Feb 252015
 

New upcoming events

There are details of 36(!) local events over the next four weeks. 9 of the these are new to the News and are discussed in detail below. The other 27 were discussed in previous News and are summarised at the end of the email, together with links to the fuller information.

Glen Katherine Primary School Fete

What: There will be a farmers’ market stall at the fete, with much of the produce donated by stallholders from the Eltham Farmers’ Market.
When: Sunday, 22nd March, 10am-3pm.
Where: Glen Katherine Primary School.
Cost: free.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

angelo eliadesIntroduction to permaculture

What: Angelo Eliades, from Deep Green Permaculture, will introduce the ideas behind the permaculture movement and offer practical guidance on how to get started.
When: Tuesday, 24th March, 10-11am.
Where: Watsonia Library.
Cost: free.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Growing your own fabulous home harvest with Tim Sansom, CEO, The Diggers Club.

What: A sustainable garden enhances health, wellbeing and the natural environment. Get inspired and learn the tricks to successfully develop your own home grown harvest. (Also, bring along any of your excess home grown produce and take part in an optional food swap from 6:45pm to 7:00pm.)
When: Wednesday, 25th March, 7-9pm.
Where: Civic Centre, Manningham City Council.
Cost: free.
To book: Manningham City Council, 9846 0579, waste@manningham.vic.gov.au.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Banyule Edible Garden Tours, Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March

To celebrate harvest month, Transition Banyule is offering a series of tours of local gardens growing edible produce.
Bookings are essential. Groups will be limited to ten people per tour, so don’t delay in booking your place. Cost per tour $10/$5, children free, includes lunch.

Book online here or phone Mary on 9455 2581 or email info@transitionbanyule.org.au or transitionbanyule@gmail.com.

Tour dates (Each tour includes lunch at the final garden)
  • Tour 1: Heidelberg Heights, Saturday, 28th February, 9.30am-2pm.
  • Tour 2: Macleod/Heidelberg, Saturday, 28th February, 9.30am-2pm.
  • Tour 3: Hibi Farm and surrounds, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm.
  • Tour 4: Macleod/Watsonia/Rosanna, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm.
  • Tour 5: Heidelberg/East Ivanhoe, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm.
  • Tour 6: Heidelberg Heights/Rosanna, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm.
Tour 1: Heidelberg Heights, Saturday, 28th February, 9.30am-2pm

Greta, Harris and Helen’s garden: A 2-year-old garden created from scratch, with limited time, low cost materials and no car. It contains both native plants and edibles, including fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and other surprises.

Eric and Eva’s garden: A one-year-old garden with a mixture of edible plants and herbs utilising two raised garden beds, a bathtub and other found items. Being a unit, this garden makes use of limited sunlight and space. Compost and recycled water tanks (yet to be installed) also feature.

Jonathan’s garden: An ongoing (6 year), one person, transformation of what was a standard suburban yard into an edible landscape, with fruit trees, nuts, companion and medicinal plants, vegetables and chickens. A key feature is the raspberry ‘driveway’ and a large number of strawberry plants.

These gardens are within close walking distance of each other so those who need to drive can park once and then participate fully in the tour as a walking group.

Tour 2: Macleod/Heidelberg, Saturday, 28th February, 9.30am-2pm.

Mala’s garden: A garden demonstrating how to get started growing food in small spaces, using no dig methods, replacing weed trees with fruit trees and utilising limited space. A new garden that has become remarkably productive in just three years.

Robert and Mary’s garden: Entire back lawn replaced by a flourishing veggie garden and orchard designed using permaculture principles. Front garden filled with dry tolerant indigenous, ornamental and productive plants, and a demonstration aquaponics system. Look out for the asparagus bed, the bananas in a greenhouse and the avocados.

Tour 3: Hibi Farm and surrounds, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm

A number of households and their gardens in West Heidelberg associated with the Hibi Farm as something of a small community – ‘The Hood’ of like minded people.

The Blackwoods (John and Yuki’s garden): A busy family’s occasionally-maintained, rambling edible garden. With the first of more than 50 fruit trees planted in 2008, this garden is an ongoing experiment in high density, low maintenance, urban fruit and vegetable production. Features include sugar cane, water plants, honey bees, backyard chooks, worm farm, wicking bed under mature trees, raised gardens built from recycled materials and low-=pressure irrigation with tank water.

