Celebrate Tasmania’s food culture through the seasons

Autumn

Many people know Mount Gnomon Farm, in Penguin, in Tasmania’s north, for its free-range meats and artisan smallgoods, but the property also boasts a 1000-tree heritage apple orchard. While this famous autumnal fruit is mainly used for cider, from January to April, visitors can also pick their own. March is peak apple season, says Guy Robertson, who owns the property, which is a working farm with a kitchen garden, fields of sunflowers, a restaurant, accommodation and an events space. “We have good rainfall and good soil,” he shares. “Apples grow well because of our temperate climate.”

Pumpkins are another well-known autumn vegetable, says Paulette Whitney, co-owner of micro-farm Provenance Growers and author of Broccoli & Other Love Stories, a memoir, growing guide and cookbook that explores the history and culture of Tassie’s vegetables, fruits and herbs. “You pick pumpkins in autumn, even though they’re a winter produce,” she says. “Storage is a part of seasonality, too.”

Winter

Paulette and her husband Matt Deakin own and run Provenance Growers. While the duo started out growing market veg for local restaurants (including the now-shuttered Garagistes and Tom McHugo’s), these days they focus more on seeds, seedlings and condiments like their iconic kasundi, which they sell at Hobart’s Salamanca Market on Saturdays.

“We tend to just flex with whatever the season does,” Paulette says. In winter, that means their trestle tables are stacked with herbs, leafy greens and tubers. “We are pushing back a bit against having things all year around because we want to make sure if you buy a plant from us it will grow. So, if you want cabbage, which is a winter veg, you will have to plant that in Jan or Feb,” she says. Plant a yam tuber or two in winter, and the next season you’ll be able to feed the neighbourhood.

“The cool thing about winter produce is that they make their own anti-freeze, converting sugar to starch. In summer cabbage might be bitter, but it’s really sweet in winter. That’s when you make your best coleslaw.” 

Spring

If you’ve eaten out at Hobart venues Ogee, Trophy Room, Fico, Hamlet, Dier Makr or Six Russell lately, you might have noticed the words ‘Felds Farm’ on the menu. Since starting their practising organic micro-farm about five years ago, demand for Michael Layfield and Lauren Byrne’s produce has become so high, the pair – both ex chefs – now focus on the farm full time.

“We’ve just bought our first property at Forcett [in southern Tasmania],” says Michael. “We grow pretty much anything and everything you can in Tasmania in spring, from salad greens to kale and chard, broad beans, spring onions.” Though the season can take a while to get going, he says, because Tasmania is so cool. “We call it the ‘hungry gap’,” he jokes.

Michael has some expert tips for getting the most out of your spring haul. “If you’re washing leafy greens, get a good little salad spinner so you can dry the leaves after,” he says. Store them in a sealed container in your fridge, which protects delicate leaves from wilting humidity. And for root vegetables like carrots and beetroot, “if you’re not going to use them straight away, take the tops off. The veg will put all its energy into the leaves, which is why you end up with droopy carrots!”

A year-round Tasmanian pantry

With an endless stream of produce coming from Agrarian’s kitchen garden, Stephen is a big fan of canning, jarring and pickling. “We have varieties that we grow specifically for preserving, but also any excess will still get preserved as well,” he says. Tomatoes are cured in salt and olive oil, then put into jars. “That might turn into ketchup, or tomato soup in winter,” he says. Cucumbers are pickled for kiosk sandwiches or turned into vinegar.  

You can preserve all year around, Stephen says, even in winter. “It could be potato, or delicata squash – we’ll preserve that by mixing it with koji rice, salt and water in a jar. Twelve months later it’s a vegetable paste that we can season things with.”

You don’t need any special equipment to get started at home, he says, just a few glass jars, a pot to boil water in and an excess of produce – store-bought or homegrown is fine. “It’s always good to sanitise your equipment, and make sure jars are properly sealed before you put them away,” he says. “There are a lot of good pickling books around, but it doesn’t really matter what recipe you use.”