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Thursday, March 6, 2014

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THE DEEPsouth

Discover the producers and growers of WAs

Southern Forests region

Pull-out seasonal produce calendar. P11-13 | Recipes from one of the areas top cooks. P18-19

FRESHThursday, March 6, 2014

INDEXWelcome ................................ 2Intro & Road Tripping With Broadfield ..................... 3Avocados, nuts & potatoes.............................. 4-5Berries & finger limes ........... 6Cherries & Broadfield............ 7Beef, lamb, truffles &Broadfield........................... 8-9Marron & Broadfield ........... 10Seasonal calendar ........... 11-13Garlic & Manjimup Fresh ... 14Feijoas, Grilled & Broadfield............................. 15Plums, lettuce, jams &Broadfield........................ 16-17Recipe spread ................. 18-19Wine & sparkling grape juice ................................ 20-21Limes & olive oil ................. 22Persimmons & Broadfield .. 23Fun facts & attractions ....... 24

FEATURES EDITORMark Mallabone, 9482 3574features@wanews.com.auEDITORHermione Stott 9482 3451fresh@wanews.com.auSTAFF WRITER Olga de Moeller WINE Ray Jordan BEER Vic CrosslandCONTRIBUTORS Amanda Lewis,Connie Clarke, Don Stott, JenniferSusanto-Lee, Mark Irving, BerlindaConti & Emma ChittyDESIGN Rochelle SmithADVERTISING Marissa Owen9482 3754

COVER SFFCchairmanBevan EattsPHOTO IainGillespie

The magical Southern Forests region isrenowned for growing world-class produce,including more than 50 types of fruit andvegetables, truffles, marron, avocados, cherries,beef . . . the list goes on.

Only recently heard of it? Thats probably thanksto a group of passionate locals and the StateGovernments $7 million allocation from itsRoyalties for Regions initiative who recognisedthe wealth and abundance of produce in the regionand formed the Southern Forests Food Council in2010, specifically to brand and unify the area togive it an identity much like its counterpartsMargaret River and the Great Southern.

In this edition we meet some of the growers andtake a grassroots look at the regions producespanning from Manjimup and Pemberton toNorthcliffe and Walpole, making its catchcry,Genuinely Southern Forests, ring true.

Its all about creating awareness at this stage,Southern Forests Food Council executive officerAllen Burtenshaw said. It is such an isolatedregion . . . the water, the air, the soil . . . its all soclean and crisp, which makes for a top-qualityproduct.

He said while much of the produce had not beenbranded in retail shops yet, he encouragedconsumers to ask. We want consumers to tap theirretailer on the shoulder and ask about SouthernForests produce so then (theretailers) in turn areencouraged to stock it.

Genuine fresh local producefrom genuine down-to-earthlocals.

Im genuinely excited.Hermione StottFresh editor

The isolated Southern Forests regionproduces a vast range of crisp, cleanand exciting food products.

Welcome to our special southern forests edition of fresh

Three-and-a-half hours south of Perth alarge group of food and wine producers isrelentless in its quest to claim the mantle ofWAs food bowl.

Farmers, winemakers and chefs are inpursuit of excellence and innovation.

So it was my great pleasure to spend aweek with some of the great people of theSouthern Forests region, bounded byManjimup, Walpole, Pemberton andNorthcliffe.

I was lucky enough to visit unbelievablyfriendly folk nurturing potatoes, cherries,apples and grapes. Avocados are abundantand healthy cattle happily graze belowtowering karri trees. Prized truffles slowlymature, shaded by hazelnut groves.

The food by Pemberton chef SophieZalokar at Foragers looked so incrediblemy job of shooting the dishes was a breeze.

If youre interested in where your foodcomes from and havinga chat with some of thepeople who grow it, getdown to this beautifulregion. Iain GillespiePhotographer

For more information onSouthern Forests region,

go online tosouthernforestsfood.com

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Next time you bite into anapple, slice an avocado, ormash a potato, chances areit was grown in WAs SouthernForests, a picturesque, fertileregion 300km south-west of Perththats earning a reputation fortop-quality food.

With 80,000ha of farmland andabout 8000ha of crop plantings, itproduces nearly 40 per cent of theStates potatoes, 50 per cent of itsapples, 70 per cent of its avocadosand 90 per cent of its broccoli, notto mention 85 per cent of thesouthern hemispheres blacktruffles for a total gross agriculturalvalue of more than $150 million ayear.

Its home to the internationallyfamous Pink Lady apple, which isgrown around Manjimup, and hasnurtured one of Australiasyoungest and most exciting wineregions in the heart of karricountry, Pemberton, where therich, loamy soil supports more than40 vineyards.

Much of the agricultural andpastoral land is worked by thirdand fourth-generation farmers,who have joined forces in a190-member Southern ForestsFood Council, which was foundedin 2010, followed by the GenuinelySouthern Forests brand launch lastNovember to identify producefrom Manjimup, Pemberton,Northcliffe and Walpole. Fresh offthe mark are Karri CountryPotatoes, grown in the rich, redearth of Manjimup and Pemberton,and one of the first regionalproducts to meet the SFFCs

standards for fresh, premium localproduce.

There are people like KimEdwards, who grows Chinesecabbages hes fourth generation and Al Blakers, whos prettymuch a pioneer of truffles; hisfamily has been in the region formore than 100 years, AllenBurtenshaw, SFFC executiveofficer, said. But weve got newpeople coming as well. Just in thepast 12 months, a strawberry-raspberry grower from Bullsbrookhas set up an additional farm inPemberton because hes seen thesoil and conditions, which areoptimum for what he does.

Ive just experienced my firstcherry season and cant believe thequality. What a lot of people dontrealise is that its all grown inpristine conditions and has justbeen missed on the radar for solong, Mr Burtenshaw said.

But with more and moreconsumers wanting to understandwhere their food comes from andhow its produced, the region isbecoming a pretty compellingproposition.

SFFC chairman and plum growerBevan Eatts described SouthernForests as WAs premier foodbowl and said the ultimate aimwas to establish it as aninternationally recognisedculinary tourism destination.

A third-generation farmerworking land established by hisgrandfather in 1946, he believedthe Genuinely brand encompassedeverything Southern Forests didbest, with its multicultural and

multi-generational communitypriding itself on its produce. Thebeauty of this area is you can growjust about anything and theressuch an incredible variety, he said.

We want to strengthen regionalpride; we want people, when theygo to the supermarket, to know ourbrand and know the produce fromthis region is well grown with careto an extremely high standard. Wedont have a lot of pests anddiseases because of our isolation,which is largely the reason hardlyanyone knows about us.

Hopefully, now, when peoplesee the Genuinely stickers onproduce in stores they will connectthe dots and buy it.

Its producing the goodsGrowing area is foodie heaven, writes OLGA DE MOELLER

Southern Forests

northcliffe

manjimuppemberton

walpole

perth

SouthernOcean

Thebeauty ofthis areais youcan growjustaboutanything.

At last. The possibility of doing a Jack Kerouac;hitting the road, as it were, to experience the livesof the great and the good, the princes andpaupers of rural life and immerse oneself in therichness, both good and bad, of life off thefreeway. Unlike Kerouacs On the Road, thisfour-day journey to the south of WA was notlikely to include sleeping in railway cars ordesperate mendicancy or, in fact, any hardship atall. But seeking inspiration from the great man, Iwas reminded of his simple aphorism: Nothingbehind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever soon the road.

The idea was simple, go to the SouthernForests region and discover . . . stuff. To be a littlespecific, food, wine and restaurant stuff. Andwrite a diary. Tell it how it is, Rob, they said.

Meet locals; talk to people who drive headersand know what crutching is; eat some food . . .enjoy. The reason? The large and unwieldygroup of farmers, food producers, wine makersand hospitality peeps who make up the SouthernForests Food Council wanted us to experience thebounty and potential of their region, which,probably like you, I thought was the GreatSouthern region, which it isnt.

Southern Forests is an entirely discreteappellation stretching in a long band from justnorth of Manjimup south to Pemberton and on tothe south coast at Walpole. It includes towns likeNorthcliffe, Quinninup and some of the statesmost spectacular national parks: Dentrecasteaux,Beedelup, Greater Dordagup and Shannon.

It is a complete surprise. Pemberton and

Manjimup are known for truffles, marron andtrout. But avocados? Artisanal dairy productswith a national reputation? Fine wines?

With the diary on the passenger seat, I headedsouth through Bunbury, Bridgetown and on toManjimup, where we (photographer Iain DizzyGillespie and I) were to be based. Surprise #1: Ittakes no longer to get to the Southern Foreststhan it does Margaret River just a bit over threehours. Surprise #2 Sophie Zalokars Foragers B&Bis not all long-drop toilets and smouldering josssticks. Its sophisticated, minimal andcomfortable chalets are complete with a barbecueon the veranda, massive five-star hotel bed, aview to a treed creek and the deep nothingness ofa forest silence: an anechoic quiet that makesones city ears ring.

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As a fourth-generationSouthern Forests farmer,Stewart Ipsen has seeneverything from sheep and cattleto apples, cauliflowers, potatoesand broccoli grown on the familysland but his current passion lieswith avocados.

On a co-owned property westof Pemberton, he has set up andruns a 91ha 30,000 tree orchard,which on a good year produces350,000-400,000 5.5kg trays ofmostly Hass-variety fruit.

