I first fell in love with the produce of Buena Vista Farm at the Kiama Farmers Markets on the South Coast of NSW. The Wednesday markets became one of my weekly traditions in the early years of parenthood and my weekly treat was a pot of their whole egg custard. It was decadent, smooth and delicious, and eating it on the floor at 2am with a screaming newborn made the whole ordeal of being a new mum slightly easier.
I got to know Adam, one of the owners, and would regularly buy their whipped goats cheese, beetroot relish and rhubarb and strawberry jam. When Adam’s wife Fiona released her book From Scratch, I bought that from him too. I had never met Fiona, but I knew I loved her cooking and was keen to see if the custard recipe was in the book.
Slowly, over the last few years, my husband and I have adopted a ‘from scratch’ philosophy where possible. We make as much as we can ourselves, and many of our recipes, tips and tricks come from Fiona Weir Walmsley’s book From Scratch. When Fiona agreed to sign on as the Starts at 60 food columnist, I was very excited and jumped at the opportunity to visit Buena Vista Farm to chat to her about her life, her philosophy, food and her farm.
I mentioned that I had met her husband before and knew him well, but that was years ago and they probably had no idea who I was. Turns out a sleep deprived postpartum mother who cries when you discontinue your custard at a local farmers market is quite memorable.
I was initially greeted by barking dogs and welcomed into their beautiful farmhouse, with a dining table of my dreams overlooking a veggie garden of my dreams and a view of the stunning South Coast ocean line. Adam made us a cup of tea and straight away Fiona and I hit it off.
Fiona grew up on Buena Vista Farm on the South Coast between Gerringong and Gerroa. It’s been in her family for generations. Her dad was a dairy farmer; his dad was a dairy farmer and so on. Fiona left town at 18 to study medieval history because dairy farming looked like ‘far too much hard work.’ When her dad retired, Fiona, her husband Adam and their three children moved back to the farm to try their hand at farming, both having no previous history of being farmers.
Somewhere along the way they stopped being dairy farmers and instead became goat farmers, built a cheese room and began making goats cheese.
For the last 13 years Fiona has operated a cooking school on the farm, teaching people how to make things from scratch. In a previous life she thought she would pursue a career in medieval history, but instead moved into commercial cooking, learning her trade along the way and largely teaching herself.
On any given day Fiona cooks for her husband, her 22-year-old son and her 15-year-old daughter. In her spare time, you can usually find her gardening. When I asked about hobbies off the farm she laughed and said she rarely gets off the farm. She is also learning Korean thanks to a deep love of Korean culture, K-drama and Korean food.
When I asked Fiona why From Scratch, she said she became increasingly aware of how additives were affecting the bodies of her children, her parents and the people around her. She spoke about winding things back, starting again and questioning how far food had drifted from what it once was.
She agrees that cooking from scratch is, in many ways, a return to old fashioned food. Stock, for example, has become something else entirely, she explained, when in reality broth has existed for millennia and for very good reasons. Easy to digest, nourishing, comforting. The idea that bone broth is now a trendy health food still makes her laugh.
What really stood out in our conversation was Fiona’s insistence that cooking from scratch is not about perfection, performance or doing everything yourself all the time.
She talks openly in her book about letting go of the idea that food has to look a certain way or meet some invisible standard. For her, cooking is about being earnest rather than perfect. Food that is full of flavour, nourishment and care matters far more than food that looks good on a screen.
She also sees a lot of what she calls “dinner fatigue” in the people who come to her classes. Years of cooking for others, juggling preferences, dietary needs and busy lives can leave people disconnected from what they actually enjoy eating. Add in the pressure created by social media and convenience food marketing and it’s no wonder so many people feel overwhelmed.
Fiona’s advice is refreshingly simple. Start with what you like to eat. Not what you think you should be making. If yoghurt and toasted muesli is your thing, start there. If a scone is the only thing that feels appealing, make a scone. You don’t need to climb Mount Everest to cook from scratch.
She’s also quick to point out that many of the things we assume are difficult are actually far quicker than we’ve been led to believe. We’ve been encouraged to leave food production to industry for so long that we’ve forgotten how capable we are. Bread is one example she often uses. You don’t need to begin with sourdough. A simple long ferment loaf can take five minutes to mix and be left alone for a day.
As Fiona prepares to share weekly recipes with Starts at 60 readers, her approach is exactly what you’d expect. Seasonal, practical and suited to Australian kitchens. There will be breads, condiments, slices, make ahead meals and old school favourites. Food you can keep in the fridge, freeze, pull out on busy nights and actually enjoy eating.
When I asked what she cooks when she wants to make people happy, her answer was immediate. Roast chicken, roast vegetables and something simple like whipped ricotta on the side so everyone is fed and nobody feels excluded. The bones, of course, become broth.
And her favourite dessert? The baked cheesecake many of her cooking class students already know well. And the whole egg custard, stirred through chewy brown rice. It sounds strange. It isn’t.
In the end, From Scratch isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing a little differently. Choosing one thing. Making food that feels grounding rather than performative. And remembering that feeding ourselves well doesn’t need to be complicated to be meaningful.
Fiona’s column promises exactly that. Food that fits real lives, real kitchens and real energy levels.
And if the custard makes an appearance, I encourage you all to make it from scratch! Fiona very kindly gifted me a pot of custard and you can gaurtnee I will not be sharing it with anyone.
Fiona Weir’s column will be published every Tuesday on Starts at 60, starting March 3
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