Table Olives, Tapenades and Preserves
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Growers and Producers of Premium Organic Table Olives, Tapenades and Preserves |
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Olive News - Autumn 2004 Hi Everyone and welcome to Harvest time at Figtree!!! Lots of Olives on the trees and still no sign of birds attacking the crop. As I sit here and write this very early in the morning I am planning another pre-dawn visit to the grove to check on any damage. I have a guide tree which I have practically counted all the olives on and take that as a measure as to whether any are being eaten by whatever birds are likely to do damage. One year King Parrots got in and decimated a quarter of the crop before I knew what had happened. We have some netting which worked quite successfully on the Orchard this year but not nearly enough to cover 300 trees. No solution is around for birds, though my friend Bruce Haigh up Old Grattai Rd at Gunneemooroo Olives sits out there at Dawn with a gun and takes out Crows who get into his grapes. Kevin Karstrom out at Botobolar Wines gets the Mudgee Shooters Club to shoot their Crows, whilst Leslie at Thistle Hill Wines, about 2 kms away from us, has the Gas Guns to scare the birds away. This year a particular problem was feral deer eating the Olives lower down on the trees but they are very secretive animals and are much harder to track. Not much rain around which has pleased the Vignerons after the last few horrible harvests. The last decent falls we had was a little over an inch [25mm] around the 25th of February. A little rain is forecast this week but the district could certainly use some. The word from the old timers in town is that there will be no real good falls till winter now, so the Autumn plantings of Oats [Dryland] will be resticted. The temperature is good and starting to cool down after a particularly ferocious Summer with over 30 days above 35 Degrees, which is clearly a record. Again the old timers maintain that this is what Summers used to be like in the 40's/50's and that it has progressively been getting milder in Mudgee. A lot of Vegetable Gardens suffered in the searing heat and it really knocked our Tomatoes around, though now we are getting a substantial crop. The garlic we planted in Autumn 2003 turned out to be a fizzer so we will have to buy in Garlic from Gilles Bonin in Braidwood again. We still have a window of 4 weeks to get some in and we have already started planting the winter legumes like Chick Peas and Broad Beans. As mentioned in Events we are currently suffering a Locust Plague. They hit last week from Dubbo and in the space of a few days have eaten whatever green pick was in the paddocks. My greatest fear is that they will get into the Olives and not so much take the crop but do damage to the tree canopy which would take years to rectify for the trees to start photo-synthesising again. Again solutions are hard and being Organic we do not spray anything. The problem with the locusts is compounded because they lay eggs which as larvae in Spring will do even worse damage. We have geese, a flock of 10 and chooks which range around but apparently the go is to get Bantam Chooks and cage them up over the nests and they really clean them up over Winter. We just have to locate the nests effectively!! Figtree Retreat Olives had it's final Organic inspection by the BFA before being Certified "A" Grade and Malcolm Gwilliam was very pleased with our Progress so fingers crossed we will get the 'gong. We also were inspected for our Olive Brining Management Plan and Processing which also passed with Flying colours. A few issues like Flow Sheets and HACCAP Managment Implementation Procedures, namely Daily records of pH and Salt and Temperature readings in the Vats will have to be recorded. Each Vat holds up to 120-150 kgs and once they have finished their initial curing they go into Cold Storage. Water Bacteria testing is not so much a big issue as I thought as we pasteurise everything before final processing for Bottling, Marinating or Blending for Tapenades. We should get up to 500kgs from our trees this year as well as 1000-1200kgs from other groves so Harvest is doing well. We have the first 500kgs sliced and salted and our first new seasons Olives are being released this week so I am very excited. Anyways See you in Winter Richard. 