Im the fourth generation inagriculture from our family, hesaid. My great-grandfatherpioneered Mayfield, the familys

farm, from virgin forest in the early1900s, originally running cattle andsheep and then adding appleorchards.

The apples were removed inthe early 1970s and my father anduncle moved into producinghorticulture crops includingpotatoes, cauliflowers andbroccoli. We still run cattle but ourmain focus now is producingavocados.

We planted our first avocadotrees at Mayfield in 1996 and fromthere, expanded down toPemberton (their current location)in 2003.

Mr Ipsen, whose brother alsogrows avocados in the area, saidthe regions good rainfall, rich soiland dry summer made for idealgrowing conditions.

All the fruit was picked by handfrom the ground or using cherrypickers and during peak harvesttimes, up to 40 backpackers andlocals were hired, he said.

The dry summer monthsduring which we harvest helps toproduce fruit which has a very lowincidence of anthracnose, which isthe main cause of internal defectsin avocados, he said.

Our main competitors duringthe harvest window, New Zealand,dont have this advantage.

This dry Mediterranean climatealso keeps problem insects away

allowing us to produce fruit usingvirtually no insecticides.

Avocados will grow in a varietyof soil types but they require largevolumes of good water up to 150litres per day per tree during thesummer months.

The Pemberton region isrenowned for its high rainfall. Ourfarm averages 1200mm per yearwhich helps to fill large irrigationdams on the property.

The soil consists of deep karriloams which support the largekarri trees which surround the farmand which avocado trees alsothrive on.

Pemberton grower RussellDelroy started growing avocadosin 1987 and from humblebeginnings has become one of thebiggest growers and suppliers inthe country.

Mr Delroy, who grew up on awheat/sheep farm in Esperance,said his 180ha Pemberton orchardproduced 16 million Hass avocadoslast year, rising to 24 million pieceswhen the fruit he sourced andpacked for other growers in thearea were added.

Delroy Orchards, wasresponsible for around half thetotal quantity of avocadosproduced in WA, with the fruitfrom Southern Forests growersaccounting for more than half ofWAs $90 million avocado industry.

The South West of WA has areally good reputation for growinga very high-quality, consistentproduct good flavour, goodshelf life and much better internalquality, Mr Delroy said.

The brilliant thing aboutavocados is that there are very fewmeals you cant use them in frombreakfast and lunch to dinner.

They just hit the sweet spotand tick all the boxes forconvenience, health and taste.

First port of call, the enthusiastic, clever Frenchfamily father William, mum Debra and son Dean,pictured below who own one of the biggestavocado farms in WA. Avocados? In the SouthernForests? Arent they a tropical fruit? Yes and no.

According to William French the weather isperfect for them and the western growing season iscounter to the east coast season, which puts WA inthe avocado box seat, as it were, once the easternseaboards season is over. There are no effectivestorage protocols for avocados (unlike like, say,apples which can be cold stored for over a yearwithout any ill-effects), so they remain trulyseasonal in this country, which means when all theeastern orchards have exhausted themselves, itsWAs avos which feed the nation from October toFebruary. And how? The French family which hasa long history in the region as cauliflower and onionproducers before moving into avocados has about16,000 trees over two properties on ChannybearupRoad producing about one million kilograms ofavos a year. Thats just one family on one farm. Theyare magnificent specimens too (the avos, not thefamily). Big, rich andcreamy, they lead a mansthoughts to guacamole.Note to self: must makeguacamole for theculinary-challenged IainGillespie tonight.

The French familyhappily posed for somesilly photos could youjuggle some avos whilewe snap away and didso with great aplomb.

Nice people.

It was the apples that first gaveManjimup its reputation as ahorticultural centre ofexcellence. One of its claims tofame is as the home of the pinklady.

And while its still one ofAustralias best apple-growingareas, Manjimup has come a longway in recent years. Avocados,cherries and truffles have joinedthe humble apple and made ahome for themselves in this fertilearea of the South West.

And just as Manjimuphorticulture has diversified, so toothe pioneering Fontanini family hasspread its wings since its arrival inWA early in the 20th century.

Germano (Jack) Fontaninimigrated from Lucca, Italy to joinhis brother Archimedes (Archie).He took up land next to hisbrothers and today, twogenerations later, three

generations of Fontanini live onthat 46ha. Shaun Fontanini, one ofJacks great-grandchildren, has ahome on the farm with wife Neysaand their five young children. So,too, does his father Tony and hiswife Shirley.

Shaun said the farms trees weredivided roughly equally: one-thirdapples, one-third avocados andone-third nuts chestnuts,walnuts and a few hazelnuts.

Apples, he acknowledged, werea bit of a struggle at present, withrising costs, increasingcompetition from Eastern Statesgrowers and returns staying thesame. But then theyve supportedus for the past 20-30 years whenwe didnt have the avocados,Shaun noted.

Tony said South Australiangrowers enjoyed warmer weatherand were able to bring theirapples to the market before the

A passion for avos

Fontaninis add to apple pie

Stewart Ipsen saysSouthern Forests isperfect for growing,writes AMANDA LEWIS

Youvegot tokeep upwith thenewvarietiesand thenewgrowingpractices.

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Potato grower Glen Ryan has a thingabout Laura. Boiled, mashed orroasted, his favourite spud alwayscomes up trumps.

Its got the best flavour, texture andstructure of all the varieties, he said. Youcan do anything with it. Royal blue iscurrently the standard bearer, but peopleweve given Laura to say its better; evenchefs. When mashed, it already looks likeits got butter in it and its the only one Ibring home to eat. Even those who loveDelaware because of the flavour say Laurais better.

Mr Ryan and brother Dean have beengrowing potatoes for more than 30 yearson part of the 512ha family farm started bytheir parents in the late 1950s nearPemberton. He said they werent expectedto take over the business but family ties andthe scenic landscape with the Warren Riverrunning through the property lured themback. In fact, our parents neverencouraged us to take this on but I guessits in your blood, he said. I finished schooland took a gap year, then ended up staying.Dean came straight back to the farm afterYear 12.

The brothers grow 11 varieties, includingseveral under trial for better eating andcosmetic qualities. Red-skinned Laura has arich yellow flesh and finally made it afterfour seasons, with production now close to20 tonnes a week. We thought it had a fairbit of promise pretty much from the startbut had problems planting it up becausethe seed line was discontinued, Mr Ryansaid. It was trialled in South Australia and

they hadtroublewith it

because the skin would peel away, butweve largely managed to get around that. Ithink once it gets going, it will become thenew standard bearer because its such agood allrounder and thats what peoplewant.

There are more than 20 potato growersin the Southern Forests region, whichproduced 19,911 tonnes just over 38 percent of WAs crop last year. All are aroundPemberton and Manjimup. Mr Ryan said thefarm was licensed to grow 3500 tonnes ayear, with Nadine by far the biggest crop,but that was expected to change asdifferent make-do varieties and trial cropssucceeded. Maranca, Jelly, Sifra, Mozart andSenna were in the pipeline for commercialproduction down the track.

Nadine is a white-skin and flesh variety,but the flavour is traditionally in thecreamier-to-yellow-flesh varieties, he said.

When I started, Delaware was the onlyvariety we had and it was the standardbearer for a long time. Its a great potatowhen it comes to taste, texture andversatility; one thats good for boiling,mashing and roasting, but it did not handlethe washing process well and the shape canbe questionable.

We havent grown it for 10 years.Unfortunately, consumers go a lot onappearance they want their potatoes tolook like apples, all shiny and bright andthat can be extremely frustrating for agrower.

At the moment, Nadine ticks all theright boxes in that it washes upmagnificently, looks the part and has prettygood yields but were looking at betterpotatoes with our trial lines, so things willchange as new varieties make the grade.

Manjimup apples were ready.But the Fontaninis have high

hopes for a new variety of applecalled kanzi, a crunchy red applewhich was bred in Belgium.

Theyve planted 5000 Kanzitrees on the farm over the pastfour years and got a small crop lastyear. Everyones always lookingfor something new, Tony said.

Shaun added: Youve got tokeep up with the new varieties andthe new growing practices.

The nut trees were a way tospread the family farms interests.

The story used to be that if anapple tree died, theyd replace itwith a nut tree a chestnut or awalnut tree, he said.

But it also reflected somethingof Jacks history. He used to growchestnuts in Italy in the wild and heknew that theyd go well overhere, Shaun said.

Mark Irving

Third-generation potato growerMaurice Humphrey is carryingon a family tradition on the farmstarted by his grandfather justoutside Pemberton in 1924. Topcrop this time of year is the waxy,squiggly, yellow-fleshed kipflerthats perfect boiled or steamed.

It makes a great potatosalad, Mr Humphrey said. Wewere approached to grow themfor the restaurant trade butpopularity has picked up andsupermarkets are stocking them.

Its something different andyou can get a nice, even shapewithout bends and twists insandy soil or karri loam as itscalled down this way. Weve beendoing them for eight years andare slowly putting in more andmore.

He said the season ran fromJanuary to May and he wastrying to dig up about fourtonnes a week. He also hadsupplied seed to a couple ofgrowers in Busselton andMyalup with the aim of havingkipflers available year-round.

Theyre a good potato butprobably too fiddly to use daily,he said. We would eat mainlyRoyal blues.

Lovely Laura has great tastePotato variety shows its versatility, writes OLGA DE MOELLER

Pembertonpotato growersGlen and DeanRyan.

