Kangaroo Valley market farmers Ellena and Tucu share their philosophy of soil, seasons and scraps – also known as composting.
“Nothing compares to a homegrown carrot,” says Ellena Rebbeck. “Until we started growing them properly I had no idea what an amazing smell and taste they have.”
She explains the appeal is also in the surprise. “Not knowing what is under the soil, then you pull them up and have a beautiful bunch it is really satisfying.”
Tucu d’Hiriart is a fan of the eggplant. “They are a really cute plant, but you get so many interesting shapes off a little tree.”
When the sun is shining that little bit brighter, it’s the tomatoes along with eggplants that really excite them, to cook along with fresh herbs that are almost always on hand. Right now in the cold weather they love simply roasting vegetables or making soups and stews.
There is certainly an excitement about eating seasonally. “We eat a lot of broccoli or cauliflower in winter, but then we won’t see them again for six months when we eat the tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants in summer. We get so excited for the change of season for the change of flavours.”
The couple really bounce off each other, sharing such a passion for what they do in Kangaroo Valley, growing on their farm and supplying directly to the public at a few select venues. Tucu says that it is so satisfying growing herbs, “parsley, coriander, rosemary, thyme,” before Ellena chimes in, “the intensity of fresh flavour from our herbs just enhances our cooking and hopefully our customers.”
The Patchy Growers both agree the one thing people should grow at home is herbs because it helps you to think about food in general, they don’t take up much space for flavour return, you save on plastic (by not buying the supermarket versions) and enhance your cooking.
What really brings a smile to these amazing farmers’ faces is kids asking their parents to buy carrots. “It’s a pretty good choice for kids to make,” says Ellena. I have seen those carrots firsthand and they are something to behold, roasted they are exceptional but put into a special hot sauce I made for Tucu was something he enjoyed immensely.
The bright colours of the fresh vegetables are enticing when you see them altogether on their market table, almost as bright and warm as Ellena and Tucu themselves. Need a recipe idea, they are only too happy to share what they do and just as happy to listen to the ideas of their customers, often passing the knowledge onto the next person.
The couple have been together 11 years after meeting in Argentina. They worked in many hospitality jobs both in Argentina and back in Sydney. Both are bilingual and it’s interesting to hear their conversations with a hybrid of English and Spanish. Often they find a word in one language is better than the other to describe something.
They both attribute their many years in the hospitality industry as giving them strong grounding in customer service. Ellena believes that their years of hospitality work has also helped them with supplying to local hospitality businesses. “We really understand how they work and it helps us to interact and support them with their needs for fresh locally grown vegetables,” she says.
Upon returning to Australia, the couple landed in Sydney. They didn’t see the possibility or opportunity to grow fruit and vegetables with the dense population and lack of available space plus significant cost. The couple then came to Kangaroo Valley, living with Ellena’s parents on their property, and growing food became a distinct possibility.
Like all good things, theirs isn’t an overnight success story.
A lot of time and effort went into what they built up and what they now have. Travelling to different farms to see their market gardens provided inspiration and education. Then an opportunity to work at the breathtaking Terrewah Farm in Kangaroo Valley gave Ellana and Tucu the next opportunity to push themselves in the market garden. Kirsty the owner has been a strong mentor for the couple. She had established a solid customer base and community relationships as well as with local businesses. This was the spark that Ellena and Tucu needed to start their own farm.
Their number one priority in their farming is soil. If they notice something struggling in their garden, they don’t hit it with chemicals, they look deeper and ask themselves, “why might this plant be struggling?” They have a few practices that are important to them for maintaining good soil health. Cover cropping is a technique where they use a diverse mix of plants to grow in beds when they are being rested, which helps to break disease cycles and bring nutrients back to the soil while feeding the microbiology.
Ellena and Tucu are constantly composting so they can add that to their soil, they encourage everyone to do the same at home if they can! Everything they do is done without chemicals, although they are not certified organic, it is not a priority, says Ellena. “We want to be better than certified organic, to us it is more than just not using chemicals, it is also the microbiology of the soil working to help us.” The certification isn’t seen as necessary to the couple as they are extremely open with their farming practices with their customers, building trust by practicing what they preach and delivering high quality, fresh clean delicious vegetables.
Two tips from Ellena and Tucu for successful growing of fruit and vegetables at home. Firstly, to compost.
“It closes the loop,” says Ellena, “you are essentially reusing what you didn’t use in the first place or the scraps of things that can’t be eaten to go back into your garden.” Tip Two is to be observant, look at your garden and see what is going on so you can be on top of things like watering and harvesting as each place is unique, then you can replicate timings, locations and quantities you learnt from previous seasons.
So why buy from the Patchy Growers, Tucu and Ellena? Tucu didn’t hesitate to answer why their produce is better than a commercial farm. “Our produce is full of life!” he said proudly. “We grow everything in the season that it is meant to be grown in, meaning it is grown in the conditions that it best grows so we can get the best results and flavour.”
The other factor that makes them better is the lack of travel, compared to supermarket vegetables some of which have travelled hundreds or thousands of kilometres to be consumed. These travel from Kangaroo Valley to Nowra each Thursday afternoon. You can find the Patchy Growers Tucu and Ellena at the Harry Sawkins Park Nowra Fresh Food Market each Thursday from 2-6pm and at the Kangaroo Valley Markets on the second Sunday of each month.
You can order online for pick up via their open food network website.
See their beautiful harvest and keep up to date with their market movements on Instagram.