5.00 am April 6 , 2004 Events More December 2004 MARKETS......... Almost half way through the Christmas Growers Markets Schedule and having lots of fun Orange Markets on Sat 11 Dec were a blast and the busiest apart from the FOOD Week Markets. I also launched our new range of goodies including the Return of Figtree Organic Jams. [Fig & Ginger, Quince, Peach Chutney & Grapefruit and Mint Marmalade] and Pickled Artichokes, Nasturtuims and Preserved Lemons. The Nasturtium Buds brought back memories for a lot of older customers of the Old days when Mums used to preserve anything that they could ....more out of necessity than anything vaguely foodie orientated. They are awesome and taste like a peppery version of Capers with a lot more crunch. On the same day as Orange we returned to Mudgee to do a Twilight Growers Market at the Old Platts Winery which was a hoot with the attendant Thunderstorm playing havoc on proceedings. David, Jane and Russell were admirable in their adaptability to the Weather and promise to do 4 such events over the year.......... Growers Market, Wine by the Glass, Entertainment, Art Exhibition and Gourmet BBQ all rolled into one!!! [All they need is a jumping castle for grown ups]. This week sees us at Bathurst whilst Agnes Nordmann does the Mudgee Growers Market for us and my Brother Robert does the Organic Market at Manly Vale in Sydney. FOOD................. Lots to tell 3 New Venues have opened up in Mudgee which have overnight changed the Dynamic of Tourism in the Region. High Valley Wine & Cheese opened up their new premises right at the mouth of the Wineries and are getting Rave reviews from Locals and Tourists...congragulations John!!!! Oakfield Country Store at the Beautiful Old Inverness House opened their Doors on Nov. 22 and have done a stunning fit out of the place. Run by Ian and Judy of Oakfield Olives and with a Menu created by Scott Tracey they are going great guns already. Simon Gilbert Wines have finally opened their state of the art Cellar Door and it is a Fitting Welcome to Mudgee as you head in on the Sydney Road. The Food scene in Mudgee is very strong. Most places are doing great business. Weekends at Eltons are fantastic with the Wood fired oven getting a real workout with numbers well over 60 @ night. By the way......our Foodie of the Month award goes to Eltons' Marcus Platt; Barry Platt's son, who regularly racks up 70-80 hours a week at the wood fired oven coal face [He has the Oven tan to prove it!!!!!] Without any formal training he has slipped into the job like it was always his and shows a real passion for food which is needed in the Industry. The big news is though....... We here at Figtree Retreat Olives & Farmstay have launched an exciting new service for our customers!!! A Degustation Menu which is only available to our Farmstayers which is truly Seasonal, Organic and Local with all produce being either grown here or sourced from my many friends at the Regional Growers Markets. Yours truly will be cooking it..[I do have 15 years experience in Kitchens].... .....for further details, go to our new Degustation Page MUSIC............. Lots of Musical goings on in Dec/Jan. Endive play at the Eltons Christmas Party [if you're lucky enough to get an invite] on Mon Dec 20. Figtree Renaissance will be making a cameo appearance at the Gulgong Folk Festival with Ged Corben [Wheelers & Dealers, Cruel Sea & Lime Spiders] and the Wonderful Carina coming up. I will also be playing with Home Rule at the Street Dance on New Years Eve and will also making my Poetry Reading Debut at one of the Poets Breakfasts. The Gulgong Folk Festival kicks off on New Years Eve and goes through till January 4. Figtree Renaissance will be heading back into the studio in Jan/Feb to continue work on the Massive Double CD Project "Stone Fruit". I have also linked up with another new Talent in Fiona Harris to continue the good work that her and the Legendary Cletis Carr set up with "Blue Valentine" . The set list has changed, mainly because as a Guitar Player I make a Great Drummer and the set list is a lot softer with lots of soppy Bee-Gees, Beatles, Beach Boys and Moody Blues numbers. Thats about all for now. See Ya round like a rissole, Rich MARKETS Sorry folks........lost the plot for a few weeks and didn't do updates as I figured they weren't that important until a friend asked me why it wasn't up to date and I got an attack of the guilts. My trusty Production Manager ......Agnes Nordmann and myself were over at Peter Davis' Magnificient "Newtown Providores" store at Dubbo yesterday Vacuum Packing 400 Different units of Olives for the Markets/Farmgate/Wholesale Silly Season. There was no way we could escape the heat [42 degrees] and the trusty Datsun 180B has wonderful open window air-con so the trip home at the peak of the heatwave was illuminating to say the least. Didn't see Magpies falling out of the sky but I have a feeling that might happen sometime around Australia Day which is Historically the Hottest Day of the Year round Mudgee!! ***************************************************** The Growers Markets in the Central Ranges are going off the Richter Scale in terms of Sales and follow up enquiries in General. Bathurst after a slow start is outstripping Orange