The Hills Garden & Environmental Expo

SUNDAY, 15TH NOVEMBER 2009 - URAIDLA SHOWGROUNDS 10am to 4pm

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HILLS GARDEN AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPO                                  

Adult entry: $5 
Concession $3
Free Entry for children accompanied by an adult

For 2009 we have secured the following speakers and demonstrators:

Peter Goers: From ABC Radio 891 will open the event

Sophie Thompson: ‘Sustainable, climate compatible gardening’

Lolo Houbein: ‘One Magic Square: Grow your own food on one square metre’

Liddy Dolman: ‘A Basic Guide to Sustainable Living’

Gary Rule: A cooking demonstration from the Head Chef at the Stirling Hotel

The 2009 event will also include various activities & entertainment:

• Live bands “West Coast Trio”
• Wine & Gourmet Platters
• Gourmet BBQ & refreshments
• Devonshire Tea
• Rock Climbing Wall
• Craft Activities
• Face Painting & Crazy Hair Stalls
• Free Parking

PLEASE NOTE: The Expo is a “dog-free” event.

Hills Sustainable Living Day Sunday 8th November 12:45pm

Where?     Bridgewater Hall      (just opposite Coles on the Bridgewater/Carey Gully Road)

Speakers, plants, stalls, organic wine and olive oil, afternoon tea and talks and home and garden tours.

Information Talks

1pm   N Mullard                   Building with mud brick and stone

1:40 Peter Harwood             Building with reclaimed timber

2:15  Lola Houbein              Author of “ One Magic Square” Easy organic veggie gardening

2:50  Tim Marshall               Author of “Compost the Ultimate organic guide to recycling your garden”

Visit 3 sustainable & environmentally friendly homes and gardens and talk to the owners.

I picked up the leaflet for this at the Stirling organic market, there is no contact number but it says “arranged by the Mayo Branch of the Australian Greens”.

Loquats, lemons, parsley, coriander, garlic and chilli.

 

 

 

All these ingredients are in season at the moment so I thought I would post this very easy salad  recipe for you.

We shall call it  “Doc’s Lemon and Loquat Salad Delight” ( ask Andrew what that means!)

Mix together equal quantities of cooked chickpeas and cooked brown rice.

Add sliced, deseeded loquats and some fresh diced tomatoes if you have some.

Make a salad dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, a little grated lemon zest, a little peeled chopped lemon, some crushed garlic, a spoonful of paprika, some chopped red chilli, a handful  each of chopped coriander and parsley and a pinch of salt.

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

The picture of the loquats comes from  Plant Answers.com  

If you click on this link you will find more delicious recipes and info about loquats. There is  even a recipe for loquat wine.

Lemon rain…

The chooks that live under our lemon tree have it all figured out – as soon as they hear the rustling in the leaves overhead that signals another lemon bomb about to land in their midst, they scatter to the winds…

I wish I could scatter to the winds! Every day I go outside, another bucket load of lemons has fallen to the ground, awaiting our attention.

We use about one lemon per day in salads, but we get two crops per year with around 50 kg of lemons just off this one tree.

So, lemon recipes anyone? Ones without sugar? And yes, we do freeze the juice for the lean months, but it never tastes quite the same…

We met a nice Chinese couple recently who’d never seen a lemon tree before. Lucky them!

 

 

 

 

So here’s a typical scene in the kitchen; lemon tyranny!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the plus side, Spring sunsets over the lemon tree are rather picturesque…

Kitchen Gardeners International Challenge ends 6th November.

CRUSH HUNGER Challenge

Please read about this challenge, support it and post it on your blog or share it with friends.

If KGI won this challenge it would be able to help many gardening projects around the world.

Last year KGI  managed to get a veggie garden at the White House, help them win this challenge.

 

27 October 2009

Dear Kitchen Gardener,

KGI is a 501c3 nonprofit community of over 18,000 people from 100 countries who are growing some of their own food and helping others to do the same.  We have a rare opportunity to expand the number of people we are reaching and the number of gardening groups we are helping by winning America's Giving Challenge, a fundraising competition whose grand prize is $50,000.  The prize winners are those nonprofits that generate the highest number of donations (not total dollar value) between now and November 6th, so even $10 is a big help.

We are currently in 30th place out of over 1800 nonprofits (not bad for a little nonprofit with one staff member!), but here's the really exciting news: all we need is for for 10% of our community to make a donation of $10 and we can zoom into second place!  As I mentioned before, this is the one and only fundraising drive we're making this year so I hope you'll choose to get off the garden fence and make a secure online donation here and now.

To rouse you into action,  I've just posted a fun, 2-minute video to YouTube called "Gardeners have the Power."  The message of the video is the same as the message of this exceptional funding opportunity: we can do anything we set our mind to...when we work together.  So, let's do just that and win this contest for the global gardening cause.

With over 1 billion people hungry in the world and global climate change screaming out for action, there's no time for us gardeners to waste. 

Many thanks for being the change you want to see in the world,

Roger Doiron

Founding Director, KGI

PS: If you really want to help KGI, but do not wish to donate online you may fill out this form and send us a check.  The donation will not be counted in the contest totals (because it doesn't pass through the contest counter), but will help support our work. Thanks.

PPS: We'll soon go back to our regularly scheduled kitchen gardening programming, so hang in there!

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Here's a link and a logo for new dedicated website I set up for our contest entry.  Feel free to poke around there and see some of the types of projects KGI has helped in the past to get a feel for the work we're trying to do more of in the future.

(All the donation links and buttons at CrushHunger.org take you to our contest donations page)

FOOD CONNECT ADELAIDE --- RSVP by 28/10/09

WANT TO BE PART OF A

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM ?

Come and learn about

Food Connect Adelaide –

a new more sustainable food system which aims to support local growers.

Where : Main Hall, Clarence Park Community Centre,

72-74 East Ave, Black Forest, Adelaide

When : Sunday November 1,

1.30pm for 1.45pm start. Finish 5.45pm
Afternoon tea will be provided.

Robert Pekin, founder of Food Connect (Brisbane) will be facilitating a workshop with growers and customers.
Come and find out more about this innovative food system, how it works and help to establish it here in Adelaide.

RSVP and more info :
Sally Fisher info@foodconnectadelaide.com.au by 28/10/09

www.foodconnectadelaide.com.au

A Seedsaver’s Garden

For all us new & experienced gardeners it was a wonderful afternoon visit to Claudia & Andrew’s amazing backyard “farm”. Where once the garden was surrounded by Italian & Greek backyard vegetable gardens, today this garden is surrounded by paved “Tuscan’ villas. It is so refreshing & encouraging to see what healthy herbs, fruits & vegetables can be grown for you family in a suburban backyard.

As Seedsavers it is important, as Andrew said today, to save the seeds from you favourite plants and vegetables so you are able to provide this healthy food for your family & friends.

Backyard gardening, although enjoyable does take time & effort & patience. Plants are grown, the seeds saved & then each season the seeds are returned to the soil, the plant grows & the cycle continues.

Claudia & Andrew have worked hard to save all the water coming onto their property so that through the long dry Adelaide summer their garden is watered with pure rainwater, which creates a healthy environment for their plants, their chickens & themselves.

For more photographs use this link: A Seedsavers Garden

A great big thank you to Claudia & Andrew for their great hospitality & for sharing their wonderful backyard farm with us today.

We have some more plans to visit other seedsavers vegetable gardens soon.