Victoria Cosford
Lance Powell’s stall is a glorious tumble of mostly bananas, barely blemished, all from his property at Mount Chowan. On the north eastern corner of Mount Jerusalem National Park, the mountain is a winding climb to a height of over 500 metres, and it’s here that Lance’s family has been farming for more than seventy years. The bananas have been there since Lance’s father took over and, despite a cyclone in the late 1960s which, Lance tells me, took them all out, their subsequent replanting saw them ‘back with a vengeance’.
From his teenage years, Lance – fit and tanned and looking easily ten years younger than his age has worked on the farm. ‘If you leave the property you’re never coming back’, his father told him. ‘It was a different time then,’ says Lance. All that is grown now is organic, which Lance says, is ‘a challenge’, demanding physical exertion and at least six brush-cutters. Aside from the bananas – which include the pretty pink dakkas, ladyfingers and good-for-cooking plantains – he grows avocados, squash, zucchini and pumpkin. The broccoli and cauliflower, he tells me, are just going in now.
That pumpkin, carved wedges of radiant orange, is making me think of soup, and I know exactly which particular pumpkin soup I will make. Adapted from a Sara Lewis recipe, it’s simple but unusual; a large knob of butter melted in a pot then a roughly chopped onion added to soften. Dice 1 ½ kg of pumpkin and throw it in, tossing around for five minutes before adding the grated rind and juice of two oranges, a litre of vegetable stock and three whole star anise. Simmer till soft, remove the star anise and puree the ingredients till smooth. Season accordingly and garnish with a whole star anise. Perfect for this cooler weather – and all that vitamin C as well!
Mount Chowan Organics is at Mullumbimby Farmers Market every Friday
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