I have always had a secret yearning for my own personal market garden and the yearning has never been so great as when I visited The Falls Farm, located not far from Mapleton.
Market gardens, by definition, are smaller scale operations that tend to be an amplified version of your backyard veggie patch. They are seasonal and filled with an abundance of vegetable varieties that any season may bring.
The Falls Farm market garden is just that, absolutely filled with the most amazing array of seasonal vegetables, many of them heirloom vegetables.
The inspiration behind this beautiful and very productive farm has come from Ben Johnston and his fiancé, Jess Huddart, who while leading very busy lives traveling the world through the demands of their IT business, decided to find a place that they could call home, and fill with the ‘goodness’ that Ben has come to miss – the nurturing home grown food that he had taken for granted throughout his childhood. This is where his mother, Christine Ballinger, steps into the picture. She had been growing organic vegetables for over 40 years, she herself leading a busy life in the corporate world. A property was found and Christine ‘retired’ only to work harder than ever before and to help lay the foundations as well as add to the inspiration, and The Falls Farm was born. Having said that, I think it would be fair to say that it is a labour of love for all concerned.
The Falls Farm was initially 18 acres of neglected scrub, weeds and out-of-control lantana, so the first job was to set about clearing the property and developing the infrastructure, which took into consideration irrigation and the ultimate ‘big picture’ plan. A lot of work has been done. It is incredible to think – looking at the property now – that it was previous covered in lantana. But there is a lot of work yet to be done. I must admit… I am a little bit excited…
Wandering through the garden and discovering the many unusual varieties, especially the heirloom vegetables, was just a joy.
Heirloom vegetables are probably another thing that needs defining. They are generally old cultivars, many grown throughout history, but not grown in a modern large scale or monocultural fashion. They are not hybridised, non GMO and have kept their, often quirky, traits through open pollination.
Over the years, many varieties have been lost, but their quirkiness has led to resurgence in popularity, some of the more creative chefs featuring these anomalies of the vegetable world as the focal point of their dishes. It is through the diligence of the home gardeners and seed savers, and operations like The Falls Farm, that many varieties have survived and are available at all.
Additionally, many of the seeds are not easy to obtain, which has seen Christine importing seeds from the US and around the world and then embarking on her own seed saving program so that she can utilise her own seeds – ones that have acclimatised to our Sunshine Coast conditions which ensures a higher survival, disease resistance and productivity rate.
For me, it is the quirkiness of the vegetables that draws me – the colours and odd shapes mostly. Purple cauliflower, the magnificently striped chiogga beetroot, purple and golden centred dragon carrots, black radishes – I love the colour spectrum. The Falls Farm also caters for the unusual… red creole onion flowers, fascinating floral pom poms that can be eaten as well as many other floral edibles. Cranberry hibiscus… zesty purple foliage, rainbow chard… I never tire of the golden and ruby red hues. It is a visual feast, or at least it will be once it is cooked up.
That is not to say everything is unusual. They have many of the standard staples, tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli… the list goes on, but as heirlooms, they more often than not have one special extra quality. For some it will be their appearance, for others their flavour, and for others again their resistance (although this is not the most glamorous feature but certainly a desirable one).
The property is amazing and this is only just the beginning. The farm is divided into what are called ‘rooms’. Each room has it’s own cluster of vegetables, each complementing the other, while other rooms are ‘resting’ with a crop of green manure in preparation for the next crop, or are just rooms in the making. The rooms roll out across the property, with many plans for new rooms, with their own theme… Asian vegetables, English garden, fruit orchards, water gardens… it is going to be spectacular. If the patch of land that houses the pizza oven and fire pit is anything to go by, many will get the opportunity to enjoy the spoils of this well thought-out plan.
The Falls Farm make their vegetables available at the Witta Market and through a veggie delivery service – a box filled to the brim with the seasonal vegetables of the moment. The Falls Farm is also popular with local chefs who’s menus are inspired by these jewels of the vegetable realm – visit The Long Apron in Montville – Cameron Matthews is creating some fabulous dishes based on their seasonal inspiration with some very imaginative and delicious results.
Meanwhile, I came home with a box of goodies as well and played with my colourful bounty for days. The wackiest of them all were the onion flowers, which I was just fascinated by and specially requested, and enjoyed later that day dipped in tempura batter, deep fried with a beer – thanks Cameron for the inspiration! See recipe here
The Falls Farm is not currently open to the public – I am sure there will be opportunities to visit some time soon – but their vegetables and herbs are fresh, delicious and organically grown and available to you now, so visit their website and find out details about how you can enjoy these vegetables delivered weekly to your door.
For more information visit:
or visit their profile on:
http://www.sunshinecoastregionalfood.com.au/item/the-falls-farm/
To order vegetables subscribe to The Falls Farm newsletter on their website – a product list of available vegetables is sent out every Monday for you to make your selection and have delivered to your home.
This story was written by Petra Frieser – Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds
