May Newsletter

News from the Market Garden

Well the adventures continue for us at the farm. Emilie and Matis were involved in a car accident 2 weeks ago when a car pulled out in front of them on the main highway. Thankfully they both only received minor injuries but they were both and still are in quite a state of shock.

Our poor prius was sent to the wreckers and the following week was spent searching for a new vehicle. Whilst the challenges the accident has brought up are not over yet, the upside is a feeling of gratitude to have found a multipurpose van, which I must say Im loving to drive and will be super versatile for farm and family adventures!

So hopefully thats all of the mini crisis’s life throws up for us this season and I can get back to the farming and setting up the Bulk Foods Co-op and online local produce stall.  We are happy to say that the new website will be going live in the next few days and the online order to follow in about a fortnight.

The economic model behind the shop and Co-op shares many similarities to the model of participation we have been exploring with the Veggie box scheme. I look foward to sharing more  about this in some future blog posts. Until then here is the latest from the veggie patch!

Veggie Box Contents May

We have had a some great quality Kale, Broccoli, turnips, swedes,spinach, coriander, parsley, chives silver beet, beetroot, carrots, leeks, pumpkin Brussel sprouts and salad mix over the last month. Dill has just come on which has been a refreshing addition to the box. We are very grateful to be stocking Josh and Tobias’s cabbages and some kale as well.  Celery has been going really slow and is unlikely to be ready for another month or so. We have also run out of our own potato and onions which we are supplementing with certified organic from as local as possible farms (currently Tasmania). A special thanks to our member Santha who very generously offered the lemons which have been in boxes the last couple of weeks

Veggie boxes June

Expect very similar contents to May, however we will be out of our baby carrots and will be supplementing with certified organic carrots (good quality 2nds where possible). We expect some more produce from Josh and Tobias too, hopefully some cauliflower, kale and cabbages.  Veggie boxes will be slightly cheaper in June $49 standard box.

Fruit box contents

We have been enjoying a great range of apples and some lovely pears from Petty’s orchard in Warrandyte. These have been supplement by some not so local Banana’s (QLD) and Grapes(NSW).  As we come into winter, local organic fruit is much harder to come by, so its actually a good time of year to be sourcing some of our nutritional needs from outside our bioregion.  The highlight for me has been the local avocado’s and we are looking foward to having them available much earlier in the season this next spring.  Over the coming weeks expect local Apples, pears, kiwifruit and not so local  banana, grapes and citrus. I’ll be keeping on lookout for other fruit on special the pops our through our networks.

That’s it for today, much work to be done on our website and preparations for the food co-op.

With thanks

Travis , Emilie,Matis and Ossian and the rest of the PEACE Farm family