What We Grow
Summit Organics is a mixed, small-crop farm which produces more than 50 different herbs and vegetables throughout the year on approximately 2.5 hectares (6 acres).
Through focusing on soil care practices over the last 15 years, we have been able to greatly increase the variety of vegetables that we can successfully grow on our property. Whereas once it was almost impossible to grow beetroot and carrots, now we have bumper crops of these throughout the year. Healthy soil means healthier and better tasting crops which are less susceptible to disease and pests.
Autumn/Winter
Our biggest growing season is Autumn/Winter, when we grow an enormous variety of vegetables. We may not grow everything listed below in one season — after all, there are only so many hours in a farmer’s day! — however we try to grow as many of them as possible. This keeps things interesting for us and for you!
Here is an indication of what we may grow through the main part of the year:
- Bok Choy
- Silver beet
- Kale (Blue)
- Kale (Curly)
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Shallots
- European Spinach
- Carrot
- Beetroot
- Onions (Red & Brown)
- Tomato
- Zucchini
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Rocket
- Dandelion
- Lettuce (Cos)
- Lettuce (Purple Oak)
- Sweet Potato
- Kailaan (Chinese broccoli)
- Leeks
- Celery
- Green Beans
- Mizuna
- Basil
- Coriander
- Dill
- Mint
- Thyme
- Greek Basil
- Curly Parsley
- Italian or Flat Leaf Parsley
- Garlic Chives
- Ginger
- Turmeric (orange and yellow varieties)
- Galangal
Summer
In Summer months, when the growing conditions are tougher, we continue to grow as much of the Autumn/Winter range as possible plus grow an interesting selection of seasonal vegetables that perform well in high rainfall and high humidity conditions, including:
Ceylon Spinach – Egyptian Spinach – Kang Kong (Asian Spinach) – French Sorrel
Fruits
And finally, we love to grow some fruits throughout the year. This tends to vary a bit depending on what we the weather allows us to grow, and what takes our fancy each season! Here are a few of our favourites:
Watermelon – Rock melon – Strawberries
Seasonality
One thing we feel passionately about as organic farmers is ‘seasonality‘. This refers to the idea of natural growing seasons for different crops. Growing crops according to their season means you are staying in touch with nature. Fruits and vegetables were never meant to be available year round — it’s only the big supermarkets who can make this possible and they do it by importing produce from all over the world. Of course, this increases the ‘food miles‘ enormously, which means that more climate changing fossil-fuels are used in the whole process.
At Summit Organics, we sell only what we grow. That way you know it’s local, you know it’s fresh, you know it’s organic! We attempt to lengthen the natural growing season by improving our soils, so we can have your favourites available for as much of the season as possible. But you will notice everything will come and go through the year. Our regular customers are now used to these seasonal changes and have to come to love and enjoy them!
Seasonality means accepting that sometimes the things we want are not available, either because of weather conditions or time of year. We hope this brings excitement back into your weekly vegetable shop… “Ooh, it’s Tomato season again!” “When will Coriander be available?” “What seasonal veggies can I cook with this week?”
Let’s face it, when everything is available all the time we lose touch with the seasons of nature!