Greens from The Farm

The scapes, by the time you read this, may no longer be around. The long green shoots which grow from a garlic bulb make their brief appearance between spring and summer. I’m learning all about them from Josh Dooley, who had thrust some into my arms the previous week and urged me to roast them, to treat them like asparagus. Which I duly did, and they were fantastic, very subtly garlicky, a little sweet.

Josh and wife Lynette have been growing glorious produce at The Farm in Ewingsdale for about ten years now, and selling at farmers’ markets for the past one-and-a-half. The absence of signage (‘I like to be incognito!’, jokes Josh) does nothing to deter the flow of customers to the stall, where three trestle tables are festooned with things mostly green. There are the amusingly-named bouq-kales, bunches of four different types of kale, including cavolo nero, white Russian and Russian curly, which are a big seller. There’s silverbeet and green onions and cabbages, broccolini and bok choy and watermelon radishes, prettily pink inside. And there’s the big tub of mixed leaves, another big seller for the couple, and no wonder, an assortment so zingily fresh they nearly leap out at you.

And yet what you see may well no longer be there in a few weeks’ time. ‘We’re in the cusp season’, Josh explains. ‘All these leafy greens are starting to come to an end, and soon it will be zucchinis and chillis and capsicums and beans.’ He says that they’ll keep the mixed leaves going for as long as they can, ‘but they don’t like the heat. Winter’s the time greens thrive.’

Here’s a couple purchasing scapes, and I want to know what they’ll do with theirs. ‘They’re delicious pickled!’ says the girl, ‘plus they’re really yummy in an omelette.’ ‘They’re a by-product that’s become a delicacy’, adds Josh.

Greens From The Farm are at Mullumbimby Farmers Market every Friday from 7am till 11am.

Originally published in The Echo.