ENGLISH chef Hugh Fernley Whittingstall writes of oranges: ‘In the middle of our grey winters, when all around is dull and cold, they stand out, unmissable, edible baubles…’ Woollahra conserves-maker Adrienne Carlson transforms our cold months’ citron bounty – much of which comes from Anthony Wallis’s Colo River organic orchard above the Hawkesbury valley – into delicious, tart-sweet marmalades and cordials. ‘My philosophy is to create premium products while minimising environmental impact,’ Adrienne says. ‘I do this by supporting local producers who use sustainable farming methods. All fruit in my products is grown without synthetic chemicals, pesticides or herbicides. I work closely with dedicated growers to source the best quality fruit in the peak of the season.’

Adrienne’s marmalades include a superb cumquat and orange, piquant three fruits with ginger, lime and orange, and ruby grapefruit. Wait for her line in July made with bitter seville oranges from Colo River – the only certified organic fruits of this variety in the country. Unlike most sweet oranges, which originate from the Chinese Citrus x sinensis, sevilles are of the genus known as C. x aurantium sub-species bigarade, endemic in Vietnam but which has long since come into its own in south-western Europe as the key to the finest of marmalades.

Adrienne’s cordials are made with similar attention to provenance and taste. Lines include orange, lemon, lime and orange, ginger, and lemon and ginger. Her cordials are gently pasteurised to eliminate any need for artificial preserving agents. Granny Smith is proud to stock these beautifully-made local conserves. We also have Colo River organic navel oranges in-store in June and July.

‘TOMATO revolutionary’ Alf Sorbello grows black krim, red ox-heart, golden ox-heart, Hungarian red heart, pink brandy wine and hill billy for Granny Smith. And from mid-June we’re bringing these wonderfully-named varieties of Solanum lycopersicum directly from Alf and Lee Sorbello’s Leppington farm – in Sydney’s south-western hinterland – to our store. Black krim is a Ukranian tomato bred in Crimea, the peninsula on the northern shore of the Black Sea. Hungarian red heart is an ox heart type with tomato pink skin and flesh. This strain originated in a small village near Budapest and was brought to the United States in 1901. Grown under optimum conditions, you can expect 10-15 fruits per plant. It has irregularly-shaped fruits which often weigh one kilogram or more. Illinois tomato grower Nick Huizenga says that if lifetime achievement awards were given to heirloom tomatoes, pink brandywine would be ‘the hands-down winner’. ‘No surprise that it’s on-board the Slow Food Ark of Taste – this beloved tomato has long been recognised as the king of all heirlooms, and rightfully so.’ Nick writes. ‘This legendary beefsteak variety sets the standard for flavour by which all others are judged. There are several different strains of brandy wine out there, but we think Sudduth’s (from Dorris Sudduth Hill of Tennessee) is hands-down the best for flavour. Grown for over 100 years by the same family, it was first introduced to the public in 1979 by tomato grower Ben Quisenberry.’ Alf and Lee Sorbello today grow more than 48 varieties of heirloom tomato. Granny Smith is proud to market these superb fruits.

WE’VE been asked recently for a few foods that are out of season. The first was a request for apples. Organic apples aren’t as industrially treated  – waxed and cold-stored – as conventional apples tend to be, so are much more seasonal. Lucky us for when they’re in season…but not yet: those little green apples are busy growing, ready for plucking come late summer. I’ve only recently pruned dwarf gravensteins and cox’s orange pippins that are espaliered in my South Turramurra backyard, removing a few young apples from each of the heavier clusters to leave perhaps just a pair to develop through the summer.

Then we had a request for custard apples, which also are out of season. Ditto brussels sprouts and horseradish. These questions make me realise that one thing that has deteriorated with the rise of industrial farming, globalisation and the use of preserving chemicals and cold storage in the food business is our awareness of the seasons and knowledge of the fruits and vegetables that are native to, say, summer, or winter. It’s important for our local farmers, particularly, that we eaters should try to become ‘literate’ about food seasonality. If it’s in season then it’s fresh, and better for us. It’s also more likely to be produced locally, which means you’re directly supporting local farmers when you buy food that’s truly ‘new season’. Our website’s seasonal guide can help to distinguish between what’s real and what might be said to be ‘in season’ but which has just emerged after 10 months in cold storage.

- Peter Kenyon

WITH a State Government slating great chunks of north-west and south-west Sydney for urban development, we are in trouble. How do we feed ourselves when the farmland is gone? There is an assumption upon which such development relies that there will always be food available from somewhere, even from abroad. Many are beginning to question the wisdom of basing our future food security on imported foods, however action may not come quickly enough to achieve any meaningful response.

Local governments in western Sydney are concerned about urban development across local farmland but State and Federal governments have been rather slower to acknowledge the problem. A spread of articles on the issue, published by the Sun Herald in 2010, includes an interactive map that demonstrates clearly the importance of the Sydney basin to various crops.

Many of Granny Smith Natural Food Market’s favourite suppliers feel pressure from such land development. Where will our beautiful tomatoes come from if they need to be brought in from more than 1000 kilometres away? Could they possibly be as fresh or taste as good as Alf and Lee Sorbello’s from just up the road? What about Michael Champion’s magnificent salad greens? Peter Clinch’s chickens? With more and more housing covering the Sydney basin and ever greater urban run-off, how long can we expect clean local oysters and fish to hold out?

Please take a few minutes to email Senator the Honourable Joe Ludwig, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry, about your concerns.

To bring the matter to wider public attention, you can email the letters editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and email the letters editors of the Sun Herald.

Alternatively, please cut and paste the following if you prefer to not write your own email:

I write to you to express my concern about the disappearance of farmland around Sydney. Many of the products that are now grown locally, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and chicken, appear on my dinner table regularly. Where will they come from if farming in the Sydney Basin disappears?

We already have water issues in other parts of the country and transport costs are rising. I do not wish to have fresh vegetables grown overseas as my only option and with dietary-related health issues costing more each year, how does this protect our long-term health and food security?

I look to you to take action to protect Sydney’s remaining urban farmland in perpetuity. We cannot afford to lose this vital source of food to urban sprawl.

Please keep me appraised of the action you are taking.

Sincerely,

Your name

Links
Hawkesbury Harvest