Farmers’ Markets
Tim Marshall meets the growers & producers
WITH the growing interest in turmeric as nature’s antiinflammatory and an all-around superfood, I decided to take a road trip last year, north up the east coast from Bellingen NSW to Cootharaba Queensland, visiting turmeric growers, along the way.
Two things became evident. First, the further north I went, the greener and less desiccated the turmeric became. In Bellingen, it was very brown and dry but, north of Noosa, it was still making some growth.
The second revelation was just how successful organic producers can be at hiding themselves away! I found them in remote forested areas, adjacent to rivers and bushland reserves, next to council green zones and behind planted or natural vegetation barriers. This could be to protect themselves from spray drift and gain the benefits of natural pest predators, or it could be to create a great scenic spot for Willing Workers on Organic Farms (Woofers), farm stays and lifestyle retreats.
What I discovered was, there’s gold in them thar hills - specifically, golden turmeric. There’s also some red and a little white turmeric. Overall, however, there’s a lot more of this wondrous spice now than there was a decade ago, as our awareness of the health benefits of turmeric, and how to use it, has grown significantly.
Turmeric or Curcuma domestica is the spice chiefly responsible for the yellow colour of curry paste and is reputed to have significant health benefits. The active ingredient is curcumin, which is a very powerful antiinflammatory, with evidence it may help arthritis sufferers. It is also a powerful antioxidant and can help to regulate insulin. It may also help with depression and heart health, and there are many other health claims under investigation.
Turmeric by itself is poorly absorbed by the body and should be taken together with black pepper. Pepper contains piperine which acts as a synergist with curcumin and massively improves uptake.
Awareness of the benefits of turmeric has had a huge impact on availability, and this recently almost unknown vegetable has exploded in popularity in the last six or seven years. A scare about lead contamination in imported Indian turmeric powder did little to diminish interest but has sparked a demand for Australian turmeric.
Meet the growers
Merricks Creek Organics
GREG Godkin and Liz Robson grow organic Rio Red grapefruit and lemonade citrus, garlic, Canton ginger and turmeric on their five-hectare Ausqual certified property on the northern bank of the Bellingen River in New South Wales.
They mainly sell fresh, raw turmeric to organic wholesalers, although Greg says he is aware that some of his turmeric does go into kombucha.
Although he does not sell direct to the Kombucha manufacturer, it is a market that Greg found himself, to convince the wholesaler to accept the slightly different coloured ‘mother’ rhizome. It is, as Greg says, “exactly the same inside”.
Greg says that Freshcare certification for his Merricks Creek Organics business in Thora has been useful in getting him into some markets unavailable to other growers. He also says that some growers are selling turmeric for too little money, and suspects that if they really investigated the labour and inputs required, a wholesale price of $20 is necessary.
Athol Glen Turmeric
TEN years ago, Carl Richardson saw a basket of turmeric and asked what it was. He purchased a $5 piece and has been growing it ever since.
Seven years later, Carl retreated from an 18-year career in television in Coffs Harbour, including work behind the camera, as a producer and in marketing, to his four-hectare property at Athol Glen. He says, “I don’t know how else to describe it, I was just possessed by the idea of having some land and growing things.”
Carl had always been a gardener but had no commercial farming or gardening experience. Turmeric seemed like an obvious choice of crop. He did try ginger but says it was
not worthwhile. The crop uses only a small portion of the arable land, so long rotations are possible, and Carl uses sub- tropical legumes such as cowpea and lablab as green manure crops between turmeric rotations.
The farm building and house construction at Athol Glen Turmeric are almost entirely from recycled building materials salvaged from a large but derelict shed that was crumbling when Carl bought the property.
He says that reusing materials is, “All part of the lifestyle and philosophy” that he is trying to live out on the land.
Carl makes large composts from his own grasses and crop residues and incorporates some biochar.
Carl turns his entire turmeric crop of between 4,000 and 6,000 plants into turmeric tea, by drying and shredding the turmeric and mixing it with organic black pepper, cinnamon, ginger and shredded coconut, according to a recipe he developed himself.
The tea is sold at local stores, farmers’ markets and on his internet site. Currently, Carl attends markets at Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Port Macquarie and Newcastle in New South Wales. The tea is excellent hot but also makes a refreshing summer drink when chilled and mixed with tonic water.
Another remarkable aspect of Carl’s tea is that the leaves are still usable in cooking after the tea-making process. This makes it very economical and satisfies Carl’s desire to encourage a local and ‘whole food’ approach (rather than other imported, powdered products).