as the place for us Produce Hawkers to make some extra mullah......no doubt due to the wonderful efforts of the energetically charged trio of Bob Henry, Mark Haley and Christine Le Fevre from Bathurst Regional Eat & Drinks. More news on their excellent Cafe and Produce Store in the next Bulletin......."Absolutely Delicious" ....watch out for it at the Bathurst Tourism Centre when you go over the Mountains. Jane Arnott from Orange handles the Orange Markets on her own and deserves a Medal for her unstinting work on behalf of the local growers and producers.....her efforts during the Orange National Field Days were legendary [Oct 19-21] ,she also secured 3 National TV Demos on the Today Show [Channel 7] plus PRIME TV UPDATES. We were all featured and had all our produce cooked by The Inscrutable Michael Manners from Selkirks [Orange] The Mudgee Growers Market has finally taken wings and a lot of credit must go to John Grant from High Valley Wine and Cheese Company and Salli Oram [Organic Salad & Veg & Seedlings] I seriously didnt think Mudgee could sustain a profitable Growers Maeket but was proven wrong by the efforts of these 2 driven people and now our figures are up there with Orange. As you can see there is now a seriously vibrant Grower perception in our region which now seems to be matched by goings on in Sydney. Growers Markets are popping up everywhere and it is to our betterment that we support FRESH produce and not stuff that has been sitting on a dock for 3 years waiting for some sucker to buy. CAVEAT EMPTOR..........Buyer beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ********************************************************************************** Figtree Retreat Olives Market Schedule Christmas 2004
FOOD Huntington Food Huntington Wine Huntington Music No need to speak about anything else at this time of year Hot goss is that Teddy Tahu-Rhodes is the Baritone this year GEORGE with the wonderful Katie Noonan doing the Late Night Concert on Sat 6-12-04 Update real soon Richard Figtree MARKETS Had an absolutely awesome Pyrmont Market last Saturday 4 Sept. with the Lovely Carina [Figtree Renaissance Singer] as my trusty offsider. To say she turned a few heads would be putting it mildly and she really hammered the B & B side of Figtree to customers. Also scored a bit of a goal, with the "Essential Ingredient's" Principals buying some of the Green Marinated Vacpaks and liking the Rock Salt Olives. With any luck we might finally have a distributor in Sydney that I respect. They stayed in the Cabins about 4 years ago and thought our Olives were a bit rugged then, which they probably were. I think after 5 years of curing Olives I know what I am doing now!!! Jones the Grocer tried to buy our stuff Cleanskin about 2-3 years ago and I want to maintain our Brand Awareness as too many Organic Producers get ripped off because the big boys think they are all fruitcakes who don't know much about business. Also on the Organic side of things it is pleasing to finally see the FIRST CERTIFIED ORGANIC MARKET starting on Sat. 18 Sept at Balgowlah. It is certified with NASAA and certification has to be PROVED to be there. All your Organic Favourites will be there Sam the Butcher, La Tartine Breads, Rosnay Wine, Olives and Olive Oil, Nick the Greek God from Ellengrove Olive Oil, plus some real Organic Fruit & Veg, Cheeses and as well which is really pleasing to me. .....Leslie and Kevin from Mudgee's own Thistle Hill and Botobolar respectively will be sampling Organic Wines. We will be there selling our Olives and Tapenades and soon we will start to release some of our Organic veggies including our Wild Herb Mix [Milk Thistle, Dandelion, Endive, Sorrel, Nettle and Spinach] and Broad Beans. Next week sees us at Orange Growers Market [Saturday 11 Sept.] Balgowlah Organic Market Saturday 18 Sept Mudgee farmers Market at the St. Marys Church Sat 18 Sept and Sunday 19 at the Special Wine Festival Farmers Market at Mudgee Growers at the Old Platts Winery. .....Then Bathurst Growers Market Saturday 25 Sept. If this all goes well then I think we will have achieved what has taken 4 years of planning to get to..... ......A good viable Market Itinerary that doesn't kill you with all the Travel. This Month's Special Market mention must go the lovely guys at Ploughmans Hills Olives [Parkes] who do what I think are arguably the BEST Table Olives in NSW. They have smoked Olives, Cracked Green [The Sevillano were to die for] and Green Verdale and Barouni. A great recipe and a great passion for Good Olives is all that is needed to score a goal!!! FOOD............................... Well contrary to the last mail Dave Cox is back at Eltons and all seems Hunky Dory again. Eltons is the Biggest Cafe/ Restaurant / Brasserie in Mudgee and always under pressure with a flourishing