The act of preserving fruit, like gardening, is a hopeful act. It’s a gesture of goodwill to future meals that you plan to have, incorporating a since-past season’s bounty. It’s also darn repetitive (though some would call it calming, I suppose), all that cutting and washing and slicing and bringing up to heat and waiting and cleaning…
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The thing about farming on the small is that big machines just don’t make sense, and often aren’t affordable to your small, regenerative farming enterprise anyway. And yet, once you’ve brought 18 beds to a fine tilth to plant your precious carrots using hand tools alone, you could be forgiven for longing for the efficiency that…
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Discovering new edible plants in unexpected places is fast becoming one of my favourite pastimes. This week, we’ve been scouting our local ‘hood for beaded samphire. Beaded samphire (Sarcocornia quinqueflora) is also known as sea asparagus or beaded glasswort. It’s an edge plant that grows in highly saline environments, like salt marshes, brackish water, or at the top…
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String em up, baby! Climbing tomatoes often need a helping hand to reach their full potential. Here’s our two favourite methods for stringing up best ever backyard toms. Farm or patio, tomatoes are the go. I can’t imagine summer without them. In a small backyard like the one we’re living in just now, climbing tomatoes make lots of…
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So just how relevant or valuable IS an American farmer like Joel Salatin coming to Australia to talk small farm skills and enterprise planning? As it turns out, quite a lot. The techniques + thinking of Polyface Farms’ founder has influenced many amazing small farm enterprises in Australia that we know of, helping them to thrive,…
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Wow, this book is a cracker. Friendly, in-depth knowledge at its best. Written by US mycologist and dedicated home-scale mushroom cultivator Tradd Cotter, it’s a great blend of practical cultivation how-tos, fungi ID and strategies for mycoremediation. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation is a great addition to any shroomish library and while it doesn’t replace the…
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The food is all around us. Or so I like to think. You just need to know where to look, and always have a bucket or basket with you. Following on from the quietly inspiring visit from Artist as Family, who parked their bikes at our place for a day or two and proceeded to…
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Calling all potential local food futurists! A quick note that the South East Local Leaders program is open for applications. South East Local Land Services, South East Landcare and the Small Farms Network have teamed up with leadership training providers Global Learning to run three high quality local leadership development opportunities in the South East Local Land…
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(note – this gorgeous article was written by Brydie Piaf, but somewhere in a website update it reverted to my profile. Enjoy) If I’m honest, as we head towards the end of the year and the regular gift giving period…well, I start to get a little bit nervous. While I adore the hot weather, school…
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You know it’s going to be a good day when you jump out of bed, pull on overalls and work boots, and head for the door with your big straw hat, garden gloves in your pocket. It was raining in Redfern when we arrived in the morning, but that didn’t matter one little bit. It was…
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If you haven’t been following ArtistAsFamily‘s current and epic journey around Australia, you should be. It’s seriously got it all – pedal-powered travel, foraged food, big hills, and bigger revelations. Lucky for us South Coasties, ArtistasFamily are stopping for a breather in Kiama next Tuesday night, and giving a free talk about their year on bikes and foraging Australia as…
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A pocket full of seeds. Ever since I heard of the concept, I’ve loved this idea. The idea of always, always having something in your pocket to sprinkle on any bare patch of ground that you see. A day could start out completely ordinary. Nothing to see here. But then, you’re walking along, and you spy…
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When we first moved to Mudgee in 2007, clearing sales were a big part of our life. Infact, they basically were our social life. Because a clearing sale is a farm un-packed, and we needed to start one. We bought everything from windows and doors to tools and furniture. Oh and that bridge, that one time.
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