The sun’s barely up and already Grahame Davidson is setting out tables of new season apples and stonefruit. After 15 years he’s got the routine down pat, travelling to Canberra from Nashdale on Friday evenings, the three hour trip is almost on autopilot now.
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Grahame and his wife Narelle run Ellamatta Orchard, 30 acres nestled in the foothills of Mt Canobolas, outside Orange, growing cherries, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, loganberries and figs.
A massive storm hit the district in December 2018, it’s been a tough season, but rain, hail or shine, Ellamatta Orchard has been a regular since the Capital Region Farmers’ Market opened in March 2004.
Back then the market housed 18 stalls, the floor was still dirt, everything fit in under the one shed. Today, more than 6000 people visit on a Saturday morning, stalls run between 100 and 125 and the variety of produce stretches from rainbow coloured pastas, to cheeses, muesli, empanadas, vegan food and cold brew coffee.
Sarah Fraser is busy behind the counter for Ellamatta, weighing apples and talking to customers about what’s good this week.
“We love coming to the markets, it’s like a big community,” she says.
“We get lots of the same people dropping in every week and it’s great to get to know them, great to get to know what they like.
“These markets are the only place Grahame sells his produce so Canberra really is like a second home to us.”
There’s a sense of that throughout the markets, a sense of community, everyone one big happy family. Sure, it’s busy, and there’s not a lot of time to socialise, but as the morning wears on and the crowd thins out, you can see stall holders starting to chat to each other, take a breather, maybe grab some lunch or a coffee.
John Padovano, from Jonima Flowers sends his 12-year-old son Luca out on reconnaissance, Luca likes to barter, while he’s busy selling bunches of blooms. The family owns about 24 acres in Yanderra in the Southern Highlands, growing more than 100 varieties of flowers, from natives and succulents, to roses and gerberas.
Padovano has been coming to the Canberra markets for about eight years now. Nicola, now 16, loves it that people will come up to her and talk about when she was little.
“Everyone knows me,” Nicola says. “It’s fun to come here.”
The family has built up a loyal customer base, people popping in every week to get something different.
“We noticed in Canberra in the early days everyone wanted roses and lilies but there’s been a real swing here back to natives, and people aren’t afraid to buy something new.”
Just as colourful as the Padovano family’s flowers is Salvatore Costanzo’s range of handmade pastas. Fettucine come in beetroot pink, saffron yellow, a green garlic and parsley, and a dark squid ink. You just want to pop them on a plate and look at them. Costanzo migrated to Australia in the mid-80s, from a small town in Italy where his nonna Maria taught him family recipes and instilled a love of food.
“I owned a cafe and was always keen to try new things on the menu and opening this stall has given me the opportunity to try many new things,” he says.
Nonna Maria’s Pasta has been at the markets for about 18 months now and he too is slowly building a regular clientele who get in early for his pre-made take home lasagne, there’s Sunday dinner done, handmade gnocchi and jars of flavourful sauces.
Another stall to visit where take home meals are flavoured with memories of family is Meze Fresh Mediterranean Cuisine. Erhan Edguer grew up in Istanbul, his father died when he was seven and the family went to live with his grandparents.
“I enjoyed helping grandad attend to his garden and going to the markets with him where he would teach me how to choose the best products from the vendors,” Edguer said.
“But what I loved the most was spending time in the kitchen with my grandma, using the vegetables from the garden and what we had brought from the markets. In those days there were no recipes to follow. I learnt by watching, listening, stirring and my favourite, tasting.
“Her love of cooking inspired me to study hospitality and hotel management. I had the opportunity to work with great chefs in five-star hotels like the Intercontinental hotel in Istanbul.”
In 1985 Edguer and his Australian wife, who he met while she was travelling, moved to Australia, eventually settling in Canberra and working in the public service. But his passion was always food and when he left the public service he began experimenting in the kitchen at home, rekindling his love of food.
He first came to the markets in 2016, selling dips and salads, zucchini fritters and dolmades.
“My tag line is ‘From my grandmother, to me, to you … enjoy.
“Food is a great way of getting people together.”
You've only got to head out to EPIC on a Saturday morning to realise that.
