Tassie Spuds

[vagrom]

Hardly bushtucker, but...
Tassie spuds are dear up here, Dutch Creams $5/kg. But the stuff I saw on Saturday looked woeful.
They're hard to find anyway. Got some at Woolies recently but they were ready to sprout. When I drove around Tassie, farm gate signs were plentiful; "Dutch Creams and Bismarks".
Am I wrong? They're still not in season? Or have those super temperatures you've had recently put the kibosh on this year's crop?

[taswegian]

you should not pay more than $1.60 kg here.
Many farm gate offer 5kg bags for around $8, but have seen lower.

$5/ kg is rip-off in big way. Sounds like they should be paying you to take them off their hands.

High temperatures wouldn't make them sprout, unless they were last years crop which is what they sound like.
There would be new seasons ones well available now.

[vagrom]

Yes, thanks Taswegian. That's what suprised me. I can put up with a dollar a spud as they're clearly a delicacy at that price. It's transport costs and i'm not upset about that. The shop is not a rip-off place and in quite recent times ( actually haven't bought some for a while ...) it has sold quality Bintjes and 'Creams. The taste factor easily justifies the cost. Cheaper spuds are bog awful floury and tasteless; pumped full of recycled sewerage water.
I only car-toured Tassie during Summer, years ago now and that's where we used to see these happy signs.
Naturally there IS a time of the year when they're out of season. I just thought that summer's when they should be plentiful, if not necessarily cheaper, up here in croweater country.

[MartyGwynne]

OOOHHHHHHH I bought some lovely pink eyes on Aussie day weekend in Tassie.
They are so nice
I dont care what they cost they were delicious
Yum
WHy cant we have them across the straight?

PS they are bushwalkers food.

[corvus]

Not long off harvesting my King Edwards and first batch of Kifflers will let you know how nice they are and Pink Eyes do not grow well in my experience other than in Southern Tassie fresh Bismark season has passed and eaten Dutch creams are iffy even down here where we grow them (plenty of cold store examples around) I believe so "lucky dip time for them"
corvus

[Eremophila]

I did hear very recently of a local farmer who "lost" most of his harvested spuds, they sprouted and the supermarkets refused to buy them. Apparently this was from not using cold storage ???

[Onestepmore]

Dutch cream, king edwards, kipfler all grow fantastically here in Sydney. I have clay soil and hate digging (plant potatoes in a new spot each year to avoid virus spread) so I have made potato 'nests'. Chicken wire cut in half so it's about 500 ml high, roll into a cylinder and bend over the cut ends to secure it onto a ring. Sit a few of these together in two rows. Plonk about 4 seed spuds (either small whole ones, or one cut in half so that each piece has a few eyes) on the ground in each nest. Sprinkle a bit of blood and bone and chook pellets. Cover with some el cheapo potting mix, then cover with some straw or lucerne. As they sprout, add layers of soil, hay and a bit of compost. The potatoes will gow on the roots, so you want to layer it up well. as the plants get higher. I also usually plant a couple of zucchini in the holes between the cages (you won't need more than 2 plants - a warning!) You can eat small new potatoes from now on, but the big ones won't be ready until the tops start to brown and die off, when the frost hits them. Store undamaged brushed ones in an airy hession bag in the dark, or they will sprout. If you harvest small ones, make sure you cover remaining ones up well, because if the light gets to them they'll go green and produce toxic arsenic (i think?), and also then if exposed the slugs will eat bits of them. They taste the same with holes but your kids won't eat them! After you've lifted and dismantled your cages, then voila! You have a premade broken garden bed.
Super easy to grow, avoid the high prices in the gourmet grocers.
I've had little luck with any purple ones i've grown, they always taste woody. Any suggestions?

[Pebbles]

OOOHHHHHHH I bought some lovely pink eyes on Aussie day weekend in Tassie.
They are so nice
I dont care what they cost they were delicious
Yum
WHy cant we have them across the straight?

