We love a good bit of barter. Especially when it’s for amazing blood orange cordial and lunch in the city. And now as a result, folks in Marrickville are chomping on Milkwood salad! Whoohoo.
Last week Nick and Gigi were heading down to Sydney for a Mushroom Cultivation course. We’d heard that there was a great cafe in Marrickville which welcomed barter of backyard produce (or farm-scale produce) in exchange for… good stuff. And we like good stuff. And we like barter. So…
Gigi, milkwood market garden fare, and Ben from Cornersmith
Happy chef
Boing! Greens magically transformed into blood orange cordial. The lard was not actually involved in the transaction, but this is the only photo i have before we drank it all…
Cornersmith is a small but mighty cafe on Illawarra Road in Marrickville, Sydney. They do barter for backyard produce, and they also do great food.
Lunchtime! Staff menu tasting. Image by Cornersmith
Dulich Hill Green Thumbs harvesting greens for Poached Egg Rolls. Image by Cornersmith
Tomato Day at Cornersmith. Only 200 kg to go… Image by Cornersmith
Cornersmith is the antithesis to franchised food. They’re local. They’re inclusive. They do regular pickling sessions which result in a seasonal tide of pickles, jams, preserves and cordials. Go check them out, and take your lemons with you.
>> More posts about growing great vegetables at backyard & community scale…
Michael (mr market garden) with a box of milkwood produce – this one’s going to Nick’s parents next door. Honor your elders before your blood orange cordial cravings!
8 Comments
AWESOME! I love hearing about good things like this happening right here in the city. I know where I’m going for breakfast next weekend…
Now THAT is a brilliant concept! Interacting with the community to avail yourself of good home grown produce is a win-win situation for everyone. It makes for excellent public relations with your local community as well as endearing yourself to the locals. A fantastic ethos and this cafe deserves to do incredibly well. What a positive business model!
Cheers for sharing this with us. If I wasn’t a penniless student hippy and had a few grand to toss about in my pocket I would do the very same thing here in Launceston. Times are tough here in Tassie and there isn’t a lot of work to be had (we are to Australia as Greece and Spain are to Europe 
) but this sort of idea could really give people some options 
Hi narf77. I live in Marrickville and can vouch for what an amazing cafe model and atmosphere Cornersmith is creating. My sister is living in Poatina TAS and a guy who has been interning with Joel Salatin has just moved there to do Polyface farming. They’re planning to set up a complimentary industries co-op too. Highly recommend you take a drive out there one day soon (it’s only 40mins from Launceston) and ask for Hannah Cooper, or email her at rocksaltarts@gmail.com.
Fantastic! luv it, luv it, luv it!
Awesome stuff. I’m yet to dine at Cornersmith but it’s on the list! I have been fortunate enough to barter produce from The Quarter Acre Farm with a local hatted restaurant, Biota Dining. There’s something pretty awesome about tasting your home-grown goodness once it’s been transformed by fabulous chefs! They have a local food philosophy so buy local, grow a fair amount in their gardens and forage for mushrooms and other goodies when in season. They also host a producers market on their grounds once a month. It’s free for the stallholders which is fantastic for our local producers.
Compliment for the excellent pages! We prefer local and seasonal food since many years now!
Best wishes from the other part of the world
Sabine & Reinhard
Great post! Plus a Beautiful box of yummy-ness you’ve got there with those salad greens!
Love this concept! Around here everyone talks about being self sufficient and independent, but the only way I can see an off the grid life working is in an interdependent community that plays to everyone’s strengths. I might love to grow my own veggies but I can’t do everything, I’ll trade you veggies for milk to make cheese. That is the life that is truly sustainable, and liveable.
I wonder if I could get some of the cafes in Austin to try this?