What's at the Farm Gate in August in South Australia
Winter is the underrated season at the gate: citrus at its peak, brassicas, root vegetables, and the year's garlic. Here is what to look for in August.
Winter gets a bad name for produce, and it is undeserved. August is one of the best months of the year to buy direct in South Australia: the citrus is at its peak, the brassicas are sweet from the cold, and the garlic that came out of the ground at the end of summer has cured into the stuff worth cooking with.
What you will not find is a wall of colour. August is a month of roots, leaves and citrus, which is exactly what winter cooking wants.
Citrus, at its best
Oranges, mandarins and grapefruit are all at peak in an Australian winter, and this is the single strongest argument for buying direct in August. Citrus does not improve in a warehouse. A mandarin picked down the road last week tastes like a different fruit from one that has been in cold storage and on a truck.
If you find a gate selling citrus by the bag rather than the piece, buy the bag. Marmalade exists for this reason.
Brassicas and greens
Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are in full swing, along with spinach, silverbeet and kale. Cold weather genuinely makes these sweeter. A winter cauliflower is a better vegetable than a summer one, which is the opposite of how most people assume seasons work.
Brussels sprouts belong here too, and are worth a second chance if your only memory of them is boiled.
Roots and alliums
Beetroot, carrots and potatoes are the backbone of an August gate stall. Leeks and onions are in season. Celery and peas are about.
Root vegetables are also the most forgiving thing to buy in quantity, because they keep, which makes them ideal for the kind of trip where you drive out for one thing and come home with a boot full.
Garlic, if you know to ask
Australian garlic is harvested in late spring and summer, then cured, which means winter is when properly cured local garlic is available from the people who grew it. It is a completely different product from the bleached imported bulbs on a supermarket shelf, and it keeps for months on a kitchen bench.
In the Adelaide Hills, Haaseford Farms Garlic at Ironbank is a stall whose entire name is the specialty. Buy a decent quantity when you find good garlic. You will use it.
The things winter does not stop
Plenty of what people buy at a gate is not seasonal at all, and August is as good a month as any:
- Honey · Karoonda Honey at Callington and 3 Hives Apiary at Nuriootpa.
- Olives and olive oil · Ampale Olives at Willunga and Ante's Olive Oil at Nuriootpa.
- Bread and baking · Sadie Sourdough at Keyneton, The Bread Basket at Roseworthy, Farm Stand Bakery at Aldinga, Mumma Bakes SA at Elizabeth North.
- Mixed produce · Parawanga Produce at Whites Valley and Hoskin Harvest at Lewiston, both of which list a decent range.
- Meat · L&M Ag Beef & Lamb at Balhannah.
- Eggs · The Egg Co at MacDonald Park.
Winter is also when flowers do surprisingly well at the gate, and South Australia has more flower growers selling direct than most people realise. That is a post of its own.
How to actually find them this week
Stock at a gate changes weekly, and no list written in advance can tell you what is on the table today. That is the part the app does:
- Open the map. SideStall shows the stalls near you by distance, with sellers who are open now up front.
- Search the product. Type "garlic", "honey", "beetroot" or "sourdough" and search matches what sellers have actually listed, with photos and prices.
- Check the stall page before you drive. Hours, what they accept, one-tap directions to the gate.
- Pre-order the things that sell out. Bread and small batches especially.
- Favourite the good ones, so next month starts where this one left off.
No one near you yet? SideStall grows gate by gate, so it is worth another look in a week, and if you know someone local who grows, bakes or keeps chooks, send them our way.
Download the SideStall app, free on iPhone and Android, and see what is at the gates near you this week.
Grow it, bake it or raise it yourself? List your stall on SideStall. It is free to start, there is no monthly fee to take payments, and buyers are actively looking for exactly what you do. Set up your stall →