It was a windy Winter’s Sunday when a group of 15 Southern Harvest Produce Box Subscribers ventured out to Braidwood to spend a few hours at Wynlen House Village Farm & Learning Centre—an urban micro-farm that grows a diverse range of vegetables and raises poultry, pigs and sheep on around 1000 square metres of land using Slow Food principles. Southern Harvest subscribers have enjoyed the likes of Wynlen’s cabbage, sunchokes, stir-fry greens, and numerous varieties of garlic amongst other produce throughout the Summer, Autumn, and Winter Produce Box seasons.
We were greeted by Bronwyn Richards, Wynlen’s Principal Gardner, and Helen Lynch, Wynlen’s Principal Educator, amidst the glorious Winter weather and smells of pumpkin and garlic soup as well as Brussels sprout frittata wafting from the kitchen. Bronwyn treated us to an interactive tour of the farm, telling us about the organic polyculture techniques used at the farm, well as the practicalities of growing in the Braidwood climate and the current drought, and fielding many a question from an engaged audience ranging from managing weed burdens, spotty chickens, and composting.
Following the tour, many of us were tempted back by the delicious smells emanating from the Slow Food café kitchen and enjoyed a relaxed lunch and each other’s company in the fresh air with blue sky overhead—quietly connecting with the food that nourishes us, the soils and farmers who provide it, and fellow humans whose journeys have intersected because of a shared interest in food.
Bronwyn Wilkes
CCF Volunteer Produce Box Coordinator