Two good years. Two full Spring to Autumn seasons stacked with sourdough, rabbit ravioli and crazy beautiful desserts. And a quietly grounding presence for our entire farm crew, and for every student lucky enough to share a taste.
Tragic (no, really) though it is, I must share with you that Rose, the permachef whom we do love so, is off to seek the next chapter of her fortune. To design and run a new inner-city eatery in Brisbane, to be exact. I hope those Brisbanites figure out how good they’ve got it coming to them… Read More »
Blood sausage is a central aspect of harvest day. Large-ish animal harvest day, that is. And it’s one of the central acts of honouring the animal’s life, as well as getting close to the act of the animal’s death, because it’s something you must make the same day you slaughter.
Blood sausage is a central dish of whole animal eating – it doesn’t get much more thrifty than this. Doesn’t get much tastier, either, if done right. And it’s not very technical to make, if you’re up for it…
**please note – this post contains photos of people making blood sausage, from start to finish** Read More »
Yesterday’s dawn saw me waiting by the road with a large suitcase of heirloom rainbow carrots. I don’t normally take the train to Sydney with this kind of load under my arm, but I’m happy to report that it is (just) possible to transport 25kg of vegetables in this manner.
Actually the suitcase was stacked with nicola and ruby lou potatoes as well as the rainbow carrots. We’re pitching in for TEDxSydney’s crowd farming project, which is aiming to crowd-source all the food for TEDxSydney on May 4th. And I had to get our veggies down to the Big Smoke without our truck. So train it was… Read More »
Apples! They be everywhere. Red ones, yellow ones, green ones. Big and small. Round and wonky. Crunchy and soft.
There’s only so many we can eat. Time to get creative, and try out the fancy new steam juicer while we’re at it… Read More »
I feel a little bit guilty about this. I am a committed Vacola preserver, like my mother before me, and her mother before her. We don’t can, we preserve. What is this pressure canning thing anyway?
Autumn is about preserving the harvest. Autumn contains many large and bubbling vacola units, and results in beautiful preserved fruit and food. But now we seem to have gone over to the dark side of the force. And I think I’m glad we did. Read More »
The act of mushroom foraging is a treasure hunt combined with meditation. You go tramping through the forest, focussed on the ground beneath your feet, and regularly pause to give thanks (and pick a mushroom or three).
The wind is above, moving through the trees, it’s oh so quiet, and all there is in the world is you, the pine needles, your knife and basket, and the vast network of mycelium beneath your feet.
And at the end of all that, you get to feast! Oh mushroom season, we’ve missed you… Read More »
What to cook, right now! Last week we held a Masterclass down at Allsun Farm in Gundaroo, and the marvellous Olivier Sofo did the cooking. Using primarily ingredients from Allsun Farm, Liv had the class in raptures and yes, recipes were promised.
In the interests of stacking functions, we thought you might like these excellent recipes too. Make these with Autumn produce, now. Read More »
Damsons are a much-loved preserving variety of plum, and with good reason. They’re intensely beautiful with their indigo skins and pale bloom, and their astringency means that the jam they make is divine.
I was at Allsun Farm this week hosting our autumn Organic Market Garden Masterclass, and the damson tree by the back door was ready to drop. Time for a jam session, alongside the weekend’s action of growing new growers. Read More »
February 27, 2013 – 8:00 am
The peaches growing out the back of the homestead are grown from cuttings of an ancient peach tree that Nick’s parents found when they bought Kirwin, the property next door to Milkwood Farm. So technically, these peaches could be said to be from a 120 year old tree.
Whatever their vintage, they grow like no other fruit trees around here. And chips off the old block (or tree) are good enough for us… Read More »
February 24, 2013 – 6:42 am
Egg pies. They look remarkably like quiches, but can be eaten by everyone, even ‘real men’. They both taste great, especially when loaded with home made bacon, labneh (soft yoghurt cheese) and spinach, encased in a spelt crust.
Once apon a time, a few years ago, Milkwood Farm ran our first course for 50 farmers on Biofertilizer. The older generation of farmers are an interesting lot to cater for – keep it simple and preferably meaty. Don’t include too many garnishes. And best avoid the quiche. Read More »