APembertonavocado grower

Stewart Ipsenwith some of his

freshly pickedcrop.

Chestnuts grow well in Manjimup,enabling the Fontaninis to diversifybeyond apples. Picture: Craig Kinder

the king of the kipflers

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When Phil and Kay Gravettdecided to sell thefamilys cattle farm, theysearched high and low for a betterplace to live.

It was nearly two years laterthat we bought this property, MrGravett said. We looked atrelocating in different parts of theState, interstate we did have agood look around but we couldntreally find anywhere that wasbetter to live.

And so the Gravetts stayed inthe Southern Forests region,moving into orchard managementand choosing to grow figs.

Id been picking and packingfruit for a neighbour around theroad, Mrs Gravett said. He wasgoing out of figs and we could seea niche market for them.

Mr Gravett said figs were awonderful product to grow locally,as they were such a fragile fruit.

They do import from interstatebut the fruit arent in as good acondition, he said. Theyve got topick them greener and they dontripen once theyre off the tree.

The Gravetts have opted forsmaller fig trees, but have a lotmore of them the trees cover5ha of their property in a

progressive plan that startedin 2007. They said it

made pickingthe figs easier,as well askeeping diseaseout of the trees.

In addition tofigs, theGravetts havetheir very ownform of berrygrowing on theirproperty fondly namedthe Rustleberryafter a tigersnake that foundits home underthe berry bush.

When we were cleaning up theproperty, I walked along the damwall and found this berry bush,Mrs Gravett said. It looked a bitlike a blackberry but it wasdefinitely different we tasted itand it was absolutely delicious.

A cross between a Europeanblackberry and an old Englishraspberry, their rustleberries havewon accolades in Deliciousmagazine and become popular.

Rustler the snake has sincebeen featured on the berries logoand even influenced the name ofthe Gravetts property,affectionately called Rustlers.

Mr Gravett said branding their

product, as well as winning theaward, had helped them.

We found it very hard to getthe berries into retail when theywere just another berry, they justwerent prepared to give themshelf space, he said. This year, weused our logo to promote themand were able to get rid of ourwhole production very easily.

The Gravetts have faith inbranding their region just liketheir rustleberries to increaseinterest and trust in the area.

While they are looking to theirretirement, the Gravetts say theywont become grey nomads andplan to stay on their belovedManjimup property.

A couple have switched from cattle to fruit, finds EMMA CHITTY

Manjimups Kayand Phil Gravettwith theirdelicious fruits.

In recentyears,PembertonFingerLimeshavebecome ahouseholdname in

foodiecircles, and

its notsurprising

really. With their

caviar-like balls ofcitrus jewels and a tiny

window of availability that rivalsthe truffle season, theyre as rare asthe proverbial. Jill and Rob Baker andtheir daughter Jacquie, who handlesthe marketing, are the masterminds

behind the successful enterprise,which they established only a fewyears ago when the couple retired.

Rob and I have had a propertydown here in Pemberton for around12 years now, Mrs Baker said. Wewere due to retire and knew wewanted to do something with the bitof free land we had. As weve alwaysbeen wine and food buffs, we startedlooking around and came up with theidea of a little boutique industry. Wejumped online and looked at all sortsof things, including tulips, and thensomeone suggested we grow limes.So we started researching limes andAustralian native food, and fingerlimes came up.

The appearance and taste of afinger lime is one of a kind. Lookingnot dissimilar to caviar roe, the tinyorbs inside the fruit share the same

texture. Once popped, they emit awonderful citrus flavour.

Pemberton is not short of a dropor two of rain and is renowned for itsrich soil and Mediterranean climate,making it perfect for finger limes.

The pH of the soil down here isjust right for limes and were in quitea protected spot from the wind, MrsBaker said. The beautiful tall karritrees also protect the lime plants,which is really important as they havegot lots of thorns on them. So if thewind blows and bashes the fruit ontothe thorns, they get damaged. Itslovely to have the protection of thekarris.

In most cases, people tend to kickback a little during their retirementyears, but not the Bakers.

It did feel like a bit of a riskyventure at the time but basically we

just got on with it and have learntheaps, Mrs Baker said.

The couple planted hundreds offinger lime trees on their property in2006, and it took about four years forthem to start bearing fruit at acommercial rate. This year, theyreexpecting 200kg from the season(1kg per tree), and the forecast is toproduce 10kg per tree over the nextfew years.

Starting about the end of March,the season only runs for six to eightweeks, making for a short but intenseburst of activity.

We just pick like crazy duringthat time, Mrs Baker said.

Finger limes are great withseafood, especially when paired withfreshly shucked oysters. Theyre alsogood for topping a pavlova.

Jennifer Susanto-Lee

Jill and RobBaker with theirboutiquefingerlimes.

Delicious citrus yield tasty caviar jewels

I walkedalong thedam wall andfound thisberry bush. . . It lookeda bit like ablackberrybut it wasdefinitelydifferent.Kay Gravett

Berry different

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Perth-based naturopathicnutritionist and co-author of TheEat Well Cookbook, Jan Purser,says cherries can help reduce goutattacks by lowering uric acid

build-up and inflammationand also assist withstabilising blood sugar.

Cherries are beneficialin reducing blood glucoselevels as well as lowering the

risk of gout attacks. If yousuffer with gout seriously,

consider having cherries or cherryjuice.

Here are some facts fromgrower George Grozotis:

Store cherries loosely packed inthe fridge (0-4C is perfect) andleave stems on to keep themfresher for longer.

Cherries are a top antioxidant-rich food.

Cherries are fat, cholesterol, andsodium-free with one cup having3g of fibre, fewer than 90 calories

and 16 per cent of the dailyrecommended dose of vitamin C.

Cherries are rich in vitamin A,calcium, protein, and iron and alsocontain melatonin (which regulatessleep cycles). There is 260mg ofpotassium in one cup of cherries.

Anthocyanins in cherries givethe fruit its red colour and helpprotect the heart and surroundingtissues.

Boron is found in cherries. Ithelps maintain calcium balance.

Nutritionally, their beauty is more than skin deep

Beautiful, crimsoncherries areundoubtedly one ofthe most anticipated fruitscoming into WAs festiveseason but if buyers canresist temptation until a littlepast Christmas, they willtaste the pick of the crop,according to third-generation cherry farmerGeorge Grozotis and wifeKathy, of Cherry Lane Fields.

The later variety isalways a better cherry, saidMr Grozotis who manages10,000 trees at his familysManjiump orchard whichstarted life as a tobaccofarm in the 1940s.

Cherries picked laterhave more crunch, moresweetness and grow bigger buteveryone, of course, wants them intime for Christmas, so we try toeducate people on buying them alittle later.

Cherry season starts inNovember and finishes mid-January before the buddingprocess starts all over again.

Its a big gamble growing them.All the hard work starts now (earlyFebruary), when we look after thetree as much as possible bywatering and fertilising to achievestrong buds. Then we put the treesto sleep (into dormancy) untilSeptember, he said.

Cherry trends have changedsignificantly over the years,particularly compared with 10years ago when an acceptablepremium cherry was about 26mmin diameter.

Today, cherries need to be about32mm in diameter and Cherry LaneFields has adapted varieties to suitmarket demand.

The cherries my grandfathergrew dont even exist anymore.They were much smaller andprobably wouldnt grow as welldown here now, he said.

Climate change has meantweve had to introduce newvarieties that suit the warmerweather, even though the SouthernForests region is still perfectlysuited for cherry production and

they do taste better downhere.

The region has verygood water and the soilsare excellent (a mixture ofkarri loam and sandy soilsfrom jarrah and blackbuttcountry).

The couple send about70 per cent of productionto longstanding customerWoolworths and theremainder goes toindependent supermarketssuch as IGA.

The main varieties wegrow are sweetheart, sweetGeorgia and Simone. Thesweetheart is more of arounded, bright red cherry,whereas the sweet Georgiahas more of a heart shapeand a deep mahoganycolour, he said.

Simones are similar tosweet Georgias. I think theyare most likely a mutationof that breed.

Harvesting starts at thecrack of dawn, with MrGrozotis team picking

while the sun is just rising, andstops once the temperaturereaches 22C.

Once cherries get hot, its veryhard to bring their temperaturedown, Mr Grozotis said.

After the cherries are picked,they are transported from theorchard within 30 minutes,hydro-cooled and chilled for atleast 24 hours before packing. Thisalso helps with stem retention.

Cherries dont ripen oncetheyre picked like a tomato orapricot might. You cant pick themgreen you can only pick them attheir premium.

I do love growing them Icant really imagine doing anythingelse.

Berlinda Conti

Cherries havebeen part ofthe family forgenerations

Grower George Grozotis.

This years popular CherryHarmony Festival will be

held on Saturday, December13, with the Long Table

Lunch to follow on Sunday,December 14. For more

information, visitcherryfestival.com.au.

Cherries are super-seasonaland are only around for a

three months of the year, somake sure you get in quick

this December.

Colour of Christmas

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Dinner that night was on the balcony atForagers. Dizzy reckons the saltedchargrilled quail I knocked out was: Yeah . . .all right mate. The finest review a mancould get. The avocados were too firm fordinner that night. Theres always tomorrow.

The Foragers cook-your-own breakfastarrives the night before in a wicker basket.All (or as much as possible) is local produce.The bread, an entire loaf of it, is made bySophie in her restaurant kitchen just stepsaway from the chalet.

