When Sam Cobcroft and Angela Tonks heard about Maitland’s fresh produce market they wanted to help feed the city.
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They put a huge load of compost on a paddock Ms Cobcroft rents in Largs and started planting on a larger scale.
The fruits of their efforts came to the monthly market in Maitland mall for the first time on Thursday, and they were overwhelmed with the support from shoppers.
They set up several baskets of organically grown greens on a bench outside Millers. There had four varieties of spinach, two varieties of kale, and a wide range of other vegetables including rocket, parsley, beetroot, lettuce, radishes and broccoli.
They even brought stinging nettles, which are highly nutritious.
Ms Cobcroft said all of their produce was grown organically and had been picked on Wednesday afternoon and left in the rain to keep it fresh.
The friends can’t wait to bring more produce to the next market on September 29. They already gardened separately but they love working together and being part of the fresh food push.
Ms Tonks, who lives in Newcastle, propagates the plants in her garden and brings them to Largs to be planted.
The pair have been looking forward to harvesting the crop and a hip replacement six weeks ago couldn’t stop Ms Tonks from getting involved.
She was out helping to harvest the produce in the rain on Wednesday.
“It works well – Angela has the soil to play with and I have the space,” Ms Cobcroft said.
“I give her the seeds and she brings them back [as plants] and we plant them straight into the compost.
“We get the compost from the tip and the greens love it. The potatoes love it as well.”
Ms Cobcroft praised market organiser Amorelle Dempster for her quality control measures and said she visited every producer to inspect the produce before they came to sell it.
“She checks all of the produce beforehand and tells the grower what is suitable to sell and for what price,” she said.
"She’s bringing consistency to every market and that’s a good thing because at some markets you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
Ms Dempster praised the farmers and growers for their diversity.
“For this time of the year I was blown away by the range, it was great to have the backyard growers and we hope to attract more of them,” Ms Dempster said.
“We rely on farmers for the bulk but we love having the backyard growers to bring variety.”
The left over produce is for sale at the Readers Cafe alongside East Maitland library.
