LFC News November 16 2022

Nov 152022
 

Thanks to the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Angharad Neal-Williams, Lucy Piper, Mel Miles, Mon Lukas, Nerida Kirov, Nick Rose, Pam Jenkins, Rob Body and Susan Palmer.

Nillumbik’s Community Grow Guide has now been published

As it says in the introduction: “Nillumbik’s Community Grow Guide is an easy-to-follow guide to vegetable gardening in Nillumbik. The illustrated booklet guides you through some popular vegetables to plant, how to care for them and how to save seeds. Gardening advice can be overwhelming for a beginner. There is a lot of information available describing different climates, soil types and weather conditions. This guide provides simple advice that is specific to the Nillumbik area. The importance of gardening for our physical and mental wellbeing is widely acknowledged and this illustrated guide provides an accessible entry point for beginner gardeners.

“Nillumbik’s Community Grow Guide aims to encourage more people to start gardening, connect with a community of gardeners and experience the joy that is associated with being outdoors and producing your own food.”

View/download the guide (pdf). Alternatively, pick up a hard copy at any of Edendale Farm, Eltham Library, Hurstbridge Hub, Nillumbik Nursery, Wadambuk St Andrews Community Centre, or seed libraries throughout Banyule & Nillumbik.

The author of the guide is local artist Angharad Neal-Williams.

The Alphington Community Food Hub

Last week’s article about Nick Rose mentioned Sustain’s involvement in something called ‘the Melbourne Food Hub’ in Alphington. Lucy Piper, from Melbourne Farmers Markets, has now written in to point out that there are actually two food hubs next to each other (with the same postal address!) and that Sustain is only involved in one of these hubs, namely the Melbourne Food Hub.

The other food hub is called the ‘Alphington Community Food Hub’ and is operated by Melbourne Farmers Markets. Its activities includes the Alphington Farmers Market, a food growing area, a commercial kitchen, a depot and leasing to some small food-related enterprises (including Bakeshop Alphington, Reground and The Practical Beekeeper).

Melbourne Food Hub is operated by Sustain. Its activities include an urban farm, a classroom and leasing to some small food-related enterprises (including Farmwall, Sporadical City Mushrooms and The Mushroomery).

Lucy has kindly provided a map of the Alphington Community Food Hub site (see right) which hopefully clarifies some of this.

Note that there are some upcoming food tours at Alphington Community Food Hub on Sunday, 27th November at 10am and again at midday.

A changing of the guard at Diamond Creek (by Pam Jenkins)

After 8 years of coordinating the care of the Chute Street planter boxes in Diamond Creek, I (Pam) have handed their care on to Thrive Community Garden.

The planter boxes were established in 2014 by the Diamond Creek Traders with support from Local Food Connect, Thrive Community Garden, The NICE Foundation and Nillumbik Council. Their objective is to grow attractive edibles for passers-by to be able to pick and eat. I think that we succeeded with that for most of the time.

Since 2014, with the help of a revolving band of volunteers and students from Diamond Creek Primary School (DCPS), we have planted fed, watered, weeded, tidied and harvested many vegetables and flowers. The flowers are mostly edible and all attract beneficial insects.

In closing, I would like to thank all those who have helped in various ways including, but not limited to: all the volunteers; the DCPS students and staff; Diamond Creek Traders (for allowing me to purchase goods on their account at Mitre 10); Local Food Connect (for financial and moral support); Beales Road Farm (for supplying plants); Josh and May (who looked after the sunny side last year); the shopkeepers (who watered in the young seedlings for a few days until they got established); the shops (for allowing us to fill our watering cans from their taps); Nillumbik Council (for filling the water reservoirs over the past year); the people who harvested and ate the food we produced; and the passers-by who stopped to chat and those that admired our work.

The photo is of ‘the handover’, from me (Pam) to Sarah and Giuliana from Thrive.

Where can you get the best panettone in the southern hemisphere?

The answer is Eltham, at the Old Evropa bakery in Eltham Village. And that’s official: Tatiana Coluccio, from Old Evropa, has just won ‘Best Panettone Extra European 2022’ in the ‘Panettone World Cup’ (aka Coppa del Mondo del Panettone). In other words, Tatiana makes the best panettone outside of Europe!

Note: panettone is an Italian sweet bread which includes raisins and citrus.

Also note: Old Evropa sell all sorts of yummy pastries, not just panettone.

Do you know?