It is a lavish brekky and sure beats thestandard journo breakfast of espresso and agasper.

Next morning its off to the King Trout andMarron Farm, a tourist venture whichprospers as much on home cooking and acheery welcome as it does on science, fishhusbandry and water ecology. The

unassuming couple who own the property, on theOld Vasse Road at Pemberton, are tree changers.Hubby and wife, Lisa Foley and Darrin Fitzgerald,pictured below, are running an accessible tourismventure with no airs and graces.

Darrin manages the hatchery at one end of theproperty, paying forensic attention to the babytrout and marron and their highly technical dietand ecosystem management.

Oh, and if you wonder why there are no weedsor reeds around the massive dam, marron areomnivores and they love nothing better thansnacking on the grasses that ring their wateryhome. We dispatched a couple of plate-sizedmonsters whichwere promptly(and very well)cooked for lunch.Sweet. By theway, there is nosuch thing as aKing Trout, justrainbows andbrowns. Thatwas the namegiven to thebusiness whenWA Inc heaviesLaurie Connell andBrian Burke builtthe hatchery in the1980s as aninvestment.

Dont ask. If onlytheyd stuck toseafood.

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Driving south out of Manjimup, I popped in tosee John Della Gola, whose branded beef wasfamously embroiled in a dispute with super chefNeil Perrys Rockpool Bar and Grill in Perth. Hewas appointed as a meat supplier to therestaurant to great fanfare only to be let goquietly a few months later. It was big news downManjimup way but one suspects its now waterunder the bridge.

The outspoken and laconic third-generationItalian/Australian leans on my hire car andexplains his plans to diversify away from beef andinto farm-machinery sales. On the day of our visithe was taking delivery of his first load of headersand tractors at his new showroom and offices.

I love it but the beef industry is really hardnow. We need the Government to get real aboutan abattoir down our way, Mr Della Gola said.The two major abattoirs in WA are joined at thehip to the major supermarkets. Its impossible toget time on the kill floor.

I left the likable larrikin as he hurried away tohis office to make plans for his new business. Hesays he will never leave the beef industry entirely.He loves it too much.

I missed the mad ebullient Al Blakers whosetruffles are eaten from New York to Paris andfrom Singapore to Sydney. He was elsewhereapparently probably Paris.

I did manage, however, to pop by the Wineand Truffle Companys trufferie and cafe and sayhello to the truffle dogs. They wont have long towait until their super-sensitive noses are neededfor truffle season 2014. A walk through the treesrevealed large truffles beginning to push up theground around them as they become fat andripe. They had been carefully covered in sand tokeep them underground until harvest time.

Truffles have rapidly become an icon crop inthe Southern Forests region: the only crop whichis readily coupled to tourism events such as theannual Truffle Kerfuffle weekend and as asignificant attraction for domestic and overseasvisitors.

It has put Manjimup on the map. Last year inNew York, a waiter at a fashionable Tribecarestaurant informed us that: Tonight, we havethe most amazing truffles from Man-gee-mop insouth-western Australia. Every table got thesame patter.

Beef farming doesnt get much betterthan this. Rolling hills, lush pastureand towering karri trees are an idyllicbackdrop for grazing cows.

Our children, in particular the middletwo, are mad-keen farmers and say theynever want to leave, Walpole producerAngie Cooper said. We dont go anywhereon school holidays because they want tohelp us, in particular our young bloke,Tommie. Hes obsessed with cows; hasposters all over his room, studies breeds andwants to collect them all. He has his ownsmall herd thats calving now, so its hard toget him off to school at the moment.

Its a generational thing. She married theboy next door in these parts, theadjoining paddock and they doeverything from scratch. Husband Bradtransports the animals for processing tokeep track of their welfare every step of theway and the couple are working on abusiness plan to build up farmgate salesunder their label, Coopers Beef, tosupplement their mainstay milk-fed vealers.

We farm organically, which means noherbicides, no synthetic chemicals, nodrenches or pour-ons, Mrs Cooper said.We are lucky enough to have this land andwant to improve it. Its not a big farm120ha and all our animals are valuedright through to the end.

Its a pity we cant butcher themourselves but were having a part of the olddairy shed converted into a retail outlet andhope to employ a butcher so he can cut up

the carcases for us. The plan is tocut out the middleman over thenext five to 10 years.

Forester Mark Bending hasmade the change over the past 15years, buying properties toconcentrate on beef farmingbecause its less intense thanrunning sheep. With 1500ha and300 breeding cows, he sells340-350 head a year and a lot ofit ends up in Coles. Its aSimmental-Angus cross for goodeating and the combinationworks well in ensuring animalsdont get too fat.

Generally, just abouteveryone here would run a smallherd for commercial production,he said. My wifes fromManjimup, so it made sense.Weve got a huge pasturepotential, which suits grassfattening but weve just put in1500 avocados because theygrow so well in these parts.

I would say 80 per cent ofmeat in this region would bemilk-fed vealers but its not aprocess I was interested in. Wehold ours until theyre 18 monthsto two years old and try to getthem as close as we can to 550kgfor the domestic market.

Margins are tight. Industryveteran John Della Gola, who

started farming in 1970 at 14, runs 7000head on 6000ha, and said he was getting$4.40/kilo for his cattle in 2000 comparedwith $3.40/kg now.

In 14 years our margins have gone down25 per cent, he said. Last year, our fuel billwas $130,000; this year its going to be$170,000, so its not getting any easier. Myyoungest son, Joseph, doesnt want to die afarmer, so weve just set up a tractorbusiness Southern Forest Machinery forhim and his wife, Chelsea, in partnershipwith myself.

It opened last month, with Mr Della Golaand his other son, Matthew, helped byMatthews partner Felicity Willett, working100-hour weeks on the farm started by MrDella Golas father as a 40ha plot inPemberton in 1952.

Before I came along, he bought another120ha in Pemberton, then 180ha for me inNorthcliffe about the time I started, he said.Ive built up the holding and never reallythought of doing anything else.

Hes put his Della Gola Prime brand supplied to Neil Perrys Rockpool when itfirst opened in Perth on the backburner,with 80 per cent of his meat sold underBunbury processor DBCs premium TenderRidge label to food service.

No Della Gola cattle go on boats andthats a conscious decision, so when my wifeand I see them on the TV, we know thoseanimals are not ours. It makes life easierbecause we know their destiny.

Olga de Moeller

Beefed-up hectaresMargins are tight and cows are serious news

Last year,our fuelbill was$130,000;this yearits goingto be$170,000,so its notgettingany easier.JohnDellaGola

Middlesexfarmer MarkBending aimsfor thedomesticmarket.

Manjimupfarmer IanRyan.

market, Mr Blakers knew the million-dollargamble he took in 1997 had paid off.

And with the product improving withevery harvest, Mr Blakers predicts theregion will outstrip Frances production inless than 15 years.

The whole world is chasing trufflesfrom Manjimup, Mr Blakers said. OurFrench distributor (Plantin) tells us they areas good if not better than those producedin France. Were in demand. In culinaryterms, we are the rock stars to rock stars.

The road to success was neither quicknor easy for Mr Blakers and his family,whose business growing Tasmanian bluegums led to their calculated puntManjimups loam over clay soils wouldeventually deliver high-quality truffles forexport.

During an experiment on the BlakersFive Acre Nursery in the mid-90s MrBlakers and a CSIRO research teamattempted to transfer local mycorrhizal

fungi on to the roots ofthe Tasmanian blue gumto improve growth rates,and it was then he had anepiphany.

At the time therewere pinot grapes beingharvested in the area andsold to Moet & Chandon,he said. Thats when Iput two and twotogether and thoughtthat inoculating the treeswith truffle spores wouldwork.

Mr Blakers planted1600 hazelnut and oaktrees inoculated withspores imported fromFrance and waited ittakes up to seven yearsfor the first truffle tomature.

And what a differencea decade makes, withManjimup Truffles nowproducing well over atonne of black goldevery year. Along withtwo other majorproducers in theManjimup area, thetruffles trajectory ismoving higher and fasterthan ever.

This year, the regionwill produce close to fivetonnes or 85 per cent ofAustralias truffles.

It wont be long untilManjimup is the trufflecapital of Australia, hesaid.

Connie Clarke

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Its known as black gold and retails forabout $2000/kg, making it one of themost expensive foods in the world.Traditionally sniffed out for centuries bypigs in the forests of France and Italy, itsnow left to mans best friend to unearth thespot where this fungal delicacy grows.

Chefs are mad for it, and for the pastfew years third-generation Manjimupfarmer Al Blakers has supplied truffles torestaurants from Paris, to New York andSydney.

Last August, when he found himselfdining with 18 Michelin-star and three-hatchefs at the Hong Kong Yacht Club, MrBlakers knew the rest of the world wassitting up and taking notice too.

The sought-after Perigord truffle hegrows from 3000 hazelnut and oak treeson 42ha of rich Manjimup soil was already ahit with Australias top chefs includingMatt Moran and Neil Perry but with theirwider acceptance in the lucrative Asian

Manjimup trufflefarmer Al Blakersis a third-generationfarmer.

Mining for black gold Blue gum business leads to calculated punt on truffles

Lamb farmer Ian Ryan is in for the long haul on thefamily property just outside Manjimup. Hes just boughtanother parcel of land from his uncle that was sold offyears ago and is now back to the original 400haholding established by his father John 50 years ago.

