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FRESH

Market news from the farm gate and beyond...
Aug 2008

Welcome to the August edition of Fresh. With the papers full of dire financial predictions and world food shortages, we’re ever more grateful to be living in our green and verdant little corner of the globe. Especially, of course, with the Clevedon Village Farmers’ Market nearby - packed, as it is, with fresh, nutritious produce at farm gate prices.
With winter at its chilliest, now’s the perfect time to focus on wholesome comfort foods like flavoursome stews and soups that use less expensive cuts of meat. Ask our friendly stallholders for mid-winter meal ideas - after all, nobody’s more knowledgeable about food than the people who grow it. Happy shopping.

Cooking for a cause
High-profile thrifty foodie Sophie Gray (The Destitute Gourmet) is coming to Clevedon to help raise funds for Clevedon Kindergarten. Treat yourself to a night of budget splendour from 7pm on August 21 at the All Souls Church Hall on North Road. Tickets are $20 and available from Clevedon kindy or by contacting Lucy Hall on 292 8780.

Daffodil day
Please support the Auckland Cancer Society by buying a bunch of daffodils from the market on the 24th of August - all proceeds go to the Auckland Cancer Society NZ.

The art of the matter
We’re thrilled with the gorgeous entries we’re getting for our inaugural CVFM kids’ art competition. Please make sure your name and contact details are included on the back of your A3-sized artwork so we can contact you. Entries close on August 10.

Coming clean
Being greenish, thoughtful sort of people, we at CVFM get a smidge aerated by large-scale commercial brainwashing. Just take a wander down the cleaning aisle of your local supermarket (or tune into the ads on daytime telly) and you’ll soon learn that self-respecting homeowners need 85 different cleaning products for everyday domestic chores. Yeah, right.
Our nanas were denied the pleasure of the disposable anti-bacterial wipe, but they seemed to manage OK. With this spooky contradiction in mind, we searched out a few old-fashioned cleaning tips that’ll save you money and preserve your pride (because there’s nothing smart about being sucked in by nasty manipulative lines like “what does your loo say about you?”). What’s more, these homemade ‘products’ are much kinder to the planet (fewer chemicals, no packaging), and they work. Just ask nana.

  • Window Cleaner - Mix 1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 2 cups water.
  • Mould Killer - Combine 2 teaspoons tea tree (manuka) oil, 2 cups water in a spray bottle. Don’t rinse off – tea tree oil is pungent and the scent will take one or two days to dissipate. OR try using a vinegar spray (vinegar is reported to kill 82% of mould). Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the mouldy area and let set without rinsing if you can put up with the smell. It will dissipate in a few hours.
  • General Surface Cream Cleaner - Put 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like icing. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerine to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar.

MARKET PROFILE
Piako Pete

Pete and Gail deserve a community service award, in our opinion, for teaching us all what fresh and smoked kai moana should really taste like (practically flapping, moist and wonderfully tasty, in case you haven’t visited them yet). Pete’s dad taught him how to fish when he was a nipper and he’s been at it ever since. Pete and Gail’s offerings, caught in the Firth of Thames beside their home and shop in Pipiroa, include flounder, mullet, kahawhai, snapper, eel and whitebait in season. Pete smokes his fish traditionally over manuka to moist perfection. His motto, appropriately, is “Buy the best bugger the rest”. Amen.

Garden diary
Spring’s just around the corner, believe it or not, so there’s a bit of prep work to do in the garden this month. You can:

• Enrich garden beds with peat or compost if you haven’t already.
• Plant carrots, cabbages, lettuce celery, cress, spring onions, parsnip, potatoes, rhubarb, silverbeet and radishes direct into the garden. Other spring veges can be sown as seed into trays and planted out when the danger of frosts passes (capsicum, peas, tomatoes).
• Fertilise citrus trees.
• Prune overgrown passionfruit vines to encourage fresh growth and plentiful fruiting.
• Plant the following flowers once the danger of frosts has passed: begonia, California poppy, carnation, chrysanthemum, dahlia (seed), delphinium, everlasting daisy, geranium, gerbera, gypsophila, honesty, impatiens, African marigold, mignonette, nasturtium, petunia, phlox, rudbeckia, salvia, snapdragon, statice, sunflower, zinnia.

