GREENS FROM THE FARM
The scapes, by the time you read this, may no longer be around. The long green shoots
which grow from a garlic bulb make their brief appearance between spring and summer. I’m
learning all about them from Josh Dooley, who had thrust some into my arms the previous
week and urged me to roast them, to treat them like asparagus. Which I duly did and they
were fantastic, very subtly garlicky, a little sweet.
Josh and wife Lynette have been growing glorious produce at The Farm in Ewingsdale for
about ten years now, selling at farmers’ markets for the past one-and-a -half. The absence
of signage (‘I like to be incognito!’, jokes Josh) does nothing to deter the flow of customers
to the stall, where three trestle tables are festooned with things mostly green. There are the
amusingly named Bouq- Kales, bunches of four different types of kale, including cavolo nero,
white Russian and Russian curly, which are a big seller. There’s silverbeet and green onions
and cabbages, broccolini and bok choy and watermelon radishes, prettily pink inside. And
there’s the big tub of mixed leaves, another big seller for the couple, and no wonder, an
assortment so zingily fresh they nearly leap out at you.
And yet what you see may well no longer be there in a few weeks’ time. ‘We’re in the cusp
season’, Josh explains. ‘All these leafy greens are starting to come to an end, and soon it will
be zucchinis and chillis and capsicums and beans.’ He says that they’ll keep the mixed leaves
going for as long as they can ‘but they don’t like the heat. Winter’s the time greens thrive.’
Here’s a couple purchasing scapes, and I want to know what they’ll do with theirs. ‘They’re
delicious pickled!’ says the girl, ‘plus they’re really yummy in an omelette.’ ‘They’re a by-
product that’s become a delicacy’, adds Josh.
Greens From The Farm are at Mullumbimby every Friday from 7 – 11am
Victoria Cosford
