Geoff Jansz

The Bite

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Kicking off on Sunday December 27 at 9.30pm, I’m  co-hosting a new show on ABC Local Radio, The Bite. Working with Terry Robson and Amanda Roberts, we focus each week on a food related subject over the course of 5 weekly programs. For a frequency in your area, visit ABC Radio .

Tonight,  we take a look at apples.  I have been growing apples for 22 years and hope this episode will encourage you to find fruit as beautiful as mine…  Possibly even to grow your own. Listen to our guest, Nick Ritar from Milkwood, explain how to get started with your apple adventure.

 

Terry and Geoff talking apples in the orchard.

If you are a first time visitor here, have a look around – there are many posts about my heritage fruit orchard in Bowral. We moved to one of the original farms in our district in 1994, and soon after, planted an orchard with 25 year old trees from an orchard that was being decommissioned in nearby Yerrinbool. Over the years we added new varieties, and in 2013, with the help of Geoff Brooke and Rob Pelletier from Heritage Fruit Trees at Glenview Park Farm, we embarked on a grafting program to introduce even more of our favourite, old-school eating, juicing, and cooking apples. I’m happy to say we’ve had a very high success rate and have our first grafted apple on the tree this year, an exciting prospect if we can save it from the birds.

 

Below are some links to apple and orchard stories on this site, or just type “apples” into the search bar and you can see them all.

My Orchard in the Southern Highlands

Pruning Apple Trees With Geoff Brooke

Principles of Pruning a Vase Shape Apple Tree

Apple And Blackberry Pie Recipe

Apple Tea Cake Recipe

Apple Tea Cake

Apple Tea Cake

 

 

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Chestnuts… Are they really worth it?

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Around March/April in Southern highlands of NSW, Australia, our 3 giant trees provide a prickly problem. First we have to beat the cockatoos to the crop, then harvest these vicious little alien spike-balls, somehow prize the attractive sleek varnished pod from it’s torture chamber, and remove two stubborn casings before they’re cooked and eaten. If it was the chestnut, not the apple Eve offered Adam, we’d still be in the Garden of Eden.

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However, as a chef, I can’t resist them; they’re implanted in my Autumn psyche and have found a way to be incorporated into my cooking routines, rather than being the sole culinary objective for any particular day. They will pop away in my woodfire oven in between pizzas or simmer away on stove tops as I cook other things.

However… Are they really worth it? You be the judge. With a sharp knife cut the outer shell and peel it away, simmer the chestnuts with bicarb of soda, changing the water three times (this removes the bitterness and helps remove the pellicle layer) then poach them gently in a port, red wine and sugar syrup. I will be serving these with guinea fowl, pheasant or duck at the Farm Table Restaurant (stay tuned!) But make them for yourself to try before you buy if you want.

DSC_3617Image : Antoine Moreau (Instagram)

 

Chestnut Battles from Geoff Jansz on Vimeo.
Starring Charly and Kai, filmed, directed and produced by Antoine!
 

 

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Greek Oregano

As I know and use it.

Fresh oregano

Here’s the general consensus: true Greek oregano, sometimes called wild marjoram, grows wild on Greek hillsides but essentially is the same plant as all other Mediterranean oregano. Being related to, or originating from the mint group of herbs, oregano, just like mint, easily forms hybrids. I’m sure you have encountered pineapple mint, lemon mint and plenty of other mint manipulations that beg the question, why? However, the main point is this. If you grow oregano (and mint) it’s quite possible that Mother Nature will cross-pollinate with other genetically compatible plants, thus producing an altered version of the original oregano. Or so I have been told and have separately researched.

Oregano -preparing to dry with Kai!

However… Being the annoying one at dinner table discussions (“why do you have to question every-bloody-thing, Geoff!?”) and having drawn on my own personal experiences growing oregano, I’m not quite sure that I agree with this theory. The oregano you see in these photos are from my original plants dating back to our two restaurants nearly 30 years ago. They have provided me heady, room filling oregano aromas every one of those years, despite moving farms on two occasions. If the theory of oregano being easily influenced (genetically) is indeed true, there is a likelihood of a change of culinary impact: aroma, length of flavour, strength of flavour, altered nature of flavour and so on. There may also be evidence of altered plant growth: taller/shorter, earlier/later cropping, more/less flowers and so on. But I haven’t noticed any of this.

