Black Sheep Produce | Food & drink

Black Sheep Produce

Phone: +61 428 873 090

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25.01.2022 The last couple of years we've had willie wagtails nest under our back verandah. Amazing little birds, very industrious & feisty. After lunch today I watched 3 young birds leave the nest for the first time, exactly 4 weeks after the first egg was laid. Life goes on despite everything happening in the world at the moment ... #williewagtail #australianbirds #spring #springtime #flyingthecoop #nature #naturalpestcontrol #farmlife #birdsofinstagram #lookafternature #beaccommodating #myriverland

24.01.2022 The start of caper harvest is upon us again. Time to dust the kneepads off & begin the daily back stretches. We start our harvest by picking the flower buds until around Xmas then we start letting the buds open into flowers to be pollinated & turn into caper berries. Some early flowers are a sign that our plants are a bit ahead of schedule this year. #capers #australiancapers #caperflower #aussieproduce #aussiegrown #australianingredients #farmtoplate #supportsmallbusinesses #adelaidefoodie #gourmetfoods #handpicked #harvest #supportlocal #localproduce

23.01.2022 You know you've got a caper white butterfly problem when.... They look pretty but the caterpillars that hatch from the eggs they lay are our Public Enemy Number One. #caperwhitebutterfly #pestsofinstagram #springpests #prettybutdangerous #caperbush #egglayingmachines #myriverland #loxtonsa

23.01.2022 A few must haves.

23.01.2022 Meet Our Team Part 3 Name: Dave Roles: Owner, manager, customer service, keeping track of what needs doing & when, finances, chief taste tester, social media. Favourite part of your job: the satisfaction of producing high quality food sustainably, the variety of work & working outdoors. Least favourite part of your job: it's hard to go past picking caper buds but unfavorable weather deserves a mention. Creating engaging social media content when both of us are notoriously cam...era shy Favourite hobbies: playing Masters footy, books, music, bushwalking, camping. Favourite way of eating jujubes: whole dried. Honeyjar variety when fully ripe fresh off the tree - they're called Honeyjar for a good reason! Favourite way of eating capers: the salted buds on Heidi's homemade pizzas or in scrambled eggs; the pickled berries with cheese & crackers. Favourite way of eating dates: I love eating the Barhee dates straight off the tree when they're yellow & crunchy. They're really sweet & juicy with a subtle coconut flavour, very different to what most people are used to. #familyfarm #husbandandwifeteam #ourteam #riverlandproducers #knowyourfarmer #blacksheepproduceaust

22.01.2022 An interesting read for those interested in the quality of food that they're eating.

22.01.2022 One of our friends just sent us this photo that we thought we'd share. In her words she is "pimping up a Greek salad, Black Sheep Produce style". Sounds like our Kath alright! A big shout out to @travellingkath #caperberries #greeksalad #healthyeats #nofilter #blacksheepproduceaust #howtousecaperberries #australianmade #australiancapers

22.01.2022 Our new website & online store is now live at www.blacksheepproduce.com.au! Jump on & have a look, we'd love to hear what you think. You can browse our product range, find out who we are & what we're about & sign up for our latest news & offers. The only problem - we couldn't work out how to put a big L plate on the home page! #blacksheepproduceaust #jujubes #capers #dates #australianmade #southaustralianjujubes #australiancapers #australiandates #buylocal #eatlocalsa #ichoosesa #loxtonsa #loxtonchamberofcommerce #riverland #riverlandproducers #knowyourfarmer

19.01.2022 Local pick up is now available as an option when purchasing via our online store for our Riverland customers (or at least those within striking distance of Bookpurnong)! You're welcome https://www.blacksheepproduce.com.au/collections/all

17.01.2022 Glorious burst of spring like weather in the Riverland over the weekend but a wintry blast is on the way. A forecast of minus 3 tomorrow night & a top of only 10 on Friday! Here's a pic of our date palms basking in the sun to tide everyone over. We've also got plenty of flowers on our male palms. Fingers crossed for a good pollen harvest so we're all set for spring flowering & hopefully our first good fruit set since the palms were transplanted in 2018. #datepalm #dates #australiandates #australianmade #sunshine #spring #springtime #myriverland #loxtonsa #knowyourfarmer #cleanandgreen #blacksheepproduceaust @ Loxton, South Australia, Australia

16.01.2022 The first orders of our newly rebadged caper products have gone out this week along with our spiffy new dried jujube products. All 100% Australian products with no artificial colours, flavours or additives. The Mallee Caper Company is nearly history. Stay tuned for the launch of our website & online store. A big thank you to all our families, friends, fellow growers & customers who have supported us on our journey so far. Have a great weekend everyone! #capers #caperberries #jujube #jujubes #driedjujubes #eatlocalsa #australianmade #riverland #riverlandproducers #buylocal #ichoosesa #healthyfood #youarewhatyoueat #platters #familyfarm #loxton #loxtonchamberofcommerce

