In mid-December a friend, Maggie Taylor, and I met for brunch at her local cafe, Two Before Ten in Aranda. I ordered a zucchini slice with smoked salmon and greens from the specials menu which said the produce was grown on-site. I said Canberrans don't have zucchini crops yet.
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Then I went for a walk in the cafe's urban farm and, by chance, met the gardener Liam Brown. He took me down a flight of steps to the zucchini bed where the fruit was a perfect size. They had just harvested 90 kilograms of zucchini - yellow, Lebanese and green varieties.
Last week Liam said, "The zucchinis are still growing very well and continue to be our biggest producer. So well, in fact, that we had to remove a row because they were smothering our eggplants." The Swiss chard, Tuscan kale and curly kale have also been consistent, providing regular harvests.
Walking towards the garden beds, the neat rows of coloured lettuces display designer edibility. The kale and lettuces were bought from Super Seedlings in Yass, and Liam has been purchasing from their stall at the Jamison Markets on Sundays, conveniently just down the road from Two Before Ten. He says not only are their seedlings fantastic, but they are also far more advanced than other options around town.
Liam is growing a variety of tomatoes, grosse lisse, Roma, beefsteak and black Russian which have just started to ripen. This is a slow season as all kitchen gardeners know. There is plenty of healthy fruit just waiting for a bit more sunshine before harvesting.
Liam grew up in Canberra having come here aged five and considers this his home town. He has no formal training as a gardener but is a qualified chef. He started working in kitchens while at university and realised he preferred the kitchen to the classroom so he left uni to start his apprenticeship.
As much as Liam would like all of his time to be in the urban farm garden, he helps out in the kitchen when needed, mostly on weekends with their busy service. Liam's recipe (which follows) is for zucchini and corn fritters. The cafe has outlets in Hobart Place and Greenway.
My latest visit to Two Before Ten Aranda was on a Sunday with Luis Teran, the owner of a farm beside Lake George. His home is in Belconnen. We met for coffee and a muffin, its rhubarb component also grown on-site. Luis had brought a small bag of his farm-grown Vietnamese garlic for the chefs and we both took home free, used coffee grounds for our compost.
We explored the urban farm and Luis particularly admired the stand of sweet corn on the lowest level. Liam says they have now harvested the cobs, which were delicious, but they did have some pest damage, potentially corn earworm or earwigs, or both.
A small shed on-site is filled with rows of mushrooms. Two Before Ten is currently buying mushroom bags from a local supplier, Peter Wenzel of FungiCo. They consistently buy and open new bags every week to keep up with demand. As part of their workshop series at the Aranda store, they will be running a mushroom workshop with Peter in March.
What's on
Luis Teran will be selling his Lake George Garlic, Vietnamese variety, at Jamison Trash and Treasure on Sunday, February 6.
Zucchini, corn, basil and parmesan fritters
Fritters:
500g sweet corn
500g grated zucchini
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
100g shaved parmesan
500g self-raising flour
250ml milk
4 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
vegetable oil for frying
500g sustainably sourced smoked salmon
100g baby capers
Lemon sour cream:
250g sour cream
zest and juice of half a lemon
(reserve remaining lemon for garnish)
pinch of salt and pepper to taste
- Grate zucchini then add half tsp salt, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes. Blend sweet corn and basil to smooth consistency. Heat pan with oil to medium/high heat. Add drained, washed and dried capers to the pan and fry until crispy. Remove from the pan and leave to drain on a paper towel.
- Combine flour, salt and pepper, stir gently until evenly combined. Whisk eggs and milk together until combined evenly. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix, then add milk, mix and combine until smooth. Add parmesan, blended corn and basil mix and fold through batter. Take zucchini, drain off excess liquid, and add zucchini to batter. Mix well. Spoon mixture into a hot pan and shallow fry on both sides until golden.
- Combine ingredients for sour cream. Plate fritters with a generous spoon of sour cream, a slice of smoked salmon, finish with fried capers and a drizzle of lemon juice.
