Sneak Peeks of Designer Showbag. Win on the Barn Market FB page!

Don't forget to head over to the Barn Market facebook page  for a chance to win this amazing Barn Market Designer Showbag.  

 

Featured Grower: Herb & Co.

We're coaxing some of the Barn Market growers, designers, makers and creatives out of their studios and workspaces to share their unique stories and passions behind the beautiful handmade and grown items they bring along to the market.

There is a real passion for gardening behind Herb & Co's range of edible and medicinal plants. Jane and Harriet work from their greenhouses at home, promoting seasonal growing and organic gardening practices. Working on a smaller scale than your average nursery, Jane and Harriet's plants are living proof of their commitment to gardening and raising the healthiest of plants to bring to the market. 

We asked them to share a little bit more about their unique Tasmanian business, Herb & Co.

What brought you both together to create Herb & Co?

Harriet and I met at the Botanical Gardens (RTBG) in early 2011, when we both embarked on a new career and life-changing course. We were both accepted into the RTBG’s inaugural Certificates 1, 2 & 3 in Horticulture. Both of us had young families and were looking for a new focus in our lives.  This course was just what we were looking for. Juggling young families and all that life throws at us, we were nearing the completion of our course in 2012 when an opportunity to purchase a stall at Salamanca Market arose.  In what has become our signature style we jumped at the chance.

We began our small business venture in April 2012, purchasing the Salamanca Market Stall.

After an enthusiastic start with a dash of blind ignorance thrown in, Herb and Co is now up and running.

What has been the most challenging aspect of running Herb & Co:
We work from greenhouses set up at our homes and continue to juggle the busy, unpredictable lives of our families, but it works and we love it.

Finding our way in an industry that was new to us both has been the greatest challenge. Our course at the RTBG was fantastic and gave us the skills to grow and propagate our plants but what it didn't teach us was the skills to negotiate a new industry. 

We all have bad days at work, what is it about Herb & co that keeps you going?            Not the money! (We are still working on that part of the business).To be honest we laugh a lot! Also we are passionate about growing and promoting edible (and medicinal) plants that are suited to Hobart's climatic conditions. We love talking to like minded customers and sharing ideas and experiences.

Is there anything you wish you could say to everyone who stops by your stall at the market?

Lots of keen gardeners are confused about when to plant basil and coriander! Plant your basil in late spring when you put your tomatoes in! Basil needs hot weather conditions. Coriander is a short lived plant that thrives in our calmer, cool weather; plant it in early autumn all the way through to spring. Plant coriander every 3 weeks for a continuous supply.

It's midwinter, is there anything we should be growing right now in our gardens and windowsills?

At the moment we have strawberries, rhubarb crowns, saffron, parsley, winter greens and all your perennial plants (lavender, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary). These can go into your gardens now ready to take off in spring.

It is always nice to have a few annual herbs sitting on your window sill ready to go. Parsley, coriander, heartsease (edible viola) and even a nice pot of winter greens always look good on your windowsill.

Herb and Co are newbies at the Barn Market, what can we expect to see for your first market and into the future?

We are excited to be joining an Eastern Shore market. We will have a large range of beautifully presented herb and vegetable plants, gifts of potted herbs and fruit. Plus our clever husbands hand made recycled timer boxes of herbs. Our range of plants will continually evolve with the seasons.  Expect a smile and lots of enthusiasm.

We can't wait to have such a fabulous plant stall joining us at the Barn Market on July 19th. Please give Harriet and Jane a warm- welcome !

You can find Herb & Co on facebook and at the Barn Market.

Featured Makers: Greg and Aimee from Backyard Bounty

We’re coaxing some of the Barn Market makers, designers, artisans and creatives out of their studios and workspaces to share their stories and the passions behind those objects we call handmade.

The name Backyard Bounty really conveys the joy that Greg and Aimee have found in the backyard of their Newtown home and it’s a kind of earthy, productive joy; the joy of fruit and vegies. With Aimee as head gardener, they have turned their backyard into an incredibly productive  piece of land and with the help of some exceptional produce from a range of local growers it's assembled into delicious jars of joy or distributed to those who sign up to their vegie box service.

Hold a Backyard Bounty jar or bottle up to the sunshine and you’ll see Aimee’s passion for gardening, and as the lid comes off and the scents waft up you’ll taste how it all comes together with Greg’s adventurous culinary spirit. 

Greg, how did Backyard Bounty come to be?