Business and as I am writing this they are busy doing there usual Busy Monday trade plus catering for the Celebrity Golf Day which I am playing at tonite. [Monday 6 Sept] as well as a few other catering jobs. Gloria does an incredible job under constant pressure and her Professionalism and Cool Headedness has got them out of many a scrape. Greg and Emma .formerly of Eltons are now operating at Cafe 89 and all seems well with them. The Wine Industry Dinner/Awards/Festival Opener, last Wed. 1 Sept. went off with a bang at the AREC Big Shed with all the Winerys present. Kim did the Food and used some lovely Lamb Necks from Carlo [AC Butchery] for the Mains and was ably supported by Stephen Price [Who must be the Busiest man in Mudgee at the moment] , who also played with yours truly and Tangent at the said event. The big Open Wine Festival Dinner was held on Sat night as was Race Day on Sunday as well as The Mudgee Dragons bringing home the Grand Final Medal in the Group 10 League. Last night in town was mayhem with some very drunk revellers packing out all the pubs.......who's for a game of Golf today????? This weekend sees the Annual Go Grazing Wine and Food matching which is on at the Racecourse Sat 11 Sept around 7 pm. Tickets still available at only $50 @ person. The Wonderful Angie Spice and our Product Manager Agnes Nordmann will be handling my Duties whilst I play over at Poets Corner Wines with Home Rule for the Burning of the Canes. I am matching with 5 Corner Wines and here are my Canapes. WHITE A trio of Chilled Soups in a shot glass Cream of Cucumber, Tomato Puree and Figtree Tapenade ....my aim is to make it look like an Archery board and it needs a steady hand to administer it into Shot glasses for 200 people hence Angie Spice who worked for me for 2 years and is very good in the Catering scene up here. RED... Slow Roasted and Marinated Tomatoes on Kims Potato, Onion and Rosemary Bread with Tapenade Butter High Valley Wines and Cheese have decided to use Toby's Estate Coffee at their new Cafe and Bill is coming up to stay at Figtree on Thursday night. Apparently the guys from Dubbo Mushrooms were so taken with the Area when they came over for the Shindig at Elliott Rocke Estate that they are thinking of Opening up a Cheese Manufacturing Shop there...stay tuned on that one!! It's always sad to have to mention someones passing but this one was a real shock to us all. Jonathan Platt who was the Director of Hospitality Studies at Dubbo TAFE passed away suddenly 2 weeks ago. He was a beautiful Gentle Father of Two who taught all of us how to live life fully and gracefully. He worked with us at Huntington Music Festival last year and was a very Good Friend and Teacher to Stephen Price, Stephen Neale [ Western Regional Cuisine Director] , Peter Davis [ Newtown Providores], Kim Currie and a host of other people and was instrumental in Dragging Dubbo out of the Pie and Chips and into the 21st Century as far as food goes. He will be sadly missed and our thoughts go to his Family. MUSIC.......................... I just got back from Sydney where I was playing/ rehearsing with "Adolphus'. Adolphus was formed by Me, Chief and Ged from The Lime Spiders years ago when Mick Blood was on a sabbatical in Europe. We are the Bastard Love Child of the Lime Spiders and Basically play what we want which includes a lot of Who, Led Zepp, Cream, Jeff Beck, DEVO, Roxy Music and Motorhead with some of our own Originals. To sat we are loud would be an understatement.....the Ultimate heavy Party band. Looks like we've got a Sydney Harbour Cruise with the Celibate Rifles coming up on Sat 16 October which should make a splash in Sydney [Sorry??!!] Figtree Renaissance has been busy in the Studio at Sunpower and we are officially half way through the backing tracks. Go to Diary of an Album on the Main Music Page for more info. Nice to see a bit of Mudgee finally on the CD with Vanessa Cox's [Heart of Mudgee] son Ben Cox doing amazing things with Remixs and Scratching. A few mixed reviews of the Lime Spiders gig with MC5 but mostly we were happy and great to really THUMP the shit out of the drums again. I have been banned from playing at 2 pubs in Mudgee because I am too loud and refuse to turn down. Any self respecting drummer who is right into John Bonham and Keith Moon would do the same thing!!!!!!!! Check out attached review for some great piccies of Carina and the Girls dressed up as Spiderettes. http://i94bar.com/gigreviews/dkt_gaelic.html This week is a huge week musically for me. I play tonight [Monday Sept. 6] at the Golf Club with Stephen Price and Endive from 6.30pm The last weekend of the Wine Festival is shaping up just as big with my Good Friends Wheelers & Dealers coming up tho play at Poets Corner Wines Sat 25 Sept and Elliott Rocke Estate on Sunday Sept 26. They'll be