PS they are bushwalkers food.

You can get them as Sth Melbourne market in the specialised potato shop on the outside of the building. They are not the lovely baby ones I seek out down here though. They are large, dimply, gnarly things which still taste good but don't have the taste and charm of the baby ones.

I always bring a box back to vic if I'm travelling on the boat. Best potatoes available I reckon.

[ryantmalone]

I did hear very recently of a local farmer who "lost" most of his harvested spuds, they sprouted and the supermarkets refused to buy them. Apparently this was from not using cold storage ???

My step uncle had to severely downsize his spud farm when Macdonalds stopped buying spuds from the local Tassie Spud Farmers.

He used to thrive up in Gunns Plains too. Damn good farmers the whole family was too.

Not sure if he is still growing or not, last I knew was that he downsized something drastic, but one thing is for sure that the Tassie Spud Farmers are not doing as well as they used to.

If you live in Tassie, buying fruit and veg from the big supermarkets should be a crime, especially when you've got farms that grow good food literally at your front door, and are willing to sell for cheaper than the garbage they peddle in the Supermarkets.

[Onestepmore]

I completely agree. Buy local. We have apple orchards just up the road from us, yet the big supermarkets don't stock their brand, instead they ship in apple juice from thousands of km's away. The local IGA does stock the local one. Ditto for the local dairy's beautiful butter.
Buy from farmers' markets, as a bonus you get a bit of social interaction and atmosphere. Better still - grow some of your own!
As an added extra - you don't have to peel off the annoying little stickers they seem to plaster on most fruit now

[wayno]

my uncle and cousin are orchardists, they wouldnt make a living selling to supermarkets, you really need to be a massive orchard
supermarkets pay bottom dollar. its easier to ship to the juice factory, you don't have to employ people to thin the apples you don't have to worry about the crop being rejected because of fruit damage, insect damage etc..
you have a guaranteed contract with the juice factory, means you have peace of ind about your income you don't have selling apples to retailers...

[Rob A]

... had to severely downsize his spud farm when Macdonalds stopped buying spuds from the local Tassie Spud Farmers.

MacDonalds are an "Economic, Ethical, and Environmental" (I read it on their web site) contributer to first to third world obesity and diabetes. Wonder if they have venture shares in palm oil? Where they getting their spuds from now?

[Orion]

I don't pretend to understand how it works.

I see a lot of Australian oranges for sale here in California at certain times of the year.
When I was in Tasmania a couple of months ago the most reasonably priced produce (for us) was the pomegranates that had been shipped from the USA.

It's weird; and I have to believe not sustainable.

[wayno]

article on nz news the other night, the vast majority of our food comes from overseas, most of it from aus.... almost only fresh fruit and veg has a chance of being locally grown.... our (not so) kiwifruit are coming from italy at the moment...

[Strider]

article on nz news the other night, the vast majority of our food comes from overseas, most of it from aus.... almost only fresh fruit and veg has a chance of being locally grown.... our (not so) kiwifruit are coming from italy at the moment...

Bahaha this is ridiculous. We have the same news reports saying most of our food comes from NZ, or China via NZ!

[Hallu]

I'm amazed at the difference between supermarket spuds and real spuds. The ones you get at Woolworths or Coles, you need to boil them for like 40 min before they're tender enough to eat... And when you do, they're tasteless. In South Melbourne market, there's a guy who (almost) only sells potatoes. It's only Anglo-Saxon varieties (meaning stuff you find in the UK and the US), but they're very good. In France they have giant supermarkets and in here you can find good potatoes from small producers. The key is that in France the legislation is incredibly strong. Basically to be called let's say "Pomme de terre de l'île de Ré" (potato from the island of Ré) you need to meet certain standards of quality, it's an AOC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appellatio ... B4l%C3%A9e ). If you don't, you can't sell your potatoes under that name. And the same goes for chicken : you have certain labels of quality, so if you buy according to this, you're certain to have something good. Another classic example is champagne : it can't come from anywhere else than the region of Champagne, otherwise it's illegal to call it that way. Spain, Italy and Portugal also followed that model. And with a country with such agricultural potential as Australia (and Tassie in particular) I just wish it would be also applied here. Finding a good cheese in a supermarket in Australia is a nightmare for example.