I have always enjoyed cooking, and began experimenting with the idea of preserving about 3 or 4 years ago. I think one of the initial forays into preserving was a batch of Chinese style plum sauce, made very much on a trial-and-error basis with a bag of plums given to us by a neighbour who was a very keen gardener. Preserving seems to tap into an innate human sense of community; one tends to make more than one can use, and therefore it tends to be given to family, friends, etc. The other side of that is that family, friends then often seem to think of you when they have more lemons than they know what to do with, and an informal bartering network appears out of nowhere. The name and business concept of Backyard Bounty simply consolidated what was already happening: we were giving people an equivalent value of preserves for their home-grown produce, and as a result were ending up with huge amounts of preserves that needed a home. 

We started selling the preserves in mid 2012, and since that time business has grown; at last count, over 3000 jars of Backyard Bounty have been sold! 

In December 2013, Aimee had the bright idea of starting a vegie box scheme, which in a lot of ways has worked out to be the missing ingredient, as we are now able to accept a lot of home-grown produce that isn’t appropriate for preserving (e.g. leafy greens, potatoes) or is simply over-and-above what we need for meeting the demand for preserves, and share it with our vegie box subscribers.

What has challenged you the most with Backyard Bounty?

Two aspects of cooking that really appeal to me are creating exotic but grounded flavour combinations and experimenting with unfamiliar ingredients; this fitted naturally with the random consignments of home-grown, often heirloom produce that we receive, along with the produce that my wife (and now also business partner) Aimee was growing in our own backyard. Some ingredients lend themselves more easily to creating preserves- it took me a long time to create any pear products that I was happy with, for instance. With such a wide range of available products, another pressing challenge is to ensure that all the products in the range occupy their own space and aren't just variations on a theme. For instance, I make a standard raspberry jam (who doesn't love it!) but all other berry jams are combined with other flavours to give them their own identities, like combining blackberry with peach and gooseberry with elderflower.

What products bring you the most joy with your business?

Often the actual process of creating a new product is the most enjoyable phase, especially when I get it right. But there are some new products that bring joy every time I make them. Whether it be the smells they fill the house with or the simple tactile joy of prepping the fresh produce. I love the smell of a freshly ground spice mix hitting the oil and onions, or the smell of stone-fruits cooking down into jam. The lovely fragrance and smooth soft skin of meyer lemons, whether they're being rendered into a soft, silky lemon curd or stuffed with salt and jammed into jars to make preserved lemons, is always a pleasure.

Lately also, the creative process of working out what to cook with each week's vegie box, making sure that at least a few dishes are original and exciting enough to post as recipes for subscribers has been an inspiring task - although it could perhaps also belong in the challenges section too!

Is there anything you wish you could say to each person who stops by your stall at the market?

Everything that goes into a jar labelled Backyard Bounty is food; food that your grandparents would have recognised; food that nourishes; food that is not cynically manipulated to trick consumers into buying it. Each batch is tasted; each batch is slightly different from the last, true to the spirit rather than the recipe. Its real food; it speaks of the fruit and vegetables that went into it, where they were grown and by whom and reflects the hands, mind and mood of the maker.

If you want to eat the whole jar in the one go, feel free!

Is there a recipe that we should all be making this winter?

What says winter more than good roast potatoes, crispy and golden on the outside and fluffy and white on the inside!

Pre-heat oven to screamingly hot, par boil spuds (cut into appropriate sized bits) for 5-10 minutes. 

While waiting heat a metal baking tray (metal not pyrex or ceramic) that has a thin layer of olive oil covering the bottom (or rendered duck fat if it's handy!). 

Drain the spuds, shake them about a bit in the pot to rough up the outsides (don't over boil them or they'll fall apart here). Then take the tray out of the oven and dump the spuds (carefully) in the hot oil.

Back in the oven, as hot as it will go, til the potatoes are nicely browned (turn periodically), then pop them into a bowl with some absorbent paper. Toss to soak up excess oil, discard the paper and apply a generous amount of Backyard Bounty flavoured salt of your choice (especially Rosemary and Black Pepper).

What can we expect to see at the Barn Market in the future from Backyard Bounty?

In addition to the growing and seasonally changing menu of preserves, we will now be bringing a range of fresh home-grown produce (from our own garden and other growers'), plants and flowers, bringing our stall closer to the holistic vision of our business. We'll also be giving customers the chance to sign up for our hugely popular veggie boxes, bringing the best of local, chemical-free produce to your door. 

Thanks Greg! You can find Greg and Aimee from Backyard Bounty at their regular stall at the Barn Market.  Make sure you pop by to visit their stall at the next market on 31st May.

https://www.facebook.com/BackyardBounty