes are back in good supply so let’s hope the rain gives us a break so this continues! We're still enjoying Asparagus, Carrots, Purple Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes and Noosa Reds Tomatoes.
Pumpkin and Beetroot are still a little limited in supply, and both Brown and Red Onions are currently also variable in terms of supply and quality :( This is again due to rain, onions need dry conditions to cure properly after harvest. If they are harvested when it is too wet, the curing process will be less effective.
Avocados will be finishing mid-November from our current sister farm which will mean a break in supply until our Northern Rivers growers can step in. We still have some Sweet Potato around although this may become less available as the heat ramps up.
Overall, hats off to all our farmers we work with, it's been an extremely tough year for growing and the constant rain has made things very difficult for many. We have heard reports of some farms ploughing in crops because the rain has damaged them so much. Your support means we can directly support these farms to recover for the season and enable them to plant for next season.
Fruit
So, let’s now focus on some good news! Summer means fruit!! We've partnered with some amazing growers to help ensure consistent supply of yummy organic fruit, just in time for the school holidays! This will include:
- Mangoes (Yay!)
- Watermelon
- Oranges
- Lemons
A note on Bananas - Ugh! It is tricky to manage the banana ripeness at the moment. I wish I could get a magic wand and request the perfectly ripe banana to arrive each week but unfortunately it is out of our control.
Banana ripeness is affected by many factors including: time of harvest, temperature at harvest, temperature during transport, time in the ripening room. Honestly, Bananas are like the princess of fruit 🤣 If any one of these conditions change it means they ripen very quickly, or not so quickly at all.
We recognise it can be tricky for you to get the right ripeness of bananas and we always work with our suppliers to do our best, however appreciate your understanding if they arrive too ripe or not ripe enough. You can speed up the ripening by placing in a paper bag with an Avocado and in a cool dark place. Of course, if you ever have concerns about ripening or quality, please, please get in touch!
Let's talk Oranges! Yummy! These are so juicy and the team have all voted these as the tastiest so far this year. We have a good supply so these should be a regular in the weekly boxes. Apples are continuing and I'm pleased to report our apple farmer Denis managed to take a small holiday last week :) He is a so passionate about his apples that he rarely takes a break, but by all reports had a lovely week away.
For those wondering, stonefruit such as Nectarines and Peaches should be in supply soon, and Grapes are also expected by the end of the month. Strawberries have all finished and we expect the southern season to be very limited so I'm not sure there will be strawberries on the table for Christmas Pavlova. Blueberries should kick off by then, but more on that in the December updates.
Thanks as always for your support and hooray to you for being so connected to your food source 💚