Dad still helps but its mainly my brother Gary andI, he said. The farms gone from dairy, to spuds, thenbeef cattle, sheep and cauliflower for export until thecauliflower market collapsed.

Vegetables cauliflower, broccoli and several typesof cabbage are the mainstay, though Mr Ryan saidthey were more labour-intensive than lamb, which hashad a good run this year.

Weve had plenty of rain and an early start to theseason, with a reasonably late finish, he said.

His flock of 2700 ewes is primarily merino for wooland prime lamb, with border Leicester and poll Dorsetcrossbreeds for meat. Its good eating lamb, he said.We try for the optimal amount of meat-to-fat usingbetter genetics and it also gives us a better lambingpercentage.

Apple growers Stephanie and Jim Carstairs, whohave a 120ha farm in Manjimup, have opted for Suffolksheep to take advantage of the Great Southerns coolclimate and wet winters. They run them on adjoiningland leased from truffle grower Al Blakers and have asmall flock of Wiltshires and cattle on other blocks.

Mrs Carstairs said the couple initially liked the lookof the British-bred Suffolks they have distinctive blackheads and found they were well suited to the region.

They do well down here and have really big, solidlambs, which has worked out well because we havefoxes and they were eating our smaller Merino lambs;they wouldnt survive the first 24 hours, she said.Theyre also more economical to run for us becausetheyll eat silage and hay almost like cattle so itfitted better with what we could produce ourselves. Wetry and grow them out entirely on grass but they getextra fodder sometimes.

She said the meat was more heavily marbled, whichmade for a better flavour, but the marbling was quitefine, so the fat cooked out. That, reportedly, makes itleaner and adds to the palatability, she said. I think itsnicer and sweeter (than other lamb); certainlydistinctively different but not overpowering.

The Carstairs sell their lamb at the local farmersmarket and at Fontys Pool caravan park.

Olga de Moeller

Manjimup farmerIan Ryan.

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I dropped in to see Anita andWayne Edwards, pictured below,at their unassuming farmhouse.

It is surrounded by machineryand Schutz containers.

They are a clever couplecharting a sustainable, organiccourse with their farms and theirBioveg brand of organic produce.I lunched with them at the farmwhere I sat down to my firstraw meal.

None of the ingredients arecooked in any shape or form.

I hid my sneer and tucked in. How was it? Absolutely,

bloody marvellous.I had a view that the raw-food

movement was an extremistvegetarian splinter group withthat back-to-the-16th-centuryagenda so loved by Greens andtheir fellow travellers.

But the food, when preparedin such as expert manner, wassuperb. It was brilliant in its ownright and real restaurant-gradestuff. Anita is a certified rawchef whatever that means (butshe clearly has a professionaltouch) with a commercial kitchenon the farm where she preparesfood for sale and catering.

The Edwards Bioveg productsget a premium at the Perthmarkets. And they can nevergrow enough to support thedemand, Wayne says. If you sit down to a fine-diningestablishment with marron onthe menu, chances are it has

come from the Southern Forestsregion, where they thrive like noother place in the world.

Thanks to pristine conditions,marron are endemic to the regionand of the worlds yearly supply,WA contributes three-fifths of it,according to Blue Ridge MarronsPeter McGinty.

Together with business partnerSteve Vidovich, they source andgrow 18 tonnes of marronannually, nearly a fifth of marronworldwide, which they then sell torestaurants, wholesalers andexport to Europe.

This supplied marron comesfrom about 160 licensed marronproducers from Perth down toAugusta and across to Esperance.

World production of marron isstill less than 100 tonnes per year,so WA provides a huge chunk ofit, Mr McGinty said.

People have taken them todifferent countries and tried toproduce them but because of poorwater quality or temperature they like a cooler climate theysimply wont grow.

Mr McGinty, who has lived inYanmah, 12km from Manjimup, forthe past 35 years, said marronwere grown semi-intensively inpurpose-built ponds or throughextensive cultivation, wherepeople trapped existing farmdams.

At the Blue Ridge facility,rainbow trout were also grown inthe dams that supplied the pondsto make them more sustainable.

Below the trout, in the samewater, we keep the marron and thewaste from the trout feeds themarron, so we dont actually feedthe marron in these dams, he said.

While most Australians knewwhat marron was, outside of thecountry, not many people did andMr McGinty said he was constantlyasked what it was and what ittasted like.

He said the best way todescribe the delicacy was tocompare it with lobster.

Some lobsters have a tendencyto get a bit stringy the bigger theyget, whereas marron have more ofa flaked-type flesh and the tasteand texture doesnt diminish thebigger they get, the former cherryfarmer said.

Like any food with a delicateflavour, the best way to cookmarron was to keep it simple, MrMcGinty said.

Restaurants tend to take theflesh out for fine dining because itis less stringy and has a unique,delicate flavour, while somerestaurants boil and chop the tailup into medallions and serve itback up in the shell. As for me, itdoesnt get much better thangrilling it over a fire and eating itwith crusty bread.

Pembertons Dave Evans isanother man who knows hismarron. He owns and runs thesmall family-based wholesale andretail business Forest Fresh Marronand said marron thrived in theregion because every condition from the water quality to the air,temperature and food availability was ideal.

While marron was still alittle-known produce, exposure ontelevision cooking shows hadhelped boost its profile.

The flavour of marron is quiteunlike any other produce and isdelicate, sweet and succulent, hesaid.

Amanda Lewis

Endemic marron a fine treat

Left: Forest Fresh Marronowner Dave Evans. Above: Blue RidgeMarrons Steve Vidovich.

Somelobsters havea tendencyto get a bitstringy thebigger theyget, whereasmarron have

more of aflaked-type

flesh and thetaste andtexturedoesnt

diminish thebigger they

get.

Trout that doesnt taste like trout isthe way Blue Ridge Marrons PeterMcGinty describes the rainbow troutthat he grows and sells in addition tomarron.

He said he started growing trout as away to better use the dams at theYanmah facility five years ago andattributed the trouts different taste tothe high-protein pellet diet he fed them.

He sourced his baby trout or fry from the Pemberton Trout Hatchery.

Instead of just chucking them in thedam and letting them eat whats

naturally in the dam, they feed ondifferent pellets depending on their size,so the fry are fed three times a day, sevendays a week and once a day when theyget bigger, he said.

We can put on growth rates of about1.2kg per year and because it is a fullpellet diet and theyre not just eatingwhats in the water column, they look andtaste very similar to Atlantic salmon.

Traditionally, trout out of rivers arepretty average-tasting fish but if youtasted these, youd go Wow, they aredifferent.

Blue Ridge MarronsPeter McGinty.

Picture Craig Kinder

different kettle of fish

southern forests seasonal produceDECEMBER Apple juice Apricots - King Ross Avocados Baby spinach Beef Beef - vealers Boysenberries Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons - organic green - organic red - red Capsicum - green Cauli owers Cherries Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Fish - red n Grapefruit Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf Loganberries Loghurts Marron Milk Nectarines - white - yellow Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Pears - cocktail Plums - black - red - sugar Potato - almera - Delaware - Desiree

Potato - Dutch cream - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - Nadine - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - white star - organic Pumpkin Rhubarb - organic Raspberries Rustleberries Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - truss Wheat - buck Zucchini

JANUARY Apple juice Apricots - King Ross - golden sweet Avocados Baby spinach Beef Beef - vealers Blueberries Boysenberries Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons - organic green - organic red - red Capsicum - green - red Cauli owers Cherries Chilli/peppers Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Eggplant Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Garlic Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill

Herbs - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Jujubes (Chinese red dates) Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf Logan berries Marron Milk Nectarines - white - yellow Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Passionfruit Plums - black - red - sugar Potato - almera - Delaware - Desiree - Dutch cream - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - Nadine - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - white star - organic Pumpkin Rhubarb - organic Raspberries Silvanberries Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - truss Wheat - buck Zucchini

FEBRUARY Apple juice Apples - gala - organic Avocados Baby spinach Beef

Beef - vealers Blueberries Blackberries Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - season starts Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons - organic green - organic red - red Capsicum - green - red Cauli owers Cherries Chilli/peppers Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Eggplant Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Garlic Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf

Marron Milk Nashi fruit Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Passionfruit Pears - Bartlett - red corella - rossi (little red) Plums - black - red - sugar - green - satsuma Potato - almera - Delaware - Desiree - Dutch cream - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - Nadine - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - white star - organic Pumpkin Quince Quince - organic Rhubarb - organic Silvanberries Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - truss Zucchini

summer

southern forests seMARCH Apple juice Apples - gala - golden delicious - green star - hi early - Jonathan - kanzi - organic Baby spinach Beef Beef - vealers Blackberries Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons - organic green - organic red - red Capsicum - green - red Cauli owers Chilli/peppers Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Eggplant Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Garlic Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf Limes - Tahitian - native nger limes Marron Melon - honeydew

Melon - rock - water Milk Nashi fruit Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Passionfruit Pears - Bartlett - comice (French) - Packham - red corella - rossi - gold rush Plums - black - red - sugar Potato - almera - Delaware - Desiree - Dutch cream - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - Nadine - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - white star - organic Prickly pears Pumpkin Quince Quince - organic Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - truss Trout - rainbow

APRIL Apple juice Apples - Fuji - gala - golden delicious - Granny Smith - green star - hi early - jazz - Jonathan - kanzi - pink lady - splendour - organic Baby spinach Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons

Cabbage - organic green - organic red - red Capsicum - green Cauli owers Chilli/peppers Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Eggplant Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Garlic Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf Limes - Tahitian - native nger limes Marron Melon - honeydew - rock - water Milk Nashi fruit Nuts - chestnuts - walnuts - macadamia Olive oil Passionfruit Pears - Bartlett - comice (French) - gold rush - Packham - red corella - rossi Persimmons - non stringent Plums - black - red - sugar Pomegranate Potato - Almera - Delaware

Potato - Desiree - Dutch cream - eureka - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - maris piper - Maxine - Nadine - norland - purple Congo - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - organic Prickly pears Pumpkin Quince Quince - organic Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - roma - truss Trout - rainbow

MAY Apple juice Apples - fuji - gala - golden delicious - Granny Smith - green star - hi early - jazz - Jonathan - kanzi - Lady Williams - pink lady - splendour - sundowner - organic Baby spinach Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cabbage - Chinese - green - megatons - organic green - red Capsicum - green Cauli owers Chilli/peppers Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Eggplant Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston

Figs - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Garlic Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Limes - Tahitian - native nger limes Marron Melon - honeydew - rock - water Milk Nuts - chestnuts - hazelnuts - walnuts - macadamia Olive oil Pears - Bartlett - gold rush - Packham - red corella - rossi Persimmons - non stringent Pomegranate Potato - Almera - Delaware - Desiree - Dutch cream - eureka - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - maris piper - Maxine - Nadine - norland - purple Congo - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - organic Pumpkin Silverbeet Strawberry Tomato - cherry - Roma - truss Trout - rainbow Truffl e - black Watercress

AUTUM

N

ts seasonal produceJUNE Apples - Fuji - gala - golden delicious - Granny Smith - green star - hi early - jazz - Jonathan - kanzi - Lady Williams - pink lady - splendour - sundowner Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Corn Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Garlic Fish - red n Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - fat - Suff olk Lemons Limes - Tahitian - native nger limes Marron Milk Nuts - chestnuts - hazelnuts - macadamia - walnuts Olive oil- new season Oranges Pears - gold rush Persimmons Potato - Almera - Delaware - Desiree - Dutch cream - eureka - kestrel - Lady Christi - Laura - maris piper - Maxine - Nadine - norland - purple Congo - red rascal - rodeo - royal blue - Ruby Lou - sapphire - organic Pumpkin

Silverbeet Swede Tamarillo Tangello Tomato - cherry - Roma - truss Trout - rainbow Truffl e - black Turnip Watercress Wheat - buck

JULY Apples - Fuji - golden delicious - Granny Smith - green star - hi early - jazz - Jonathan - kanzi - Lady Williams - pink lady - splendour - sundowner Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cream Garlic Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Honey Jujubes (Chinese red dates) Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - Suff olk Lemons Limes - Tahitian Marron Milk Nuts - macadamia - hazelnuts Olive oil Oranges Pears - gold rush Persimmons Potato - organic Pumpkin Silverbeet Swede Tamarillo Tangello Tomato - cherry - truss Trout - rainbow

Truffl e - black Turnip Watercress Wheat - buck

AUGUST Apples - Lady Williams - sundowner Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Garlic Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - Suff olk Leek Lemons Limes - Tahitian Marron Milk Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Oranges Pears - gold rush Persimmons Potato - organic Pumpkin Silverbeet Swede Tamarillo Tangello Tomato - cherry - truss Trout - rainbow Truffl e - black Turnip Watercress

SEPTEMBER Asparagus Beef Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Broccoli - organic Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Garlic Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston

Figs - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kohlrabi Lamb - Suff olk Leek Marron Milk Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Pears - gold rush Potato - organic Pumpkin Silverbeet Swede Tamarillo Tomato - truss Trout - rainbow Truffl e - black Turnip Watercress

OCTOBER Avocado Asparagus Beef Beef - vealers Beetroot Beetroot - organic Beans - cannellini white Broccoli Broccoli - organic Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa Fish - red n Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kiwi fruit Kohlrabi Lamb - Suff olk Marron Milk

Nuts - macadamia Olives- table Olive oil Pears - gold rush Potato - organic Pumpkin Silverbeet Tamarillo Tomato - truss Trout - rainbow Watercress

NOVEMBER Avocado Asparagus Beef Beef - vealers Beetroot Broccoli Beans - cannellini white Broccoli - organic Cream Cucumbers - Lebanese Grapefruit Feijoas - Duff y Figs - Preston - Deanna - black Genoa - red n Herbs - basil red - basil green - chervil - chives - coriander - dill - mint - parsley - rocket - sage - thyme Honey Kale - green - organic - red Kiwifruit Kohlrabi Lamb - Suff olk Lettuce - coral - cos - iceberg - oak leaf Loquats Marron Milk Nuts - macadamia Olive oil Pears - gold rush Pumpkin Rhubarb - organic Silverbeet Stawberry Tomato - truss Trout - rainbow

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Manjimup garlic producer Rick Scoonesbought custom-built machines from France.

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Every time he wakes up on his property, which is halfwaybetween Pemberton and Manjimup and surrounded bytowering forests on three sides, Rick Scoones knows hemade the right decision.

Three years ago, the former marine biologist started theultimate tree change and without a farming background decided to try his hand at growing garlic.

Garlic is not traditionally grown in the region, with just ahandful of producers embarking on growing programs in thepast few years. Yet, such was their faith in their ability to makea decent living from the regions loam-rich soils, that last May,Mr Scoones and his wife Barbara Loessl finally took theplunge, selling everything and making a permanent move tothe Southern Forests region.

The rat race was no longer attractive and Id alwayswanted to try farming, Mr Scoones said. I dont have afarming background but I have an environmental sciencebackground and worked in aquaculture for many years, so Iknew we could bring a scientific approach to farming.

Despite leaving behind a well-paid position, and swappingstandard office hours for an average 50 to 55-hour week, thesuccessful harvest of almost 10 tonnes of top-quality purplegarlic last season made it all worthwhile. The decision to buycustom-built machines from France to split the bogs in thesoil, sort and plant the cloves and even brush down thesorting tables, meant the couple could get by with just twobackpackers for a few hours a day during the seven-monthharvesting season.

With their product already selling at the Bunbury FarmersMarket, the search for new markets has started.

Wed love to see our product on the chopping boards ofchefs from Perths top restaurants, Mr Scoones said.

By the time Easter rolls around, the couple, along withtheir two French backpackers, will start their third growingseason, which spans from April until late November. Afterhigher-than-expected rainfall and little sunshine lastSeptember, they are hoping for a much better commercialcrop to sell to the Perth markets this year.

We want our product to be as good as it can be. In thatway we are no different to other growers in the area that havebeen here for generations we want to be consistent, and wewont let a second-rate product on to the shelves.

Its a sentiment shared by Northcliffe born-and-raisedfarmer David MacDonald, who has also tried his hand atraising garlic for the past two years.

Last season he and his partner Catrin Iversen produced atonne of high-quality purple garlic, under their JaHa labelusing a clean-and-green approach.

Best of all is that you know that its locally grown andwhere its coming from it comes from a pristine part of theworld and the flavour is fantastic, Mr MacDonald said.

Connie Clarke

The south-western French winegrowing regionof Bordeaux oceanic climate and clay soilsare credited with producing world-classwines for centuries and its Manjimups similarclimate and loam over clay soils that is fuelling thetowns growing reputation for high-quality freshproduce, according to broccoli specialist BradIpsen.

Essentially the conditions in both places weresimilar, he said. We have hot days and cool nightsand you only have to look at the size of the trees toget an idea of how good the soils are.

Mr Ipsen is typical of the growers in the townwith a population of just over 4200 people. Hisfamily has been in the area for generations, fromwhen his great grandfather arrived in 1906. By themid-1970s, grandsons Eric and George had becomecauliflower pioneers, exporting to Singapore until2003, when the SARS virus and a weak Australiandollar saw their market fall away dramatically.

We grew potatoes and kept up with thecauliflower for a few years before we decided tobranch into broccoli, Mr Ipsen said. My father(Eric) and uncles (George) partnership haddissolved by 1993 and thats when I came backfrom Europe to help Dad in the business.

Around them, several other growers were doingthe same, growing a number of differentvegetables for WA and Eastern States markets andsending them away to be packed and shipped. TheAsian markets including Singapore were beinginundated by cheaper Chinese produce andavenues for export were limited. By 2009, half a

dozen growers got wise and banded together.We came together under one brand. Thats

when Manjimup Fresh was born, Mr Ipsensaid. The whole operation (including packing,shipping and marketing) just kind of evolved.

While the growers still produce severaldifferent vegetables lines, each of the familiesspecialises in one. At his Goodonga farm 8kmnorth-west of the town centre, Gary Ryangrows cauliflowers, something his father Ianstarted doing in the mid-1970s.

Back then our biggest market wasexporting into Singapore and Malaysia butwere now concentrating on the WA market.We target the high end, Mr Ryan said.

Their success is built on the back of earliergenerations who cleared the bush and madelittle income in the first few years. What keepsthis crop of growers moving ahead is science.Working smarter is paying dividends forseveral families, with leaf and nutrient testingallowing them to grow vegetables with betterflavour and fewer blemishes.

Leaf testing allows us to detail traceminerals in each vegetable, Mr Ryan said. Wemay need to lower the copper levels or lift zinclevels but it means we can produce healthyplants all year. If you produce healthy plants inthe first place, there is less need to spray.