Hibi Farm: Winner of the 2012 Darebin & Banyule Council’s Sustainability Awards (Home & Garden category) and the 2014 Making the Most of Your Garden Competition (Edible Garden category), the Hibi Farm is a suburban block converted into a thriving hub of sustainable living. Bicycles and bike trailers are used for transport. Front and back yards have become orchard and vegetable gardens including raised garden beds with tank-fed irrigation system. The keeping of milking goats, poultry and bees are all conscious steps towards increased self-sufficiency.

These gardens are within close walking distance of each other so those who need to drive can park once and then participate fully in the tour as a walking group.

Tour 4: Macleod/Watsonia/Rosanna, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm

Robin and Paul’s garden: Thriving fruit, vegetable and herb garden including perennial vegetables. Both front and backyards have been converted to edible gardens. This garden is being developed on permaculture principles and includes an integrated orchard, chook run and compost bays, as well as wicking beds.

Ian and Heidi’s garden: With a flourishing mixed orchard (front and back: fruit, nuts, berries and vines) and veggie garden based on permaculture principles. It is in the process of replacing an ornamental garden with one where there is always something fresh to eat. Features include multi-grafted fruit trees, some uncommon varieties, simple berry propagation and bananas.

Peter and Monique’s garden: Peter and Monique are attempting to create a low-maintenance food and play garden. They are currently integrating a watering system and a long term animal enclosure (for rabbits and chooks) that keeps the garden and animals safe. They are following a minimal resource approach with learnings from traditional Italian gardens. Beekeeping and beehives have become a major part of the project and have now expanded past the house boundaries and spread across others in the street and area.

Tour 5: Heidelberg/East Ivanhoe, Sunday 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm

Ume’s garden: This garden, a contemporary and creative use of a small backyard developed over ten years, has been part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. It incorporates raised garden beds, chooks, bees, grapevines on a pergola, dry stone wall, water tanks and compost.

Angie’s garden: This garden began to combine established ornamentals with edibles over three years ago. The focus has been to create a garden that has both the pretty and the practical/edible. Within the garden, there are 15 wicking beds. Some are made from apple crates and others have been built from recycled timber pallets. A variety of garden beds as well. There is an aquaponics system with the tank set in the ground. A chook run down one side of the house, with a chook house built around a loquat tree from recycled timber. There are over 30 fruit trees, many are espaliered and some are in pots. There are 3 rotating compost bins and three free standing. A variety of places to sit and enjoy each setting. All on a standard house block. Solar panels, water tanks, fish and frog ponds.

Marsha’s garden: Designed to cope with limited sunny space, large trees and possums, this garden uses the concept of ‘the magic square’, raised beds and netting.

Tour 6: Heidelberg Heights/Rosanna, Sunday, 1st March, 9.30am-2.30pm

Sue’s garden: A backyard garden with lawn and established fruit trees, vegetables, chooks and compost, adapted to minimise heavy garden work. The veggie garden focuses on permanent crops and raised beds. The garden is also influenced by family history and the challenges of birds, tree roots, a new puppy, a play area for grandchildren, and a shading multi-rebuild next door. A bit of a hotchpotch that feels good to live in.

Ken and Jenny’s garden:: This fruit and veggie garden includes a number of large raised wicking beds and a variety of fruit trees; garden pond; compost bins; chicken yard and run. It illustrates what can be done in a short time using the wonderful VEG (Very Edible Garden) service.

Peter and Monique’s garden: Peter and Monique are attempting to create a low-maintenance food and play garden. They are currently integrating a watering system and a long term animal enclosure (for rabbits and chooks) that keeps the garden and animals safe. They are following a minimal resource approach with learnings from traditional Italian gardens. Beekeeping and beehives have become a major part of the project and have now expanded past the house boundaries and spread across others in the street and area.

Upcoming events from previous LFC News

Over the next week
Over the next month

Click here for the complete calendar of upcoming events.

If you know of any events that should be included in the newsletter and website, email us. If you have a flyer, we can also include that. Just one request: please make sure that the details are in a form that we can copy/paste – in the email itself, as a Word document, etc..

Other matters

Community market stall

We are still looking for home growers to sell their surplus produce at Eltham farmers’ market on 8th March. See www.localfoodconnect.org.au/elthamfm/community-market-stall/ for more information. If interested, contact Guy Palmer (guy.palmer1@gmail.com; 0416 203067; 9444 1400).

