Sully's Cider at The Old Cheese Factory

15/05/2026

We will have a new 'Perky Pe**er' cider at the Braidwood Farmers' Market tomorrow. It is primarily made from Dabinett and Marechal apples, which have tannic bittersweet qualities. Some bittersharp and sharp cider apples have also been blended in for balance. Judging by the names Dabinett and Marechal, it would be understandable to deduce that this cider is of French extraction. However, you would only be half right. Marechal, is indeed a richly flavorful, juicy and fragrant, bittersweet variety from Bernay in Normandy. First described by M Cordier around 1880, it became highly regarded for the quality of its tannin, which is crucial for making traditional Normandy cider.
Dabinett, often pronounced wrongly as Da-bin-ay, is in fact an English cider apple hailing from the village of Middle Lambrook in Somerset. It is not unusual to find French sounding names in the south-west of Britain, we can blame the Conqueror for that. Dabinett is an unusually late setting tree. In Braidwood the blossom can take until November or December to appear, which can be particularly handy if we get a severe frost in October or November. The name comes from a farmer called William Dabinett, who discovered a seedling apple tree in a hedgerow in the early 1900s. He liked its qualities so much, and propagated it for cider making. At first it's fame travelled little beyond the Middle Lambrook district, but it eventually grew to become one of Britain's most widely planted cider apples.
Perky Pe**er is a premium cider, made using a wild fermentation and matured in French oak. There are fragrant green-apple flavours with a lingering tannic finish. It's also quite heady at 9.1% ABV.

10/05/2026

A recently restored, hand-powered mill that revolutionised cider-making has crushed its first batch of apples in more than 100 years.

17/04/2026

17/04/2026

Have you ever cooked with tomatillos? AKA Mexican Husk Tomatoes. They are a member of the tomato family, domesticated long ago in ancient Mexico, where they became a valued ingredient in both the Mayan and the Aztec cultures. In Mexican cuisine, they are particularly prized for making the quintessential Salsa Verde.
Salsa Verde, literally meaning green sauce. It just about goes with anything. It is particularly delicious on tacos, nachos, or as a sauce to pour over enchiladas.
We have packaged for the Braidwood Farmers' Market on Saturday: 250g of tomatillos, 2 chillis, and a recipe card.
To make Salsa Verde, all you have to do is add garlic, onion, coriander, oil, water and salt to taste. The chillis are colour coded. Use the brown one alone to make a medium hot Salsa Verde. The yellow one will make a hot Salsa Verdi. Use them both and you will have some serious heat.

10/04/2026

The chilli season has been much bigger than expected, so as a result we will have lots of varieties of fresh chillies at the market tomorrow.

Varieties include:
Fish Pepper
Yellow 7 Pot/Pod
White Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper)
Scotch Brain
Cameroon Pepper
Biquinho
Hot Aji Panca
Aji Guyana
Camorax
Citron

20/03/2026

The story of the finding of the lost Rymer apple has aired on ABC radio and online. It will be on Landline Sunday and there will be a story in the next edition of Outback Magazine. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-20/rare-rymer-apples-on-nsw-property/106330716

In 2008, I, along with Jack and pomologist the late David Pickering were invited for a stroll around the remnants of Rudi Stachow's family orchard at Majors Creek. Buds were removed from four different trees, which David later propagated by bud grafting. At the time Rudi suggested that one of the trees was a Rymer. David instantly recognised this name as a once lost variety that had recently been returned to the UK. Over the years we have continued to propagate Rymers and grow them in our collection. And eat them in pies. We even sold a few trees at the Braidwood Farmers' Market. Fast forward to March 2025, I was in a conversation with UK pomologist Ainsleigh Rice about another lost variety, when he asked me if I had ever come across Rymer in Australia. It turned out that the morphology of the returned Rymer was not up to scratch. We sent leaf samples from our propagated Rymer trees to the very knowledgeable Ainsleigh to arange DNA testing. Our Rymers tested identical to a group of trees that Ainsleigh had found in the UK and USA. Ainsleigh invited me to co author an extensive report that would prove that our apple trees were indeed the Rymer. If accepted the Rymer would eventually be returned to the Uk's national collection. The report was successful. The Rymer apple is no longer considered 'lost' and its genetics are preserved for the foreseeable future.

Astonishingly, when researching into the history of Rymer in Australia. I discovered that the Routleys, (the first family to grow Rymer in Majors Creek), and I were related. Richard Routley was born in Somerset, less than 5kms from my ggg grandfather. His mother was Elizabeth Sully. Our family connection with this grand old apple became personal.

We have propagated a number of Rymers that will be available as bare rooted trees in the winter.

I have just had another 40 leaves tested via Ainsleigh from remnant trees in the district. Surprise! Another Rymer had been unearthed in an orchard along the Cooma Road. I believe there are hundreds of lost varieties out there waiting to be discovered.

20/03/2026

Aji Guyana chillies available tomorrow at the Braidwood Farmers' Market. These large Guyanese chillies are crunchy and juicy with an acid, almost lemon like, flavour that also has very delicate floral hints. Only being medium hot, they are perfect for eating fresh like a spicy capsicum.

06/03/2026

New batch available tomorrow.

Available at the Braidwood Farmers' Market tomorrow, Thunder Mountain Longhorns straight out of the smoker. These chillies from Guizhou, China are tastey and spicy, but once smoked they're a culinary delight. Perfect for Kung Pao chicken or stir fry.

06/03/2026

Freshly picked and ready for the market tomorrow.

Fresh Biquinho Peppers available tomorrow at the Braidwood Farmers, market. These small Brazillian chillies are a bit special, they taste like a Habanero, but have none of the heat. They're perfect for pickling or tossing through a meal, but you'll probably find yourself just snacking on them.

Disclaimer: Occasionally you do get a Biquinho with some heat. It is usually an incredibly mild heat, almost unnoticeable.

06/03/2026

We will have first year potted asparagus crowns for sale at the Braidwood Farmers' Market this Saturday. There are a few Mary Washington, but most are Argenteuil, a celebrated heirloom variety originating from Argenteuil on the banks of the River Seine.
Its blanched spears were once known as “white gold”. By keeping the emerging plants in the dark growers could produce stunning ivory white spears with pink tips. Today it is more popular to grow them in natural light, producing green spears with pink-purple tips. It is an early variety that yields an abundance of large, tender upright stems with a delicate, aromatic flavour.
They were so favoured by Louis XIV, that he had his head gardener at Versailles construct a hothouse, so as he could eat them throughout the winter. In the early part of the 20th century argenteuil was the food of the wealthy. A cold argenteuil asparagus salad was served to first class passengers of the Titanic shortly before she went down.

We will also have a few fig trees and one Elder for sale.