Calendar of once-off events
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All events All once-off events (Cooking, Everything else, Free) Community gardens Food swaps Free meals Markets Farmers’ markets Garden clubs
Irene Williams will demonstrate how to make a gingerbread house for Christmas.
Registration essential.
This event will take place opn Tuesday, 10th December and again on Wednesday, 11th December, both 7-9pm.
You will learn:
- How to make a gingerbread tree cookie cake with shipped chocolate ganache.
- About fondant: how to colour it, roll and cut it out to perfectly fit your cookie.
- How to decorate cookies in a festive style with watercolour painted fondant, marble fondant, embossed lettering and gold/silver leaf.
- How to make your own stencils and cut out a large cookie cake.
- How to decorate and fill a large cookie cake.
Snacks and sparkling on arrival; tart and bruschetta to eat while you watch; cookies to take home.
Christmas can be stressful because you just want it to be perfect. In this class, they will show you how to use your thermomix to make your Christmas easier, from pre-preparing dishes, downloading easy recipes and following our own thermomix favourites.
This event will take place opn Tuesday, 10th December and again on Wednesday, 11th December, both 7-9pm.
You will learn:
- How to make a gingerbread tree cookie cake with shipped chocolate ganache.
- About fondant: how to colour it, roll and cut it out to perfectly fit your cookie.
- How to decorate cookies in a festive style with watercolour painted fondant, marble fondant, embossed lettering and gold/silver leaf.
- How to make your own stencils and cut out a large cookie cake.
- How to decorate and fill a large cookie cake.
Snacks and sparkling on arrival; tart and bruschetta to eat while you watch; cookies to take home.
Local horticulturalist Diana Cotter will present handy hints to minimise waste in the garden. Learn how weeds can become your friends and other composting options. Eliminate plastic waste and reduce water usage.
Registrations essential.
A Christmas cooking demonstration by Marie Vassallo of Christmas Hors D’oeuvres.
A behind-the-scenes tour of the 10 step chocolate making process at Ratio Cocoa Roasters. Followed by a guided chocolate tasting.
Tasting plate can be adapted to non dairy / vegan, please advise on arrival.
Create a seasonal gingerbread house. Recipe and instructions will be supplied. You will need to bake your own gingerbread slabs to bring along on the day.
Farmer Incubator will be visiting SEEDs Communal Garden to braid some of their recently harvested garlic. Go along and learn this skill for yourself. Bulbs of organically-grown Farmer Incubator garlic will also be available to purchase on the day.
What you will learn:
- How to preserve surplus foods.
- How to make jams.
- Improve your culinary skillset.
Presenter: Laura Issell. Learn how to make jams, pastes, pickles and the art of basic canning so that you can preserve your home harvest or extend your seasonal produce year round.
Your tour, led by Nathan Stewart, a professional Doreen-based beekeeper from Maya ‘Xala Honey, will include suiting up in protective gear, lighting a bee smoker, and spending two hours as real life beekeeper. Initially, Nathan will give you some tips on what to look for inside a hive including how to spot the Queen and where to look to potentially witness the birth of a new worker bee. Then, together you will lift the lid of a busy hive, watch bees at work creating honey, pull out a frame of honey ready for extraction, and get up close with more than 100,000 bees! After the lid is closed, you will sample some of the honey direct from the hives while enjoying a refreshing honey tonic.
Join Jess, from Norma Rose Cakes to make 12 cupcakes with 4 different designs to take home. Learn various piping techniques including small stars, fine line and large swirls. Create white Christmas tree decoration, snow icing and how to place decorations.
A behind-the-scenes tour of the 10 step chocolate making process at Ratio Cocoa Roasters. Followed by a guided chocolate tasting.
Tasting plate can be adapted to non dairy / vegan, please advise on arrival.
A community lunch at the Uniting Church Hall on Christmas Day, with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where everyone is welcome. Door-to-door transport is available if needed.
RSVP to Graham by phone (0419 361487) or email.
The food trucks offering vegan food who sometimes attend include: Bomba Wood Fired Pizza; Curry Up Now; Lady Rawsome; Paper Plains Food Truck; Pierogi Pierogi; Super Taco;Taitas Falafels; The Real Jerk Food Truck; Vegilicious; Von’s Vegan Bake House; Woking Amazing; and YAY foods. See their Facebook page for the specific list of trucks on a particular day.
This workshop will help you to reduce food waste at home. You will cook a vegetarian lunch together and learn to save money, get creative with veggies, be more adaptable in the kitchen, and learn about the wonders of compost.
If you are not able to attend the workshop in the morning, you are welcome to share a free lunch with them afterwards at 1pm.
This event is happening twice on the day, 10.15-11.15am and 11.30am-12.30pm.