This is every cook’s opinion - no savory dish without an onion, but lest your kissing should be spoiled, your onions must be fully boiled.” - Jonathan Swift, author “

RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Fresh Pasta with Smoked Eel, Lemon & Parsley

The smoked eel imparts a depth of flavour and grandeur to this dish which is finished perfectly with the crisp freshness of lemon and parsley. It is very simple to make and totally delicious. 

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 red onion
Piako Pete’s Smoked Eel (1/2 a fish)
A handful of chopped parsley
3 Tbsp cream 
Finely grated zest of one lemon
Fresh Pastalavista spaghetti
Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan
 
Method:
Gently cook the onion in the olive oil. Pull eel from the skin and break into bite-sized pieces.
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water.
Add eel, lemon zest, parsley and cream to the onion and heat through for 2 minutes.
Drain pasta and toss sauce through. Serve with grated parmesan and a crisp green salad.

CLEVEDON VILLAGE FARMERS' MARKET VENDORS & PRODUCE

  • Farmhouse Treats & Produce - fruit; vegetables and provisions
  • Soggy Bottom Holdings - purveyors of rare breed free-range meats
  • Sunset Coast Organics - organic fruit, vegetables and herbs
  • Mouthwatering cupcakes from Sweet Art
    Holmbrook Produce – chutney jams, mustards, pickles
  • Fancy Lettuce - lettuce; spinach; living herbs
  • Pacific Skye - seasonal fruit; fruit juice
  • Cuconics - telegraph cucumbers
  • Wild Bee - fresh local bush and field honey
  • Hamlin Nursery - garden plants
  • Dig This - Eion & Ann Scarrow’s garden plants
  • Waiuku River Wines - red & white wines, verjuice
  • Roses Galore - fresh cut roses
  • Clevedon Valley Cheese - handmade cheese
  • Piako Pete - wet fish; smoked fish and eel
  • Estuary Orchards – mandarins
  • Pasta La Vista – Fresh Artisan Pasta
  • Clevedon Animal Farm - pony rides for the kids
  • Bentru - smoked specialty meats and sausages; traditional proscuitto
  • Hungarian Twisters - ‘Kurtos Kalacs’ traditional Hungarian pastries
  • I Love Pies – handmade pies with a New Zealand flavour
  • Blackwood’s Gourmet Breads - freshly-made bagels and flatbreads
  • Salmonman - hot smoked salmon cured in a variety of ways
  • Zakar - BioGro beef cuts; premium beef mince and sausages
    Running Brook Seeds - quality heritage flower and vegetable seeds
  • Lime Kitchen – gourmet sauces, tarts, terrines and baking
  • Wild Wheat - artisan bakers of traditional and sourdough breads
  • Paella Pan - traditional paella cooked on-site; fresh crepes
  • Blueberry Deli - blueberries
  • Market Espresso - great coffee and refreshments
  • River Estate - premium olive oils and table olives
  • Pilgrim’s - organic lamb
  • Broccolini - broccolini
  • Alvita - fresh and roasted nuts
  • Avoculture - avocados
  • Tikapa Moana - subtropical fruit; seedlings
  • Mandeville Gardens - native plants
  • Sweet Art - cakes and chocolates
  • Nature’s Corner - free-range eggs
  • Truly Tasty - delicious gluten-free baking
  • Dullumbunda Farm - fruit; vegetables and herbs
  • Hungarian Deli - traditional air-dried meats and gluten-free sausages
  • Limes on the Firth - fresh limes; cooking demonstrations 10-11am
  • Alison’s Pony & Trap Rides - pony & trap rides for kids and adults
  • Willow Brook - lavender products; Iris plants and lavender
  • Clevedon Proteas - Proteas and Waratahs

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

Visit our website at www.clevedonfarmersmarket.co.nz
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