Calendar of once-off events other than cooking classes

14 sessions over a period of a 14 weeks.

The topics to be covered will include: permaculture; fruit production; soil preparation; beekeeping; composting, worm farming and fertilisers; vegetable growing; propagation; seed collection; pest & disease management; bushfoods & berries; chooks; and community gardens.

Presenter: Justin Calverley.

Liz Morrigan will provide an introduction to permaculture. This will be run in parallel to the monthly food swap.

Click here to read about the garden.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

Angelo Eliades will discuss what to plant for a winter crop, the tasks that we carry out in winter, how to protect some crops from frosts and how to deal with waterlogging from rains.

What you will learn: bee behaviour; the various major items that make up a bee hive and how to construct them; and the major tasks in hive management.

What you will get: a wooden beehive frame that will have beeswax foundation inserted as part of the workshop; and a $5 discount on the book Bee AgSkills.

There will be live bees and honeycomb to look at in a secure exhibition cabinet and a discussion of bee behaviour and hive management. The major items that make up a hive and their construction will be discussed. The equipment a beekeeper needs to work bees will also be reviewed. The major topics discussed will be: establishing a hive; understanding the tasks to be carried out in Spring; how to go about robbing and extracting honey; and swarm control.

Participants will be limited to 8 to maintain an informal interactive format.

What you will learn: how to compost at home; simple to follow composting steps; and common problems and solutions.

This class is for food bloggers, bakers, restaurant/cafe owners or anybody who loves food and wants it to look good. It will focus on taking great images of food using your own, or easily obtainable, equipment. It will cover such aspects as: choosing the right lens; choosing the right background, props and accessories; lighting; and software.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

Sample tea from Indonesia, Morocco and Turkey with the Islamic Museum of Australia.

Join the regular participants at Willowview Centre in Collingwood to help pick olives and then join the group to learn how to preserve them. In so doing, help the centre participate in this year’s Olives to Oil festival.

Organised by My Smart Garden.

You will experience the cultural delights of 6 different countries over 8 food stops. With a mixture of sweet and savoury tastings, you will soon discover that Coburg is an ideal foodie destination for anyone who’s tired of the ‘standard’ menu items you find in most modern cafes. Each foodie stop brings its own ‘personal touch’ with business owners proud of their cultural heritage, reflected in the food they prepare, the way they serve it and the way they interact with their customers. You will also pop into a Middle-Eastern gold jewellery shop to learn the cultural significance of various pieces, learn some local history and the best local foodie tips.

8 food stops and 13 tastings.

Maria Ciavarella, from My Green Garden, will discuss how, when and which seeds to save and store. You will gather seeds from some of Maria’s vegetable stock and take some of these home.

Learn everything from the inner workings of a beehive to the healing properties of raw honey. You will learn how to maintain a healthy hive, discover the wonders of swarms and how to keep them in check. Weather permitting, they will also open a hive and have a hands-on demonstration.

Presenter: Ashton Edgley.

Take a tour of Sustainable Macleod Community Garden space with Paul, who will show you around the organic gardens, discuss winter crop planting and sustainability. After the tour, enjoy a light afternoon tea (cake, dips and biscuits) with Sarah from Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

Organised by Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

“Gandhian environmentalist and food justice activist Dr Vandana Shiva takes on powerful corporations that pollute and degrade the environment.”

“When you control seed, you control life on earth.” (Dr. Vandana Shiva)

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

This workshop is tailored for individuals at an advanced beginner to intermediate level in drawing and beginner level in coloured pencils.

Delve into the rich palette of persimmon. Work on various angles of presenting persimmon fruit for drawing, and investigate tools which will allow you to draw the specimen correctly and not rely on photographic material. Explore unique perspectives and angles to depict leaves and fruit, enhancing your drawing skills.

Tutor: Miffy Gilbert. Organised by Park Orchards Community House.

Learn how to set up a worm farm and the easiest methods to manage and care for these most hard-working of creatures.

This workshop will cover both the theory and practice of worm farming in a household setting. It will be useful for those wishing to recycle household food waste in order to produce worm products for use in the improvement of soil in gardens and pot plants.

Discounted worm farms will be available for sale on the day.

Learn the traditional craft of carving your own kitchen utensils using specialised carving knives and your hands. From a piece of sustainably sourced native timber, carve spoons, butter spreaders, spatulas or spurtles from a piece of wood. You will learn: an age-old craft; the sense of meditation and slowness to be found in whittling life’s essential objects; sourcing sustainable materials; the basics of traditional tool use; and how to safely turn a log into your favourite wooden utensil.

Presenter: Alma Arriaga.

This workshop will cover all aspects of successfully keeping backyard chickens, including the benefits of keeping chooks, children & chooks, what breeds will suit you, chickens’ food & basic medical needs, chicken housing and how to keep them safe from foxes.

Colin Seis, from Winona, and Dr Mary Cole, from the Agricultural Pathology and Biological Farming Service, will share their experiences associated with regenerative agriculture covering such topics as regenerating soils, drawing down carbon, rehydrating landscapes and restoring on-farm biodiversity.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

Explore the Blue Tongue Bend in Jumping Creek Reserve through a fungal lens as you seek out 3 rare Hygrocybe fungi, namely Hygrocybe arcohastata, Hygrocybe fuhreri and Hygrocybe saltorivula. The adventure along the Yarra will be led by local ecologist Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher and Julia Laidlaw, from Sporadical City Mushrooms.

