The Pines Kiama

ingredient profile
n: cows milk
l: kiama, nsw
s: year round

Interview with dairy farmers: Mahlah + Kel Grey

From calf to glass, how long does it take to produce milk?
We hand-rear our calves for approximately 6 months until they’re weaned off milk and continue with pasture feeding. Most heifers can start breeding from 15months of age but we generally wait till they are 20months before putting them in calf (either by Artificial Insemination or by running with our Bull). They have a similar gestation to humans, around 9-10months, and once they have calved they being their first lactation cycle. For the first 5-10 days their milk is called Colosturm and we make sure that the calf gets the full benefits of this important milk. Once the colostrum has transitioned to regular milk, it is included in the bulk tank. We milk the cows twice a day and the milk is generally pasteurised in the morning and on the shelf that afternoon!! So approximately 3 years before we get milk from a cow that we have bred.

Where in the world do Holstein Friesian cows like to graze and when in their milk in season?The Holstein Friesian Breed originated in Northern Europe – namely the Netherlands, Holland and Germany. The breed itself is very adaptable – being popular all over the world including Europe, America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They do well wherever they can access good quality fresh pasture and the milk will often taste different depending on what grasses are growing. In Australia there is no ‘season’ as we pasture graze all year round.

Something interesting about Holstein Cows that we may be surprised to learn?
They are known as the ‘Black and White cow’ but the recessive colour gene is red. We have a Red Holstein called ‘Sherry’ who comes from a famous Red Bull in America – She’s beautiful and very special!

Where did your interest in farming come from?
Kel grew up helping his Dad on the farm. He has many fond memories of being in the milking shed and around the cows. He always had it in the back of his mind that he may end up on the farm and after seeing a bit of the world knew he was ready to make a commitment to full time farming. For me, it’s the animals. I’ve always loved being around all types of animals, which led me into a career as a Veterinary Nurse. I enjoy all aspects of dealing with the cows, and still find the general wellbeing and breeding program fascinating!

As a farmer, what are your thoughts on better understanding the process and origin of our food?
It’s an ongoing struggle, across all areas of farming in Australia, to highlight the importance of supporting local, quality produce. Anytime a customer can interact directly with a farmer, it is hugely beneficial – allowing the customer to ask questions and the farmer to better understand what the public wants. To this end; social media, blogs, farmer markets, SlowFood Groups, and the support of the local food industry has begun to make a huge difference. As the demand for local produce increases, so will the number of producers! This is a win/win for the region as a whole and we would love to see the South Coast become a food destination area.

What is the best part about dairy farming?
It’s a combination of things – being your own boss, working outdoors, being around animals. There’s something that feels very right about doing a job that leaves you so bone achingly tired but in the best possible way.

The worst part?
The really wet mornings. There’s nothing nice to say about being soaked through at 4am.

What is your favourite way or recipe to enjoy milk?
Kel can never go past ice cold milk straight from the fridge – I’m a huge Pannacotta fan!

Mahlah and Kel Grey, along with Kel’s dad Garry own and run The Pines Kiama, a 6th generation dairy farm. Their 18 Holstein cows (who all have names, have sweeping views of the surrounding hills and ocean and who are all very well loved) are milked twice a day to produce hand bottled, non-homogenized and minimally processed milk on The Pines farm. The Grey family have to be some of  most dedicated and thoughtful dairy farmers around. Their commitment to sustainable and ethical dairy practices is a relief for us mindful milk drinkers out there, and their farm is a true local gem. Although it is Kel’s dream to one day make a hard, mature cheddar cheese, currently the Pines makes a range of flavoured gelato as well as cultured yogurt.  Their products can be found all around the South Coast at selected cafes and stores as well as the weekly Kiama farmers market. 

Coming soon: a recipe using The Pines yoghurt and milk.

A Pacific Oyster Harvest

ingredient profile
n: pacific oyster
l: greenwell point, nsw
s: july - april

One early August afternoon, we set out on a little boat to harvest some pacific oysters. Oysters shucked fresh from the water right there on the boat are something else. We came back with a generous haul.

Interview with oyster farmer: Grant Clark

From planting to the plate, what is the life span of a pacific oyster?
The life span of our pacific oysters range from 15 months to 2 years depending on their size. Pacific oysters are considered to be a very fast growing oyster compared to the other species we grow, the Sydney Rock oysters which take nearly 3.5 years to reach the market. We receive our pacific oyster spat (babies) from a hatchery in Tasmania at 2.5mm in length and our first sale grade oyster is about 70mm in size (known as a “bistro” oysters). Our largest oysters grow right up to 180mm (known as “Grande” oysters). Every 3 months or so of their life the oysters are thinned out as they grow. This makes sure that they have plenty of space to continue growing and access to plenty of food.

