The 12 Days Of Christmas

A Tasmanian ethicurean farmer’s gift guide.

- Paulette Whitney

One the first day of Christmas I’m surrounded by children and fed up with chocolate Santas, colouring books and other tat. I drive to see my friends at Clifton Farm, near Huonville, and fill a basket with plump cherries and bestow handfuls upon every child I see. Pairs of cherries become earrings, and are eaten Cleopatra style – dangled over tiny, juice-stained lips, and cherrypip spitting contests sully the patio.

On the second day of Christmas I drive to the Cygnet Market to Phoenix Creations, who salvage timber door frames, mantelpieces and storm-thrown trees, and carve them into utensils. I choose an elegant Huon pine serving spoon carved from an old windowsill for my friend who has everything.

On the third day of Christmas I ponder the bibliophile. I’d helped him move and put his books away – Patience Gray’s Honey from a Weed was notable by its absence. Any eating, gardening, travelling person should own a copy – it’s a thing of beauty.