Be there!
from 9am to 12 noon bring your excess fruit & vegies, plants or gardening books etc to swap & share.
Or just come along to have a chat and coffee.
19 February 2011
06 February 2011
Pics From todays Working Bee
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| The Crew hook into turning our giant compost pile |
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| Clearing the kitchen area in preperation for placement of form work for the slab. |
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| fun is ....... turning compost! |
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| A visiting "Permy" from up north drops in for a visit and gets stuck in. |
04 February 2011
WORKING BEE - SUNDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2011
Come "crank the goodness" with us this Sunday from 10am...
Our dedicated volunteers have been "hard at it" at the Garden after returning from their various holiday sojourns.
The Quakers held their annual gathering at Wollongong University Innovation campus earlier in January and we happily agreed to take their food waste.
We hosted 3 Quaker group garden tours over a week for the experienced organic gardeners and farmers. The final tour included the respected and celebrated Australian Permaculturalist and international community development catalyst and all round champion of social justice, Rosemary Morrow. It was an honour to meet Rowe and share our work with her and the Quaker friends.
Wednesday afternoon's "Compost Crew" saw a great opportunity to use the food waste as a valuable addition to a humble 20m3 aerobic compost heap they had been building. Summer waste lawn clippings & leaves from a local lawn mowing service, windbreak prunings, veggie plant refuse, sugar cane mulch, animal manures, various trace elements and water were some of the ingredients for the impressive "wind row" compost.
We are in the process of turning it with our "solar powered bob cat" also know as garden volunteers with shovels, forks and enthusiastic vigour!
At last, the outdoor kitchen is underway! We have started to clear the kitchen area of various weeds which have been doing a great job of pioneering the road base floor we laid over a year ago. These need to be removed before we lay the form work to pour the concrete slab.
It seems it will be an intensive working bee but be rest assured a wonderful organic spread will be laid for the tasty 1am lunch! Bring your hats, sunscreen and something for the feast and we look forward to see you there.
LAUNCHING PERMABLITZ IN THE GONG
Hi all funky Permies and passionate organic gardeners. Shez is hosting Wollongong's first Permablitz on Saturday 12th February 2011 from 9am.
You are invited to enjoy some creative time in an amazing suburban Permaculture oasis.
Brief informal discussions identified a need amongst our network to provide assistance for "cranking the goodness" in people’s backyard gardens. What better way to unite the community with food, laughter and organic gardening "Permaculture" style while retrofitting the neighbourhood sustainably.
Shez has developed a design, organised materials and tools. The plan is to:
- mulch the nature strip and front yard and plant out with native grasses, shrubs and trees
- extend the chicken run under the cassurinas
- overhaul the chicken house
- plumb the chicken house roof to harvest water into a recycled olive barrel
- thin and pot up sugar bananas suckers
- prune and chop & drop mulberry and oak
A tasty home grown organic feast and refreshments will be lovingly provided.
20 January 2011
Mass planting
This Tuesday evening about 7 of us gathered at the garden after work & planted about 120 seedlings in about an hour.
Including:
Lettucs cos and a red coral style
Bok Choy
Pak choy
Basil
Celery
Chard
Cucumber
Rocket
Chillies
English spinach
They were planted in our no dig beds, each getting a handful of our own compost, well watered in and given some of our home made liquid fertiliser to help them settle in.
I called in the next morning on the way to work happy to see they had all survived the night I was worried
the snails might have had a party.
Thursday afternoon stopped in and some of the crew were hard at it, watering and pottering around. We brushed off the tiny eggs that the dreaded white moths had already laid. There had been a few miner casualties due to snails overnight but otherwise all is good. We should try some snail beer traps.
Including:
Lettucs cos and a red coral style
Bok Choy
Pak choy
Basil
Celery
Chard
Cucumber
Rocket
Chillies
English spinach
They were planted in our no dig beds, each getting a handful of our own compost, well watered in and given some of our home made liquid fertiliser to help them settle in.
I called in the next morning on the way to work happy to see they had all survived the night I was worried
the snails might have had a party.
Thursday afternoon stopped in and some of the crew were hard at it, watering and pottering around. We brushed off the tiny eggs that the dreaded white moths had already laid. There had been a few miner casualties due to snails overnight but otherwise all is good. We should try some snail beer traps.
Another great SWAP!
We were blessed with great weather after a very variable week of wet humid conditions. The morning was stunner. We set up wondering if many would turn up as the local Folk Festival was on.
But as usual after a bit of a slow start, people and produce start turning up. And its not long before I'm doing a steady trade of coffee & apple slice (which was pretty good even if I do say so myself) see below for recipe.
The swap tables filled up with lots of tomatoes, spinach, zucchinis, beans, seedlings & seeds etc. And even though I'm kept busy doing coffee it's a great way to relax after a hectic week. And the bonus is to take home some fresh home grown veggies at the end.
.............................................................................
Apple Slice Recipe
125 soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 fresh home laid eggs from my own chooks
half cup milk
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
2 apples (depending on the size)
Topping: quarter cup brown sugar & one teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed together
put butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, flour, & baking powder in mixing bowl. Beat on low then increase speed to medium for 3 minutes. Pour into greased 20x30 slice tray. Cut apples in quarters & remove cores then slice up and press the slices into top of mixture so they are laying on top. Sprinkle with the topping and bake at 180C for about 25min or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in tray then cut into slices
serve as as a slice as is or as desert with ice cream, cream or yoghurt.
Have you got a favorite slice recipe you would like to share?
Send it in.
See you next SWAP! (3rd Sunday of each month)
Maddog.
But as usual after a bit of a slow start, people and produce start turning up. And its not long before I'm doing a steady trade of coffee & apple slice (which was pretty good even if I do say so myself) see below for recipe.
The swap tables filled up with lots of tomatoes, spinach, zucchinis, beans, seedlings & seeds etc. And even though I'm kept busy doing coffee it's a great way to relax after a hectic week. And the bonus is to take home some fresh home grown veggies at the end.
.............................................................................
Apple Slice Recipe
125 soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 fresh home laid eggs from my own chooks
half cup milk
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
2 apples (depending on the size)
Topping: quarter cup brown sugar & one teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed together
put butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, flour, & baking powder in mixing bowl. Beat on low then increase speed to medium for 3 minutes. Pour into greased 20x30 slice tray. Cut apples in quarters & remove cores then slice up and press the slices into top of mixture so they are laying on top. Sprinkle with the topping and bake at 180C for about 25min or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in tray then cut into slices
serve as as a slice as is or as desert with ice cream, cream or yoghurt.
Have you got a favorite slice recipe you would like to share?
Send it in.
See you next SWAP! (3rd Sunday of each month)
Maddog.
01 January 2011
January Working Bee postponed till 9/1/2011
Happy New Year everyone!
Due to Christmas & New years celebrations & holidays we thought it best to put this months working bee back a week. So it's now on the 9th of January. Hope to see you there.
Due to Christmas & New years celebrations & holidays we thought it best to put this months working bee back a week. So it's now on the 9th of January. Hope to see you there.
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