Spring 12: The Dirty Dozen. A sing-along, a chef’s tasting, a great cause, and all the fresh produce you can reasonably conceive of.
It’s here, the big one. For one reason or another, the 18th of November seems to be THE market for our ongoing community engagement, not to mention a very special one-off at Harvest. The market is brimming with all the fresh produce and products you know and love, plus we have a monumental day of goings-on for your enjoyment. Mustn’t dally, for there is much to do.
This week at Harvest
We’ll get to the produce stuff in a moment. For now, let’s begin with The Stranded Wailers. We’ve been waiting for nearly a year for the stars to align, such that the crew can use them to navigate the good ship Stranded Wailers to the stage at Harvest. Boy howdy is it worth the wait though. If you’re not familiar, you can look up this rag-tag bunch of shanty-singers and ne’er-do-wells right here. Why are we so excited? Glad you asked.
When we first stumbled across these folks, we were marooned in a dusty carpark with an even dustier head. A result of the previous evening’s excesses. Feeling as though death or at least severe incapacitation was imminent, there was naught to be done except tough it out. Then, the singing began. It altered the whole mood of the day. All of a sudden, there was vibrancy and frivolity in the air. The hangover disappeared faster than a Spanish galleon, and life had meaning again. The Grim Reaper seen off to return another day.
There is real power, joy, and connection in singing together in groups. It is universal and deeply moving. We can’t promise it will change your life, but we’re certain it will brighten your day. Download the songbook, prepare your singing voices, hoist the mainsail, tip the admiral, and let the fun begin!
ABLED Kitchen
Launceston’s premiere workplace training program for people living with disabilities is back at Harvest. FermenTAS, in conjunction with St. Gile’s and Sandy’s Sourdough, have created the ABLED kitchen program to provide a pathway to employment through hands-on training in the bakery. It is difficult for us to conceive of an initiative more worthy of support. Last time ABLED Kitchen was with us at Harvest they sold out in 2 hours! Which is no surprise really, the pizza bases were delicious.
This third run at the gate will be their biggest and brightest yet. You can support them by picking up a pizza base, and at the same time support a bunch of other local food producers by buying your toppings at Harvest. Try Headlam Farm asparagus and Elgaar Farm scamorza for a simple two-ingredient affair. Pick up some Coronea Grove Olives, West Tamar Fungi mushrooms and some Oldway farm bacon for a hyper-local cappricciosa perhaps? Or just roll with mozza and fresh basil for the ultimate margarita. Options are figuratively endless.
Actually at Harvest
It’s the last week of the asparagus season, so make sure you jump in to see Phil (in their usual spot) to get in on that action. Unfortunately, we’re missing the joy that is Scoopy and Della Valle Gelato this week, as well as Plants Direct, both of whom are at Longford Blooms. Tas Natural Tomatoes and Garlic are having a few weeks away from the market. We can’t call that a break for them though, they’re two of the hardest-working people in the biz. Other than that though, our stallholder cohort both seasonal and seasonally agnostic are all keen as beans for the coming weekend. As spring draws to a close and the height of summer approaches the likes of berries and cherries, alongside your Thirlstane Gardens, Seven Springs, Wanderer Mead, plus the olive oils, the pickles, the meats, the fish, the cheese, the ice-cream, the seasonings, the sweet treats are all there in force.
Plus welcome to Kanamaluka – the second iteration
Yeah, we were not kidding about it being a huge weekend!
To top it all off this week, we have the second iteration of our First Nations Engagement: the Welcome to Kanamaluka sessions. Think of this as something of a live podcast. Driven by our passionate board member Brett Charlton and featuring Geoffrey McLean, these two will be shooting the breeze about how the First Nations of our region lived for thousands of generations. The format is designed to avoid all political and topical narratives. By doing so, we focus wholly on the many millennia of life on trouwunna/lutruwita Tasmania, pre-colonisation. Alongside the storytelling, our Chef de Mission will have an offering of a local native ingredient as a welcome and tasting for your enjoyment.