15.01.2022 We've been at it again! After transplanting 150 jujube trees, 150 caper plants & 150 date palms 2 years ago we recently transplanted another 20 caper plants to our new property. These plants were part of a trial growing capers in concrete pipes, which makes them easier to pick. After 5 years we've decided that it's not the way to go in our climate so into the ground in Loxton they go. A big thanks to Chris Schutz Truck, Bobcat Hire & Landscaping! Have a look at the roots... on these plants, no wonder they're drought tolerant . #loxtonsa #loxtonchamberofcommerce #chrisschutz #blacksheepproduceaust #capers #transplanting #transplantingplants #caperplant #herewegoagain #riverland #riverlandproducers #farmlife #australiancapers #australianmade

15.01.2022 Another job ticked off this week, with our latest transplants now settled in at our caper plantation & the rows finished off with weed mat & stone mulch. Thankfully all our caper plants are now back in one location again! Every little efficiency gains counts. #gettingthingsdone #transplantingplants #tlc #efficiency #capers #australiancapers #riverlandcapers #familyfarm #mulch #smallscalefarming #artisanfoods #handmadefood

14.01.2022 We delayed hand pruning our jujubes this year to trial mechanical pruning. As our plantings increase we're constantly looking for ways to reduce our cost of production. This is even more important than usual for us as we're growing 3 very labour intensive crops & we're not getting any younger! Unfortunately this particular pruning machine was a bit too much for our trees at this stage & we pulled the pin after a short trial. Large branches were being snapped off the main tree trunks so it's back to the drawing board (& the hand pruning!). #jujube #jujubes #reddates #chinesereddates #australianjujubes #pruning #pruningtime #itseemedlikeagoodideaatthetime #constantimprovement #backtothedrawingboard #neveradullmoment #worthatry #blacksheepproduceaust

14.01.2022 Flowers have just started opening on our early varieties of jujubes this week, mainly the Jin & Honeyjar. Jujube flowers are tiny - only around 2mm in diameter. Now we wait for our pollinators to arrive & get busy. It's always interesting to see which ones are the first to turn up for work! #jujubes #jujubeflower #floweringnow #flowersofinstagram #springhassprung #riverlandfruit #whywegrow #farmingrevolution #fromlittlethingsbigthingsgrow

14.01.2022 Woops, forgot to cross post this one, although Heidi wouldn't have minded - neither of us are very willing photo subjects!

13.01.2022 An important daily job for us at the moment is checking our male palms for flowers which have opened. As soon as the male flowers start to open we remove them & harvest the pollen for hand pollinating the flowers on our female palms. #datepalm #datepalms #datepalmflowers #australiandates #riverlandsa #knowyourfarmer #buylocalsa #australianmade #handpollination #loxtonsa #riverlandproduce

13.01.2022 Well winter is nearly over & all of our winter jobs are ticked off the to do list. Both jujube orchards have been pruned albeit late due to our unsuccessful mechanical pruning trial & the beautiful rainy August weather. Fantastic to see that it still remembers how to rain in the Riverland in winter! It looks like mowing & slashing are back on the to do list for spring. #winter #winterweather #rain #august2020 #myriverland #riverland #loxtonsa #loxtonchamberofcommerce #pruning #pruningseason #jujubes #australianjujubes #blacksheepproduceaust #farmlife #familyfarm #eatlocalsa #australianmade #ichoosesa

11.01.2022 The kids at work & at play. Another school holidays is done, which is a bit sad but also a bit of a relief. Besides winter school holidays (when we have our annual family trip) it's always a juggling act. We have got better at managing it over the years, so we don't beat ourselves up over all the work we're not getting done any more. A bit of work, a bit of play & an excuse not to get up quite so early for a couple of weeks. Back to reality tomorrow! #familyfarm #familyfarmlife #family #smallbusinessowner #schoolholidays #farmkids #farmkidslife #worklifebalance #loxtonsa #myriverland #allhandsondeck #ontheblock #ontheriver

11.01.2022 Looking after our soil is as important to us as growing our unique crops. The winter rainfall this year has really given our cover crops a boost. We sow a mix of wheat, barley, triticale & oats between our orchard rows for soil cover, suppressing weeds & as a green manure. It's already looking like a few haircuts will be needed this spring, especially if we get more rain! In future we plan to establish a permanent mix of native grasses between our orchard rows, which will k...eep our soil healthy as well as encourage beneficial insects & pollinators. #blacksheepproduceaust #sustainable #sustainablefarming #covercrop #regenerativefarming #soils #soilsforlife #healthysoils #healthysoilshealthyplantshealthypeople #healthysoilhealthyfood