My main problem in Australia is tomatoes : it's impossible to find really good tomatoes here, apart from cherry tomatoes. They're all too watery, and the choice is appalling. It's only grape, Adelaide or Murray tomatoes. And depending on the producer, it's night and day regarding taste and quality. It's impossible to find a beef tomato, a pineapple tomato or a Marmande tomato for example. If anybody got tips (for Melbourne), please share them.

[stepbystep]

My main problem in Australia is tomatoes : it's impossible to find really good tomatoes here, apart from cherry tomatoes. They're all too watery, and the choice is appalling. It's only grape, Adelaide or Murray tomatoes. It's impossible to find a beef tomato, a pineapple tomato or a Marmande tomato for example. If anybody got tips (for Melbourne), please share them.

We grew 15 varieties this season and one of my friends over 40, and they're ALL good! So that's your answer, easiest thing in the world to grow in a pot(or 15).

[Hallu]

I don't have the space to grow anything unfortunately, living in the city.

[stepbystep]

I don't have the space to grow anything unfortunately, living in the city.

Oooh Melbourne, yukko! Lot's of community gardens etc they're good to get involved with, but you just need a balcony really.

[matagi]

I don't have the space to grow anything unfortunately, living in the city.

If you have a balcony, you can do it. Check out Indira Naidoo's The Edible Balcony.

Even if you don't have a balcony, all you need is a small space with sun (big enough to take a rubbish bin) and you will be able to grow tomatoes.

[matagi]

I don't have the space to grow anything unfortunately, living in the city.

Oooh Melbourne, yukko! Lot's of community gardens etc they're good to get involved with, but you just need a balcony really.

No, Melbourne is good - lots of farmer's markets, where you can get heirloom varieties of vegies and even the traditional markets (Queen Vic, Sth Melb and Prahran) have stall holders selling heirloom vegies, which is basically what you need for good juicy tomatoes with lots of flavour.

[corvus]

Not long off harvesting my King Edwards and first batch of Kifflers will let you know how nice they are and Pink Eyes do not grow well in my experience other than in Southern Tassie fresh Bismark season has passed and eaten Dutch creams are iffy even down here where we grow them (plenty of cold store examples around) I believe so "lucky dip time for them"
corvus

King Edwards were very rewarding Kipflers not so much so (too many small ones) still nice though, just put a batch of Moonlights in as an experiment as is is a wee bit early but had an nice free space.
corvus

[stepbystep]

I don't have the space to grow anything unfortunately, living in the city.

Oooh Melbourne, yukko! Lot's of community gardens etc they're good to get involved with, but you just need a balcony really.

...lots of farmer's markets, where you can get heirloom varieties of vegies and even the traditional markets (Queen Vic, Sth Melb and Prahran) have stall holders selling heirloom vegies, which is basically what you need for good juicy tomatoes with lots of flavour.

No, I meant, Melbourne, yuk. I'm sure the food is fabulous

[Rob A]

Heston said simmer your spuds at 75Centirade to convert the starch without blowing it up or something before cooking them off.
Comments?