Pat will discuss edible weeds and how to use them. Following the talk, the Montrose Community Cupboard will have a mini market. Those attending the talk will enter the market first.

These monthly sessions will cover planting, harvesting and all the jobs required in the garden each month.

Organised by Sustainable Macleod in conjunction with Watsonia Neighbourhood House.

Explore the Blue Tongue Bend in Jumping Creek Reserve through a fungal lens as you seek out 3 rare Hygrocybe fungi, namely Hygrocybe arcohastata, Hygrocybe fuhreri and Hygrocybe saltorivula. The adventure along the Yarra will be led by local ecologist Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher and Julia Laidlaw, from Sporadical City Mushrooms.

You will learn about: the history and biology of a colony of European honey bees; protective clothing and occupational health and safety; hive components and assembly; bee biology and seasonal management; legislation; diseases and pests of bees; extracting honey; inspecting hive for disease; purchasing hives; and other products from the hive.

Presenter: Ashton Edgley.

What tools and infrastructure do you need to run a flourishing food garden, and how to get it for free? Kat Lavers, from The Plummery, will talk about garden tools and infrastructure including alternatives to pots, stakes, shade cloth, nets, buckets, ties and what to look out for in hard rubbish, skips and op shops. She will also cover which tools are actually worth investing a few dollars in and how to look after them.

The presentation will start at 7pm but there will be sandwiches and a food swap at 6.45pm.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

Learn about the seasonal edible weeds that thrive in Melbourne’s inner north and gain knowledge about the plants’ culinary, medicinal and ecological uses. This session will also include a demonstration, and sampling, of prepared edible weeds.

Presenter: Lauren Mueller.

What if many of the weeds in our garden were just as edible as the vegetables we tend beside them? What if some of these free, all-too-easy-to-grow uninvited guests were so nutritionally dense that they are just about the healthiest things you could possibly eat? What if many of them also had medical traditions dating back centuries?

Well it’s all true! And if you know what to choose, they also taste great. Join Adam Grubb, co-author of The Weed Forager’s Handbook, for a walk foraging for edible weeds.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

So you want to create your own edible oasis, but you just don’t know where to start? This workshop will focus on: defining what you really want from your garden; understanding your garden through site analysis; developing a base plan; plant choice and how and where to grow them; and incorporating animals into the garden design.

Presenter: Donna Livermore.

You will experience the cultural delights of 6 different countries over 8 food stops. With a mixture of sweet and savoury tastings, you will soon discover that Coburg is an ideal foodie destination for anyone who’s tired of the ‘standard’ menu items you find in most modern cafes. Each foodie stop brings its own ‘personal touch’ with business owners proud of their cultural heritage, reflected in the food they prepare, the way they serve it and the way they interact with their customers. You will also pop into a Middle-Eastern gold jewellery shop to learn the cultural significance of various pieces, learn some local history and the best local foodie tips.

8 food stops and 13 tastings.

On both 15th and 16th of June.

Visit any or all of the family-owned wineries in Nillumbik. This is a chance to sample wines at wineries not always open to the public. You will also find food to complement the wine, as well as live music and artworks from local artists at some venues. There is no entry fee, or tasting fee, at any of the venues.

The participating wineries usually include: Buttermans Track, Easthill Estate, Hildebrand Ridge Organic Vineyard, Kings of Kangaroo Ground, Nillumbik Estate, Panton Hill Vineyard & Winery, Punch Wines, Shaws Road Winery, Swipers Gully Vineyard, Watson’s Creek Wines, Wedgetail Estate and Yarrambat Estate Vineyard.

On both 15th and 16th of June.

Visit any or all of the family-owned wineries in Nillumbik. This is a chance to sample wines at wineries not always open to the public. You will also find food to complement the wine, as well as live music and artworks from local artists at some venues. There is no entry fee, or tasting fee, at any of the venues.

The participating wineries usually include: Buttermans Track, Easthill Estate, Hildebrand Ridge Organic Vineyard, Kings of Kangaroo Ground, Nillumbik Estate, Panton Hill Vineyard & Winery, Punch Wines, Shaws Road Winery, Swipers Gully Vineyard, Watson’s Creek Wines, Wedgetail Estate and Yarrambat Estate Vineyard.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

Learn the traditional craft of carving your own kitchen utensils using specialised carving knives and your hands. From a piece of sustainably sourced native timber, carve spoons, butter spreaders, spatulas or spurtles from a piece of wood. You will learn: an age-old craft; the sense of meditation and slowness to be found in whittling life’s essential objects; sourcing sustainable materials; the basics of traditional tool use; and how to safely turn a log into your favourite wooden utensil.

Presenter: Alma Arriaga.

Explore the Darebin park lands through a fungal lens. Participants will be guided to see and get close to the local world of fungi. The park adventure will be led by local ecologist Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher.

Julia Laidlaw, from Sporadical City Mushrooms, will then share the world of zero waste mushroom farming at her farm on the edge of the park land.

On Thursdays from 18th April, 12.30-4.30pm. However, this is a continuing program so people can join any time.

Learn the foundations of growing plants by working in a fun and relaxed environment.

Organised by Reynard Street Neighbourhood House.

There will be one week in Preston (1st-7th July) followed by four fortnightly weekends elsewhere.

The course will be led by Adam Grubb and Kat Lavers, with participation by Joel Meadows, David Holmgren and Su Dennet.

Organised by Very Edible Gardens.