Feb 022022
 

Thanks to all the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Anna Buzzell, Bruce Plain, Bruno Tigani, Dan Wilson, Irina Zahra, James Petty, Jian Liu, Judy Vizzari, Jules Jay, Julia Laidlaw, Kerry Bradford, Lesley Shuttleworth, Mardi Caracoglia, Maria Ciavarella, Marie Attlee, Pam Jenkins, Penny Smith, Sofiah Fauzi, Sonia Randhawa, Steve Burnham, Susie Lightfoot, Tracey Higgins, Victoria Johnson and Yennie Starkey.

Our free community meals

I have spent much of the last week ringing up the providers of the various free community meals around North East Melbourne to find our whether they are still operating or whether they have stopped because of Covid. Here is a map of the meals that are still happening. Here is a discussion of the various organisations and meals.

It is clear that Covid has had a major impact on the number of meals: around half of the pre-Covid meals have stopped, seemingly permanently.

Some ‘new’ food swaps

The Greensborough Food Swap is re-starting. On the 3rd Saturday of every month, 10-11am. At Diamond Valley Library Community Garden, Civic Drive, Greensborough.

The Rosanna Fruit and Veg Swap has changed dates. Now on alternating Saturdays during school terms only. At Rosanna Fire Station Community House, 232 Lower Plenty Road, Rosanna.

The food swap is only one of a number of food-related activities at Rosanna Fire Station Community House. On the same day as the swap, they have a ‘grow free’ cart of herbs where people can either take or donate herbs. They also have a free community meal on the 1st Wednesday of every month during school terms, 12.30-1.15pm. Plus they manage one of the Food Collective’s pantries. Finally, they have something called a ‘chatty cafe’ every Wednesday during school terms, 1.30-2.30pm, where anyone can go for a chat and a cuppa.

A new local mushroom grower

Sporadical City Mushrooms is a small urban mushroom farm based in Alphington which supplies a variety of mushrooms to both local restaurants and to the public through box schemes, farmgate sales and markets. They also sell vegan xo sauce, mushroom confit, cold smoked dried mushroom broth, mushroom kits, certified organic mushroom mulch and straw bales. They also give farm tours and run mushroom growing workshops. Indeed, they have upcoming workshops on Saturday, 12th February and Sunday, 20th March, both 10am-12.30pm – read more and potentially buy your tickets.

A good way to buy their mushrooms is by signing up for their 3 month, 6 month or 9 month supply of mushroom boxes, where you also choose how much you want in each box (pick up weekly or fortnightly from the farm in Alphington). One off purchases also available and welcome. You can buy both online. By buying directly from the farmer, you are guaranteeing yourself access to the freshest mushrooms while minimising your ecological food-print and investing in your local economy and food security. This is called Community Supported Agriculture or CSA for short.

Sporadical City Mushrooms aims to be a zero-waste company and chooses to grow their mushrooms in reusable plastic buckets instead of single use plastic bags like most other commercial growers. They believe that cities have a much bigger role to play in feeding themselves and that small scale farming and local food systems are essential for food security & sovereignty, a healthy environment and the future of our community and the planet.

Read their Local Food Directory page. Welcome, Julia!

Some new local videos

Banyule Council recently sponsored the production of a series of videos, including:

Want a job?

Permaculture Assistant at Templestowe College. 1 day a week (Mondays). Responsible for: student supervision; poultry care; plant propagation, planting & harvesting; orchard & market garden maintenance; and craft activities (basic woodwork, weaving, spinning). Closing date: Wednesday, 9th February. Read more and potentially apply.

Seed saving (by Pam Jenkins)

With the arrival of the hot weather, many spring vegetables are now going to seed. Leaving some vegetables to flower and go to seed means that there are flowers in the veggie garden for the bees and other small insects to forage from.

Some veggies will already have mature seeds that are ready to harvest. Also, you might have noticed that some of the drawers in the local seed libraries are currently depleted. [Editor: see our map of where the local seed libraries are.] Combining these two thoughts, my suggestion is that you collect some seeds, allocating some for yourself and some for the seed libraries.

So:

  1. Decide what seeds you are going to save.
  2. Write the name of the plant on a ribbon or strip of brightly coloured fabric and tie it to your chosen plant so that you can recognise what plant it is after it is all dried out.
  3. Wait until the seeds mature then collect the seed heads and place in a paper bag with the ribbon label.
  4. Clean and sort.
  5. Make and label some seed packets.
  6. Store some and share some with the seed libraries.

Also:

Yes, you did know!

Deformed sweetcorn

Last week, Kerry Bradford asked how come there are a few (female) kernels growing in the (male) tassels of her sweetcorn.

As Bruno Tigani responded, the phenomenon that Kerry is seeing is something called ‘tassel ears’. As most of you will know, sweetcorn has separate male and female flowers, with the male (called a ‘tassel’) at the top of the plant and the females (called ‘ears’) lower down the plant. As most of you probably don’t know, however, both types of flower start of as being bisexual, with one sex then being aborted early on. Sometimes environmental triggers, such as soil compaction or wet soil, can apparently lead to hormonal changes which stop the abortion happening. Then some kernels can develop on the tassel. Google ‘”tassel ears” corn’ and you will find a number of articles on the subject, including this article. There is even a video.

