Organic vegie farmer Ben Pentony's produce survived a week of fierce frosts allowing him to take boxes of salad greens, leeks, English spinach, parsley, artichokes and carrots to the Southside Farmers' Market on Sunday.
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Drip-irrigated under polytunnels, the mixed crop's main threat is an overcast day.
At Gleann Na Meala, the family's organic farm at Wallaroo near Hall, the temperatures can reach 14 degrees on a sunny winter's afternoon following an icy morning, and the temperature inside the polytunnels rises to 28 degrees, giving garden greens the growth spurt customers are looking for at the farmers' market.
But on an overcast day when the outside temperature is eight degrees, it's only eight degrees inside the polytunnels.
In the last month of winter an abundance of fresh local produce lures a constant trail of shoppers to the markets. These include deep purple congo potatoes that ooze juice when snapped in two.
"They are an exciting thing to put in a dish for kids for their flavour and colour,'' Mr Pentony said.
Slugs have been nibbling on his pak choy,earwigs and aphids are also awake to the feast thriving under organic farming conditions at Gleann Na Meala (Irish for valley of honey).
Crop rotation, hand weeding and leaving the ground dry between crops encourages insects to leave for greener pickings elsewhere.
About the only adjustment the Pentonys have made over winter is not having a stall at the Northside markets, where they were among original stallholders after Ben's father Dave established the flourishing enterprise with Hall Rotary Club.
They cannot keep up sufficient stock levels for shops, restaurants and both the northside and southside markets.
Ben's brother Paddy kicked off the southside markets, and these days Ben has a soft spot for them on a Sunday morning, when traffic on nearby Hindmarsh Drive dwindles, leaving only the sound of people shuffling over to stalls and the hum of conversation about what's growing and good to eat at this time of the year.
"I enjoy this (market), it has a good vibe, it's a little more relaxed and I can talk to my customers,'' Mr Pentony said.
"I have seen women come along and they're pregnant, then I see them later with their new babies and children, I've made friends here and we go and watch the footy together.''