staying here as well as a few other muso's so there should be a good Craic session on the Sunday night back here in the Olive Shed. The Moorambilla Chorus is on the Same Weekend playing at the Prince of Wales Opera House Fri/ Sat and Poets Corner Wines on Sunday. Ged Corben [Lime Spiders, Cruel Sea, Adolphus, Wheelers & Dealers , Figtree Renaissance] is playing at all of them and they will probably try to get me up at one of them. Their new Fiddle player is none other than Slim Dusty's fiddle Player of the Last 20 years and with the Wine Bar coming up on the Thurs Before who knows what will happen with all that talent in the one place. Mick is a good friend of Richard Tognetti who used him at the Huntington Music Festival 3 years ago and if he is in town anything is possible. I'm exhausted just thinking about all this.......... See ya round like a rissole Rich August 2004 MARKETS................................ We have had stunning success at the last few markets [Mudgee Small Farm Field Days, Bathurst, Pyrmont] with the latest of our new products.....our Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Tapenade. It is the third in our range of Tapenades after the Garlic and the Fig Tapenades and is already outselling the others at a rate of two to one. Also highly successful is our new Monthly Market Specials. Each month we are going to have a really good deal on our product....eg This month you can get any two of our tapenades for $15 which is a saving of $3 but at the Big Market at Pyrmont people were snapping it up like it was a free Car Deal. Next month we might give 2 Au-natural Olives for the price of one...That sort of thing!! Consequently we had our best Pyrmont market ever last Sat 7th August. Also made a great contact at the market in Tim Bowden of ABC TV'S Backchat and Antartica Fame who confided in me that he was taking my Tapenades to Ireland to give to his good friend , the Author Maeve Binchy....WOWW!!!!!!! We are also doing a lot of cross-marketing with me putting the Figtree Renaissance CD [See Music Page] on the stands and illiciting much discussion and the odd occasional sale!!!!! On that note we are starting to find the cross marketing is having its desired effect of drawing more Musicians, Writers and Artists to Figtree Retreat for the Accomodation which is starting to go outside of our designated demographic of Winery/Organic Farming Customers. We are currently in negotiation with The Author Stephen Pirie www.awkwardtruths.com ....who is looking at a 6 month sojourn to finish his book in our Mud brick cabin. Next Market is Orange on the 14th August and then Bathurst on 28th August FOOD............................. Well, Well, Well !!! Fair bit of moving and shaking going on in Mudgee town. Where do I start??? Probably best to start where I moonlight.......Eltons. David and Alan Cox had a huge falling out and David has finally quit. He has quit before but this time I think it is the real thing. I spoke to him whilst he was DJ ing at the Woolpack on Sat . night and he has confided in me before that he really wants to concentrate on Baking Wood Fired bread solely. Mudgee loses a great chef but gains a fantastic Baker [his woodfired Turkish was to die for!!!] which is Good because we havent had decent bread in this town since Greg Dollin [Village Bakery] baked his Organic Sour dough bread about 2 years ago. I personally know the 2 bakers from Bakers Delight in Mudgee and there is no way they will do Organic Sourdough. That leaves Kim and her Baker over at Rylestone Food Store as the only place currently to get any decent bread. Also on Eltons Greg our super fast chef has left and with his Mother-in-law brought Cafe 89 and will be taking over in time for the Wine Festival in September. Hope their is no more staff leaving Eltons as I seriously do not want to go back into the main kitchen there again.......its just too busy!!! Gavin Tidbury and Michelle Burns have finally landed in their new space at the Old Tramp Cafe and opened up "Kahve" which is Turkish for Cafe. A very stripped down Menu, very Sydney, Lavazza Coffee [Cmon Guys whats wrong with Tobys Estate coffee??] Seriously great raves already about his White Choc Rocky Road and White Toblerone Cheesecake and he actually has Real Roast lamb on the Sambo Menu with a Mint Pesto. Oh and congrats guys on the Engagement!!!! Paul and Linda Hairs at the Deli on Market are really pulling out all the stops on "Hot Take Home Ready to Eat Meals" and seem to be doing a roaring trade if the Queue is anything to go by. The wafting smells of Soup or Stroganoff as you walk by are irresistable. Its lovely they are doing well as they graciously allow me to Store Our Bulk Olives in their huge coolroom in return for Free Product. Kim over at Rylestone Food Store just picked up another food award from