Southern Harvest operations manager Ruth Gaha-Morris. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
As part of its mission to connect farmers and producers directly with customers, the not-for-profit association Southern Harvest is hosting a series of twilight shopping events in the village square in Bungendore.
Taking place on 6, 13 and 20th December from 3 pm until 7 pm, the markets are perfectly lined up with helping the Palerang district residents with their Christmas gift and grocery shopping.
“Having the twilight markets in addition to our regular Saturday morning market gives people more opportunity, both customers and farmers,” Southern Harvest operations manager Ruth Gaha-Morris said.
”Our farmers and producers often have other market commitments on Saturday mornings; by having these midweek and in the late afternoon into the evening, we can have more diversity.
”It’s also a time of year that people will be buying extra food and gifts, so it’s a good chance to connect those people with our local farmers.”
Southern Harvest prides itself on its fresh market produce. Photo: Southern Harvest.
The markets will not only offer local produce but also artisanal and handmade crafts, locally distilled spirits, yarn and plants.
Among the producers will be Flat Out Produce, run by Jason Lien and his family, who produce organic olive oil from their cold-climate olive grove in the Canberra region.
Steffan from Unter den Linden will be there with his European patisserie specialising in Viennese delights.
Also on the sweet side of things, honey producers Bees R Us and Gruber’s Honey will be sharing local delights.
Scott Williams of Bees R Us produces a range of honey and beeswax products from the hives on his local farm. Photo: Michelle Rowe.
Clark and Kealy will be bringing the Christmas spirit with their locally distilled gins, named Tymephora. Their small-batch gins feature native botanicals and are produced using traditional distillation methods.
And Riverbourne Distillery from Jingera, south of Captains Flat, will be making sure everyone has a very merry Christmas with its range of whiskies and rums.
The mission of supporting local producers in the Bungendore region is one that Southern Harvest has built on since the opening of its community produce store, also in the village square, in late 2023.
“We have the shop now, which adds additional opportunity,” Ruth said. ”That’s been really successful. Farmers can leave their stock in there and we sell it throughout the week. It attracts locals and passing traffic to the coast on weekends.
“We share that space with two other businesses. Local winemakers Sapling Yard are there with their cellar door and wine room and in the back we have Scrumpers Kitchen, where we utilise the local produce in a restaurant setting.”
Sapling Yard winery owner Carla Rodeghiero has a cellar door in the shared Southern Harvest premises in Bungendore. Photo: Sapling Yard.
In addition to the markets and the community produce store, Southern Harvest supplies the Canberra region with weekly or fortnightly seasonal produce boxes via a subscription service.
The service currently supplies 120 households with fresh local produce from around 60 farmers across the seasons.
You can find out more about Southern Harvest’s markets and initiatives on its Facebook page.
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