If you are unable to view this page click here to view the online version
FRESH

Market news from the farm gate and beyond...

     Apr/May 2010

Welcome to the Autumn edition of Fresh. It has been a dry summer season for growers in this region, crops are greatly reduced and yields are down. But the good news for cooks is the long hot summer has produced some excellent fruit.

We are of course closed for Easter Sunday. The stallholders will take a well earned break and return rested and ready for our busy winter markets. This will probably be our last winter under tents, as the Clevedon A&P Association (the so far unsung heroes of the Clevedon Farmers Market) are building a wonderful new facility for their show which will also be just Jim Dandy for our weekly Farmers Market.

The planned covered stalls will give plenty of space for our growing number of producers, forming a semi enclosed grassy market square lined with trees and offering a great view of farmland and the hills that surround the valley. This is simply a wonderful thing that the A&P committee are doing and we cannot thank them enough.

As a mark of respect the market will not be open on ANZAC day Sunday the 25th of April.

On Air
Catch up with the market and the story behind the Clevedon Valley Buffalo Company on TV1 Country Calendar on Saturday May the 1st . Featured is buffalo farming in Clevedon and the making of fresh Clevedon buffalo mozzarella. They also take a look at the market and Clevedon School’s Agriculture Day.

In the three years since the importation of their herd of Mediterranean milking buffalo the company has won awards and gold medals for their ricotta and mozzarella cheese at the Cuisine Cheese Awards and in February their latest product natural buffalo yoghurt was announced the supreme winner of this year’s Cuisine Artisan Awards.
 
Top picks and growing news
In season right now we have grapes, figs, apples, avocados, beans, beetroot, cabbage, pumpkin, squash, chestnuts, macadamias, peppers, spinach, fennel, peppers, cucumbers carrots, courgette, leeks, mushrooms, onions, radish, cavalo nero, passion fruit, turnips, pears, persimmons, quinces, rhubarb, tamarillos, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, pak choy and salad greens.

A warm market welcome to our new stall holders, Pinnacle Lamb with melt in your mouth aged lamb, Bagel Love for seriously good bagels - fresh baked for the market with the right soft centred chewiness that makes a good bagel. Dessert Island for heaven sent sweet offerings. Charlie’s Chestnuts with plump fresh local chestnuts in season and Beach Palms subtropical palms and specimen plants.

MARKET PROFILE
Peach Hill Farm


Robert Green

RSPCA certified Peach Hill Farm is home to happy healthy free to range Wessex X pigs. Farmer Robert Green is committed to ethical farming and runs up to 15 of these sociable animals on his block in Ramarama. Peach Hill Farm brings a selection of fresh pork, bacon, sausages, specialty meats to market each Sunday.
Try a piece of their coppa made from high quality shoulder meat, the pork is salted, rubbed with herbs and spices, and slowly dry cured. Sliced thinly and eaten raw it can be used as the perfect antipasto or instead of bacon in sandwiches - it has a rich intense sweet/salty flavour.

We have been asked over and over again for organic dry goods at the market, it seems a cup of organic sugar is hard to come by in the country. Happily Zip Coffee Roasters have stepped up to the plate and will be stocking a range of ethically sourced organic dry goods including grains flours sugars dried fruit cocoa and spices. Get down to see them at the market and let them know what you would like to be able to pick up from them on Sunday’s.

Mushrooms are soon to be on the menu with a farm setting up in Clevedon to supply you with top quality fresh local mushrooms. Look out for them mid to late May at the market.

Bringing in the Harvest
This years pumpkin competition was judged at the end of March, three cheers for all our growers of pumpkins on the day. Congratulations to Margaret Chitty whose pumpkin weighed in at a massive 77.8kg, Margaret took home a market hamper packed with produce from the market stalls. Congratulations also to young Myra Blom (pictured right) who watered and tended her pumpkin to a weighty 29.6kg. Myra wins an Ipod for her trouble. Many thanks to all the participants and category winners and a special thank you to Councillor Maggie Burrell for being our judge on pumpkin day.
“We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavours and furniture polish is made from real lemons.” - Alfred E. Newman

RECIPE OF THE SEASON
Peppers Piedmontese

Ingredients

  • 8 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 large bunch of fresh basil
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 red bell peppers
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
  • 6 anchovies drained and chopped
  • 1 ball of buffalo Mozzarella
  • 12 river estate olives, pitted
  • Basil oil - (see cook’s note)
  • 100gm roasted red onions – (see cook’s note)

Method

First peel your tomatoes by removing the core, scoring a small cross on the base and blanching briefly in boiling salted water, the skin should peel away from the flesh. When cool, quarter, remove the skin and the seeds then roughly chop.

