Brae Farm Weekly Notes for the Kitchen – September 22, 2023 —

Hi everyone,

There are lots of changes to the list this week as more spring crops come on. We could start doing a light harvest from the lovage and tarragon plants, and the fig trees are in leaf again. I’ve added (tiny) baby carrots back to the list, along with chive buds, pea flowers, society garlic flowers, and salad burnet.

We’ve spotted our first few broad bean pods forming. We should discuss optimal sizing and we’ll see if there’s enough ready to pick on Tuesday.

We have a new succession of mini mak daikon and some pink-skinned daikon that we could pick on Tuesday, but they are only baby-sized and we can leave them for a couple of weeks if you’d prefer them bigger.

We also have a new bed of bok choi coming on in the polytunnel if Dan would like to check the size.

There is another flush of artichokes ready to pick.

The citrus is slowing down, although there are still significant quantities of oranges, myer lemons, and lemonades on the trees.

Thanks! Jo

Jodie Lawson – Brae Head Gardener

Brae Farm Weekly Notes for the Kitchen – September 15, 2023 —

Hi everyone,

The warm weather is pushing a lot of the over-wintered crops to bolt, and we’re coming to the end of most of the root veggies and sprouting brassicas.

The purple sprouting broccoli is an exception, and we’re going to have heaps for the next few weeks. It will benefit from a hard pick on Tuesday if you can use about a crate of it? We also have an abundance of spring onions and spring garlic, and plenty of nice baby greens and radishes.

The last beds of beetroot and mini mak daikon are starting to bolt, but we should be able to find some good ones for another week or two. The carrots are looking past their prime but are hopefully still ok for juicing. If not, let us know and we’ll clear the remainder of the crop. It would also be good to use up the remaining cabbages, because they won’t hold for much longer.

We’ll be picking new season daikon and baby carrots within a couple of weeks, but beetroot is at least a month away.

I’ve taken fiolaro di creazzo and large shungiku off the list, and added leaf beetroot back on.

Thanks! Jo
Jodie Lawson – Brae Head Gardener

Brae Farm Weekly Notes for the Kitchen – September 8, 2023 —

Hi everyone,

We’ll be harvesting a new succession of Tokyo turnips on Tuesday, I’m unsure of quantities. We’ll hopefully have plenty by the end of the week.

New season plantings of mini mak daikon (and a nice looking red/pink daikon) will be ready in a couple of weeks, so it would be good to use up what’s left of the winter crop. Please order extras if you can use them for pickling or staff meals.

We’ve harvested most of the Eureka lemons, but there are heaps of Lisbons left. The lemonades are not going to hold much longer on the trees, and we’re getting a lot of windfall limes.

I’ve taken swedes, romanesco, and piricicaba broccoli off the list, and added dill, Mexican marigold, large leaf spinach, and large leaf rocket back onto the list.

Thanks! Jo
Jodie Lawson – Brae Head Gardener

Brae Farm Weekly Notes for the Kitchen – September 1, 2023 —

Hi everyone,

We’re having a warm start to spring and the growth rates are starting to pick up noticeably in the garden.

We have lots of chives again, and we’re picking the first few borage flowers. I’ve added wild rocket back to the list.

The first handful of asparagus has popped up, and there are quite a few artichokes coming on.

We’ve picked the last Romesco heads, but there’s some side shoots that are worth picking so I’ll keep them on the list.

We’ve cleared out the last of the pumpkins, and we should do the same with the bulb garlic. There are some bunches left in the shed but it’s getting soft. Let me know if you’d like a container on Tuesday and I’ll throw the rest out. There are heaps of spring garlic ready to use, and it’s sized up quite a bit in the last couple of weeks.

Thanks! Jo

Jodie Lawson – Brae Head Gardener

Brae Wins The Gourmet Traveller Readers’ Choice Icon Award —

That Brae has clocked a decade on a remote patch of beautiful countryside in regional Victoria should be worthy of applause, trophies and confetti cannons alone. Not that Dan Hunter and his superb paddock-to-plate fine-diner have been devoid of praise up until now. Consistently ranked among the best restaurants in Australia, Brae has always kept up its end of the bargain.

Gourmet Traveller Magazine. Read More.