TAKING up where his ancestors left off, this Heatherton market gardener is taking beetroots to new levels.

Wayne Shields' ancestors knew a lot about beetroot.

They'd grown the great Aussie favourite for generations, since his great-great-grandfather started to till the soil as a market gardener in then rural Heatherton, southeast of Melbourne.

Wayne's market gardening great grandfather and grandfather had grown them too, and his father still grows them.

But none grew beetroot quite like Wayne.

Wayne's beets are far removed from the common, juice-dripping ones loved by legions of hamburger eaters.

His beets are a class above.

They're round and organically grown gourmet chioggia beets, described by aficionados as the sweetest beetroot you will ever eat.

Named after the coastal Italian island town at the southern entrance to the Venetian lagoon, these heirloom beets are visual standouts with their inner white and pale red stripes.

Part of a small group of market gardeners who are overturning the way we eat, Wayne and his partner, Natasha "Tash" McDonald, have been growing organically certified chioggia beetroot - and many other trendy vegetables - at their family business in Baxter, Peninsula Fresh Organics, for about two years.

Headquarters is a 16ha property that has been in the family for four decades.

Wayne started with chioggias as a curiosity line, "stuff that's a little bit different", to get farmers' market customers interested.

Reaction was immediate.

"They just go berserk for them," says Wayne, whose biggest problem is keeping up supply, especially since local restaurants got on to the pulling power of the couple's heirloom produce.

Equally appealing to customers are Wayne and Tash's coloured carrots (white, yellow and purples), various colours of radishes ("we would normally sell 30 bunches of red radish a week at the farmers' markets - but since we've gone to the coloured ones we can do 200"), romanesque broccoli, red spring onions, purple sprouting broccolini, rainbow chard and celeriac (it's big since several times being used on TV's MasterChef).

The appeal of chioggias, says Tash, is they are slightly sweeter than normal beetroot, less earthy tasting and don't bleed.

At first, many customers are unfamiliar with them.

"When they ask about them we cut one in half and give them a sample, so they can see it's white with a sort of red stripe running through its middle.

"It's sweet, and because it doesn't bleed when you cook it, it's far cleaner to work with. The restaurants really love that."

To meet increased demand, Wayne and Tash grow their chioggias year round but fight a continuing battle to produce enough heirloom vegetables to satisfy their markets.

"I'm a bit frustrated that I'm not on top of it," says Wayne.

"I just can't keep up, can't grow seed quickly enough."

Apart from farmers' markets and restaurants, the pair run a home-delivery service on the Mornington Peninsula, supply the Melbourne wholesale market and have just started farmgate sales.

Tash, from an IT and transport background and a relative newcomer to market gardening, admits she's still getting over the shock of discovering just how much produce comes from the family's seven hectares of plantings.

"When I first saw it I couldn't believe it. For me it was like the packet of Tim Tams that never ran out. We just kept picking carrots, silverbeet and lettuce and all sorts of other things. For someone who had no idea, it was so amazing."

But Tash learned quickly.

"Now I can walk into the paddock, look at plants that are tiny, and pretty much know instantly what they are - whereas once I wouldn't have had the faintest idea."

With their one-year-old son, Flynn (there's another baby on the way), Tash is a regular sight at farmers' markets, greeting familiar customers each week.

"They're really lovely people," she says. "We have customers who follow us from market to market. And they always like to see Flynn and how much he's grown."

GROWING IDEAS

  • WITH his market garden background, Wayne's at home in the paddock - except these days the chemicals once commonly used in market gardens are forbidden.
  • All weeding is done by hand and organic teas are used to boost crops.
  • Wayne's parents, Rod and Sue, who also ran award-winning fruit and vegetable stores in Seaford and Frankston South, grew organically for more than 15 years before the family business underwent the strict process to become accredited.
  • "We're now doing it like my grandfather did," says Wayne.
  • "I sometimes wish he was around to give me a few tips."
  • Wayne prefers to transplant chioggia seedlings, to "get a jump on the weeds".
  • "You get a better beetroot if you direct seed but with a transplant the roots are not quite as long and straight. They're a bit more gnarled and hairy - but that's nothing."
  • From seeding to picking takes 12-14 weeks.

BEST OF BEETS

  • To gain the maximum appreciation of chioggia beetroot, Tash recommends they simply be roasted.
  • Because a beetroot generally takes twice as long as a potato to roast, cut it into smaller portions so it cooks at the same rate.
  • With normal beets, cutting into portions can be messy because they bleed.
  • Chioggia beets roast well with a little olive oil.
  • Tash also likes to serve them cut up in a salad with spinach, balsamic vinegar and fetta cheese.
  • Peninsula Fresh Organics,  6 Henderson Road, Baxter www.peninsulafresh.com

WHIP  CRACKER

Apart from market gardening, Wayne's great grandfather, Roderick William Mills, was known worldwide as "Saltbush Bill" and was the subject of several Banjo Paterson poems.

"Yeah, he made a bit of a name for himself," says Wayne of Saltbush's feat of cracking the world's biggest stockwhip.

After working as a teenage stockman in outback Queensland, Balnarring-born Saltbush created his reputation and won £100 when he successfully cracked a 19.8m (65-feet) whip.

The money had been offered by Melbourne saddler JK Jennings to the first person who could crack the whip in three attempts. Saltbush did it on the first.

So impressive was the feat considered, Saltbush became an instant celebrity.

In 1901, when the then Duke of York visited to open Australia's first federal Parliament, Saltbush demonstrated his whipcracking to him at a Government House performance - and so fascinated was the future king, he invited him to drop by if he ever made it to London.

Eleven years later, as an international performer, Saltbush took up the invitation of King George V and performed at Buckingham Palace.

After a full routine of tricks, he offered his piece de resistance, cracking out several bars of God Save the King on his 65-foot whip.

In appreciation, the King presented him with a gold tiepin set with rubies and diamonds.

Today, Wayne's grandmother wears the tiepin, now converted to a ring.

After a long career, in which he performed with Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers circuses, Saltbush became stuck in the US during World War I and ended up serving in the US Mercantile Marine.

During his life he ran a market garden in Old Dandenong Rd, Heatherton, and raised 11 children.

He died in 1940 aged 71.

TASTE BUD - MOROCCAN-STYLE BEETROOT SALAD

This is a really simple combination that makes the most of the amazing flavour partnership between orange juice, spice and the wonderfully earthy taste of fresh beetroot. Serves four as a side dish.

Ingredients

  • 600g (4-5) beetroots, washed and left whole, unpeeled
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • Zest of half a large orange
  • 3 tablespoons freshly
  • squeezed orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 3 tablespoons freshly chopped mint
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Greek yoghurt, to serve

Method

1. Boil the beetroots in salted water until tender, 1-2 hours depending on their size. When tender through to their cores, drain and leave to cool off slightly.

2. Meanwhile whisk all other ingredients (except yoghurt) together in a bowl.

3. As soon as beetroots are cool enough to handle, rub their skins off using a paper towel or cloth you don't mind staining purple. While still warm, chop into small cubes and mix with the prepared vinaigrette. Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper as desired.

4. Leave to sit for an hour so the flavours blend, or chill and bring back to room temperature later. Serve as is, or spooned over some yoghurt on a platter. Perfect with spicy sausages.