Monday, 5 September 2011
Thursday, 1 September 2011
World Kitchen Garden Day 2011 at Glandore Community Garden
Last Sunday we all gathered at the beautiful Glandore Community Garden for an enjoyable World Kitchen Garden Day afternoon.
When we arrived plot holders were busy working in their plots.
Harry was busy working on the wood fired pizza oven which will be is going to have a mosaic added soon.
Everyone chatted about what excess produce they had bought along as well as something they had cooked from their country of origin.
Produce to share included Lebanese cress, bunches of coriander, Jerusalem artichokes, lima bean seeds, plum jams, chilli jams, lemons, fennel, chillies and a lot of different potted up plants.
There were lots of seeds to share and a favourite seed we saved this year was chervil which is a lovely herb we are picking at the moment.
We had an apple amaranth cake from Argentina, Indian Spinach and onion fritters, Irish pumpkin dip, German lemon cake, Middle eastern Humus, French Cheese and Biscuits, German raspberry muffins, Spicy Orange Muffins and an Aussie multicultural creation of brightly coloured Nasturtium flowers filled with humus and topped with sweet chilli jam.
Daniel (from Gardening Australia fame) told us all about an Orchid show he had just entered in and his Mum said he was being very modest and had won 2nd prize in his Category.
Thank you everyone who came and shared their knowledge, kitchen garden food and kitchen garden produce with us.
We look forward to World Kitchen Garden Day 2011.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Spring workshops at Nirvana
INTRODUCTION TO BIODYNAMIC METHODS
Sunday, September 18th 8.30am – 4.30pm $120
One day course to introduce the practical concepts of the biodynamic methods to farmers & gardeners. The biodynamic method is a modern organic approach that creates a holistic approach to building healthy soil, plants, animals & humans. Includes notes, biodynamic preparations, lunch & teas.
VEGETABLES FOR YOUR TABLE.
Sunday, October 2nd 9.00 -12.30 $50
Practical guide to establishing & maintaining a productive & healthy vegetable garden. Our climate offers many opportunities to grow food for your table all year round. Discover what plants to grow, and when. Practical tips & ideas.
COMPOSTING & MULCHING
Sunday, October 9th 9.00 -12.30 $50
Reduce water use by learning the principles of composting & mulching, techniques & materials used & how they can be used most effectively on your garden or farm.
INTRODUCTION TO MOON PLANTING AND USING THE PLANTING CALENDAR
Sunday, October 16th 9.00 -12.30 $50
Working with the rhythms of nature can develop your skills in fine tuning your garden and can add a new dimension to your gardening experience.
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ORGANIC FRUIT, NUTS & BERRIES
Sunday, October 23rd 9.00 -12.30 pm. $50
Practical guide to growing fruits, nuts & berries. Establishing, maintenance, ground covers, soils.
POULTRY KEEPING
Sunday October 30th 9.00 – 12 30 $50
All you need to know about getting started with poultry. Includes breed selection, housing, feeding, breeding, pests.
WEAVING A BIT OF MAGIC
Sunday, November 6th 9am 4pm $120
The ideal way to recycle your garden prunings .A introduction to natural fibre weaving. Includes techniques, suitable plants & other materials to make baskets, fences & trellises. Includes all materials, lunch & teas.
All courses are held at NIRVANA ORGANIC FARM
184 LONGWOOD ROAD, HEATHFIELD
UBD 157:G7. Exit from SE Freeway at Stirling, turn right at roundabout & travel 3.5 km.
The courses are practical, ‘hands on’ conducted by experienced biodynamic/organic farmers, Deb & Quentin. Their successful small holding has been run under BIO-DYNAMIC principles since 1983.
The 4.5 ha property provides the ideal classroom filled with practical examples of how goals can be achieved & gives inspiration into this GARDEN QUALITY FARMING to both gardeners & farmers alike.
FOR BOOKINGS & FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
DEB OR QUENTIN PHONE/ (08) 8339 2519 nirvanafarm@gmail.com
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Friday, 15 July 2011
World Kitchen Garden Day
World Kitchen Garden Day is an annual, decentralized celebration of food produced on a human-scale. It is recognized each year on the 4th Sunday of August. It is an opportunity for people around the world to gather in their gardens with friends, family, and members of their local community to celebrate the multiple pleasures and benefits of home-grown, hand-made foods.
Here is the logo.... when you organise a get together you can download it and use it to attract attention.
Activities:
How people celebrate International Kitchen Garden Day and with whom is up to them. Some choose to do so in public ways with large gatherings of friends and neighbours, whereas others opt for a more intimate celebration with close family. Here are a few ideas for some activities you might consider organizing depending on the level of involvement you would like to have:
-a walking tour of gardens in your area
-a kitchen garden or local agriculture potluck
-a kitchen garden taste-test
-a harvest or planting party
-a benefit for a local food/gardening charity
-a kitchen garden "teach in"
-a single food theme party
-an activity at a local farm
-etc
See what they are organising in India at Urban Leaves ....
where this young lad was worried about his pet snail eating his spinach leaves, at a recent celebration in the garden!
