Thursday, 25 June marks the end of an era for local farmer Kenrick Riley who is retiring from Byron Farmers Market after 23 years.
Kenrick started at Byron Farmers Market in March 2003, only a matter of months after the first market, and in that time he has gathered a devoted following of customers and chefs alike.
The reason for Kenrick’s popularity is clear: not only does he offer an amazing range of produce – including lots of weird and wonderful crops – but he also loves a good chat and is a wealth of information on how to cook and use his more unusual vegetables, herbs and spices.
‘After we joined the market, we looked at the gaps,’ Kenrick says. ‘When others were selling silverbeet, we grew perennial spinach. If others had potatoes we sold garlic or jicama. After that, we just looked at anything that would grow in a subtropical climate – often Asian or Pacific foods – and slowly introduced them.
‘Later, we moved to mixed bunches of herbs, curry packs and stir-fries. We’d always grown edible flowers but gradually moved into dahlias and other house bunches. Often our customers would give us cuttings or seeds which led to crops like collard greens, aibika and Chinese cucumbers.’
After growing up on a sheep station in Outback Queensland and working as a jackeroo, Kenrick left the bush to become an agricultural journalist and rural advisor to the Queensland Government. But the land lured him back, and in 1999 he set up a market garden, with wife Maree, in Georgica.
Since then, he and Maree have been nourishing the local community with freshly-harvested produce every Thursday morning. However, it’s not just food they have been growing in that time, but also friendships. And it is this, Kenrick says, he will miss the most.
‘While the market is an outlet for our business, it is also our social day out with a big bunch of customers (and farmers) who have become great mates over many years,’ he says.
‘We have customers who’ve visited our stall every week for more than 20 years, so we’ve grown old together. And I’ve seen their babies, who grew up eating our food, now walking around as young healthy adults.’
Kenrick has contributed more to Byron Farmers Market than just great produce. He has also held the role of president and was responsible for developing the market’s auditing system which ensures farmers are selling only what they grow – and gives customers confidence in the authenticity of the market. For this, the market will always be indebted.
So come say farewell to this local legend tomorrow morning. The next time you see Kenrick at the market, it will be as a fellow customer!
Byron Farmers Market is held every Thursday from 7am to 11am at Butler St Reserve and Bangalow Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 7am to 11am in Piccabeen Park.
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