[Onestepmore]

Absolutely no excuse not to grow somethng if you live in the city! Look at the spud bags from Diggers gardening club - four tubers in one of these will yield HEAPS of nice taties. Tomatoes - especially the plum sized ones can easily be grown in a pot on a balcony or courtyard - and utilise the front yard - usually a wasted space. Forget the big beefsteak ones - fruit flies love them. Grow green zebras, tigeralla, tommy toes, little yellow pear ones, sweet marble sized yellow ones. PM me if you want some seeds.....You can grow basil in the pots with the tomatoes - they love each other, instant fresh pesto. Get a sprout kit - fresh green mustrad, mung beans, alfafa sprouts for almost no effort and it's on a kitchen bench, Get the kids to add a cup of water each night - 4 days later fresh sprouts. Front gardens can be made attractive - grow snow peas in winter and blue lake or purple beans up an attractive black wire pyramid from Bunnings. You'll get a couple of crops of lettuce under it - easiest thing to grow from seed. spray water the soil with an el cheapo squirty bottle while it's small. Rocquet is lovelyiest fresh and spicy. Rosemary bush - tough as nuts in a pot, even if you forget to water it. One spacemaster cucumber will be enough in a pot - train it up a piece of mesh to keep it tidy. Forget the big things like pumpkins and watermelons. Grow quick easy compact stuff like some multicoloured silverbeet, english spinach, italian or asian lettuce mixes - loose leafed so you can pick as it grows, bok choy, micro salad greens in a windowsill - prune bits off with some scirrors to top a salad or a steak. I have only a 700 m2 block and have espalliered pear and apple trees against walls, no useless hedges like photinia- mine all 'do' something - strawberry guava, olive hedges well. 2 chooks - once you see how happy they are dust bathing under a rose bush you'll never want to eat a battery or 'barn' hen egg again. SPUDS IN GROWBAGS (just put out beer traps so the slugs don't eat holes in them)
Why support the supermarket industry that ships in tastless leather skinned tomatoes across 3 states out of season?
Ok Shelly's rant over

[corvus]

+1 osm
I grow Spuds and Garlic (not at the same time) in a narrow side bed out the front and have found that Capsicums and Tomatoes grow really well in pots (use good potting mix) and I know my Daughter grew lots of things on a veranda in a three story apartment in Hobart
corvus

[Onestepmore]

Yes i forgot about garlic - plant it on the shortest day of the year and harvest on the longest. Tassie is trying to set up more garlic growers. Most of the stuff in the supermarkets is imported from China and has fungicide sprayed on it that is banned in Australia. Companion plant to heaps of things, and a useful insecticide too (for scale and aphids etc). Try elephant (russian) garlic for a milder taste, more leeky. Shallots are dead easy too. Forget onions - not worth the space or time for the cost of buying them.

[Pebbles]

Finding a good cheese in a supermarket in Australia is a nightmare for example.... If anybody got tips (for Melbourne), please share them.

Hallu, can't help with good tomatoes, but for cheese Thomas Dux supermarkets have an OK range, but if you can get to Leo's in Kew junction, they have a really good deli section (excellent supermarket all in all). Also Richmond Hill Larder on Bridge rd, near Punt has some sensational cheeses, but avoid it on weekends.

[vagrom]

Good cheeses cost a mozza, $50/kg upwards. French, soft: coulant, mushroom/umami flavoured. Special event stuff. Nice bottle of Shaz.

[Hallu]

Well for cheese I usually go to Bill's Farm in QV market. Nice selection. Ridiculous prices though. In Australia, cheese costs about twice as much as in Europe, sometimes 3 times. This is insane. Some French cheeses, which are supermarket brands, are even sold as luxury expensive cheeses, such as camembert Président, Caprice des Dieux or roquefort Société. Mosts cheeses in Oz cost 50 $ per kg, the good ones 100 $... In France in a supermarket most cheeses are between 5 and 10 € per kg. And even though not very good these are still better than the Oz supermarket ones (they're not as dense as butter...). Roquefort société is 15 € / kg. I've found the same on the QV market shelves at 100 $ / kg. It's a racket. But the biggest scam of all is... parsley : 3 $ for a bunch, while in Europe, a bunch (which would be 5 times bigger as the one you buy at Woolworths) is sold at around 1 €. This is weird, because basic produces such as carrots, onions, or spuds have decent prices... But for some reason flat leaved parsley is like a delicacy here...