Fruit and vegetables and protection against diseases
Julie Christie
14 September 2026
11:20am
2 comments
Produce
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Heirloom varieties are grown for flavour, not for how well they travel, which means they are often smaller, odder shaped and more interesting than what you would find in a supermarket. A tomato picked properly ripe tastes like a completely different vegetable.
We plan the mains around protein, but the vegetable side of the plate is where the growers get the final say. If the carrots are small and sweet that week, they get roasted whole. If the leeks are better than the carrots, the leeks go on the plate instead.
“ The best dish on the menu some weeks is just three vegetables, cooked properly. ”
It makes the kitchen harder to plan around, but it is the difference between a menu that reads well and a plate that actually tastes like the South West in that particular week.
Tags:
Produce
Seasonal
Growers
Julie Christie
Writes and cooks from the Wattlebird pass; notes like this one come from whoever is on shift that week.
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Our vegetable deliveries change the menu more than almost anything else. Here is why we let them, instead of locking the menu for a whole season.
Heirloom varieties are grown for flavour, not for how well they travel, which means they are often smaller, odder shaped and more interesting than what you would find in a supermarket. A tomato picked properly ripe tastes like a completely different vegetable.
We plan the mains around protein, but the vegetable side of the plate is where the growers get the final say. If the carrots are small and sweet that week, they get roasted whole. If the leeks are better than the carrots, the leeks go on the plate instead.
It makes the kitchen harder to plan around, but it is the difference between a menu that reads well and a plate that actually tastes like the South West in that particular week.
“The best dish on the menu some weeks is just three vegetables, cooked properly.”
If you want to taste the season rather than the menu, ask your server what came in that morning. We will usually have something to tell you.
From the Wattlebird kitchenNotes like this one are written by whoever is on the pass that week. Have a question about a dish? Ask us next time you're in.