the Tourism NSW People as the BEST Regional Restaurant to go with her Gourmet Traveller Award for Food Tourism 3 years ago. There is no stopping her!!!!! My friend John Grant from the High Valley Wine and Cheese Company is soon to open his Wine/Cheese shop cum Factory at the Gateway to the Vineyards. A better location you could not wish for. They are having kittens trying to get it together for the launch date in September but will soon be announcing a new range of Cheddars, Soft Cheeses , etc. On the Subject of Kim and John..seems they have concocted a new idea which could be huge ......"Kitchen Karaoke??!!??" It involves customers interested in food taking over the premises for the evening to cook for friends , etc in a round robin format. I texted Kim with the Idea of Figtree doing a Lebanese Mezze Feast. Grant Leonard from 5 Corners Wines does a mean Indian Banquet etc.......You get my drift? Wine Celebration Month is just round the Corner and there is LOTS of Food/Wine matching going on at every Winery. The popular Go Grazing Event [which Kim insigated] is on again and we are pleased to announce that Figtree Retreat Olives will be matching 5 Corners Wines at the event. The Annual Balmoral Wine / Food Festival is on Next Sunday 15 August. Unfortunately due to my lack of licence Figtree will not be able to attend this year but my Musical Accomplice Stephen Price {Tangent, Endive} will be doing catering for the MWGGAI Stand with his Fast Easy Food. He is also doing the Food for Huntington Winery during the Wine Festival MUSIC.............................. The big news was the Lime Spiders playing with MC5 at the Gaelic Club last week July 29. The MC5 were a huge influence on Sydneys Punk/ Grunge / Detroit back in the 80's and we were so proud to be made special Guests at their Sydney Performance. The gig went off with a bang and I secretly arranged for my Figtree Renaissance cohort 'The Lovely Carina' and her Dancing friends to invade the stage Go Go Dancing in Lime Green Costumes. To say the rest of the band were surprised would be an understatement!!. The crowd loved it and it was great to see the Old Mosh Pit in action. I didnt do any stage diving as I only have one shoulder left after my last attempt in Brisbane 12 years ago. The Figtree Renaissance recording is taking a back seat at the moment as we are just too busy with Olives and Accomodation at the moment. We have completed about a third of the backing tracks of the Double CD AND WITH A RELEASE NOT EXPECTED TILL 2005 I am not in any great hurry. For greater detail go to Diary of an Album which is a link off the Main Music Page. I have embarked on a new project of what I call 'Spontaneous Music'. Some of My I.T. friends up here and some musical associates in a collective that has loosly been called "Lauras Pants". Our first musical/art installation is at the Oriental Hotel on Fri 20 August No rehearsal, no songs, no idea ....just 7 members with 2 drumkits, 4 keyboards, 3 computers, Guitar, Bass and an assortment of weird vocal noises, poetry and multi-media ideas Something akin to John Cage meets Pink Floyd and Brian Eno. Home rule are Back in the Sunpower Studios doing a new Album with yours truly playing and producing [This time I hope they listen to me!!??] Sorry to hear of the Passing away of Sharon Frost's Father 3 weeks ago. We play the Wine Bar on Thursday August 26 and at the Burning of the Canes during Wine Month at Poets Corner Wines on Sat 18 Sept. Endive and Tangent have a mixed bag of gigs coming up. We played Sat 6 August at a private function which was boring beyond description. We have another private Wine makers Dinner coming up at the big Shed at AREC ON Wed 1 Sept. Plus the Thursday night Endive music makes a return to the Oriental during September. I think I'm busy enough now dont you?? See ya round like a rissole Rich July 2004 The big news is - my former band, the Lime Spiders have secured the support spot for Detroit's legendary MC5, Thursday July 29 at the Gaelic Club..... I might even be able to wrangle some go-go dancers for the event. June 2004 MARKETS............. Nice to be back at The Pyrmont Markets after an extensive layoff for Harvest and to see the old trouble makers there. Nick Andrews from Ellengrove Olive Oil is an old aqqaintance of mine from the days when I played with the Lime Spiders and he used to book the Hopetoun Hotel and Maxs Petersham Hotel. We rib each other endlessly but respect each other deeply as we both are registered Organic Olive farmers though he is 2nd Generation and I'm new at the game. We both have stalls at the markets and sometimes when we get bored on slow days we swap stalls and I try to sell his Olive Oil and he attempts to sell my Tapenades. Bathurst Markets are on this Saturday 26 June and then the SMH Good Living Growers Market on