Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is one of over 60 Earth Markets Worldwide and is the first of its kind in Australia. The Market is organised by Slow Food Hunter Valley members and community volunteers with support from the Maitland City Council.
The market operates at The Levee Shared Zone on the first and third Thursday of each month between 12.30pm and 6.00pm during Summer, Autumn and Spring with adjusted hours of 2.00pm to 6.00pm for Winter trading.
The Earth Market project was chosen so the Slow Food values of good, clean and fair could be applied to the farmers and the produce in the market. The participants at the Earth Market guarantee that their produce is:
- good – meaning fresh and seasonal
- clean – made from local crops, free of GMOs and environmentally sustainable
- fair – offering accessible prices to the consumer and fair compensation and conditions for the producers.
Consumers will see a poster at each stall with the names of the farmer, their farm, the location and a brief story of how they bring food to the market.
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Meet the Producers
Tom and Dominique, Four Acre Farm
Young producers Tom and Dominique have become a regular fixture at the Slow Food Hunter Valley Produce Markets.
‘We like growing lots of different types of fresh produce. We like eating it, we like working outside, working with the seasons and we really like being able to sell it directly to the people who are going to eat it. We also love hearing from people who come back and tell us how much they enjoyed our produce and how fresh they thought it was, that’s a good feeling.’
The couple, who run the market garden Four Acre Farm near Dungog, sell a range of produce including herbs, vegetables and salad greens, and they’ve also found their flowers to be extremely popular with local customers.
Kelly Lee, Urban Hum
While predominately based in Newcastle, the Urban Hum operation includes 115 hives dotted around 26 different locations in the Hunter, including Maitland. While the business kick started in 2013, Kelly Lee’s been beekeeping for eight years now and loves working in the industry.
Kelly says, ‘We just set up in the backyard for pollination purposes, but when we weren’t getting great pollination, we got a hive and it kind of just grew from there. We found that when you have honey bees you always end up with extra honey and I was out of work, so we started up an urban honey business.’
‘I like working outdoors but I am also a self confessed science nerd so the scientific aspect of taking care of insects really appeals to me. It allows me to work by myself with the bees, which I like, but I also really like people so the markets give me that opportunity to engage with the community and we do lots of teachings and talks as well.’
The Dennis Family
The Dennis family are planting the way to their future, cutting out the middle man and supplying locals with the freshest produce, straight from the fields.
They are the quintessential farming family with strong community ties. Since moving to the region over 24 years ago they have developed a great network around them with other local farmers and generously donate their surplus produce to Slow Food Hunter Valley, reducing food waste, to a worthy cause.
Currently in season is pumpkin, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes and beetroot perfect for winter casseroles and easy slow cooker meals along with immune boosting greens, choy sum, shallots, silver beet and kale.
Sarah Sivyer, Just Been Laid
Sarah has been working in food security and international agribusinesses all over the world. In 2016 Sarah left the corporate world to return to the family farm where she started the pasture raised egg business called Just Been Laid.
“I wanted to start something that would be complimentary to our existing beef business and really appeal to people who remember what eggs used to taste like. I am absolutely loving bringing people eggs from chooks that are living a lifestyle that makes them happy – in mobile caravans on fresh pasture. These eggs are also the freshest on the market.
If you’re still hesitating about buying some, come and say hi and grab a sample for free so you can really taste the difference”
Graham Harris and Sarah Harris, Little Tin Shed
Little Tin Shed Medowie are one of a number of small farms making a big impression at the Produce Markets. Farmer Graham Harris and his daughter Sarah have loved bringing their fresh fruit and vegetables to the markets.
‘We’ve got fresh pumpkins, lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, shallots, beetroots and celery and then over summer we have all our stonefruit, our peaches, nectarines and plums.’
Sarah’s a full time registered nurse but she always finds time to help her Dad and her grandma, who actually manages Little Tin Shed at Medowie.