The used tea leaves have only been softened by immersion in near-boiling water. He collects them in a container and stores them in the fridge for later inclusion in stir- fries, soups and casseroles.
This appeals to me, too. I use a lot of ginger, but I find that when using turmeric in a similar way, it remains a bit too crunchy.
The softened tea leaves, however, would easily cook to a suitable texture, and the spices and coconut are not out of place in dishes where turmeric might be used.
Carl says, “Curcumin does not stay in the body, so needs to be used frequently to maintain access to its beneficial qualities,” so saving the used tea leaves makes it easy to quickly incorporate turmeric into any dish, with no chopping required!
Like all turmeric growers, Carl does find washing of the harvested product time-consuming. He regrets recent Government changes to the Visa requirements of his Woofing guests.
He thinks it was a major mistake, saying, “We have lost a 20
year campaign to promote the Australian bush experience in one careless bureaucratic move. The Woofers go home to their own country as ambassadors of our clean, green environment and Australian food.”
Carl is also uncertain if the fee for his NASAA certification is necessary or worthwhile for small, direct sale producers such as himself, and is less than happy with the ‘boxticking’ approach to organic inspection whilst remaining completely committed to organic growing methods.
Carl is an advocate for Australian turmeric which, he says, has high curcumin levels and does not have the lead contamination that can be present in imported products. He says he receives many emails from customers praising his products and, “If I was a younger man, I would be taking this product to the world, because of its health benefits.”
Barry Ferrier
BARRY Ferrier, above, from Bangalow NSW, is a professional musician, ex-Bond University multi-media academic and a graphic designer.
Known in music circles as Doctor Baz, Barry’s history includes the original cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, supporting Ry Cooder, bandleader for Eartha Kitt, and playing with Slim Pickens, just to mention a few highlights.
More recently he wrote and presented a Johnny Cash Tribute Show and is now working on a Johnny Cash/Roy Orbison show (Cash and Orbison were good friends).
Music and design keep Barry out of the garden most of the time, although he does feel the allure of a more hands-on approach to his 4.5-hectare property, purchased in 1981, with the intention of living a more ‘subsistence’ lifestyle.
The original enterprise started with 100 lychee trees and sweet potatoes, which Barry could sell to the restaurants and bars where Barry worked as a musician. The farming dropped away when Barry started working in multi-media at Bond University and the Bangalow bypass was gazetted to pass through the land. In the end, the bypass missed Barry’s land.
In the meantime, most production of garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli, sweet potatoes, herbs and other crops is done by Shilo Taylor. Barry and Shilo are also establishing a small food forest.
The farm was certified by OGA, which offered a ‘domestic only’ certification, but OGA no longer exists and the certification is transitioning to ACO. About 1.2 hectares are devoted to cropping, the rest being bushland, houses and farm buildings, including Woofer accommodation.
Having a good reputation with travellers, and being close to Byron Bay, helps to attract visitors for the labour intensive growing and harvesting jobs, especially washing the ginger and turmeric. The farming activities are mainly done by hand with minimal use of machinery.
Barry says, “With the drop-off of WOOF visitors after the government changed the Visa rules about 88 days of working, I now advertise on Gumtree”. To keep the labourers around, Barry bought them a shared car, so they can drive to Byron Bay for a small fee, and Shilo looks after a vegetable garden, chickens and ducks to feed them.
Barry says that most crops grow easily in his red soil, but he has problems holding water in the dam and is buying town water for irrigation.
Selling the whole crop of ginger and turmeric at once can be a problem. It is warm enough at Bangalow for rhizomes held in the ground to regrow quickly, and when lifted they inevitably shrink a little. Barry says, “Heavy mulching helps control the temperature and will hold the ginger back a little.”
Barry can sell some crops because of his part- time role as Marketing Manager for Australian Organic Network, a wholesaling business he owns together with Ben Debs, Andrew Gleeson and Matthew Carmody. Some produce is sold to wholesalers but Barry’s son Tirryan is developing a turmeric latte recipe.
The turmeric latte powder will utilise their own turmeric and ginger and organic spices and will produce a valueadded income for Tirryan.
Super Natural Organics
PETER Doff and Wendy Robertson operate Super Natural Organics at Cootharaba in Queensland. I first met Peter about 25 years ago when he was growing on a few acres at North Arm and was involved with Basic Co-op at Nambour.
Wendy moved to Cootharaba at approximately the same time. Now they grow garlic, turmeric, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and a few other vegetables for their organic rotation or for sale. The farm is surrounded by vegetation and council green zones and in these warmer conditions, the turmeric was not dormant like the southern crops.