At Kim and Donnette Edwards property,Chinese cabbage has become the specialistline and the couple produce 8000 individualcabbages every year, along with smallerquantities of cauliflower and broccoli.

The consumer is getting fussier, and so weneed to keep an eye on everything, MrsEdwards said. We do our testing fortnightly.We record the wind and take soil samples.People want a bigger, sweeter vegetable thatlasts longer and thats what were now able todeliver.

Connie Clarke

United frontfor growersA decision to band togetherhas been successful

Kim EdwardsPicture: Craig

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There was much more Isaw on this whirlwind tour:serious art galleries (asopposed to gloomy shopfronts masquerading as artgalleries, selling macrameinstallations, wooden fruitbowls and rustic pottery tocoach tours). Theres theincredible edible productsfrom the Holy Smoke shopin Manjimup; the stunninggrounds and restaurant atthe Silkwood Winery outon Channybearup Road,which this month beat allcomers to take Red Wine ofthe Show at the local wineshow. And there is theextraordinary multimillion-dollar business successstory that is the trend-bucking Bannister DownsDairy.

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Thursday, March 6 2014It takes several mouthfuls to get a taste forfeijoas. The first one always tastes like soap,Manjimup grower Robert Taylor said. You

need to eat three or four, then you just cant stop.They grow on you and are wonderful onice-cream. You can eat the flowers too andtheyre magnificent. Theyve got a sweet, honeyflavour and Im told the leaves make a good tea,though I havent tried it.

A cross between pineapple, strawberry,passionfruit and guava on the palate, the feijoa isnative to South America and looks like a stuntedavocado.

Mr Taylor, an electrical contractor, has beengrowing them on his apple orchard for 12 yearsand giving them away to friends becausenobody knew what they were. Hed alwayswanted to farm and bought the run-downorchard in the 90s so he could follow his heart,then took out a couple of mates in the know andasked them what he should do. One told him tobulldoze the apple trees; the other suggestedcutting off the tips and watering them so theywould grow. Luckily, that worked.

Feijoas sometimes called pineapple guavas,though theyre neither went in later, again onadvice from one of the mates, a Kiwi agriculturalconsultant, who said they were popular in NewZealand.

I had no idea what feijoas were, Mr Taylorsaid. It took about five years to get the first cropbut nobody seemed to want to buy them. I hungon and kept watering them and giving them tofriends . . . until last year one of the other growersin the area told me hed just sold some for a goodprice and that they were chasing them.

Unfortunately, mine were earlier than his, so Iwas at the end of my run. But since then Ive hadpeople coming to me and saying well buyeverything off ya.

He cant account for the turnaround but itsgiven him the confidence to keep growing thefruit, which was introduced to Australia in theearly 1900s and is sometimes used as anornamental hedging plant and windbreak.

There are many varieties of fruit. Mr Taylor,one of about three growers in Manjimup, planted98 Duffy bushes, which hes let grow into trees.And theyre in season now.

This one is a little bit sweeter and has acrinkly skin, he said. Just remember, its fromthe guava family so you get all these otherflavours. A lot of people dont like them at first.Even my grandkids told me not to eat thembecause they tasted like soap but they love themnow.

Cut them in half and eat them like a kiwifruit,minus skin. A lot of people make jam from them;in New Zealand they make wine, too.

Best of all, feijoas are the quintessentialtree-ripened fruit because theyre almost readyto eat when they fall to the ground.Supermarkets are buying the fruit now, so itlooks like their time has finally come.

Olga de Moeller

A time to blossomFeijoas will grow onyou, says a fan whosnurtured them for years

Orchardist and feijoapioneer Robert Taylor.Picture: Craig Kinder

WHAT IS YOUR FIRST FOODMEMORY?Plucking and eating Capegooseberries at my grandparentshouse. It was great fun just peelingthem open and chewing on them its a memory thats stuck withme for years and years. I now growmy own Cape gooseberries and Imake relish with them and putthem through salads. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL?Beer-battered nannygai and chips.If any sort of battered fish is on themenu when I go out Im into it.Nannygais a lovely southern fishthats a bit like snapper. BEST COCKTAIL?I drink red wine.BEST CHEAP AND CHEERFUL?Karridale Tavern. I havent beenthere for a bit but they used to dothis seafood platter that I loved. Itsjust a nice environment goodfood, well presented, you can havea cold beer and its not as touristyas most other places, so its a littlebit quieter and out of the way.When were in that neck of the

woods we definitely try and getinto that place for a meal and abeer. WHAT WAS YOUR LAST OMGFOOD MOMENT?We had a weekend in Melbournerecently where I ate everywhere.The whole family went over for aweekend, ate out every meal andjust enjoyed every bite.WHAT IS YOUR ONCE-A-YEARFOOD INDULGENCE?I spoil myself whenever possible. Ido love my marron or any sort ofshellfish though, any chance to eatall that sort of stuff and I tuck in. Ikeep it really simple just boil itup, shell it and eat. Little bit ofpepper, little bit of lemon and Imhappy. I can get marron all yearround here, too. Sometimes when Iget special requests for marron onthe menu Ill get a couple of extraand me and my son usually knockoff one or two just because we can.BUCKET-LIST RESTAURANT?St Betty in Hong Kong. ShaneOsborn, the chef, came and stayedhere last year for the Truffle

Kerfuffle and I met him.Hes just this nice,down-to-earth, familybloke. He keeps thefood simple, usesgood produce, andpresents it well. Plushes a WestAustralian boy. WHAT ARE THEMAJOR BENEFITS OFBEING IN THESOUTHERN FORESTSREGION?Just having the bestvariety and quality ofAustralias produce right atyour doorstep, as well as learningfrom the producers. WHAT PART DO YOU PLAY IN THESOUTHERN FORESTS REGION?The business that we run here isjust my wife, me and my son. Its afamily business and we doeverything from cooking tocleaning to gardening we dolock, stock and barrel. We enjoywhat we do and were very happyabout it.

GRILLED Dingup House Historical B&B and restaurant chef/owner PETER ELLIOT

Dingup House,Dingup Road,Manjimup9772 4206 ordinguphouse.com.au

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Whenever you ask forlettuce at Subway or sinkyour teeth into a BigMac, youre probably eating DavidEasts carefully grown produce.

The Manjimup-based lettucegrower supplies his harvest to bigprocessors throughout WA insummertime, who then supplymany fast food and chain stores.

Youd be quite surprised at theamount of people in WA who dontknow what Manjimup does or whatweve got down here, he said.

After working on his fatherscattle farm when he was younger,Mr East had an ambition to moveinto horticulture. He began his newcareer in 1983, growing cauliflower.

I left school in 1982, camehome and couldnt see a future injust doing cattle, he said. I lookedto diversify into vegetables andcauliflower was one of the biggestvegetable products grown in thearea for export.

I spoke to a friend of ours andhe taught me how to grow it thats how I got involved.

When China entered the exportmarket as a fierce competitor in

the late 1990s, Mr East said manyvegetable growers couldntcompete and were forced to bowout of the industry altogether.

We could see the writing onthe wall. Within about four yearsChina virtually wiped us out. A fairfew growers sold their propertiesand moved on, he said.

In about 95 when they startedto put pressure on us we could seewe needed to get into anothercommodity, so thats what we did.

David and his wife Lee movedto lettuce growing in 1998 andhave continued to use their richSouthern Forests soil to make ittheir specialty. They grow, manageand harvest 120ha of lettucevarieties, including iceberg, cosand gourmet and baby leafspinach.

A key component to theirsuccess is that they can producelettuce at a time of year Perthgrowers cant in summer. TheEasts grow and harvest theirlettuce from December to mid-May, when they hand the reinsback to Perth. The capability forthis successful summer harvest isall thanks to Southern Foreststemperate climate.

The opportunity to growlettuce came when they couldntget quality out of Perth in

summertime and were looking forregions to grow the iceberg lettuceand other products, he said.

All their modelling suggestedManjimup had the climate specificto suit the things they needed, sothey came and saw us about it.

When the Easts are in theirproduction period, its all hands ondeck for long days of harvestingand planting.

My boys are now back with uson the farm and they want to beinvolved in it its a great place tolive.

Emma Chitty

Third-generation farmer BevanEatts has been tilling the soilaround west Manjimup hiswhole life. Plums are the name ofthe game and the farm has a widerange of varieties on the go for fivemonths of the year.

The 275ha farm wasnt always soloyal to stone fruit, however. Thefamily first took ownership of theland in 1946 a far smallerproperty back then and built itup over time. They ran a dairy herdon the land, which was milked theold-fashioned way (by hand),before evolving into sheep farming.

It was nearly 40 years ago, in1976, that the family decided to trytheir hand at growing vegetablesinstead of running livestock.

We used to grow cauliflowerfor export in the boom days, andwe had a regular truck run wherewe used to drop produce off atBusselton, Bunbury andDonnybrook, Mr Eatts said.

The family was looking for abetter quality of life, one that didntinvolve working seven days a week,

when they decided to delve into anindustry theyd never consideredand which was right out of theircomfort zone stone fruit. Theyknew the Manjimup region wassuitable for growing the fruit andwere attracted by the plumseasons short time frame.

Coming from a vegetablebackground, we knew nothingabout fruit trees, Mr Eatts said. Sowe thought wed start with stonefruit, which is meant to be easierthan apples. There arent manystone-fruit growers in WA. Itspretty much a niche market now.

The orchard took a few years tokick into gear and start bearingfruit and now the farm is all plums,with more than 5000 treesflourishing on the property.

