NEWS FLASH...Announcing Angelica Organic Farm's return to FARMERS' MARKETS for 2009/2010...For our first market stall of this season, we will be at COLLINGWOOD CHILDREN'S FARM FARMERS' MARKET this SATURDAY (Nov. 14, 8am to 1pm).
We'll have a selection of the freshest and most flavoursome culinary herbs such as coriander, parsley, oregano, thyme, mint, sage, rosemary, bay leaf and lavender, as well as premium spicy rocket and zingy mizuna leaves (for salads/pizza/stir fry), beautiful red curly kale leaves plus maybe a small quantity of other vegie morsels to get us back on deck for our new seasons produce.
A feature of our stalls are our mixed herb posies - they're both pretty and practical! These mixed herb posies were borne from our own experiences of buying full bunches of single herbs for various recipes, only to find we had too much wastage when we couldn't use them all quickly enough. After trialling the idea last season, we did indeed discover that many people have had the same problem and were delighted to be able to buy farm fresh, mini-bouquets of a selection of 3-5 herbs and they're even organic! We hope to see you at our fragrant little 'ol display on Saturday!
HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS, your culinary desperation is almost over...our new season gorgeous, gourmet GARLIC will hit the stands by December markets, just in time for the festive season and all those shared meals with loved ones. Of course we will have our new hand crafted garlic braids (AKA plaits or ropes) and grappes (decorative bunches), which really do make the loveliest gift for people who just love quality and attractive epicurian delights to brighten up their tasty creations and their kitchen .
We had hoped to have a lot more produce variety for our first market back but Nature dictates to us when things will 'happen' NOT us to Her, hence the highly variable and mostly cold so called spring season this year has hindered the rate of growth of almost everything as I have mentioned in a previous blog post. Things are cracking along now though with the current warmth :).
Never the less we felt it time to make an appearance after our winter 'hibernation' and what better day than the launch of the Victorian Farmers' Market Association (VFMA) Accreditation for stall holders? On Saturday, the accreditation launch will occur across Victoria at the many farmers' markets and is likely to attract a fair bit of media coverage.The accreditation process has been introduced to provide standards for farmers' markets and their stallholders with the aim to ensure the authenticity and high quality of the markets and primarily the produce sold at them. All current a prospective stall holders are required to demonstrate via a written and signed application followed by an on-farm &/or production premises inspection by an independent auditor that they are the actual growers or producers of what they sell and can verify that their products are precisely what they tell customers they are. We are one of the first farms to achieve VFMA accreditation and along with all the accredited stallholders will now display our accreditation certificate or sign at our stalls, so people can shop with total confidence.
All VFMA Accredited farmers' market stallholders are to display their accreditation certificates and this 'Farmers' Market' sign, so it is clear to all market patrons that stallholders are ligitimate.
An authentic farmers' market is defined as a "predominantly fresh food and produce market...which...provides a suitable environment for farmers and food producers to sell their farm origin product and/or associated value added primary products to customers".
The basic standards for Accreditation dictates the following will NOT be permitted:
- Re-sellers of fruit, vegetables or any other farm based product
- Re-packagers of any food or drink
- Art and craft stalls
- Bric-a-brac stalls
To achieve accreditation, metropolitan farmers' markets must have 90% of stallholders accredited. The gist is that stallholders must either grow and/or make the produce themselves OR make value-added products from scratch using raw, predominantly locally grown ingredients and be making the products within Victoria or within 100km of a state border and at least one person selling at any market stall must be involved in the business and have an intimate knowledge of the products. Furthermore, the words 'organic'and 'free range' must NOT be used to promote a business or its products unless the business is certified to do so by a recognised certifying body.
So, the upshot is that VFMA accreditation is there to ensure everyone gets an honest and fair deal; farmers, value-adders, consumers and hard working, authentic market coordinators. Angelica Organic Farm says 'here, here' and 'thank you' to that!
Wherever you are, enjoy your weekend (i.e. if you're not working!) and we hope to see you Melbournites at the Collingwood Children's Farm on Saturday :).
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