DISPATCHES FROM THE FARM

Autumn has really made her presence felt in the Victorian Central Highlands lately and she is particularly beautiful this year! I think most of us Daylesford/Glenlyon/Hepburn locals would agree it's the best time of year around here. 

Grape vine at Cliffys' Cafe/Providore.

For most of the past month (bar a couple of brief cold, wet snaps) we have had lovely warm, sunny days in the high teens to mid 20s. Hazy and almost balmy on occasion...yum!

The late afternoons cool soon as the sun dips and the nights and most mornings have been crisp and rather dewy. This morning on the way to our farmers' market in Melbourne there was heaps of fog along the highways and by-ways, eerily blanketing the surrounding landscape as the descending cold night air (well 5.30 am!) met the heat ascending from the still-warm soil. 

The light at this time of year has a gentle, misty, 'bathing' quality to it, even during the middle of the day, and it shows off the natural beauty of the region.

We got the new (i.e. 2012) garlic crop planted out a few weeks ago and it's shot up lovely, healthy green leaves very promptly...aaah photosynthesis, what a pal! 

Just gotta keep on top of the weeds...on top of the weeds...on top of the weeds for the next 7 months!! It might look pretty weed-free right now but actually we will begin 'chipping' them off very shortly, as it's most effective (and easier) to weed when they're small.

Wishing for a sunny spring this year...

Dear Sun please return as brilliantly and reliably come next springtime, pretty please...

The change over to the cooler season also heralds the end of many things for this year, such as the zucchinis (above) and other summer vegies and herbs. You can see here how the powdery mildew is really getting 'stuck in' to the zucchs now and the plants are seriously dying back. A few last zucchs and their flowers have just been harvested. Cucumbers are completely done for the year and eggplants are all but spent, the last just picked. It's been an horrendous year for our tomatoes (too much cool weather during summer, esp. night temps below 10 + a couple of cold snaps)...some of our heirloom tomatoes which we've had under cover soldiered on but to much lower yields and the field tomatoes were literally a 'right off' for the first time in our 6 years farming. "You win some you lose some" and as us farmers say "there's always next season!". The basil 'curled up its toes' last week after one too many cold, moist nights/mornings but we managed to get some picked just beforehand and a batch of end of season pesto has been made and some frozen in small containers to use during winter for the odd burst of summer memories/longings.

Carrots coming on...

Carrots recently picked...

Loads of luscious Italian parsley.

There's also some robust cold climate crops powering along. Various types of carrot are set to go for many months to come, the parsley is going 'nuts' and coriander and dill aren't far off. There's heaps of  beetroots and kales fast approaching and more to come plus a few other morsels.

Jerusalem Artichokes.

'Royal Blue' spuds

Dutch Cream spuds in the foreground.

We've just started lifting 'truck loads' of spuds and Jerusalem artichokes.

Mother nature has been doing her thang with the wild mushrooms...a good season this time I hear but as much as I admire these essential little ecosystem-groovers, I alas can not eat them (except shitakes).

What can I say? We do a damn good autumn 'spread' around here don't you think? Well it's colourful and tasty if nothing else :-) .

Hope you are enjoying the change of season where ever you may be?

Yesterday our farm was 'first cab off the rank' for the Day On The Land Farm Tour of Daylesford-Macedon region sustainable farms, a regional event on the 20th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival program. 

Our visitors were bused in from a meeting point at Kyneton railway station.  

Farmer Tim explaining all things organic farm related.

We hosted a fun hour or so on what was a beautiful, sunny autumn day with about 34 enthusiasts from all over Victoria and a small posse from Japan too. We shared our story and a range of information about what we grow and why, about the fact we are primarily soil farmers (because from conservation and building of healthy soils grow healthy plants), that we embrace science and tradition in our farming methods and how we work with the seasons and with &/or around our a unique and often unpredictable local climate.

Farm dog Billy fraternises with the guests, bumping up his pat quota!

The tour was organised by local chef Gary Thomas from Spade To Blade and event coordinator Simone Gordon our local Daylesford-Macedon Produce (DMP) group coordinator & of Long Grass Projects.

The vibrant Simone Gordon, one of the events organisers.

Towards the end of the tour, our guests had the opportunity to purchase some of our produce.

Some of the other information covered during the tour was about the advantages of growing different varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruits (e.g. heritage varieties)and why some produce is more expensive to grow and therefore costs more to buy. After visiting 5 organic farms (including Captains Creek Winery) and Istra smallgoods the tour group would have been full to the brim with lots of interesting info.