Ever wanted a reusable, sustainable alternative to clingwrap and plastic zip-lock bags? Beeswax wraps, made from fabric and beeswax, are an alternative to one-use plastics. Wrap sandwiches, snacks and other items, cover bowls and plates. You can even fold them over containers and use them again and again! Learn what fabrics to use, where to buy beeswax, and how to create your own reusable food wraps at home.
This event is happening twice on the day, 10.15-11.15am and 11.30am-12.30pm.
Ever wanted a reusable, sustainable alternative to clingwrap and plastic zip-lock bags? Beeswax wraps, made from fabric and beeswax, are an alternative to one-use plastics. Wrap sandwiches, snacks and other items, cover bowls and plates. You can even fold them over containers and use them again and again! Learn what fabrics to use, where to buy beeswax, and how to create your own reusable food wraps at home.
Your tour, led by Nathan Stewart, a professional Doreen-based beekeeper from Maya ‘Xala Honey, will include suiting up in protective gear, lighting a bee smoker, and spending two hours as real life beekeeper. Initially, Nathan will give you some tips on what to look for inside a hive including how to spot the Queen and where to look to potentially witness the birth of a new worker bee. Then, together you will lift the lid of a busy hive, watch bees at work creating honey, pull out a frame of honey ready for extraction, and get up close with more than 100,000 bees! After the lid is closed, you will sample some of the honey direct from the hives while enjoying a refreshing honey tonic.
Suitable for children aged 5 to 12. Presented by Naomi Cindric. Learn the basics of worm farming by joining this hands-on activity and make your mini worm farm. Learn what worms eat, how to care for them, and how they can be useful in the garden. Be dazzled as you make a colourful array of dangling mirrors and beads that can hang in your garden.
What you will learn:
- Bee behaviour.
- The various major items that make up a bee hive and how to construct them.
- 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.
- A $5 discount on the book Bee AgSkills (normally $27.50, $22.50 with discount).
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.
Your tour, led by Nathan Stewart, a professional Doreen-based beekeeper from Maya ‘Xala Honey, will include suiting up in protective gear, lighting a bee smoker, and spending two hours as real life beekeeper. Initially, Nathan will give you some tips on what to look for inside a hive including how to spot the Queen and where to look to potentially witness the birth of a new worker bee. Then, together you will lift the lid of a busy hive, watch bees at work creating honey, pull out a frame of honey ready for extraction, and get up close with more than 100,000 bees! After the lid is closed, you will sample some of the honey direct from the hives while enjoying a refreshing honey tonic.
What you will learn:
- How to preserve fruit and vegetables for use in the future.
- How to bottle preserves.
- The selection and sterilisation of jars.
Presented by Lucy Marasco. Join Lucy to learn the basics of preserving, including the importance of sterilisation techniques, as well as the opportunity to try out some traditional and modern preserving recipes.
This workshop will help you to reduce food waste at home. You will cook a vegetarian lunch together and learn to save money, get creative with veggies, be more adaptable in the kitchen, and learn about the wonders of compost.
If you are not able to attend the workshop in the morning, you are welcome to share a free lunch with them afterwards at 1pm.
They will cover how to select the right system for your home and common problems. To help put your knowledge into practice, you will visit the worm farms on site at Kathleen Syme and do a health check on those systems.
This festival is on Saturday, 1st February, 11am-8pm and Sunday, 2nd February, 11am-5pm.
Brewers Feast is a boutique craft beer and food festival, made by beer and food lovers for beer and food lovers. It will feature around 30 breweries (including cider, wine and gin as well as beer). There will also be food and live music.
Throughout the day, there will be craft beer education classes, exploring the tastes and flavours of beer pairing with food, cheese, confectionery and other foods. Enjoy free samples while learning more about your beer.
A worm farm can be one of the best ways to dispose of food scraps and, at the same time, produce vermi-juice (worm tea) and vermicast (worm castings) for use on the garden. 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.
This festival is on Saturday, 1st February, 11am-8pm and Sunday, 2nd February, 11am-5pm.
Brewers Feast is a boutique craft beer and food festival, made by beer and food lovers for beer and food lovers. It will feature around 30 breweries (including cider, wine and gin as well as beer). There will also be food and live music.
Throughout the day, there will be craft beer education classes, exploring the tastes and flavours of beer pairing with food, cheese, confectionery and other foods. Enjoy free samples while learning more about your beer.
What you will learn:
- How to coagulate milk using acid and rennet.
- How to stretch and shape mozzarella.
- How to make whole milk ricotta.
What you will get:
- Recipes and the essential techniques of cheesemaking.
- A tasting of the cheeses made.
- Notes about the major steps of cheesemaking and resources for quality milk and supplies.
- A 20% discount on cheesemaking kits and equipment purchased in conjunction with the workshop.