Heat your oven to 180°C, halve the peppers, remove the core and seeds. Place the peppers, cut side up, in a shallow baking tray. Fill the peppers with tomato, garlic slices, 2-3 torn basil leaves and chopped anchovies, drizzle over olive oil and bake for 30mins or until the peppers are soft and have blackened in places but still hold their shape. Let the peppers cool for a few minutes.

Slice your ball of mozzarella in half and squeeze the excess moisture from the cheese, tear and place on top of your peppers, with the olives and roasted onions. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes, drizzle with basil oil and serve.

Cooks Note
Roasted onions - slice 6 red onions, arrange in a shallow baking tray and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of castor sugar, 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of a cup of olive oil turn to coat. Roast for 30 mins in a medium oven basting at least once. The onions will keep in the fridge for at least a week and they make a great addition to other meals.

Basil oil - using a food processor or kitchen whizz puree the remaining basil leaves with 50 ml of olive oil, and a small clove of garlic. Add more oil if needed and season with salt and pepper to taste.

CLEVEDON VILLAGE FARMERS' MARKET VENDORS & PRODUCE

  • The Curious Croppers - top tomatoes
  • Holmbrook Produce – preserves
  • Clevedon Animal Farm - pony rides
  • Oh Fudge - superb handmade fudge
  • Bentru - smoked specialty meats and sausages; traditional prosciutto
  • Piako Pete - wet fish; smoked fish and eel
  • Pinnacle Lamb - fresh lamb
  • Pacific Skye - seasonal fruit; fruit juice
  • Wild Bee - fresh local bush and field honey
  • Cuconics - telegraph cucumbers
  • Nature's Corner - free-range eggs
  • Running Brook Seeds - quality heritage flower and vegetable seeds
  • Roses Galore - fresh cut roses
  • Listers - Passion fruit and preserves
  • Wild Wheat - artisan bakers of traditional and sourdough breads
  • Paella Pan - traditional paella cooked on-site; fresh crepes
  • I Love Pies – handmade pies with an NZ flavour
  • Limes on the Firth - fresh limes and lemons
  • Hungarian Twisters - traditional Hungarian pastries
  • Willow Brook - lavender products; Iris plants and lavender
  • Zakar - Biogro beef cuts; mince and sausages
  • Eureka Nurseries - flowers and produce
  • Sweet Expectations- cupcakes, biscuits and baked goods
  • Salmonman - hot smoked salmon cured in a variety of ways
  • Clevedon Catering - Cornish pasties
  • Alvita - fresh and roasted nuts
  • Clevedon Proteas - Proteas and Waratahs
  • Waiuku River Wines - red and white wines, verjuice
  • Fancy Lettuce - lettuce; spinach; living herbs
  • Market Espresso - great coffee and refreshments
  • River Estate - premium olive oils and table olives
  • Dullumbunda Farm - fruit; vegetables and herbs
  • Hungarian Deli - traditional air-dried meats and sausages
  • Clevedon Cuisine - gourmet provisions
  • Clevedon Juice & Icecream - juice
  • Ness Valley Nuts - fresh roasted and chocolate macadamia nuts
  • Kipdale Farm - free range chicken
  • Miss Figgy - export figs and preserves
  • Earth Energies - Kawakawa remedies
  • Suncakes Fruit & Veges - fruit and veggies, Asian vegetables a specialty
  • Strawberry Corner - strawberries
  • Mandeville Gardens - native plants
  • Peach Hill Farm - free range pork
  • Clevedon Valley Buffalo Company - buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, blue cheese, yoghurt
  • Avoculture - avocados
  • Zip - organic freshly roasted coffee
  • Pasta Nostra - fresh pasta and gnocchi
  • Bagel Love - fresh baked bagels
  • Charlies Chestnuts - fresh local chestnuts
  • Beach Palms - palms and subtropical plants
  • Dessert Island - fresh handmade desserts


Clevedon Village Farmers Market
Every Sunday 8:30am-12 noon, Clevedon Showground, Monument Rd, Clevedon

Visit our website at www.clevedonfarmersmarket.co.nz
To unsubscribe to this email click here and type 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.
You are subscribed as [email]