It has always been our desire to host farm tours and generally take whatever opportunity we can to educate people about organic, small-scale, sustainable food production and hopefully watch their eyes light up with inspiration and ah-haa moments! Being able to 'plug in' to this kind of event makes it accessible for us and we thank Simone and Gary for putting it together. 

Howdy all, I hope 2012 has been treating you well so far?

I don't know where the time keeps scooting to so quickly but I thought I'd better do you a blog post before my most recent batch of photos also become (totally) out-dated before I get to writing and perhaps you wonder where we have gotten to??

My farmer-boy Tim, manning our produce stall just before the crowds appeared

Sunday before last Angelica Organic Farm attended this years' annual Lake House Regional Producers' Day. We've done a few of these now and this year was a really good day for us...not the biggest day the event has ever had but us and other stallholders felt a good crowd of genuinely interested folk turned up.

Alla Wolf-Tasker (Lake House Exec. Chef/Owner) & Simone Gordon (DMP Co-ordinator)

The Regional Producers' Day although 'staged' at Daylesford's Lake House, is jointly arranged/hosted by DMP (Daylesford Macedon Produce group). DMP is probably best described as a collaboration between the Daylesford-Macedon regions' (& nearby) producers including farmers of vegetables, fruits, meats, honey, cheeses, vignerons, cider makers, chefs, restaurateurs, publicans & provedores/suppliers.

Piper Street Food Company's Damian & Francine...PSFC is a Kyneton-based DMP member and in the last few years have wowed us all with their exquisite and authentic charcuterie, i.e. French-style rillettes, terrines, pates and sausages. Plus they also make amazing sauces, pies and unusual pickles. Damian Sandercock is an excellent charcutier (...say with a French accent!!)! Noice sunflowers Damo btw...

Some of our Angelica Organic Farm wares on display

The annual Regional Producers' Day (RPD) is a celebration of the districts' great and unique produce and producers and an opportunity for chefs, foodies, food processors and the like from all over to visit us, discover and sample our harvests and various offerings, to perhaps then continue to use our products at home and in their food-related businesses for their enjoyment and that of their customers. 

Our RPD also presents an opportunity to educate people about various and often very important food-related issues. This year a major theme was about the benefits and sustainability of locally grown food and the importance of real (naturally grown), quality food, grown with much care and integrity (and how much more delicious this food usually is!)

GM-Free Zone...

Our guests included MADGE (Mothers Are Demystifying Genetic Engineering), an organisation close to mine and Tim's hearts, as they work their 'butts off' to research, educate the public, lobby government and generally raise the profile, understanding and importance of the fight against genetic engineering now being applied &/or planned for use within our food chain. MADGE are an authentic, passionate collective of people striving to care for and preserve our health, the health of our children, that of our food supplies, food growers and the future of the environment on which we all depend.   

I wonder what our topic du jour will be for next years' Lake House Regional Producers' Day??

From us at Angelica Organic Farm to all of you and your loved ones...

SEASONS' GREETINGS whatever you are celebrating at this time of year!!

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable holiday period, whether you are holidaying or mostly working and may 2012 be a wonderful, peaceful and prosperous year for you. xxx

Hello garlic lovers...GOOD NEWS...the 2011 GARLIC HARVEST is almost complete! 

We are very pleased with this year's haul, as it looks, smells and tastes fantastic :)! We can't wait to share it with you. 

The garlic we harvested last week is curing very well...a vast improvement on last year's pre-harvest and drying conditions we must say! Harvest and post-harvest time is always a little nerve wracking, especially after nursing the garlicky 'babies' for 8-9 months. 

Garlic hanging to cure.

It's also a very hectic month or so for our small team, from harvest, to curing, then feverishly cleaning it up for dispatching the first surge of online orders and for our farmers' markets.

So, the opening of the ONLINE GARLIC SHOP is just around the corner and very soon all our newsletter subscribers will received prompt notification of the online sales commencing (Quickly subscribe on the right side of this page if you still need to join the newsletter list!). 

Garlic updates will also occur on this homepage and the relevant garlic shop pages on this site, when available.

We are hoping the garlic will be well enough cured and enough of it cleaned up for sales to start prior to Christmas...hopefully in time for a garlicky Xmas, BUT please understand you 'keen beans', that we can not promise it will be ready and dispatched by that time. We will do our best, believe me, but we can't make guarantees and some of it is still up to Nature...AND we WILL let you know a.s.a.p.. Also, we won't be able to make garlic braids this season, so no garlic braids will be available, sorry.

