AN increasing demand for healthy foods in metropolitan Adelaide has seen a Riverland couple become “busier than ever” harvesting unique produce.
Barmera-based growers Peter and Ann Brooke have been harvesting their latest sweet potato crop during the past few weeks.
Mr Brooke said their crop was also being expanded into an adjoining 17-acre property previously used to grow cherries.
“We’ve got certified organic status for our crop now,” Mr Brooke said.
“We plant 20,000 sweet potatoes a year by hand, and that will keep that block going for a good few years.
“We’ve been pulling the cherries out for the last week and we’re getting ready to plant in around October or November.”
Mr Brooke said the sweet potatoes – which grow in four varieties and are harvested by hand – were suited to growing in the Riverland’s high summer temperatures.
“Having good soil makes a huge difference in the quality,” he said.
“We grow four different colours of sweet potato. There’s orange, purple with a white inside, white with a purple inside and purple with a purple inside.”
Mr Brooke said a public focus on healthy diet – due to the current coronavirus outbreak – had seen an increase in sales of their sweet potatoes at farmers markets.
“We’re getting more people than ever at the farmers markets,” he said.
“We go to the Willunga Farmers Market on Saturday morning, then the Adelaide Showground on Sunday which is the busiest one.
“We would sell at least a tonne of potatoes over the weekend.”