As an addendum, Kerry tells me that most of the kernels that grew on the tassels have now been eaten by critters, presumably birds.

Beans not fruiting

Last week, Vicki Jordan asked why her beans were flowering but not fruiting. 3 of you responded and all 3 said that the recent hot temperatures are a likely problem:

  • James Petty: They may be getting overheated. Runner beans like good sun but don’t like getting too hot. I once tried growing them on a trellis against a brick wall that absorbed a lot of heat: lots of flowers but no fruit.
  • Maria Ciavarella: Too hot and bean fruit might not set. The ideal temperature range is 24-30degC. Note that the presence/absence of bees is not relevant because bean flowers pollinate themselves.
  • Pam Jenkins: Climbing beans prefer temperatures below 29degC. They will fruit when the weather cools a bit.

Pam also mentioned two other possible problems. 1. Not enough sunlight: bean plants need around 7 hours of sunlight to produce beans. 2. Not enough water: beans are thirsty plants and quickly react to a lack of it by dropping their blossom.

Where to buy bulk passata tomatoes

A couple of weeks ago, Lucinda Flynn asked where all the Italians go to buy their bulk passata tomatoes in the Thornbury, Coburg and Brunswick areas. 13(!) of you have now responded (albeit with 11 different answers!):

  • Dan Wilson: Psarakos Market, 2/8 Clarendon Street, Thornbury.
  • Penny Smith: Psarakos Market, 2/8 Clarendon Street, Thornbury.
  • Susie Lightfoot: Preston Market.
  • Yennie Starkey: Preston Market.
  • Victoria Johnson: corner of St Georges Road and Oakover Road, Preston.
  • Anna Buzzelli: Gervasi Foodworks, 870-872 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Also, Mediterranean Brunswick, 482 Sydney Road, Brunswick.
  • Lesley Shuttleworth: on Gaffney Street, near the intersection with Sydney Road, Coburg North.
  • Irina Zahra: Morabito Wholesale Fruit & Vegetables Grocery Market, 169 Settlement Rd, Thomastown.
  • Judy Vizzari: On weekends, you can usually buy bulk tomatoes from a truck which parks in the car park at the Veneto Club in Bulleen Road, Bulleen. Perhaps best to phone the club 9850 7111 before visiting.
  • Bruno Tigani: There is always a site westbound on Mahoneys Road in Thomastown, just before it goes underneath the Western Ring Road. When they have the tomatoes, it is well signed
  • Steve Burnham: On the west side of Sydney Road in Fawkner, not much past where the tram line ends. Look for a sign pomodore per salsa.
  • Maria Ciavarella: Thomastown, Lalor and Bulleen are all popular places to go where they’ll stock them but it is best to pre-order if you want more than one box at a time.
  • Mardi Caracoglia: if Lucinda is willing to go a bit further out, corner of Metropolitan Ring Road and Sydney Road, Campbellfield; you can’t miss it with the sign and tomato crates out the front.

Several of you warned that it is much too early to be seeking such tomatoes:

  • Bruno Tigani: The people that I know who make their own passata tend to do it in late February or early March. That is when the tomatoes are plentiful from the Goulburn Valley. The people tend to buy them and process immediately, so you would not buy them ahead of time by more than a few days.
  • Steve Burnham: The tomatoes won’t be available until around Easter. You could also check the Il Globo newspaper around the same time.
  • Maria Ciavarella: It’s too early for passata tomatoes. They start about mid-February and continue into March and even April. Your local greengrocer can pick them up for you if you pre-order them.

Something for you to read

Bruce Plain suggests that you read this report, entitled Re-thinking food and agriculture. To give you a flavour, here is the very first sentence: “We are on the cusp of the fastest, deepest, most consequential disruption of agriculture in history.” Note that you can read the summary online but you have to enter your name and email address to get the full report.

Another article by Angelo Eliades

The definitive guide on how to compost everything from the garden and kitchen.

Read more of Angelo’s food-growing articles.

A recipe for veggie burgers (by Jian Liu & Julian Merkenich)

[Editor: I’ve had this veggie burger and it is yum which is why I asked Jian and Julian if I could include it in this newsletter.]

[For a full introduction to this recipe, go to Jian’s garden education Melbourne Foodforest website. Alternatively, watch their video instructions (5 minutes).]

Many veggie burgers fall apart. This recipe creates veggie burgers which are easy to make, taste good and don’t fall apart.

Makes 8 patties.

Ingredients

½ cup soaked, uncooked chickpeas
¼ cup cooked black beans
¼ cup cooked navy beans (aka haricot beans)
1 small onion
1 bunch parsley
2 cloves finely crushed garlic
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
½ cup oats
¼ teaspoon bicarb soda

Method

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor.

Run the food processor for about 10 seconds or until the texture of the mixture is like breadcrumbs.

Heat a heavy-bottomed pan on medium-high heat.

Arrange some egg rings on your pan. Grease the pan and the rings well.

Dispense about a third of a cup of the mixture into each of the rings.

