Piles of fresh farm produce will flow into The Levee on Thursday as the city’s first monthly produce stall kicks off.
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There will be one tonne of potatoes and 500 cauliflowers, as well as cabbage, pumpkins, spinach, tomatoes and a range of lettuce varieties.
A list of free recipes will also be on display to show shoppers how to make the most of the ingredients.
The stall is vegetable grower Matthew Dennis’ last shot at making a profit from his crops.
He says trucking commercial quantities of produce to the Sydney markets is not sustainable due to rising costs and the unpredictable price farmers were paid.
He will join farmers Tony Milburn, of East Maitland, Austin Breiner, of Oakhampton, and Marco Forman, of Duns Creek, in selling a range of seasonal produce outside Millers between 8am and 12 noon.
Mr Dennis said there was a demand for local produce and urged shoppers to support the venture.
“It should be a good day,” he said. “It’s another outlet for us to sell our produce and give people a fresh alternative to buy fresh produce.
“It makes sense to have a stall where people can come and pick up most of their seasonal vegetables.
“If this market doesn’t work there won’t be any veges grown on this farm.”
Slow Food Hunter Valley has organised the event with the co-operation of Maitland City Council.
The not-for-profit organisation’s leader, Amorelle Dempster, said the stall would have an environmental focus and there would not be any bags provided.
She said shoppers should bring their own bags to carry their goods.
The venture follows the success of the pop-up pumpkin stall in March, where 20 tonnes of pumpkins were sold within 12 hours to save the crop from being turned into fertiliser.
Mr Dennis and Mr Milburn were going to plough the two hectare crop into the ground because they are only paid 20 to 25 cents per pumpkin at the Sydney markets, while the supermarkets sell them for up to $3 a kilogram. That’s the same price the farmers were receiving 20 years ago.
Mr Dennis said the overwhelming support from across the Hunter had restored his faith in consumers and fuelled his desire to keep producing vegetables.
