Willunga Farmers Market Producer Profile: Starlight Springs

Above: Organic farmers Ian and Colleen on their property in Myponga.

Starlight Springs Organic Farm Produce

Story by Sam Marchetti.

Ian Francis grew up in Port Noarlunga when it was still a country village and a boy could help the fishermen down on the beach with their nets. ‘I’d spend all my time with the fisherman who lived across the paddock from us. He had a couple of acres he used to farm, and he got me interested in growing.

We would go to the local shearing shed and climb underneath to collect all the droppings. In those days it wasn’t called organic or biodynamic farming, it was just the way the old blokes grew food,’ he says.

Attending Willunga High School, Ian convinced the agricultural science teacher to allow him and his friends to start their own small market garden on the school grounds. ‘We would grow the veggies while we were at school and then go down to the staffroom at lunchtime and sell the produce to the teachers,’ he says. Now he’s back on campus and he’s still selling veggies but things look a little different. Together with his wife Colleen, their Myponga business Starlight Springs Organic Farm Produce has returned to Willunga Farmers Market after a six-year hiatus. It seems fitting that their return coincides with the move to the market’s new home at the high school, where Ian’s love for growing organic produce all started.

The ‘Starlight’ in ‘Starlight Springs’ is a nod to the exploits of the bushranger Captain Starlight, who’s said to have visited the area where Ian and Colleen now live and farm. But Colleen has a more grounded view. ‘Myponga basin is full of underground springs that flow easily when it rains and on a clear night the view of the Milky Way is just amazing. I’m sure this is why the soil here is just so good,’ she says. Having moved to their property shortly before the first Willunga Farmers Market in 2002, their plan of supplying the local community with vegetables wasn’t quite ready to be put into action. ‘We were told to just come along, so at our first market we had seedlings, a handful of vegetables and I made some dairy-free, egg-free fruit cake. By the end of the year we had tomatoes, cucumbers and all the summer vegetables coming in and from memory we were the first stall with heirloom vegetables for sale,’ Colleen continues.

After fourteen years of supplying their produce to the weekly market, the couple decided to take a well-deserved break. ‘It was just the two of us working twelve hours a day, seven days a week on our hands and knees across seven acres. We continued to supply some local businesses but on a smaller scale, including Gut Feeling Fermentation who set up their commercial kitchen on our property. We took some time out to focus on other areas of our lives,’ says Colleen.

Ian and Colleen decided earlier this year that it might be time to return to market life. With now only three acres being worked, still organically with no chemicals, the summer crops went well this year but the earth at Myponga really shows its strength and bounty with brassicas and cooler season crops. Expect plenty of broccoli, cauliflowers, cabbage, brussel sprouts and carrots at the Starlight Springs stall this winter. ‘It’s been fantastic, we are really happy to be back. We weren’t prepared for the demand and all the new customers,’ Ian says. ‘And we are thrilled that all our old customers have all come back to shop and chat with us.’

Saturdays 8am – 12.00pm Willunga High School

Support your local Farmers & ProducersSupport your local farmers and producers Saturdays 8am until 12noon Willunga High School Fresh local Fresh local produce including fruit, veg, meat, olive oil, cheese, wine and produce including fruit, veg, meat, olive oil, cheese, wine and all your all your weekly essentials can be found every Saturday morning in weekly essentials can be found every Saturday morning in Willunga.Willunga. We look forward to welcoming you. We look forward to welcoming you New Location : Willunga High 1km north of Town Square*New location: Willunga High – 1km south of Town Square. www.willungafarmersmarket.com.au