Fry for about 3 minutes on each side.

Serve the burger with a brioche bun, mayonnaise, onion rings, tomato, lettuce and tomato sauce.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link in the last newsletter was to the booking page for Jian Liu’s upcoming webinar (23rd February) on creating your own backyard food forest..

Joke (or pun) of the week

A panda eats for around 15 hours a day. So does a human in isolation and that’s why it’s called a ‘pandemic’.

Covid announcement re upcoming events and activities

The usual caveats apply: some of the events below will probably be cancelled because of Covid and many of the events will be restricted to fully vaccinated people only.

Regular activities over the coming week

Farmers’ markets
Food swaps
Community gardens

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Food forest tour and workshop; Sunday, 6th February, 1.30-3pm; $40 ($26 per hour); Camberwell.

This is an extra workshop in Jian Liu’s garden. The workshop and tour will cover all of their different styles of growing (intensive raised beds, Vegepod, in-ground beds), their pond (which provides both food and free fertiliser), greenhouse, chicken run, worm farm and composting system. You will learn how to make most of your space, deal with shade, poor soil and pests, and garden with sustainable and free materials. You will also learn about many interesting and unusual edibles that can be grown in Melbourne’s climate.

Urban foraging; on Sunday, 13th February, then again on Saturday, 19th February, and then again on Sunday, 6th March, each 1-4pm; $75 ($25 per hour); Forest Hill.

Anna, the Urban Nanna, will help you find and identify a range of edible fruits, greens and flowers found in ‘wild’ urban spaces across Victoria. You will learn about the basic principles and protocols of foraging, and then move on to plant specifics. You will observe and interact with many types of fruit trees, edible green weeds and useful flowers. You will examine examples of trees bearing late summer fruit, and also be shown the physical features you can use to correctly identify useful trees even when they’re not fruiting. You will discuss the types of locations where you can hunt for wild edibles in the future, and finally how to safely prepare and enjoy eating many of the foods we find. Overall, there will be around 1-2km of walking over grassy terrain involved.

This event is happening multiple times, each with its own booking arrangements. You can find all the occurrences on the Urban Nanna’ Eventbrite page.

Yarra Ranges Food Connections online forum; Wednesday, 16th February, 9.30-11.30am; free; online.

Is the Yarra Ranges food system the best it can be? What is happening now? What is possible? How can we work together and make a difference? There will be a range of speakers followed by discussions.

Intro to urban farming (8 sessions); weekly sessions, each 9.30am-1.30pm, starting Thursday, 17th February; $112 ($4 per hour) or $72 concession; Preston.

Get your hands dirty and learn all the skills necessary to work on micro farms, residential edible gardens and community gardens. Subjects to be covered include: wicking beds, mushroom growing, hydroponics systems, crop planning, water/soil/pest management and plant propagation. A number of excursions will be included in the course, such as to the Melbourne Food Hub, mushroom farms in Alphington, Oakhill Food Justice Farm in Preston and Fawkner Food Bowls. The course was designed in partnership with Sustain.

Indigenous plants in the home orchard and vegetable garden; Saturday, 19th February, 10am-midday; free; Hurstbridge.

A walk and talk event about using indigenous plants in home food production systems. You will learn how to incorporate indigenous plants into your orchard or vegetable garden plus the many benefits that they provide, including protection from sun and wind, promoting biodiversity, generating soil nutrients, animal and insect habitat, and creating microclimates. Organised by SHIFT.

Make a macrame plant hanger; Saturday, 26th February, 10.30am-12.30pm; $13 ($5 per hour); Hurstbridge.

This workshop will teach you some of the basic knots used in macrame, and how you can use them to make a plant hanger. You will also learn how to make macrame feathers or leaves from the leftover trimmings, which can be turned into earrings, broaches, or decorative pieces. If you already have a decorative plant pot that you’d like to hang, take it along so you can make your hanger to size. Organised by SHIFT.

In February
In March

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Hands on dumpling making workshop; Saturday, 5th February, 1-3.30pm; $15 ($6 per hour); Nunawading.

Learn how to fold dumplings. Steam your dumplings. Sit and eat together at the end. Hosted by Otao Kitchen. Organised by Nunawading Homemaker HQ.

Pickling and fermentation workshop; Saturday, 19th February, 1-3pm; free; Watsonia.

Learn to pickle and preserve your summer harvest. Organised by Watsonia Library.

Pasta making workshop; Thursday, 24th February, 11am-1.30pm; free; Carlton.

Cassandra Hogan will take you through the art of pasta-making by utilising equipment from the Carlton Kitchen Library. You will make and share rotolo from scratch with fillings including radicchio and ricotta in a burnt sage butter sauce, and spinach and ricotta in a tomato sauce. There will also be some fresh pasta to take home.

Vegan Italian supper club; Thursday, 10th March, 7-10pm; $119 ($40 per hour); Northcote.

Nadia Fragnito, author of A Vegan Summer in Southern Italy, will share her journey to becoming a vegan, how her discovery of vegan friendly cuisine throughout Southern Italy inspired her, and what it takes to write your own self-published book.

In February
In March
In Richmond

 Leave a Reply

(required)

(required)