You can watch the video and read more here
Sunday, 5 June 2011
If only every Suburb had a Community Garden and a Kitchen Gardeners Swap Meet.
Many people today are striving hard to fit into today's culture.
Many of us vegetable gardeners feel a little out of place at social gatherings. We would much prefer to be in our gardens, pruning, planting, weeding, picking or preserving our produce.
Our to do list is endless, sorting seeds, making sauerkraut, pickling olives, transplanting seedlings, propagating cuttings and there is always pruning to be done.
I meet very few gardeners who are not keen to talk about what they have been growing or how the weather is affecting their garden.
So we have this group of home gardeners who meet together every few months and we always have a good time.
When we meet to swap seeds, excess produce and ideas, we also share part of our lives with each other.
We may meet for just a couple of hours but friendships are formed, phone numbers exchanged and the promises are made to share produce as it ripens and matures.
Someone has chokos to share, someone else has excess chillies, another has apples and firewood, the list goes on and on.
Cuttings and prunings, excess seedlings, potted plants are brought and given away.
Cuttings of herbs, curry leaves and berries, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and cardamom plants are divided and shared.
Variety is being added to people's gardens, new plants and ideas are being introduced.
People are taking things home to grow, things they had never heard about before. New flavours are introduced and as people try new things and use them at home, their palates change and they look forward to trying new and interesting plants.
And so for a few short hours people are introduced to new things, new ideas and new challenges.
If we lived in any rural area in any other country it would be a natural thing to save seeds and share with neighbours. But in Australia the majority of people are buying their fruit and veggies from large supermarkets or fruit stores. These unknown, mass farms are often using many harmful chemical sprays and fertilizers to achieve a perfect looking product, which looks good but lacks the flavour and nutritional value of organically grown produce.
Our priorities in life should be healthy pure rain water, fresh clean air, viable seed, local, organically grown food and a healthy lifestyle.
A lifestyle which includes rest and relaxation, time to spend with others, time to share a simple meal or wander around a friend's garden.
When you live in a city you see people constantly rushing around, driving children from one paid activity to another. Children who have been in child care all day are seen throwing tantrums in shopping malls and supermarkets as their hassled parents fill supermarket trollies with chemical laden foods, coloured beverages and other sugar laden sauces, cereals, sweets and cookies.
I guess I am just getting to be a grumpy old granny, but to those of us who grew up in the forties or fifties we remember a much different world.
Most families grew their own vegetables, had chickens for eggs and chicken for a special occasion.
There was no television, people sat and chatted about their day, listened to the radio or read books, played cards or board games.
All the neighbourhood children played cricket on the road, there were fewer cars and people rode their bikes, walked or caught public transport.
Anyone remember going to work in an old steam train?
I did. I caught the train from Liverpool Station to Central station in Sydney. A group of us teenagers met in the same compartment each day and played cards or just chatted.
Now the people I see walking the streets are plugged into their iphones or ipods and don't even look at anyone.
Time is money now, so people rush everywhere, drive like maniacs and have no concern for anyone but themselves.
So it is with great pleasure that I look forward to when our garden group meets again.
Our dream would be for every suburb to have a Community Garden and every Community Garden to have such groups meeting several times a year.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Brilliantly Coloured Autumn Fruits and Leaves on the Adelaide Plains
It is Autumn in Adelaide South Australia, nearly winter.
Here are some of the gorgeous coloured fruits we are enjoying at the moment.
Soft juicy beautiful flavoured persimmons we bought at the last Rare Fruit Society meeting.
Beautiful mauve and purple lilly pillys we forage from local trees. They are large and juicy and we love eating them straight from the trees.
The last of our excel figs not as sweet as they were a month ago but still yummy.
Beautiful jewel red pomegranate seeds just from our tree. Once again we just love these seeds.
Peoples citrus trees are covered with mandarins, oranges, grapefruit and lemons almost ready to eat and make delicious marmalades from.
As we take Niki and our grandson for walks it is wonderful to see brilliant trees covered with vibrant yellow, orange and golden leaves, red and purple coloured vines, rainbow coloured flowers and bushes, bright yellow and pale pink roses and bright green grass after the wonderful rain we have had.
Autumn leaves are being raked and thrown under bushes for mulch or added to compost heaps.
There are loads of birds around I guess they come down from the Adelaide Hills which are 5 minutes drive away but heaps cooler than here on the plains.
Our winter green garden is starting to produce Asian greens, rapa and all the wonderful herbs we add to our meals.
We still have capsicums and chillies ripening, lovely bunches of parsley and rocket.
No longer am I sad that tomatoes have disappeared because Autumn and winter has replaced them with exquisite flavours, new recipes to try and enjoy.
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