With Christmas Day falling on a Thursday, Mullum Farmers Market will have a one-week date change, opening Christmas Eve, Wednesday, 24 December (7am to 11am), and closing Friday, 26 December, for Boxing Day.
It’s a chance to shop the way locals do – strolling through 75 stalls of fresh produce and artisan products, with live music in the background and people catching up over breakfast and drinks as they ease into the festive break.
A natural starting point is cheese. At Cheeses Loves You, Burringbar cheesemaker Deb Allard crafts an extensive range of cheeses using milk from the Jersey cows she and her husband, Jim, raise. Her offering includes hard cheeses, brie- and camembert-style wheels, plus fresh favourites like mozzarella and stracchino, alongside haloumi, ricotta, mascarpone, feta and quark. Cultured butter, yoghurt, buttermilk and crème fraîche round out the stall. Kefir remains the best seller, and for Christmas, Deb is producing pepper Romano wheels and mixed cheese packs.
Just along the aisle, Nimbin Valley Dairy delivers beautifully made goat’s cheeses that let the milk speak for itself. Standouts include St Billie, a surface-ripened lactic goat cheese inspired by crottin; and the Washed Goat, lightly brined for 7 to 10 days to develop deeper, savoury, umami flavours.
From there, it’s easy to build the rest of the table. A red, white or even a festive brandy from Jilly Wines sets the tone for long afternoons, followed by award-winning smoked fish, rillettes and a new smoked fish salad from The Bay Smokehouse. JJ Seafood provides fresh prawns and fish, with oysters from Brunswick Valley Oysters adding classic coastal flavour. For a more traditional Christmas lunch, choose pasture-raised chicken from Misty Creek Farm as the main event.
Finish on a sweet note with Christmas mince pies from Sequel Bakery, topped with fresh summer berries, and Christmas lunch is all but sorted. You’ll also find locally-grown vegetables and all the festive essentials: fresh fruit, nuts, sourdough, fresh pasta, mushrooms, rice, flours, legumes, jams, relishes, sauces, fresh and dried pasta, olives, pastries, baked goods, sprouts and just about anything else you could possibly need for a Christmas feast.
Mullum Farmers Market is open on Wednesday, 24 December from 7am to 11am for one week only. Mullum Farmers will be closed on Friday, 26 December, Boxing Day, and return to every Friday from 2 January.
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