Shop review: The Aproneers

I am not self-sufficient; far from it. I get a little produce from my garden; I get most of my fruit and veg from my dad’s bounteous garden and orchard. I’m even lucky enough that work puts on a weekly fresh fruit basket.

But there are times I have to hand over money for food. Either we’re not growing it, I haven’t seen my parents for a delivery, or it’s things like bananas that we don’t grow!

I prefer to go to the smaller F&V shops, mainly because I like supporting small, local businesses. And if the shop is chic and gorgeous and allows me to live out the fantasy that just by being there, I am chic and gorgeous as well, even better!

How wonderful then that the Aproneers has opened in Lindisfarne. It looks stunning, is one of a kind, and when I visited on their very first day of business it was filled with colourful juicy produce and trendy looking locals (who knew? I thought Lindisfarne was full of retirees). It plugs into the desire for local food and organic, sustainable farming practices.

The brilliant thing about the Aproneers is that their price tags told you exactly where the apple or cabbage or potato you buy comes from. Exactly - not just ‘Tasmania’ but ‘Kindred, Tasmania’. I’d not heard of some of these towns – they need a map up in the store, with red push pins showing where these places are!

On my first visit I bought brussels sprouts, the first I’d had of the season – tight little babies, green and delicious. I also bought ‘farm churned’ butter, almost crumbly and deliciously salty, just how I like my butter, and just perfect on thick toasted slices of the Pidgeon Hole fruit sourdough I also bought (if you see me and I’m getting fatter, it’s because I’m eating that butter, like cheese, in thick slabs on crackers). I should swoon too over the way the bread was tied up in paper and brown twine.

My parents joined my friend F and I as went back this weekend for the special opening. By the time we got there, the crowds had lessened somewhat. But there was still lots chatting over coffees or bowls of soup, and lingering as they chose cheese or bread or flowers. There were plenty of staff on hand to welcome and chat, so I made my suggestion of the big map. The man I spoke to pointed over my shoulder and said 'See that big white wall? We'll put it there!'.

I left with free-range eggs, mushrooms, more brussel sprouts from Kindred, an organic cauliflower and some broccoli. Mum and dad bought a big bag on onions and a huge savoy cabbage, which they split in half when we got home and shared with me. And F bought meat, wasabi cheese, some vegetables and a pasta sauce for her dinner. We were sure we'd return, too. It's amazing to have something like the Aproneers in little old Lindisfarne.