Preserving kit for loan

Click here to borrow our new Fowlers Vacola Preserving Kit.

Feb 182015
 

A big thanks to …

Arja Toivanen, Aziza De Fazio, Caroline Gibson, Cathy Romeo, Chris Chapple, Colin & Sue Cook, Gillian Essex, Heather Reilly, Judy Cinerari, Karen Moad, Lisa Wade, Margot Meredith, Marina Bistrin, Pam Jenkins, Sandra Archer, Stacey Morland and Taya Shevchenko for reading the Watermelon Skin Pickle recipe.

Yes, big brother really is watching you!

Let’s try another one: my favourite recipe in the database is probably Pumpkin and Silverbeet Dahl. Do you have a favourite? Email me with your answer (by simply replying to this newsletter) and I’ll collate the results for the next newsletter.

Calendar of upcoming events

A complete calendar of upcoming events can always be found on the calendar section of the LFC website. New events (or, at least, events newly known to me) will be listed in this newsletter. After their first appearance, they will then appear in summary form in subsequent newsletters (see later section entitled ‘Upcoming events from previous LFC News’), together with a link to the more detailed website entry.

Apologies for the length of this newsletter – I’m still getting up to speed with the set of forthcoming events. When I have caught up – in, say, a few weeks’ time – they will become shorter.

If you know of any events that should be included in the newsletter and website, email us. If you have a flyer, we can also include that. Just one request: please make sure that the details are in a form that we can copy/paste – in the email itself, as a Word document, etc.

Watsonia community garden working bee

What: Be part of their community garden project and learn how to grow veggies. Over the coming months, they will be planting veggies and herb and watering and weeding the garden.
When: Tuesday, 24th February, 10am-midday (and every Tuesday?).
Where: Watsonia Library.
Cost: free.

jane edmansonStarting the shift to smart living with Tanya Ha and Jane Edmanson

What: Tanya Ha will start the conversation with a practical approach to smart living. Jane Edmanson will then share her personal story of a journey to sustainable gardening and how it has become an integral part of her home and lifestyle.
When: Wednesday, 25th February, 7-9pm.
Where: Civic Centre, Manningham City Council.
Cost: free.
To book: Manningham City Council, 9846 0579, waste@manningham.vic.gov.au.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Simran Sethi

simran sethiWhat: Simran Sethi, named by Vanity Fair as ‘the environmental messenger’ and by The Independent as ‘a top ten eco-hero of the planet’, will share her wisdom on food, sustainability and climate change.
When: Sunday, 1st March, 1.45-2.45pm.
Where: The Wheeler Centre, central Melbourne.
Cost: $20
To book: Trybooking.
Further information: www.wheelercentre.com/events/simran-sethi.

Hurstbridge Gardening Club

What: Ken Walker on native and exotic bees.
When: Tuesday, 3rd March, 7.15-9.15pm.
Where: Community and Family Centre, Hurstbridge.
Cost: free.
To book: Cheryl Lowe, 9438 1563, hbridgegardenclub@gmail.com.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

tobie puttockCreating a balanced lifestyle through smart food with Tobie Puttock

What: Chef Tobie Puttock will share practical ideas for eating well at home, including how he incorporates the principles of organics, sustainability, seasonality and ethical eating into his home life.
When: Wednesday, 4th March, 7-9pm.
Where: Civic Centre, Manningham City Council.
Cost: free.
To book: Manningham City Council, 9846 0579, waste@manningham.vic.gov.au.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Designing a smarter garden with Sam Cox

What: Landscape designer Sam Cox will discuss an alternative approach to home garden design focusing on natural landscape.
When: Wednesday, 11th March, 7-9pm.
Where: Civic Centre, Manningham City Council.
Cost: free.
To book: Manningham City Council, 9846 0579, waste@manningham.vic.gov.au.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Tomato preserving workshop

What: Demonstration by Maria Ciavarella of safe preserving techniques, including how to make tomato passata the Italian way.
When: Saturday, 14th March, 10am-1pm.
Where: Montmorency Primary School Kitchen.
Cost: $5
To book: Julie, 0438 115853 or montymoves@gmail.com.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Home Harvest Feast 2015

What: In its fourth year, the Home Harvest Feast is a celebration of home-grown produce and local food. All growers are invited to register and celebrate in the harvest and the joys of local food by sharing a delicious community meal created by trained cooks using your home or community-grown produce.
When: Sunday, 15th March, midday-3pm.
Where: Eltham High School.
Cost: free.
To book: Kirsty Merritt, 9433 3206, Kirsty.Merritt@nillumbik.vic.gov.au.

mariam issa smallFrom Africa to Brighton. One woman’s extraordinary story.

