Add some bush flavour to your baking with lemon myrtle leaves from Bunnygum Farm
While Aboriginal Australians have been using the wonderful properties and flavours of native bush foods for many thousands of years, westerners have only been using them in modern kitchens for the last few decades.
Lemon myrtle is a bushy rainforest tree that is also a common garden plant across Brisbane and has dark green lemon-scented leaves and flowers prolifically with large bunches of small white flowers on the ends of the branches. Lemon myrtle leaves can be used fresh, dried or ground and has a lemon and lime oil flavour.
Bunnygum Farm has joined the targeted few ‘real farmers’ at the Real Farmers Market at Boundary Street has an abundance of farm fresh produce on offer including lemon myrtle leaves. Their range includes bay leaves, rosellas, Hawaiian sweet potato, passionfruit, pumpkins and a variety of bananas. You can also source fresh tomatoes, eggplants and capsicums plus much more will all be piled high on stall tables this weekend. Bunnygum Farm are fourth generation farmers stemming from a time when nothing was ever wasted and every part of the plant or animal farmed was used. A theory linking back to use of the bush food lemon myrtle.
Lemon myrtle is an antioxidant, non-acidic and has high levels of vitamin C – all great for strengthening the immune system. It can be used with baked fish, to make a lemon tea, combined into breads and desserts as well as chicken and rice dishes, and many sauces. Check out some of these recipes using the flavoursome bush food lemon myrtle: rainforest pumpkin dip, piece monteè with lemon myrtle crème patisserie, bush tucker muffins and rainforest roast chicken.
Pop on down to the Real Farmers Market at the Boundary Street Markets and see what Bunnygum and other farmers have to offer.
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