Where do pacific oysters like to grow and when are they in season?
The Pacific oysters like to grow in estuaries where there is a mixing of both fresh and salt water.  This mixing produces the plankton and the algae that they like to eat as filter feeders. Within the estuary itself, they tend to like areas that have a good, strong tidal flow that provides some shelter from the wind. Pacifics are in their best condition from late winter all the way through to Easter. 

Something interesting about pacific oysters that we may be surprised to learn?
The pacific oyster can live to up to 30 years of age and grow up to 40cm!

Where did your interest in farming come from?
I have always loved being on the water. I studied marine biology at Wollongong University and then worked in fisheries as a researcher for a few years. During that period I was lucky to meet some people who were entering into the oyster industry, and saw an opportunity to be involved with an industry that is really improving. Things snowballed quickly from there and before I knew it, my wife Deborah and I were looking at a farm that had recently gone on the market.

As a farmer, what are your thoughts on better understanding the process and origins of our food?
As a relatively new farmer of only a couple of years, I have come to really appreciate the work and passion that goes into producing our food. There is definitely a disconnect in thinking between the way a lot of our food is consumed and the process it takes to get to the table. One of the reasons I was attracted to oyster farming was that it is a very environmentally aware industry. As end users of the water way, a clean pollution- free estuary is what our livelihoods depend on.  So being able to educate consumers to bridge that gap between what we are eating, where it comes from and some of the processes and environmental systems involved is very important.

What is the best part about being an oyster farmer?
Being on the river when the weather is nice and sun is out, there is no better office. The farming life also allows for greater flexibility for family time or other activities than a traditional nine to five job.

 The worst part?
As I’m sure is the case for a lot of other farmers - the weather and being outdoors would have to be both the best and worst parts of the job. A cold and rainy winter’s morning with a howling westerly wind, driving around in the oyster punt looking for your oyster bags that have been swept away in a flood is not the most enjoyable day out on the water!

Your favourite way to eat oysters?
My favourite way to eat oysters is to have them raw on the half shell with a drop of lemon – ideally sitting on our wharf on a Friday afternoon with a beer and a few mates.

Deborah and Grant Clark own and run Clark Oysters on the Shoalhaven River in Greenwell Point, NSW. They grow and sell both Sydney Rock and Pacific Oysters. Clark Oysters were very kind in donating their oysters for the Lean and Meadow Sunday Oyster Roast (more coming soon!). They were delicious. You can find Deb and Grant at the Kiama Farmers Market every Wednesday afternoon. 

Moorabinda Station Part I - Our Weekend with the Dailys

For more Moorabinda photos and stories, click here for our Weekend With The Dailys E-book!

We passed the last town a while back. Now, as we followed the black lick of a line out deeper into the south, out to the west and into the Dumaresq Valley, we watched the landscape blur. The limbs of trees sagged heavy with prickly pear, mistletoe and wattle. We couldn’t help but forage. We stopped to pick some of each, reaching, jumping high up for the best branches and tasting the pears and their prickles on our lips. Our bounty was rich, but knowing the place and the people we were about to meet, our bounty was about to grow richer.

Driving into Moorabinda Station, we were greeted with the quintessential beauty of a rural, wintry Australia. Rusted metal gates, corrugated iron and a huge wool shed come dance hall come whatever. There were ancient towering gums and kelpies lying beneath them. Utes and farm houses and thousands of acres with neighbours nowhere to be seen. There were also shearer’s quarters, a place for us to sleep and make our home for the next two nights. Here, rustic and wooden bedrooms opened out to one long veranda. The common place was the kitchen, with an old wooden farm table tucked between the wood fired stove and a stores cupboard. There was also a dining room fixed alongside that housed a long dinner table, which in the evenings was full of flickering candle light and warmth from an open fire.

There was content here to feast on for the whole weekend. Our company, nine likeminded ladies (most somewhat new but all very dear friends) came together to do just this. To share the time away, to live slowly, to photograph and to feast. We cooked, we talked, we ate. We tended to wheelbarrows of wattle and our other foraged bits, sipped hot toddies by the campfire and stared at the stars. We learned what it means to wake early and build a fire on the wood fired oven before we could have tea. We ate brunch on the veranda, searched for brumbies on the station and killed and prepared chooks and ducks for our dinner on a farm nearby. Our days were full, full, full. And our evenings were slow and long and delicious. We couldn’t possibly want for anything else.

