Sowing the Seeds

Today was our community produce market. It was a beautiful day for it, lovely and cool with a hint of possible rain.

Set on the grounds of our beautifully restored hall, the market is always very popular with locals and tourists alike. There is always something yummy to taste, with local chefs giving delicious cooking demonstrations. You can always pick up some new recipes to try and sample lots of different treats. The local community cook a great country style bbq breakfast of bacon and egg rolls and sausages. Divine plunger style coffee and the most tantalising cakes are also on offer. Dont eat breakfast before you go!

I like to peruse the produce stalls. Most people are selling food they have produced on their own property, whether it be eggs, meat, fruit, vegetables, chutneys, pickles and even oysters.

Pass me the fresh lemons and pepper please.

I bought myself some great looking Sebago potatoes. In fact, they are cooking in the oven right now.

 Check out the eyes on that potato sign on the back of the ute. Scary….

There are also a few people selling plants. Succulents are very popular and with most of us here in the grip of drought, they are a great garden choice. Not only do they look absoluetly stunning with their different colours and texture but they are also very ‘waterwise’ plants.

Lot of people were drawn to the stalls selling stonefruit. We are in the middle of Summer and enjoying sweet, locally grown peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots.

I was very excited to see the local seed exchange up and running. What a brilliant concept and so well done. Sharing seeds, conserving seeds and traditional / heirloom vegie cultivars is a topic close to my own heart. I will be looking forward to perusing the seed packets at the next market.

It was a great morning, with many friendly faces, lots of smiles and happy people. Set in such a stunning location, surrounded by so much fresh food how could one not be happy? I tried passionfruit cordial, tomato relish, juicy plums and pretty little heart shaped cookies. All of this was enjoyed by the magical sound of our local harpist.

I adore Quince Trees. They are just so beautiful in so many ways. They have gorgeous, grey velvety foliage that is soft to the touch and very tactile. The flowers are just spectacular too. Quinces are in fact one of the earliest trees to blossom in Spring and their flowers are quite large and a lovely hue of dusky, antique pink.

Ours are currently in fruit and each year I think I really should make some quince jelly. I love it with cheese and crackers But each year I never seem to have the time. So I just enjoy the spectacular fruit hanging on the tree and appreciate the beauty that is my quince.

I love Botanical illustrations like this. This one is taken from Wikipedia.

Yesterday the kids and I spent an idyllic morning down by our local river. This beautiful river is literally just down the road and around the corner from where we live.

It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and warm with lots of dragonflies flitting about. The kids spent their time swimming in the river while I threw in a fishing line. I did catch a few fish but only small so they were released back into the river.

If you look across the water to the other river bank you can see that big tall, very green tree there. It’s the one to the left of the photo. It is quite conical in shape and actually looks a little like a pine. The rest of the foliage is rather dull and grey but this one always looks vivid and lush. The tree is known as Cherry Ballart or Wild Cherry (Exocarpos cupressiformis). The tree is native to the Eastern states of Australia and is often admired for its lovely, pendulous growth habit which often turns purple or bronze in the Winter. The other thing that is amazing about this tree is that it is actually a parasite and lives on the roots of it’s host plant, usually Eucalypt’s. This is no way suggests though that it is a menace. It is a native plant species that is an integral part of the Australian bush. The other wonderful thing about this tree is it produces edible fruit and dense fine grained timber too. The timber has been used for fashioning tool handles and other woodturning work.

The Native Appleberry ( Billardiera scandens) is one of my favourite native plants. It is a delicate little climber with beautiful lime green little bell flowers. The flowers are then followed by this lovely edible fruit that falls to the ground when ripe. The fruit was an important Aboriginal bush food and it has a flavour reminiscent of unsweetened stewed apples.

The plant itself is very commonly seen growing in the bush and in coastal areas of Eastern Australia, from QLD right down the seaboard to Tasmania. It will grow in full sun to dense shade and can be grown quite successfully under large trees.

This is a photo of one growing on my property on the fence. I never planted it there, it is a wild species that has taken a liking to the position. You can see the appleberry fruit in the top right hand position of the photo. The fruit can get quite large, approx 5cm or so and are very squishy when ripe. I wonder what the kids would say if I replaced Granny Smith in their lunch boxes with lovely Appleberry’s…