Nerida Kirov asks: “Where can I buy some collard greens (aka colewart) seeds or seedlings? They are a cultivar of Brassica oleracea“. Email me with your answers.

A grant opportunity

Using their income from their garden openings etc, Open Gardens Victoria runs a grant program, called ‘Giving Program’, which provides grants for horticultural activities. Applications for up to $10K are currently open. Closing date: 30th November. Read their guidelines. Download an application form.

More on recycling depots

Rob Body has written in to say that Boroondara Council has a depot in Riversdale Road that accepts styrene, cardboard, paint, oil, electrical and batteries (all free except that there is fee for mattresses). You may (or may not) need a rate notice.

Soft plastics recycling on pause

Per REDcycle, consumer recycling of soft plastic has increased 350% since 2019. Per ABC News, the Australian government has a target of 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted by 2025 compared to just 16% currently. So, what do you think has just happened?

Yes, that’s right, both Coles and Woolworths have announced that they are no longer accepting soft plastics for recycling. This is apparently because their recycling partner, REDcycle, has paused its soft plastics collection program. Read what Coles, REDcycle, ABC News and The Guardian are saying on the subject.

Some recipe ideas for using leeks

No potato leek soup

Following my request last week, Susan Palmer has sent in the following recipe.

Ingredients
2 stalks leek (around 300 grams)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 stock cubes (veg or chicken)
1 litre water
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Wash the leeks thoroughly and then cut into 3cm pieces.

Saute the leeks and onions in the olive oil in a 2 litre pot until they become translucent.

Add the water, bay leaves and stock cube and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 30 minutes, then discard the bay leaves.

Whiz the soup with a hand blender until it has the desired consistency. Add more water (boiling) if desired.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Some other ideas

From Mel Miles:

  • Replace onion with leek in a risotto. It adds an extra depth of flavour. It pairs particularly well with pumpkin and mushroom.
  • A simple side dish: Saute finely sliced leeks with olive oil and salt until starting to brown. Add new season fresh asparagus, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, juice from half a lemon and a pinch of chilli flakes. Saute until the asparagus is how you like it. Take it to the next level with crumbled plant-based or dairy feta on top. You can also use other greens rather than asparagus.
  • Shannon’s kale and leek bake.
  • Kimchi miso hotpot.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link in the last newsletter was the Facebook page of the new All About Beekeeping Supplies shop in Diamond Creek.

b33e661f-c100-4ebe-9ffa-847952e0da4e.jpgJoke (or pun) of the week

A duck walks in a bar, orders a beer and says “put it on my bill.”

Read more jokes.

 

Regular activities over the coming week

Farmers’ markets
Food swaps
Community gardens

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Farmer Incubator’s garlic fiesta; Saturday, 19th November, 10am-midday; free; Brunswick East.

This year a little garlic patch has been tucked away in a corner of CERES with two participants in the program. Join them to celebrate their hard work, take a tour of the site and participate in a garlic branding workshop.

Edible garden workshop; Saturday, 19th November, 10.30am-midday; free; Epping.

Learn how to establish your own garden at home and how to care for it. The subjects to be covered include soils, composting, seasonal planting and mulching. Organised by Greenbrook Community House.

Nonna knows best with Jaclyn Crupi; Thursday, 24th November, 11am-12.30pm; free; Greensborough.

Jaclyn Crupi will share the wisdom of nonnas, including recipes, tips, sayings and advice. She will also give a pasta making demonstration complete with tips for different pasta shapes. Organised by Diamond Valley Library

Soil health with Kat Lavers; Wednesday, 7th December, 5-7.30pm; free; Forest Hill.

This workshop will cover soil types and the role of microbes, fungi and invertebrates. You will also hear about low-cost and free resources for improving your soil.

Wilam-nganjin community garden opening (Reservoir); Thursday, 8th December, 3-6pm; free; Reservoir.

This is the official opening of this new community garden space. They will be officially naming the space wilam-nganjin (‘our place’ in Woi wurrung), along with a Welcome to Country, some fun gardening activities for kids, free food and music. Everyone and anyone is welcome. Click here to read about the garden.

In November
In December
Regular events

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Gingerbread house decoration; Sunday, 4th December, 10.30am-midday; $46 ($31 per hour); Camberwell.

This workshop is for children aged 7+. The child will decorate their own pre-constructed gingerbread house. Use royal icing to attach a variety of sweets and lollies. Decorate a range of Xmas tree, gingerbread man, hearts and candy cane cookies as part of the Christmas scene.

In November
In December
Regular classes

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