Out here, among the wintry rural landscape, everything felt calm. There were moments, so many moments, where it was nice to stop and remember just that. That moment. For its smell. For its goosebumps. For its rhythm. Ichi-go ichi-e was so apt right here. This weekend, so special but soon gone, was a place to be present, fully. And so easily done. The bounty here among us was just so very rich.

These were our friends, this was our food and this stunning place was ours for the weekend.

A big thanks to Philip and Julia Markham for letting us stay on your farm. To Paul and Jenny Magna for the birds, for the pizza and for the inspiration. And the biggest thanks of all to Annabelle, for preparing it all, for letting us come visit and for giving us a glimpse into your daily life. 

A Truffle Hunt

ingredient profile
n: black truffle
l: majura valley, act
s: june - august

Interview with truffle farmer: Jayson Mesman

From planting to the plate, what is the life span of a French black truffle?
The truffles appear in the ground early in the year, January and February, but will not start to put on weight, size and all important aroma until truffle season, early June to late August. Once a truffle is harvested from the earth and the mycelium is broken, the truffle has a very short life span. Restaurants will typically not have a truffle longer than 10 days, whereas a home cook may be able to use a truffle for up to 21 days.

Where do truffles like to grow and when are they in season?
Truffles like to grow on the roots of inoculated oak and hazelnut trees. They are in season on the majority of truffle farms on Australia between early to mid June and mid to late August.

Something interesting about truffles that we may be surprised to learn?
Traditionally in Europe pigs were used to hunt for truffle. Many people believe that pigs are drawn to truffles because to odour mimics that of the pheromones of a male pig. That has been disproved but many still quote it as a fact.

Where did your interest in farming come from?
My interest came through my work with the dogs. I was in a position where I had the opportunity to work on a significant proportion of the truffle farms (trufferies) in Australia and saw varying degrees of success. As a dog handler I have been exposed to a number of different truffle farms. Through my experience I noted each farm had different soils, different plantations, different watering systems and as a result different smelling truffles. I become very interested in the role these aspects play in the production of truffles and became more involved in the farming side of the truffle industry.

As a farmer, what are your thoughts on better understanding the process and origins of our food?
Working in the truffle industry has really made me appreciate how we should all just take only what we need, understand the origin of our food, and buy locally. As much as there is demand in Europe and Asia for our produce, the life span of a truffle in not necessarily conducive to being transported great distances, so we must work with local suppliers to ensure that we maximise the time spent going from paddock to plate. Understanding how to get truffles to the customer really made me understand and examine what every farmer must go through to get their product to market. Many farmers in the truffle industry try to produce as much truffle as they can to maximise their profit margins. But this doesn’t work well with truffles – they cannot be harvested quickly on mass with vast numbers of unskilled (and cheap) labour – hence their price tag. The way some farms operate to maximise profit cause huge destruction to the natural environment and overall to their own ongoing production levels. For a truffle farm to be successful you must work in harmony with the surrounding environment to push production past a few years.

What is the best part about being a truffle farmer?
Working with the dogs and being outside is the best part for me. Also never knowing whether you are about to uncover a huge buried treasure! The hunt and the digging are still very exciting for me, even after a decade of working on truffle farms. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge about what is a very secretive industry with the public when we take them out on hunts.

The worst part?
The cold. Even though I don’t really feel the cold having grown up in Canberra my entire life, I often have to hunt in the most freezing temperatures and dig in the cold dirt with my bare hands. The truffle season runs only through winter so unfortunately we must hunt no matter what the weather outside.

Whats your favourite way to eat truffle?
My favourite way to eat truffle is probably in truffle butter. It is a little cliché, I know, but the butter is so versatile and lasts for a long time when you freeze it. You can have it just on a crusty loaf of bread or use it under the skin of a roast chicken. Or you can more complex and sear fresh local Australian scallops in the butter or use it to make your own truffle puff pastry or pasta. 

Jayson Mesman is the farm manager and dog trainer of French Black Truffles of Canberra.  French Black Truffles of Canberra is located in the Majura Valley, Canberra, and run truffle hunts for the public during the winter season.    

coming soon: a recipe for black truffle