What: Mariam Issa fled Somalia in 1991 on a packed boat that was one of few to make it across the seas to Kenya, where her family spent some time before arriving in Melbourne as refugees.
When: Tuesday, 17th March, 7-8pm.
Where: Ivanhoe Library.
Cost: free.
To book: 9497 5780.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Closing the loop on food and garden waste with Douglas Bair

What: Find out about the latest in domestic organic recycling and create a closed loop system full of rich garden soils, compost and homemade fertilisers.
When: Wednesday, 18th March, 7-9pm.
Where: Civic Centre, Manningham City Council.
Cost: free.
To book: Manningham City Council, 9846 0579, waste@manningham.vic.gov.au.
Further information: LFC calendar entry.

Upcoming events from previous LFC News

Click here for the complete calendar of upcoming events.

Preserving kit for loan

I’m going to keep mentioning this until you start borrowing it! Click here to borrow our new Fowlers Vacola Preserving Kit.

Feb 112015
 
the signCommunity Market Stall

Stuart Rodda was the first home grower to sell his surplus produce at the stall at Eltham Farmers’ Market on 8th February. He was selling capsicums, cucumbers, plums, rhubarb, sweetcorn, tomatoes and zucchini. By 11am, he had sold out! We are now looking for home growers for the markets on 8th March and 12th April. See www.localfoodconnect.org.au/elthamfm/community-market-stall/ for more information. If interested, contact Guy Palmer (guy.palmer1@gmail.com; 0416 203067; 9444 1400).

Seed saving for your garden

What: Maria Ciavarella, from My Green Garden, will cover basic techniques for collecting, saving
and storing seeds from your food garden.
When: Thursday, 26th February, 6.30-8pm.
Where: Diamond Valley Learning Centre.
Cost: free.
To book: Julie, 0438 115853.
Further information: see the flyer.

vacolaTomatorama

What: Learn about the many ways you can preserve tomatoes while they are plentiful and cheap.
When: Saturday, 28th February, 9.30am to 1pm.
Where: Monty South Primary School.
Cost: $5 a head, includes notes and recipes, and a bottle of tomatoes or chutney to take home.
To book: Jenna, 0406 738220 or Farrington.jenna.j@edumail.vic.gov.au.
Further information: see the flyer.

Borrow our Fowlers Vacola preserving kit

Part of the Tomatorama workshop is learning how to bottle your tomatoes using a Fowlers Vacola preserving kit. And we have such a kit which you can borrow!
Click here to borrow our new Fowlers Vacola preserving kit.

The Great Tomato Taste Off

What: Compete with others for the best tasting tomatoes.
When: Sunday, 1st March, 10.30-11.30am.
Where: Were Street (next for the Food Store), Montmorency.
Cost: free.
To book: just turn up [Ed: I think!].
Further information: see the flyer.

BAAG Autumn Harvest Festival

All the events below are free and are at the Bulleen Art & Garden Nursery in Templestowe. See www.baag.com.au/baag-autumn-harvest-festival for more information.

  • Saturday, 7th March, 10am – Winter veggie garden preparation.
  • Monday, 9th March, 10am – Bush foods.
  • Tuesday, 10th March, midday – Preserving the summer harvest.
  • Wednesday, 11th March, midday – Attracting insects to your garden.
  • Thursday, 12th March, midday – Growing from seed.
  • Friday, 13th March, midday – Fruit tree selection and growing tips.
  • Saturday, 14th March, 10am – Kids gardening activity.
  • Sunday, 15th March, 10am – Beautiful and Bountiful – ornamental produce gardening.
Volunteers wanted for a plant sale in Hurstbridge

National Animal Aid is a recently formed animal welfare group that aims to help animals who have been mis-treated by humans. They are hoping to hold a plant sale in Hurstbridge on 21/22 March and are looking for volunteers for re-potting, splitting, advice, cuttings and plant identification. The monies raised will go towards subsiding desexing of pets etc for people on a low income. If interested, contact Patti Farnell at nationalanimalaid@gmail.com.

