Hello and welcome to Autumn!

Despite pretty much missing out on Summer this year how can we not revel in the glorious, cool, gentle sunshine and changing colours of Autumn.

Our monthly produce swap was held on Sunday 15th March as part of the Malmsbury Farmers' Market. The main swapping occurs at 10am but if you can’t make it for 10 then still feel free to visit the stall any time til 1pm for a chat or to bring and swap. March brought harvest bounty to the stall: tomatoes, zucchini, kale, apples, nectarines, watermelon, horseradish, dried currents, beans and more tomatoes!

Thank you to everyone who came along to our inaugural annual fermenting workshop and community pickling afternoon with Meg Ulman. Our upcoming workshops on cheese-making, soap-making, and sourdough bread baking have all received a lot of interest and are now sold out.

Swappers are encouraged to bring seeds and seedlings to swap too!

We understand the workshops may need to be reimagined due to the COVID lockdown measures. We are looking at ways of delivering these workshops in light of current restrictions on gatherings and we will contact participants shortly.

These low-cost workshops have been made possible by a Small Projects Grant from Macedon Ranges Shire Council.

IN THE KITCHEN
Green tomatoes? There are lots around that seem to be threatening to stay that way til the end of the season but if you can patiently leave them in the garden til just before the frosts arrive you should get more ripening. You can also pick any that have even a slight blush and they will ripen indoors. They don’t actually even need a sunny windowsill, they’ll just turn if you bring them in and keep them on the bench or somewhere with reasonable ventilation (They can go mouldy otherwise). The last resort is to pull the entire plant up by the roots or cut it at soil level and hang it inside or under the eaves of a shed to protect it from rain and frost. You’ll be amazed how the fruit will continue to develop as the last nutrients are mined from the withering stems.

However, if anyone has a favourite green tomato chutney/pickle recipe maybe bring a couple of copies of it to the swap on Sunday. I’ve recently discovered that green tomato salsa verde is a thing (!) but have yet to try it (we usually use tomatillos). I am intending to try this recipe this year and also the fried green tomato recipe on the same website.

Zucchinis continue to appear in the garden, on benches, kitchen tables (and neighbour's doorsteps) around the Macedon Ranges! Rayna has offered to bring her spiraliser to the March swap for instant zoodles to order. We’ll bring ours too. So on that note here is a collection of zucchini noodle recipes to get you inspired.

IN THE GARDEN:

Forget stockpiling the toilet paper, it’s time to get organised and fill that veggie garden while the soil is still warm enough to establish things in time for Winter harvesting!

Prepare beds for garlic planting, which should happen over the next month or two. Here is a great article by Kirsten from Milkwood Permaculture, written when they were living and growing in Hepburn so it’s all nice, locally-appropriate info.

Give a light feed to fruit trees by spreading compost and/or pelleted organic fertiliser around the drip line of the tree. This is also a good time to apply some dolomite lime around the drip line and water in some sulphate of potash. As always, it’s important to follow any application of fertiliser by watering it in and then applying mulch, leaving a space around the trunk to avoid rotting.

Sow (direct into the garden) now: Beetroot, broadbeans, coriander (yes, contrary to popular belief, coriander loves the cold, it has even sailed through a snow event in our Malmsbury garden), carrots, dill, radishes, swedes, rocket

Plant (transplant seedlings) now: Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, Asian greens including mizuna, giant red mustard (possibly the most resplendent vegetable ever known), leeks, parsley, spring onions, salad onions, English spinach, silverbeet, calendula, borage

Happy gardening!

March Produce Swappers Newsletter