Saturday 3 July followed by Orange on Saturday July 10. THEN the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days are on Friday 16/ Saturday 17 July. I have not heard whether I am doing any talks or lectures this year but that suits as I have been lecturing at the last 3 and it really takes it out of you when you also run 2 stalls like we invariably do at the Field Days. FOOD.......... Had a great day at the Elliott Rocke Estate shindig over the Long Weekend. Lots of Food Stalls and great BBQ Food on hand and I doubled up and played with Tangent as well. Sales were down a bit over the long weekend and a few wineries echoed my sentiments. I was talking to Ian Macrae from Mirramar on the weekend and he intimated that business is down everywhere purely because of the greater amount of players on the market. Speaking of which another new Food Outlet has opened on the Old Platts/ Cafe Fairview site at the gateway to the Vineyards. Basically a Mini- Heart of Mudgee the "Mudgee Growers" offers a range of Clean skin Wines and Jams etc. Also on the Food Trail the Lawson Park Hotel so efficiently and passionately built up by Des and Carol Kennedy to be THE premier Pub Food Venue in Mudgee has been sold for an undisclosed amount. They still have the Oriental Hotel which I frequent and play at a lot but seem to want to kick up there feet a lot more. I remember working there back in 1997 and I'll never forget the imposing figure of Carol standing at the Kitchen door vetting every dish that was going out. Just as I was raving about the Pub Soul Food of Gavin and Michelle at the Oriental Hotel they have pulled up stumps and bought the Old Tramp Cafe. Seems they are sick of the 7 Day split shifts that go with the territory. I used to be a chef and I have to say I can't agree with them more!!! He's not sure about the menu he is going to create ....he's off to Sydney for a bit of research....should be interesting whatever he does as I have a huge respect for his brand of food. Right up there with Kim [Rylestone Food Store] and Didier [Augustine Food House] MUSIC.................. If you think its been quiet on the musical front up here its because we have been very busy in the Studio with Figtree Renaissance and generally playing up at the 9th Annual Midwinter Solstice Party/Festival. Its a private function and I get a hell of a lot of requests to open it to the public but really with the logistics of Insurance and Facilities I just don't want to go there. Maybe we might record it one year because some of the Weird Spontaneity that happens at 4am in the morning in the Shed has to be heard to be believed. I wish I could remember it?? The legendary Cletis Carr couldn't make it this year and the horrible blizzard conditions kept a lot of people away but he would have appreciated the Awesome Jazz Mandolin performance from Ged Corben[Lime Spiders, Cruel Sea and Wheelers and Dealers] with a backing Jazz Conglomerate of Myself and Rhys Holmewood on 5 string Bass. The 14th line up of Tangent took to the stage and this time Rhys replaced me on Drums whilst myself and a local singer Beckie handled Percussion/ Backing vocals and Jazz Ballet!! In the studio now it's getting serious now with Ged Corben and Carina putting down some stunning Guitar and Vocal work respectively. We have 10 songs knocked over now out of 30 and its rumoured that we have a live version of a few songs with Cletis Carr on Wurlitzer Organ, Myself on Drums and Ged Corben on Guitar....should be one to watch out for!! Anyways I'm back to the poetry and songwriting now, Harvest is finished [Thank God] and I'm enjoying immensely the playbacks from the Studio and Coldplays 'Rush of Blood to the Head" SEE YA ROUND LIKE A RISSHOLE Rich Late May 2004 MARKETS............. Not much happening on the Market scene as there is 5 Saturdays in this month but there was the New Mudgee Growers Market which is a stand alone market on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Though not as big as the Orange, Bathurst or Pyrmont markets it is nice to do A down home market and speak to friends and locals about our Olives. I realised I haven't done a Mudgee Market for so long and everyone thought Agnes owned Figtree Retreat Olives and Farmstay as she was the regular face at market. I didn't do much trade there as I was too busy socialising and goofing off to Eltons or Cafe 89 for Coffee. The Farmgate is getting busier as the Tourism Season gets into full swing and even though May is traditionally a quiet month we are noticing more and more people are being drawn to Mudgee to taste premium Olive Oil and Olives. We have been the only guys doing Table Olives in Mudgee for the last 5 years but now finally we have a few other people joining in...notably Ian Newton and Judy Hall at Oakfield. Their trees were planted by Tony Wheeler