10.01.2022 If you run a small business or know someone who does, check out this great promotion from Hyundai which offers a chance to win a free advertising package worth $52,000! We've had a crack at it so fingers crossed! #iLoadTakeALoadOff

10.01.2022 Spring time also means it's time to cut the tops off our 2 year old jujube rootstocks which were grafted to specific varieties last autumn. Exciting times as this means we have now doubled our jujube plantings. #smallbusiness #familyfarm #whywegrow #locallygrown #grafting #jujubetree #jujubefruit #pruningseason #horticulture #uniquefruit #futurefood #myriverland #southaustralianfood #loxtonsa

10.01.2022 What a difference a bit of warm weather & rain makes! Compare the 2 photos taken from the same spot in one of our jujube orchards - September v November. Looking good & we're thankful we got through some wild weather earlier this week with no damage. How's your part of the world looking at the moment? #jujubes #australianjujubes #growingseason #springflush #hopingforagoodharvest #uniqueplants #healthysoilhealthyyou #naturalfarming #southaustralianmade #healthyfoodchoices

07.01.2022 Some fellow South Australian jujube growers doing great things utilising damaged fruit & value adding their fruit. We've also been busy behind the scenes doing the same thing so keep an eye out for some new product releases from us too.

06.01.2022 We're a small family artisan produce business growing unique crops which are well suited to our local Mediterranean climate. We have a holistic approach to farming based on the link between a healthy environment, healthy food & healthy people. Our passion is showcasing the food we grow as naturally & authentically as possible, so we use 100% Australian ingredients with no additives or preservatives. Don't just take our word for it - taste the difference for yourself! #artisanproducer #artisanfood #grazingplatter #platter #cleaneating #preservativefree #vegan #eatclean #eatwell #realfood #australianmade #adelaidefoodie #adelaidefoodblogger #melbournefoodie #sydneyfoodie #handmade #riverlandwineandfood

06.01.2022 Caper harvest started earlier this week which marks the start of our busiest time of year. The caper bushes are looking so lush we finally decided to give pickling some caper stems & leaves a go in response to customer demand. Unfortunately our bushes are looking so good they've also attracted hordes of cabbage white & caper white butterflies. The butterflies lay eggs on the leaves & the caterpillars which hatch from them will happily strip the entire bush of leaves. We're assuming it's due to the good winter & spring rains we've had as we've never seen them in such numbers. Never a dull moment! #themurrayonyourtable #myriverland #loxtonsa #pickingtime #picklingtime #pickledcaperleaves #springharvest #localandfresh #buyaustralianmade #newproductcomingsoon #nowastedfood

05.01.2022 A really good article on jujubes with a lot of interesting facts about their history & uses. Enjoy!

04.01.2022 I was having a walk through the caper patch on Wednesday & noticed we have caper buds on some of our bushes already! Looks like the start of our bud harvest might not be as far away as we thought. Time to brush the kneepads off. Caper harvest starts for us with picking buds (which are the unopened flower buds). We pick buds until the weather warms up when all our insect pollinators & bees become more active. Then we stop picking buds, let the flowers open & get pollinated & voila, we have caper berries. #caper #capers #australiancapers #riverlandcapers #riverlandproduce #riverlandproducers #blacksheepproduceaust #spring #springtime #familyfarm #loxtonsa #loxtonchamberofcommerce #eatlocalsa #australianmade

02.01.2022 We're now listed on the Fair Foodie website, which is an online marketplace for Australian homegrown food, drinks & fresh produce. Well worth a look if you want to support local businesses and you care about where your food & drinks come from. https://fairfoodie.com.au/

02.01.2022 Spring has officially sprung on our farm! While the capers starting shooting a couple of weeks ago, our jujubes are now also on board with the new season. Time to give all our plants a boost with some nutrition & some water. Here we go again! Fingers crossed for the upcoming growing season.

01.01.2022 After years of trialling, testing & perfecting the process we've just released a new jujube product - dried jujube rounds - which are our take on a jujube fruit leather. Our dried jujube rounds are 100% jujube fruit with no sulphur, preservatives or additives. They are a tasty addition to cheese platters or are great on their own as a healthy snack. Another step taken in our zero waste & value adding business journey & utilising all the fruit we grow! We hope you give them a... try & enjoy the results! #jujube #jujubes #driedjujube #driedjujubes #reddates #chinesereddates #chinesedates #valueadding #zerowaste #foodinnovation #healthyfood #healthyeating #cheeseplatter #healthysnacks #riverland #riverlandproducts #southaustralia #southaustralianjujubes #ichoosesa #eatlocal #australianmade