Refocus, gear up, winter is over, and M Night Shayamalan salad.
Wow has there been a lot going on. Things got a little crazy there. In a good way. It is officially the last Saturday of winter though. Spring has all but sprung and it’s time to focus. We’ve been working hard in the background during August securing the spring and summer stallholder roster. We’re incredibly pleased to report that every single stallholder you’ve come to know and love is back with Harvest for the coming seasons. Asparagus, berries, flowers, stone fruits, game meats…the works. They’re all there. Perhaps it’s a little peek behind the curtain, but this is a great feeling for the Harvest team, and we thank our whole community for it. We also give thanks to you, dear reader. If the patrons didn’t turn out each week, we’d all lose. So thanks! You’re the best.
Gear Up
Harvest Market is a farmers’ market. Stating the obvious I know but bear with us. Inseparable from the 4 hours each Saturday is the intangible network of people and ideas that comprise the greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts Harvest ‘brand’ (for want of a better term). We work hard at this also, and during spring these ideas and people are bringing some fantastic events to life.
Junction Arts Festival x Harvest Market 2022 has just been announced. The Sunday Recovery Brunch features Harvest produce, music, comedy and our resident chef. It is set to be Launceston’s premier (read: only) comedy slash music slash food event of the year. Sunday 18th September. Check out the link for all the info.
Harvest Market x North Festival 2022 in October is a thing. Our stallholders are creating a picnic hamper for locals and visitors alike to pre-purchase and enjoy at their leisure. Before, during or after all the other amazing happenings and machinations of the spring gastronomic celebrations of NORTH festival. Keep an eye out for that link in due course.
Refocus
And after an amazing agriCULTURED event during August, we’ve had plenty of big ideas to follow up on. We always walk away from events like agriCULTURED with the feeling that there is heaps of great stuff to accomplish. This year was no exception, and we’re proud to say that we’ve opened the conversation with Palawa Kipli about their representation of indigenous food and community at Harvest.
Further forward, we’ve got MONA FOMA 2023 and the good ship Stranded Wailers on the horizon. There isn’t much humans do that we can feel pure unambiguous love and joy about, but The Stranded Wailers are one of them. We’re super excited about them coming to Harvest.
Eat Salad
This is the bit where I’m sure readers are going, OK spring is here, he’s going to write about a salad. Predictably. You’d be correct. But let’s go all M. Night Shayamalan up in here and look back to the last of winter’s goodness.
Take some pitted olives and brine, a little red wine vinegar, a little parsley and a clove of garlic and a generous amount of olive oil. Blitz them into a dressing. Heat a griddle pan (or the BBQ) and sear some pork loin until medium. Or some braised neck, shoulder or butt would work too. Soft boil an egg or two. Pick the leaves from a radicchio and cut them into large pieces. Add a handful of roquette. Julienne an apple. Crush some toasted hazelnuts. Slice the pork. Toss the works together and garnish with the halved egg, salt and pepper. Bam. It’s the fake-Tassie-winter-Nicoise-salad-that-is-actually-nothing-like-Nicoise-salad-really salad. It is delicious but we’ll work on the title.
So yeah, heaps going on. Better get back to it. Thanks for reading, back next week.