I harvest oregano at the same stage every year, when the flowers have fully formed and matured. For me, this is when the plant seems to put out its most potent oregano contribution when dried. That’s right, I prefer dried because it’s these concentrated, somewhat assertive, volatile oils that give my dishes the kick I want. Although, I do love fresh leaves with lemon, extra virgin olive oil and chilli for grilled fish; it looks so pretty.

I tried, this year growing some in my poly tunnel, but some German backpackers decided they were weeds. So far, no one has found their bodies. No matter, I will try again next season.

Having also tried the imported dried Greek oregano, and although very good, I will stick to mine. No great claim being made here, it’s just the oregano we grow is heaps better.

Greek oregano, dried and ready for culinary use

Anyway, check out my Facebook page confirming when Russell (my brother) and I will be attending Bowral Public School Farmers Markets. I’d be happy to have an Oregano chat with you. I haven’t even touched on Mexican Oregano… Haha!

Images thanks to Antoine Moro

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Rural Sprawl

On Sunday 12th October, two young city dwelling professionals launched the Brewery Yard Markets in Central Park, Sydney, Chippendale. 20 somethings, Jacob and Rupert, created a buzz with a young, fresh and dynamic marketplace on the lawns of the Central Park hub, alive with a constant stream of  bands on the main stage, stall holders displaying an eclectic range of food, fashion and craft. Exif_JPEG_PICTURE Geoff Jansz Farm was delighted to play an ambassadorial role with the food served there. Ambassadorial in this sense: the surrounding buildings and courtyard space beneath have been designed to  be clean, energy efficient, green and sustainable, an amazing urban innovation that will hopefully inspire more of it’s type. Geoff Jansz Farm is based on these same principles. But more than this, we strive to showcase the produce provided by other small farmers who also care about beautiful flavours prepared in ethical and sustainable ways. We use these ingredients in combination with our farm grown produce to serve wholesome food on the day. RIMG6978 For the innaugural markets, we featured Salumi Chorizo and Egg Rolls, amazing start to the city morning made with lettuce and  slaw from our garden, mayo that I had made the day before and extraordinary eggs from Dunollie Rare Breed Farm Eggs.  Look at the amazing blue and olive coloured ones, all the same inside though, fresh and vibrant yellow yolks. Furthermore we provide contact details to anyone wishing to procure this produce beyond the  fortnightly Sunday markets.

Geoff and Russ flippin'

Geoff and Russ flippin’ it

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Look out Sydney…. we small farmers are coming to you!

Next market is on Sunday 26th October. If you can’t make it, you can always order our range online.

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Ask a Farmer…

Aussies are so much more food savvy than 10 years ago.  Savvy about the bigger picture  too: environmentally sound practices, workplace ethics, sharing benefits of farming rather than corporate greed being services, and much more. No longer duped by clever advertising campaigns claiming “99% fat free” or “Straight from the Farm to your Freezer”, we’re asking all the right questions; “Do your chickens really have a chance to roam?” “What sprays do you use?” “When was that picked?” “Can I bring my kids out to visit your farm?”

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At Farmers markets, we can ask these questions, and guess what??? It’s fun. It’s education on the run with relationships being forged. We farmers/growers/artisan cooks love to be asked; we’re food proud and love to share.  Everyone’s a winner… Except of course, if you’re NOT doing the right thing.

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No Vampires In Bowral This Year, Garlic Planting Commences Tomorrow.

