in the beginning

Welcome.. Five months after opening our boutique fruit /veg/mini deli shop we have begun our blogging.

This the beginning of a dream for me, Kelly(Mum), to be able to ramble on and no one can stop me ( unless the girls change the password for the blog spot). I am passionate about fruit and veg, freshness and quality, variety, and after being in the fruit and veg game for nearly 20 years I still seek out fruit shops and delis for new ideas.

My Mum (Barbara) regularly helps in the shop. Mum works harder than any of us.She is methodical and is rarely led astry from the job at hand, completing one task before starting another. (Something Kymberlee and I have to learn)

Kymberlee (daughter) and Sarah (Kym's partner) are the ones that do all the hours, chat to the customers, open early and close late. Kymberlee has the flare for displays and beautiful writing for all our chalk boards. Sarah is our neat freak and muscle with heavy boxes and moving furniture (we have our share of vintage furniture in the shop and Kymberlee likes Sarah to rearrange it regularly!!)Sarah is our fridge display person, a place for everything and everything in its place!

We have had a stall at Jan Powers Markets , New Farm and City, for 7 years where we specalise in fresh gourmet potatoes(also onions, pumpkin, aussie garlic, eumundi ginger, galangal and turmeric). We are often asked where our customers can purchase our farm fresh potatoes besides the markets. Now we have an outlet as well as a delivery service for this very purpose.

It wouldn't be the same without my husband, Ric, giving us his misguided thoughts and ideas. What, you want to sell gourmet potatoes at a market? What, you want to open a shop? What,? you want to paint the shop black and purple(aubergine)? What, you want to sell deli items? Where is the till going to go? on an old table, are you serious? Apart from all this he is great at cleaning the lights, unloading pumpkins off the truck, rotating the dirty potatoes and onions and every second Saturday afternoon he gives the girls the afternoon off and looks after the shop. If you do come in on one of those special Saturday afternoons, the efptos machine isn't really broken, Ric hides it because he hates using it. (Ric is just becoming used to mobile phones and emails, facebook loses him). He also has a loud voice and bad jokes. Jake, our son, occassionally helps on weekends and school holidays. He is the polite blonde one.

I read magazines and newspapers and recipe books so will let you know up to date ideas and also incorrect suggestions that some people write (and hang up on me when I phone them , to correct them (this was before I became computer savy, now I email)).

For the next 3 to 4 months we will have the freshest strawberries, picked in the early am and delivered to us by 10am. Rhubarb is direct from Mt Tamborine, ruby red and delicious. Topless pineapples from Caboolture are delicious and no black heart in them.

Gourmet Tassie potatoes are tasty and local cauliflowers and carrots are at their peak for the next 2 months.

Love doing this, will talk again soon. Kelly