3 typical bulb sizes: each with a sample of their respective cloves. 

As a reminder to our regular garlic customers and as new info perhaps for our more recent customers, the garlic is currently curing (drying), prior to being cleaned up and ready for sales. We maintain a good air flow around the curing bulbs and monitor their drying process closely, but depending on the weather (heat & humidity mainly) the curing process takes at least 2 weeks. Adequate curing is essential for the longevity of your garlic, as the drying prevents mould and rot setting in, the firming up of the cloves and drying of the skins protects the garlic from bruising, also preventing disease. Proper natural curing (as opposed to 'rapid drying' used in large-scale production) rather than putting it through sudden extreme change, helps maintain the garlic's integrity and curing with the 'necks' (stems) intact has also been shown to vastly reduce the occurrence of disease and therefore aid longer garlic storage. After curing and before sending the garlic out to you, it is all trimmed and cleaned of detritus and dirt by hand, bulb-by-bulb, to further help storage longevity and as part of our care and quality assurance and our commitment to providing you with a final product that is appealing and easy to handle.

Otherwise, the rest of the new produce season is burgeoning...although still up & down, weather has begun warming up here. Some early leafy greens are ready. The woody herbs are lush again. Compost is still being turned and the ready mix is spread prior to plantings. The 'bare' earth not still under green manure coverage, is alive with new vegetable crop growth. Our seedling plants are mostly in the field now and new crop seeding continues on a regular basis for months to come. A lot of weeding is going on now too (rain + warmth = even more WEEDS!) A lot of effort and planning is afoot towards an abundant imminent new growing season.

The 2011-2012 Red Rocambole garlic is looking great folks! We have started to 'string' some warm days together here and there, so the garlic has begun flowering with its scapes and plumping up or setting its bulbs/cloves.

We still can't be specific about exactly when garlic harvest will start, but if we keep getting mostly mild-warm weather (i.e. less major temp dips and sun-less days like we have still been getting too often!), it should be able to begin end of November/early December, all going well, followed by the curing and cleaning up period prior to sales commencing. 

PLEASE NOTE: We do not take pre-harvest orders (paid or unpaid for). The online shop will be opened once the 2011 garlic is ready for dispatch only.

We'll of course send out a 'garlic alert' newsletter to our subscribers (subscribe right-hand side of this page) once the online shop is about to open and post harvest and sales update info here on the website (homepage and garlic shop pages) when the time comes. 

Things are taking shape at Angelica Organic Farm as we've finally gotten into our local version of spring.

We've been sowing seedlings for weeks and have begun planting out the first round of seedlings into the field.

Lettuce...

Red bok choi

Red kale...

...PLUS directly sown in the field but not highly visible yet are a range of carrots, beetroots, coriander, dill, rocket, mizuna, potatoes and a few others.

Some of the woody herbs which 'die back' over winter are springing back to life, like this lemon thyme above.

The green manure oats are on the 'go' towards feeding the soil and boosting organic matter in the areas for the next planting of garlic next autumn.

Other green manure oats have been 'turned in' to the soil in order to start breaking down a bit prior to planting new summer crops soon.

New compost made from last growing season's plant remnants, waste and weeds is being used for seed raising mix and to feed the fields before planting.

See also (in the foreground) the organic hay waiting to be used in the next compost heap.

The abundance of fresh, lush, oh-so- green clover is living evidence of the TLC we have invested in the previously neglected land over the 5 years since we arrived as custodians for it.  

Our gorgeous red rocambole garlic is doing well too...watch this space for a pictorial update coming soon... 

Dear reader, we thought we'd ask for your help...

We need a large, round, copper tub for the farm. An old laundry tub, know as a 'copper' would be ideal for our purpose. We are posting this appeal because we haven't had any luck in our own search so far...

The copper tub needs to be:

• Round (NOT oval, square or any other shape) 
• In good condition - no holes
• Solid or with Internal copper not just externally copper-clad
• Approx. 12 gallon capacity
• We mainly need the tub - no real need for the stand, grate e.t.c. (but will consider)
• Available within around 90 mins drive from Daylesford/Glenlyon in Central Victoria

I'm sorry I haven't got a picture to show you, but I assume if you can help, then you know what we're referring to?

If you have an old copper you're willing to part with/sell or know someone else who has one, please email us with the details/offer (info@angelicaorganicfarm.com.au ) OR call Tim on 0438 482 738. 

Thank you very much.