There are 11 plum varieties onthe farm, including black Amber,candy Rosa, fortune, Amber jewel,Kelsey, midnight sun, Tegan blueand Angelino.

The way it works is that westart picking one variety betweenChristmas and the new year, and

then two weeks later anothervariety comes on, then another onetwo weeks after that, and so on,Mr Eatts said.

That goes right through to theend of April. Purple majesty is thefirst plum variety we pick, which isabout Christmas time.

As all farmers know though, youcan have good and bad seasons.

The last season wasnt so great.In September 2012, we had somehail, when the fruit had only grownas big as a thumbnail. The hail left amark and, as the fruit grew, themark got bigger. As a result, itmeant we couldnt sell our crop asa first-grade fruit, Mr Eatts said.

Generally, first-grade plums sellat about $2.50 a kilogram, whilesecond-grade plums sell at about$1-$1.50 a kilo. So thats a hugedifference, despite the fact that thesame amount of work goes intogrowing them and that they tastethe same.

Thats probably something weneed to educate consumers on.

Jennifer Susanto-Lee

Its a plum way to make a living

Success in cool climateThe Easts have a windowof time to grow lettuce

David East and his crop. Picture: Craig Kinder

Its picking timefor Manjimupplum growerBevan Eatts andhis kelpie Pip.

We doenoughturnover insix months(ofharvesting)to last us12, so wevegot to goreally hardfor thatperiod oftime. David East

road tripping with broadfield

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Its hard to get a good coffee inPemberton or Manjimup but thenthats always the way once you getmore than 100km from a capital city.So, drink juice, or better still, wine.

Along the ridiculously picturesqueVasse Highway, on the way to Pemby,lies some of WAs most celebratedwineries. John Horgans Salitage is acase in point. And something of asurprise. If I had any expectations

about this place it would have beenof a small cellar door made fromundressed timber and with samplesbeing doled out by a Dutchbackpacker with a nose ring and animmediate need of depilatory cream.

The Salitage cellar door isanything but. It is a massive buildinginspired by the ideas of Americasmost famous wine producer RobertMondavi, who suggested to John

Horgan that a large facility for tastingsand special events and VIP wineevents would be the way of the future.

As it turns out Mondavi wasnothing short of a prophet because,many years later, theres nary a seriouswine business in WA that doesnt havefacilities above and beyond a benchand a spittoon.

The gardens alone are worth thevisit to Salitage: they are manicured

and lush. And, in aregion impoverished forhotel rooms, his luxurychalets are in greatdemand. And thentheres thoseexceptionalcold-climate winesmade by SueMountford, picturedright with me . . .

As he watches hisgrandchildren Jasper andSacha run around pickingfruit from the orchard founded by10 pound poms George andHarold Newton in 1929, HarveyGiblett feels a deep satisfaction.

After decades of hard work, the85-year-old business started by MrGibletts father-in-law George istasting the ultimate success withtheir royal gala, fuji, jazz, GrannySmith and pink lady apples nowbeing carried by both of Australiassupermarket giants, as well beingshipped interstate and overseas,including to Marks and Spencer

in Britain and Aldi over east.Mr Giblett bought the Newton

Brothers Orchards outright in1990, converting one of the threeorchards to organic in 2008. Hehas since watched his three adultchildren become integral parts ofthe operation, and hopes hisgrandchildren will continue in whathas become one of the countrysbiggest suppliers of organic fruit.

I see myself as just a caretaker,Mr Giblett said. Whether theyshare our passion and are in tunewith what weve created remainsto be seen, there are noguarantees.

With the big two throwing theirweight behind organicallyproduced fruit and vegetables,along with a growing consumerdemand for safe food, Mr Giblettcan only see a bright future for theSouthern Forests region.

Family-owned and family-rungrowers have been diversifyinginto organics for many years.

People want to have aconnection with the farm and thefarmer, Mr Giblett said.

They want to know the originsof their food sources how it wasgrown and by whom. Were in tunewith that. These are the apples thatmy grandchildren eat and there is asense of trust and a relationshipthat we forge with our customers.

The last crop was a really niceone and we have bigger and betterthings in store this year. We wantto produce a premium apple andquality fruit that will last in marketall year. There is a certain crunchand taste factor that you want toachieve each time. Weve beensupplying the Woolworths Macrobrand for a while, and the fruit forthe ValleyView label (Coles) hasbeen really good. There have beenvery few problems. I couldnt behappier.

Apples customers trustPeople want to know the origins oftheir food, writes CONNIE CLARKE

Harvey Giblettwith NewtonOrchardsapples.Picture: CraigKinder

ManjimupsBeth

Shorthouse.

A good jam should have plenty of fruity lumps andshould be at least 50 per cent sugar or its not worth theeffort, according to Manjimup berry farmer BethShorthouse.

You need to be able to taste the fruit, MrsShorthouse said. And you need the sugar to make it ajam, otherwise the flavour isnt right.

Retired schoolteachers Mrs Shorthouse, 70, and herhusband John, 75, bought their property in 1985,charmed by the beautiful karri forest that surrounded it.In 1996, they decided to turn their hobby into a businessand now grow almost 500kg of berries every year.Whatever is not sold at the Manjimup Farmers Market,where Mrs Shorthouse is co-ordinator, goes into acolourful array of jams, preserves, jellies and sauces.

The Yallamurrup range is made from their 17haproperty in the Middlesex Valley, about 8km south ofManjimup. Seven varieties are grown and handpicked bythe couple, including raspberries, loganberries,boysenberries and English gooseberries.

John grows the orchard full-time now after he retiredin 1998, Mrs Shorthouse said. I like to try lots ofdifferent combinations. We dont sell to Perth, it would betoo big an operation, especially since we are getting tothe age where well have to hand over to somebody else.But theres lots of interest and our products are availablein the tourist bureaus and wineries.

While were still healthy well continue we love it,especially meeting so many different, interesting peopleall the time.

Connie Clarke

theyre jammin

Serves 4

300g kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic1 tsp salt plus extra1 cup macadamia nuts,

lightly toasted1 cup extra virgin olive oilsmall lemon, zest only2 12 tbsp lemon juice1 cup parmesan, finely grated

plus extra1 medium cauliflowerolive oilsea salt flakes1 tbsp caraway seeds4 whole pickled walnuts, slicedItalian parsley leaves,

to garnishfreshly cracked black pepper

Blanch the kale in boiling salted water, cooling under coldrunning water. Drain well before rolling in a tea towel to dry.Crush the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle until acreamy consistency. Place the kale, macadamias, half theextra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest and crushedgarlic in a food processor. Process until a coarse puree.Transfer to a bowl and fold through the grated parmesanand remaining extra virgin olive oil. Check seasoning andadjust if needed. Preheat oven to 220C. Slice thecauliflower from top to bottom into 2cm thick pieces. Place the slices and small pieces that will break off as you slice on to an oiled baking tray and drizzle with oliveoil. Season with sea salt flakes and caraway seeds and roast for 20-25 minutes until browned at the edges andtender. Serve the roasted cauliflower slices layered on aplatter, garnished with small spoonfuls of the kale pesto, slices of pickled walnut, a little extra gratedparmesan, Italian parsley leaves and freshly cracked blackpepper.

Roasted cauliflower with caraway, pickled walnuts,kale and macadamia pesto VEGETARIAN

Foragers Sophie Zalokar shares some of herbest recipes using Southern Forests produce

Southern comfort

Makes 3 cups

250g Manjimup white beans or dried cannellini beans

2 cloves garlic1 fresh bay leaf1 tbsp sea salt1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped plus extra13 cup extra virgin olive oilfreshly cracked black pepperlocal extra virgin olive oil

Soak the white beans overnight. Drain beforeputting into a big saucepan with water to coverthe garlic cloves and fresh bay leaf by 5cm. Bringto the boil and simmer until just tender. Add saltand cook further until the beans are soft. Drain,reserving the cooking liquid and the bay leaf.Allow the beans to cool a little before pureeing ina food processor together with the rosemary,extra virgin olive oil, third of a cup of thereserved cooking liquid and freshly crackedblack pepper. Leave to cool to room temperaturebefore serving drizzled with a little best-qualitylocal extra virgin olive oil, a scattering of morefinely chopped rosemary and garnished with thebay leaf. Serve with flatbread (see recipe).

Manjimup white-bean puree with potato and buckwheat flatbread

PERFECT STARTER

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Makes 4 flatbread

300g mashed potato, cooled100g buckwheat flour12 tsp baking powderpinch of salt1 large free-range eggolive oilsea salt flakes

Preheat oven to 220C. Mix themashed potato, buckwheat flour,baking powder and egg with a pinchof salt until a soft dough. Divide intofour portions and place on a linedbaking tray. Flatten each withflour-dusted fingers into round disks,prick the breads with a fork, drizzlewith a little olive oil and bake for 20minutes until the edges are browned.Serve sprinkled with salt flakes.

Photography & Styling Iain Gillespie

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Serves 4

1 cup walnut kernels4 x 300g fresh marron,

purged1 tbsp apple cider

vinegar1 tsp lemon juice12 tsp sea salt3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 small iceberg lettuce,

torn into bite-size pieces

2 radishes, thinly sliced

1 avocado, sliced1 pink lady apple,

thinly sliced1 small bunch fresh

dill, tips plucked from stalks

truffle salt to garnishcra