in 1991 so are considerably older than mine and he traded under the name of Lawson Creek Olive Oil [Love how my name is everywhere in this town!] until his tragic death 2 years ago. Theirs was the FIRST Olive Oil in Mudgee in 1998/1999 and certainly impressed a lot of people with its unbelievable fruit driven flavour. Legend has it that The Deli was broken into and the only items stolen were their stock of Lawson Creek Olive Oil [apparently the dimwit thought it was Wine??] Ian and Judy did their first big sales at last years Mudgee Wine and Food Fiesta at Balmoral and they certainly cooked up a storm with their professionalism and great tasting products. They already have 40 retail outlets in Sydney and Melbourne and their timely introduction into the fray will only benefit Mudgee and Olive Sales in general in Australia. Next Market is the Sydney Morning Herald Good Living Growers Market in Pyrmont Sydney on Saturday June 5. Surely the longest title for a growers market anywhere in the world. FOOD......... ********************************************************************************* A tragic death in the Eltons family of employees with our Super Fast Chef Greg losing his Brother-in-law in A tragic Farm Accident last week. Everyone is very upset and our wishes are with the family!! ********************************************************************************** From sadness to gadness with the arrival of young Oliver Laurence into the world. Proud parents Dave and Anna Cox are very chuffed and the normally very 'mad' Dave is walking round on a pillow of air!! Congrats!! ps Another young terrorist in the kitchen to join Bronte and Phoebe as 2 year old apprentices!! On a different food note it must be reported that 'Subway' have opened an outlet in Mudgee. This is good and bad as us purveyors of the Slow Food Movement abhor fast food in any shape or form but it is a good sign for a town like Mudgee that Multi-Nationals consider us a big enough town to open up in. It joins the ranks of KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut in serving up Dross!!! Special mention this newsletter must go to Gavin Tidbury and his wonderful Pub 'SOUL' Food at the Oriental Hotel. Gavin used to work for Butterfields [Cheese Distributors] and King Island before relocating to Mudgee and operating the Cheese Room at the aforementioned Deli on Market. Now he operates the highly successful Kitchen at the Oriental serving up Traditional Pub Meals. With NO advertising whatsoever and purely by word of mouth he has built up a huge following and the pub is doing roaring business!! Opening 7 days a week for Lunch and Dinner is a big ask but he is ably supported by the Burns Family with Leonie, Shelly and Andrew picking up the Slack...Wonder how long it will be before we get Bob Burns [of Home Rule Fame] into the Kitchen??? MUSIC............................................... Speaking of Bob Burns in the Kitchen, he and his merry cohorts in Homerule will be making their monthly appearance at Roths Wine Bar this Thursday 27 May. Myself and Whiz Kid Guitarist Willi Bouchert will be joining them on the night for additional percussion and guitars. Its always a great night of "Craec" in the finest Irish Pub traditions of impromtu performances by guests in the audience and who knows who will get up this week? I'll be a busy boy that night as I will be straight off to play our Residency at the Oriental Hotel with Endive and Grant & Pauls outfit [Got a name guys??]......Hope I'm still standing at the end of it! The Endive show at the Old Cooyal Hotel on Sat. May 15 was a scream with a bunch of Mudgee Good Timers hiring an 18 seater bus to attend the show. A little pub in the middle of nowhere 18kms from town was turned on its head by the frivolities and to say that Mick the Publican was pleased with the takings would be putting it mildly!! Special mention must be made of the 'Breakdancing' exhibition put on by Artist / Folk Musician Luminary Ross Kurtz when we swung into the improvised Drum Solo/Rap interpretation of "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. You had to see it to believe it?!?! The Annual Midwinter Solstice Party is looming on the horizon and is an excuse for Old Rock Friends from the 'Spiders, Cruel Sea and Figtree Renaissance to go beserk all weekend jamming and whatever. FINALLY, FINALLY Led Zeppelin have opened an official website with great musical downloads of an awesome concert they did at Long Beach in 1972. My 3 favorite groups of all time would have to be The Who, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and I still shudder when I think of how powerful Led Zeppelin must have been in concert!! Go to... www.ledzeppelin.com for a rockin good time!! SEE YA ROUND LIKE A RISSOLE Rich
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