On my recent field trip to Bairnsdale where I was asked to taste and test new varieties of salad ingredients that various seed companies were offering to growers, I caught up with Nicola Watts, Executive Officer from the East Gippsland Food Cluster Inc. I had sent my request trough for great tasting Australian garlic bulbs for me to grow. Most of the store bought garlic seems to come from abroad and I am never certain whether it has been sprayed or not. I’ve heard that some countries allow the spraying of a retarding agent, which prevents the garlic from sprouting. True or not, I don’t know, but I’m not inclined to take the risk of planting out the one crop for the year only to have it fail. Back to Nicola. She presented me with four Australian grown, unsprayed samples of garlic. A quick scan of the diary to check I wont be speaking in close quarters with anyone and I started my garlic tasting.

Garlic

PRE-TASTING NOTE:
Two characteristics in particular jump at me when tasting garlic. First, an appealing garlicy sweetness, typical of the onion family, but particular to garlic. It’s retro nasal, meaning the flavour fills the mouth and then travels back through to the nose… Very nice. Second, there’s a bite. A sulphury, verging on mildly bitter, pungent bite. If you want an analogy in the food world, think of a surface ripened cheese, like Brie. As it ages, the surface becomes more pungent. Some like this, some don’t. The garlic bite isn’t a surface thing; it’s intrinsic in the clove. Personally I don’t mind it and I suppose it’s connected with the “strength “ of that particular variety. To me this is a mistake because I very much want the strength of the first characteristic to be at the fore; the appealing sweet garlicy flavour with the pungency bringing up the rear, contributing a firm promise of a night alone on the couch.

TASMANIAN PURPLE
Great, large, somewhat flattish cloves, all shiny and heavy. Not a small clove in the head, which, to me is a joy; nothing more frustrating than peeling 6 or so miniature cloves per head of garlic. The flatter cloves seem to fit more snuggly together in the head, which means they’re a little more difficult to prize apart.

FLAVOUR: A very good garlic in my opinion, however, the pungency slightly outweighed the garlic’s sweetness
7.5 out of 10

SILVERSKIN
Contained a few little cloves right up to some large ones in each head. There were a few cloves that were rotting, but the ones around it were heavy and full.

FLAVOUR: The Silverskin was the mildest and sweetest. Very pleasant to eat, but could use a little pungent kick
8 out of 10

WHITE CROOKNECK
These were large cloves of equal size that were easy to separate and with a space between cloves, making it easy to snap off a desired quantity.

FLAVOUR: This is a garlic of two halves. At first, nothing but the wonderful sweet garlicy flavour but finished with a lingering pungent bite.
9.5 out of 10

RED RACAMBOLE
Equal in size, around 12 cloves per head, these were also easy to separate.

FLAVOUR: Both sweet and pungent, however the pungent bite slightly outweighed the pleasant sweetness.
8.5 out of 10

WHAT I WANT FROM GARLIC

FLAVOUR
Must taste like garlic. That’s not as bleeding obvious as it sounds. When on panels for tasting olive oil over the years, our tasting charts required us to assess “oliveness”. So garlicness is big on my list. Also, there needs to be the absence of taint; mustiness, sulphur, dirt, for example. Another thing, strength and persistence of garlic flavour are important to me. Don’t fancy peeling a thousand cloves to make garlic bread for Harry’s mates.

SIZE
As stated above, not too many little cloves. Pure lazy Geoff writing this, but fair go, domestic cooks. We at GJ Farm have to cook for 250 special guests from time to time and although nothing will make me reach for a jar of garlic paste (rather cut out my own spleen), grant me the desire to peel as few as needed.

GROWABILITY
As with my other crops, selecting the best samples/specimens to be stored for growing next years genetically improved (hopefully) batch is front of mind for this little gardener cook. If you’re nervous about the term “genetically improved” don’t bundle me in with those who manipulate genes. I’m more like Gregor Mendel who selected the best samples to grow and hopefully promote their superior qualities.

No Vampires In Bowral This Year, Garlic Planting Commences Tomorrow.

