Magic On The Roadside: Parawanga Produce

once upon a time we could buy vegetables from a shop that weren’t frozen. but these days are few and far between. unless you willing to wait until the weekend to shop at your local farmers market then your kinda running out of options.

what happens if you want to buy cheap, fresh, seasonal and organic produce during the week?

your probably laughing at me right now. organic and cheap. ~~yeah right.~~ well it’s time to stop the laughter, drive south of Adelaide, straight to my favourite road side stall home to Parawanga Produce.

Parawanga is a small farm, located at Whites Valley and is run by Alison, Russell and Cass. Alison is known by the locals for her incredible produce and famous for her heirloom tomatoes which she has now been growing for 8 years. She is a family woman and is passionate about what she does- which is evident when you see what she grows.

One of my favourite things about this road side beauty is that it only sells seasonal. That means no rubbish frozen goods that have been sitting there for months. Depending on the weather is what you will find, and at the moment it is broccoli (when the rabbits arn’t sneaking bits), cauliflower, curly kale, pumpkins and everything green. there is nothing better than this time of year to get the green stuff into you since flu season is coming in.

for those who are health conscious will be glad to know that the produce on the stand hasn’t been sprayed with nasty chemicals. and another great thing is that everything on the stand is $3 a bag or bunch/item. yes the giant cauli’s the size of your head are $3. BARGAIN!

If you’re one for growing your own veg but need some manure they also sell chook poo by the bag on the pallet out the front. In the warmer months you can find anything from zucchini, cucumber, chilli, garlic, eggplant, capsicum and tomatoes. During the warm and colder months you will also find mixed dinner boxes for sale. Depending on the season and what’s for sale you can also find Parawangas produce all over Willunga and Sellicks Hill, being used in the kitchens of the Victory Hotel, The Green Room and Singing Cricket.

photo credit- parawanga produce facebook

this stand is super popular with the locals, as well as people like myself who will drive 30 mins away for some of this goodness. when you taste how fresh they are you will drive the distance to. it is worth it for the flavour and this green goodness will last in the crisper for ages.