Potatoes and produce

Derryl and Jean come from pioneering families. Derryl’s grandfather settled in Beech Forest in 1904 to cut timber, mostly blackwood and myrtle. Jean’s family arrived around the same time on a grazing property where she grew up, before settling at Hordern Vale. After Derryl’s grandfather finished clearing timber, he began growing potatoes, as did his son Alf for some 50 years, taking many trophies at Melbourne and local shows. From his father, Derryl developed a love of potato-growing too. He was a certified seed grower, which means his produce has proven consistent quality. Between Alf and Derryl there’s 100 years experience and success growing potatoes.

The Towers no longer grow potatoes commercially. With one of their sons they run a farm of 250 cows but still leave a few acres spare to grow potatoes for the market. A while back people would come to their farm to buy fresh produce, but they don’t take the trouble to travel out there anymore, so Derryl and Jean bring the truck down to Apollo Bay every Saturday as a kind of community service. Jean loves her garden, so anything she grows that’s too much for the family table comes down too.

The market always had a spot for fresh spuds. Derryl and Jean took over from another grower, just to give it a go. They love it. They make it a bit of a day out. It gets them off the farm for a trip to town, but the best part for them is having a yarn with their regular customers and making new friends. Overseas visitors like to compare varieties, especially those from England, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand. For the record, Derryl and Jean sell Pontiacs, Desirees, Kennebecs, Sequoias, Mondials and Colibans. What you won’t get most places is an Otway Red, which was developed at the Toolangi Research Station but found to grow best in this district, so it got the Otway name.

In a world of change we like some things to remain the same: we still like fresh food and a friendly face to serve us. Derryl and Jean make the two-hour round trip every week from Beech Forest to give us exactly that. A lot of love goes into those spuds.

Plants and herbs

Judi has travelled as far as the Mediterranean and as high as the Himalayas in search of new stock for Otway Herbs. It’s a long way since she and her artist husband Ken upped stumps from Melbourne in 1972 to move to Apollo Bay with a toddler in tow. Country-born Ken wanted to get back to the bush, so the Forresters, Judi’s sister Glenda and some friends bought the biggest, cheapest block they could find. The block high in the hills on Busty Road is still their home today.

Wanting to add to the family but not wanting to leave home to work as a solicitor, Judi decided to start a nursery. After all, it was simply an extension of what they were already doing on their property, growing plants and trees to restore bush to the bare hills. Ken banged a sign down the road one New Year’s Day advertising the nursery. Their first customer turned up 30 minutes later and a business was born, as were two more kids in the years that followed. Ken and Judi had found a new life made on their terms.

When Yvonne Francis proposed a community market in 1978, Judi saw a new way to reach customers. She and Phil Lawson are the only founding members still with stalls today. Judi likes the intimacy of the market, whether it’s developing a relationship with neighbouring stallholders or meeting the myriad of customers who browse and buy.

From its beginnings on a front lawn to the present site on the foreshore with space for 50 and more stalls, the market has established itself as a local landmark. Of all the changes to the market since it first began, the personal highlights for Judi are the sculptures at the eastern end near the Visitor Information Centre. The totem-like poles are there because of Jane Grose’s successful application for funding from Arts Victoria. John McColl’s sculpture of a seal sanctuary has changed people’s attitudes to seals, says Judi. In both cases, what appeals to Judi is the fact that local people had created something of lasting benefit to the community. It fits with the vision Ken and Judi brought with them when city lights had lost their lustre and the freedom of the bush beckoned.

Effective natural health care

In 1987 Don Stone made the decision that his life in Melbourne was no longer rewarding and he needed a change in direction both with his career and his lifestyle. As a regular surfer along the Ocean Road and visitor to the Otway Ranges, Don’s lifestyle choice was obvious. He now lives on 40 acres of land on the hills overlooking Apollo Bay and makes the trip to the Apollo Bay Community Market most Saturdays.

As a qualified chemist, Don has seen enough in his work for drug companies to know that there has to be a better way to assist the body to heal itself naturally. He has always been interested in the health benefits of food herb extracts and has the professional expertise to create his own products. After extensive research and development he developed the current range of products using a mixture of homegrown herbs, Australian-made extracts of food herbs and some overseas products. The quality and environmental sustainability of raw materials is very important to Don. He doesn’t mention the word, but you can be sure that his health care range is ethical as much as it’s natural.

Talk to Don and you’ll end up talking about the health benefits of being in tune with your environment. For Don that includes body surfing. He is not making the money he earned in Melbourne but his new career helping people is good for his body and soul.