On my recent field trip to Bairnsdale where I was asked to taste and test new varieties of salad ingredients that various seed companies were offering to growers, I caught up with Nicola Watts, Executive Officer from the East Gippsland Food Cluster Inc. I had sent my request trough for great tasting Australian garlic bulbs for me to grow. Most of the store bought garlic seems to come from abroad and I am never certain whether it has been sprayed or not. I’ve heard that some countries allow the spraying of a retarding agent, which prevents the garlic from sprouting. True or not, I don’t know, but I’m not inclined to take the risk of planting out the one crop for the year only to have it fail. Back to Nicola. She presented me with four Australian grown, unsprayed samples of garlic. A quick scan of the diary to check I wont be speaking in close quarters with anyone and I started my garlic tasting.

Garlic

PRE-TASTING NOTE:
Two characteristics in particular jump at me when tasting garlic. First, an appealing garlicy sweetness, typical of the onion family, but particular to garlic. It’s retro nasal, meaning the flavour fills the mouth and then travels back through to the nose… Very nice. Second, there’s a bite. A sulphury, verging on mildly bitter, pungent bite. If you want an analogy in the food world, think of a surface ripened cheese, like Brie. As it ages, the surface becomes more pungent. Some like this, some don’t. The garlic bite isn’t a surface thing; it’s intrinsic in the clove. Personally I don’t mind it and I suppose it’s connected with the “strength “ of that particular variety. To me this is a mistake because I very much want the strength of the first characteristic to be at the fore; the appealing sweet garlicy flavour with the pungency bringing up the rear, contributing a firm promise of a night alone on the couch.

TASMANIAN PURPLE
Great, large, somewhat flattish cloves, all shiny and heavy. Not a small clove in the head, which, to me is a joy; nothing more frustrating than peeling 6 or so miniature cloves per head of garlic. The flatter cloves seem to fit more snuggly together in the head, which means they’re a little more difficult to prize apart.

FLAVOUR: A very good garlic in my opinion, however, the pungency slightly outweighed the garlic’s sweetness
7.5 out of 10

SILVERSKIN
Contained a few little cloves right up to some large ones in each head. There were a few cloves that were rotting, but the ones around it were heavy and full.

FLAVOUR: The Silverskin was the mildest and sweetest. Very pleasant to eat, but could use a little pungent kick
8 out of 10

WHITE CROOKNECK
These were large cloves of equal size that were easy to separate and with a space between cloves, making it easy to snap off a desired quantity.

FLAVOUR: This is a garlic of two halves. At first, nothing but the wonderful sweet garlicy flavour but finished with a lingering pungent bite.
9.5 out of 10

RED RACAMBOLE
Equal in size, around 12 cloves per head, these were also easy to separate.

FLAVOUR: Both sweet and pungent, however the pungent bite slightly outweighed the pleasant sweetness.
8.5 out of 10

WHAT I WANT FROM GARLIC

FLAVOUR
Must taste like garlic. That’s not as bleeding obvious as it sounds. When on panels for tasting olive oil over the years, our tasting charts required us to assess “oliveness”. So garlicness is big on my list. Also, there needs to be the absence of taint; mustiness, sulphur, dirt, for example. Another thing, strength and persistence of garlic flavour are important to me. Don’t fancy peeling a thousand cloves to make garlic bread for Harry’s mates.

SIZE
As stated above, not too many little cloves. Pure lazy Geoff writing this, but fair go, domestic cooks. We at GJ Farm have to cook for 250 special guests from time to time and although nothing will make me reach for a jar of garlic paste (rather cut out my own spleen), grant me the desire to peel as few as needed.

GROWABILITY
As with my other crops, selecting the best samples/specimens to be stored for growing next years genetically improved (hopefully) batch is front of mind for this little gardener cook. If you’re nervous about the term “genetically improved” don’t bundle me in with those who manipulate genes. I’m more like Gregor Mendel who selected the best samples to grow and hopefully promote their superior qualities.

UPDATE: JULY 2014

Garlic 1

Here they are. My rows of garlic soldiers, all lined up and slowly maturing through our icy Bowral winter (minus 3 today!) Growing through winter is what garlic and all memebers of the onion family require to reach not only full flavour, but firm texture too. 

