Northside Produce Market August 3 Highlights

As we come to the end of this Plastic Free July, we congratulate Dominic Ryan in having prevented 10,000 plastic milk bottles from becoming landfill. What an achievement in less than a year, as Dominic started The Restore Project and became our modern-day milk man, delivering milk in glass bottles to residents of the 2060 postcode, last October and now to 33 postcodes.

More wonderful news is that The Restore Project will now be at both of our monthly markets as of this Saturday morning. Dominic has expanded the range of dairy products from the Tilba Dairy and now their luscious yoghurt and cream is available as well as the milk, all in glass of course.

One of the pleasures that I derive from working at the market is discovering produce that I was totally unaware of. Farmers markets enable our food growers to grow produce that is less known such as heritage varieties, which we are able to enjoy and in turn help prevent the loss of these gems.

I had never heard of The Black Diamond apple until I asked Yuri from the Produce from Orange stall, what fruit he would have at this market. Originally only found in a mountainous region of Tibet, Orange is cold enough for these crispy, tart to sweet apples with their dark purple, almost black skin.

Our North Sydney Community Centre’s kitchen smelled divine on Sunday afternoon whilst the Country Women’s’ Association (CWA) – Sydney City branch Cookery Officer Jeanette Tran was teaching members, the ins and outs of making and bottling jam and pickles.

The fruits of previous preserving sessions, will be available at the stall the CWA Sydney City branch is running at this August 3rd market. From Apricot Jam to Apple Chutney, there is a preserve or two to suit everyone. If you are interested in being a member, let them know.

It’s love at first bite when you sink your teeth into one of Natas & Co’s authentic, Portuguese tarts. Did you know that you can wrap your fingers around a warm tart at the market? In additon to Alcino's classic Traditional, don't forget to try his four other flavours on offer -  Lemon, Salted Caramel, Biscoff and Nutella.

I'm looking forward to rugging up this Saturday morning and discovering what fresh produce this mid-Winter market brings us.

See you there, with warm regards Lisa.

Lisa MacDonald

Northside Produce Market Coordinator