Organising any events?

Just email us, and we’ll put them into both the LFC News and our website calendar. If you have a flyer, we can also include that. Just one request: please make sure that the details are in a form that we can copy/paste – in the email itself, as a Word document, etc.

The recipes on the website

A few weeks ago, we asked you to guess the least viewed recipe on the website. The answer is Watermelon Skin Pickle. No one (apart from Pam, its author, Guy and Robyn) has ever read this recipe! Let’s change that situation right now! Just click here!

Feb 052015
 

Local food-related events

Community growers stall, Eltham Farmers’ Market

Home growers are now able to sell their surplus produce on the new community market stall at the Eltham Farmers’ Markets on 8th February, 8th March and 12th April. If you have too much surplus produce to swap at a food swap but not enough to sell through commercial channels, the stall offers you a great opportunity for selling fruit, vegetables or herbs which might otherwise be wasted.

Come along this Sunday and support your local home growers. See www.localfoodconnect.org.au/elthamfm/community-market-stall/ for further details. If you are interested, please contact Guy Palmer (guy.palmer1@gmail.com; 0416 203067; 9444 1400).

hoverflyGardens flourish with good bugs

At six free community workshops this February and March, local agricultural pest management experts will reveal how good bugs can be used in your own backyard to improve the health of you and your garden. Angelica Cameron, an entomologist and consultant with Integrated Pest Management Technologies who advises farmers across Australia on the latest methods to control insect pests in crops, will share her knowledge with Banyule residents at workshops at Buna Reserve Community Garden in Heidelberg West.

Funded by a Banyule City Council Environmental Sustainability grant, the workshops will target three audiences: the general public, kids and community leaders. Venue: Buna Reserve Community Garden, Corner Buna Street and Boyd Crescent, Heidelberg West.

www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=114650 for bookings; email bunagarden@gmail.com or call Yuki on 0414 489 814.

Dates:
7 February 2015 – General session 10am-1pm
8 February 2015 – Community Leaders session 10am-3pm
8 February 2015 – Kids session 1-3pm

28 March 2015 – Community Leaders session 10am-3pm
28 March 2015 – Kids session 1-3pm
29 March  2015 – General session 10am-3pm

Are you a fan of Eltham Farmers’ market?

Would you like to help at the LFC marquee … either on March 22nd or April 12th, or April 26th, or May 10th or May 24th? We’re looking for some new volunteers to help out at our marquee – for an hour or two at a time, … whatever time you can spare.

You would NOT be responsible for setting up the marquee. You would lend a hand on the stall and talk to shoppers about LFC events, or what happens at the market. It’s lots of fun and a great way to feel a part of the market.

Contact Fay at fay.loveland@gmail.com to find out more. Or 0405 790150.

tomato taste offMonty Food Group events in February and March

Are you growing tomatoes? You may wish to take part in the Great Tomato Taste Off on Sunday March 1. You will also notice that there is a Tomatorama workshop on Saturday Feb 28, a seed saving workshop on Thursday Feb 26 and a Tomato preserving workshop on March 14. All workshops require registration – contact Julie at 0438 115853.

Banyule edible garden tours

Once again these popular local garden tours are on in Banyule on the weekend of February 28 / March 1. Details are still being finalised, but if interested put the dates in your diary.

Preserving kit for loan

It’s harvest time and we are happy to announce that Local Food Connect members are welcome to borrow our new Fowlers Vacola Preserving Kit. We bought it with the prize money from the 2014 Nillumbik Community Group of the Year award! So it’s free to borrow, though a bond is required. Some jars and lids are available to purchase cheaply.

For all the details on how to book the kit, go to www.localfoodconnect.org.au/fowlers-vacola-preserving-kit.

If you want to become a member of LFC it’s only $10 per year, go to www.localfoodconnect.org.au/contact-us/shop/.

Other food growing activities

Eat Buy Grow rally + event, February 15

Join Regrarians Lisa Heenan, Isaebella and Darren Doherty, Polyface Farm’s Joel Salatin, Gardening Australia’s Costa, Nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara, Belinda Hagan – 2013 Victorian Farmer of the year, Su Dennett and David Holmgren from Melliodora, Tammi Jonas from AFSA and Pope Joan chef Matt Wilkinson at an afternoon rally in Melbourne and an evening discussion. More information here.