What is happening at the farm?
From Mad Mountain Family Farm
All our regular customers know and love Lyn and Tim – the always cheerful and hugely humble and helpful couple who are at the helm of this family farm. So here is a little insight into their story.
Seeking a more sustainable lifestyle five years ago Lyn and Tim moved out of the suburbs of Shellharbour onto what is now their picturesque property at Tomewin (on the NSW side of the border fortunately). They now enjoy beautiful views to the ocean across vast tracts of farmland and valleys.
Their desire was to have solar, tank water and grow food for their family and in only five years they’ve created an abundance from nothing. Through applying the principles of permaculture to simulate a natural environment in their garden they now have a highly productive working ecosystem that naturally discourages pests. But it is not just Lyn and Tim – it really is a working family farm as two of their adult children and their families all live on the farm and contribute to its productivity.
We are the lucky ones to benefit from their greenhouse stocked with nourishing culinary and medicinal herbs plus flowering pollinator plants and vegies. Their delicious jams, chilli sauces, chutneys and relishes are ALL made on the farm from their own organic produce.
Right now, on the cusp of spring, they are harvesting their tumeric and ginger whilst trialling new products such as preserved lemon and Moroccan preserved lemon. They are also experimenting with lemon and lime dried wheels – preparing to introduce these to the market when the process is perfected. Lyn told me that they don’t really know what they are doing. But it seems to me that their achievements in such a short period of time have been pretty amazing. I wonder what will be next in this fascinating farm story.
AND here’s the good oil
At the market we have macadamia oil at Rainforest Foods for all our customers who used to get their maca oil from Nudgel Nuts. They now happily refill their bottles at Rainforest Foods. We also have olive oil – Grumpy Grandma’s olive oil has been available at Spice Palace for many years and is hugely popular..
This week we are introducing a new pop-up stall with Pecan Oil. Greg Manson, a local grower based in the Wardrop Valley has a pecan orchard comprised of 150 Shoshone pecan trees and just recently – after researching possibilities – he began hand pressing pecan oil.
This neutral flavoured oil was used traditionally in ancient Mexican and Native American cultures. It seems that pecan oil is one of the world’s best kept secrets and as it is a highly nourishing nut, the nutrients in its oil are also nourishing, good for the skin, especially because of its high levels of zinc. Zinc is known to help “fight acne and skin discoloration, giving your skin a radiant young look.”
Because pecan oil is odourless it makes a good carrier oil too so I’m keen to experiment with it. How about you?
Warren Wiggins is back this week with his local Dorper lamb and fennel is abundant so I was excited to find the perfect combo recipe. See the recipe for Lamb Shank Soup (with fennel) in this weeks newsletter.