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Part-Time Gardening Position

We are looking for an experienced gardener to maintain and develop a small working farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW. The successful applicant:

  • Will operate and care for outdoor equipment and machinery
  • Must have a green thumb and love physical outdoor work
  • Must have an ‘I can fix it’ attitude and be results oriented
  • Must be able to communicate and plan according to the needs of the farm
  • Must be able to work independently

Experience and references required. Award wages will be paid to the successful applicant.

To apply, send a letter of application and CV to Geoff Jansz Farm
office@geoffjansz.com.au or PO Box 281, BOWRAL NSW 2576.

Applications close 23rd May 2014.

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Our First 2014 Cooking Class

It’s been a few years since we last had small groups of passionate food lovers attend Lessons from the Farm, my cooking School.  I loved hosting these intimate gatherings; all indulging our common passion, dare I say obsession.  With the farm in order thanks to collaboration between the hard work of my Family members and the professional pool of advisors instigated by Elders Bairnsdale, we were ready to open the Farm gate and welcome in fellow food worshipers.  A really big thank you to Noel, Colin and Gino from Elders Bairnsdale for providing the expert advice and moral support that encouraged me to get the farm back into top shape.

Standing sentry, like Cerberus at the portals of hells gates, was Jonny armed with Clipboard and instructions to keep an eye out for gate-crashers, masking as part of the list. It’s a modern day phenomenon and the techno curse of throwing a party. Word quickly is texted to anyone looking for an uninvited, impromptu time out. Here is Jonny dealing with such opportunists. There is a strong suspicion that the initiator of this unwanted gathering is Baba (Ganoush), our Labrador (inquest to follow). However, they were spotted and turned away, tail between legs. Only legitimate, true believers gained entry.

Dogs

A big focus for the 2014 season is a gentle stroll through the farm and introduction to the growing styles.  This is planned to be the preamble to the 3 hours of cooking instruction, tastings and questions that will always be Lessons from the Farm. Wasn’t sure if this was appropriate; was I just showing off the garden?  Nevertheless, we kicked off with the tour du jardin, and it was a real success.

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First step was to consider Urban Farming possibilities. Here around my balcony pots and solar powered, self-watering Elevated Garden, the group were astounded at the abundance that could be generated with even a small access to space and sunlight. Imagine the benefits when urbanites secure a place in our agricultural landscape; healthy fresh produce at the fingertips, connection with seasons and varieties, the ability to share and barter crops, more oxygen generated into the atmosphere, dollars saved… Shut up Geoff, everyone gets it.

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At the mixed garden section, designed to represent the backyard farmer, the restaurant garden and the community garden, we absorbed the different rhythm and style required to generate fabulous produce.  For the past 28 years of farming I have mainly used an overhead watering system, allowing me to move easily between the rows, and attend to part sections of the garden without he hassle of being tangled amongst bed by bed hosing. This year, advised by Patrick O’Shannessey from Toro, I opted for a more efficient overhead system and was able to pass on the benefits to students contemplating such a garden.

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The polytunnel was a big hit. Everybody was able to step into a warmer moister environment, which, believe me, helps heat- loving crops survive just that little bit longer through the arctic Bowral winters.

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My Commercial crops were a source of huge interest. These are the crops that go into making my farm-made, small batch, high flavour range of products. Sorry to plug my own stuff, but properly made food products seem to be harder to find on the shelves these days. Anyway, the environmentally sustainable and break-down able Degricover plastics that covered the beds and the Toro drip watering lines underneath provided a weed free and water preserving environment for my Tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers, were all intriguing to the students. The heavy cropping was evidence of proper soil condition and wonderful organic pre-preparation of soil with the guidance of Neutrog.

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As for the Orchard, well those of you who have seen my videos in the orchard section of my website will have seen orchard expert Geoff Brooke applying his 3 generational expertise to pruning and shaping my trees for cropping this year. Geoff attended this class and was the voice amongst the trees as he shared his knowledge with our group.  Geoff and Heather Brooke have become friends and I am so grateful to have their guidance and assistance with the farm. Naturally, apples were on the menu for this cooking class.

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