Join Jacqueline Bender as she demystifies the art of making two of Italy’s most beloved cheeses. You will make mozzarella and ricotta from bio-dynamic milk (or organic if unavailable) to be eaten at the conclusion of the class. Ricotta will be made from whole milk (paneer style), which you will roll in home-made dukkah (chopped nuts and spices).
Participants will be limited to 8 to maintain an informal interactive format.
Learn how to do all your kitchen basics including butter, nut butter, almond milk, cheese and bread.
The food trucks offering vegan food who sometimes attend include: Bomba Wood Fired Pizza; Curry Up Now; Lady Rawsome; Paper Plains Food Truck; Pierogi Pierogi; Super Taco;Taitas Falafels; The Real Jerk Food Truck; Vegilicious; Von’s Vegan Bake House; Woking Amazing; and YAY foods. See their Facebook page for the specific list of trucks on a particular day.
This is a two-session workshop, with the two sessions being on Tuesday, 11th February and Tuesday, 18th February, both 6.30-8.30pm.
Tutor Taariq Hassan. Learn how to cook a healthy North West Indian vegetarian meal from scratch using authentic ingredients.
Menu for the first session: daal (spiced lentil stew); raita (seasoned yoghurt based dip with chopped salad vegetables); and muttar chaaval (basmati rice boiled with peas).
Facilitated by Justin Calverley. Many of us focus on winter as the best time to prune our fruit trees but some fruit trees benefit much more from summer pruning (e.g. stonefruit). Learn how to best care for your fruit trees for health and to maximise your yield for next season. Bring your gardening gloves, a hat and a pair of secateurs.
Learn how composting, worm farming and the use of particular plants can naturally improve your soil. Discover how to compost and worm farm effectively for the best results. Understand how recycling your household and garden organic waste (including dog poo!) can benefit the life within your soil. Facilitator: Dianne Gordon.
Presented by Olwyn Smiley from The Backyard Vegetable and Jess Ness from Bedford Park Community Garden. With so many varieties of chooks, there’s a chook for every size of yard. They are enormously rewarding pets so if you’ve ever considered having them, or perhaps you’ve recently purchased chooks and need a little advice, go along for a discussion on the basics of urban chook raising.
Book by phone (9870 2602).
What you will learn:
- How to set up and prepare a vegetable garden.
- How to select, plant and care for crops.
- How to grow veggies in the ground, in raised beds and in pots.
Presented by Nicole Griffiths. This class will teach you everything you need to know to grow delicious produce in your own backyard. They will cover all of the veggie gardening basics, from setting up your patch to harvesting.
This will be the ninth annual home harvest picnic, where trained cooks produce a shared meal from homegrown produce. As well as the meal itself, there will be community stalls, music and family activities. You have three options:
- Register as a grower ($0): supply some of your homegrown produce and receive a prepared basket for you and up to three guests.
- Purchase a picnic basket ($10 per person).
- Bring your own picnic ($0).
They will talk through the tips and tricks to plant your patch and keep it thriving through the cooler months, including advice about individual crops. The veggies to be discussed will include broccoli, broad beans, pak choy and carrots.
The food trucks offering vegan food who sometimes attend include: Bomba Wood Fired Pizza; Curry Up Now; Lady Rawsome; Paper Plains Food Truck; Pierogi Pierogi; Super Taco;Taitas Falafels; The Real Jerk Food Truck; Vegilicious; Von’s Vegan Bake House; Woking Amazing; and YAY foods. See their Facebook page for the specific list of trucks on a particular day.
This workshop will help you to reduce food waste at home. You will cook a vegetarian lunch together and learn to save money, get creative with veggies, be more adaptable in the kitchen, and learn about the wonders of compost.
If you are not able to attend the workshop in the morning, you are welcome to share a free lunch with them afterwards at 1pm.
What you will learn:
- Why edibles fail and what how to improve their chances of success.
- How to choose the right pots, potting mix, additives and mulches.
- The best fruit and vegetables options for pots, and the best sustainable and organic maintenance techniques, including watering and feeding.
Presented by Diana Cotter. Is your lettuce and coriander running to seed? Do you have beans that flower but don’t fruit, or flowers falling off your citrus? Or do your plants seem to die no matter you do? If any of this sounds familiar, or if you’re a complete novice, then this class will teach you how to avoid these issues. You’ll learn how potting mix and watering work, how plants react to different situations, and how the weather affects different plants differently. There will be a practical demonstration showing how to properly prepare potting mix, plant seeds and seedlings, and maintain the potential fruits (and vegetables!) of your labour.
What you will learn:
- Which produce plants are suitable to grow in small areas.
- Coping with shade and sun for produce growing.
- How to make the most of any available space for growing produce.
Presented by Angelo Eliades. Do you only have a small garden or no garden at all? Would you still like to grow your own food? This class will inspire you to get started. Topics will include fruit, vegetables and berries for small spaces, growing produce in pots and containers, maximising productivity in any size space and plant selection.