SPRING HAPPINESS PARTY – PART 2

September 24, 2013 2 Comments

SPRING HAPPINESS PARTY

PART 2
And on into the night

The day started oh so very dignified with a beautiful parrot and a pair of brown bears, but as night fell was invaded by a band of mischievous little monsters each naughtier than the last.

The perfect time to bring out the old Bee Pinata! Although the masses voiced regrets at destroying such a wide eyed, smiling guy all sentiments passed when the bashing stick fell into their hands.

There was a moment when all in sundry thought that the bee would never give up its inner treasures, too sturdily was he constructed of cardboard and tape. But they had forgotten we had a corporate lawyer in our midst. With three short, sharp wallops to the face the bee could take no more and spilled forth chocolate ladybirds, lollipops, summer seeds and knitted ornaments all over Carly’s rows of peas and beans.

Fire roaring the last to leave encircled the fire pit with jazz playing in the moonlight.

We gobbled left over treats of spanakopita (both vegan and otherwise), woodfire pizza with lanterns glowing pink savoring the last moment of the celebration.

All in all a most magical and beautiful day spent with new and old friends, this definitely will become an annual event worth every hour of slaving over crochet flowers and pinterest boards.

Perhaps we will see you at our next spring party dear reader.

Family, Guides, Recipes

SPRING HAPPINESS PARTY – PART 1

September 23, 2013 1 Comment

SPRING HAPPINESS PARTY

PART 1
Come celebrate with us!

honey-comb-newspaper-recycled-sphere-ball-decorations

In a week of downpours and plummeting temperatures the weather saved up its sunshine for Saturday, and well it should for it was the Spring Happiness Party at our sharehouse! We bade people leave their winter blues at the door and dress in their spring finery for a very special garden warming party. Almost two years since our Permablitz our garden was filled with laughter and the delicate scent of climbing roses and savoury treats. No one came dressed as a squirrel or possum, but a very busy bumble bee fairy made up for it.

I’ll be the first to admit that this was an outlet for a full blown girlish childhood relapse for the three of us, crochet flowers and jasmine wreaths and all, but despite this, even the gentlemen of the house had smiles on their faces, but this might have had more to do with the icy beers than the colourful paper lanterns. And a lapse of a day into shenanigans can be endearing, where as a lapse into hello kitty bedecked bedrooms would be far more alarming. Let’s all be greatful for small mercies people!

It was the perfect place for a party.

I was proud and delighted to see earthbag garden beds, so carefully crafted to create intimate spaces, being so happily used for a myriad of little catch ups and introductions. I hope a lot of new friends were made on the day and old ones strengthened.

Jess and Carly has to be shooed from the kitchen to enjoy the day, but their efforts were appreciated by the masses. Mini quiches were washed down with pineapple punch and every inch of the house was decorated with flowers that looked amazing next to rainbow fruit skewers. My carefully monitored, food intolerance based diet, took a major fall when a chocolate mousse, dairy filled, sugar fueled, gluten glistening delight arrived, but if your going to fall you might as well fall gloriously like that! I’m only human!

More photos tomorrow, there were too many lovely ones for one post, stay tuned!

Garden

Inaugural Flemington Food Swap

August 26, 2013 2 Comments

food-swap-produce-limes-seedlings-vegetables

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finding community in the inner city

A little huddle of four we strode towards Coronet Park, seedlings swinging and lunchboxes bursting with baked treats. We had thrust out a net of fliers with hopes of finding like minded people: wishing for change, weary of waste… a community. Our resilient leader Carly strode with confidence, my heart had a slight flutter, the fear of disappointment. Flemington isn’t Northcote, would anyone show up?

The park seemed very big as we set out our assortment of winter veg and nibbled on Carly’s delicious Bengali bhaja. In the distance, a boy and his dad cocked their heads mid kick and wandered over. Their bags opened to reveal hundreds of juicy limes that their 10 year old tree had produced. If these were the kinds of wonders people brought to a food swap I was definitely in for the long haul! A quite little trio of three generations approached shyly. The grandmother, with not a word of English, but a huge contagious smile pointed to the swap items, to us to her, to her daughter all the while merrily chattering in Mandarin, to which we spoke not a word. She scuttled off and returned with a lunchbox of sweet and yummy red bean sweet cake and lovingly craddling the enormous Pak Choy she chose in return.

And then suddenly people were coming from all directions

All ages, all genders, all nationalities; carrying books, picnic food, veggies, herbs and clothes to swap. we found ourselves looking at each other and grinning in shock, it was overwhelming and heartwarming. Everyone seemed as thrilled about it as us, promising to return to the next swap with more friends, proffering invites to pot lucks, and clothing exchanges, parties and community working bees. At the end of the day everyone felt like they left richer than when they arrived, it was more than I imagined it could be and look forward to many more Swaps in the future. It will grow, people will share more than what can be held in the hand, knowledge, talents and strength!

Garden, Recipes

BUILDING AN EARTH OVEN PART 5 – LOOKS LIKE A COCONUT ROUGH

May 30, 2013 1 Comment

earth-oven-insulation-layer-rendering-seat-superadobe-bag

looks like a coconut rough

building an earth oven part 5

This is the stage we affectionately call the coconut rough, it’s not that attractive but inside it holds unexpected delights!

Forgive the delay between stage 4 and 5, it is oh so tempting to put your feet up once you’ve made a basic earth oven. You can cook a most mouthwatering pizza in it, so you can get lazy, putting off the insulation layer. But if you attempt to cook pizza for the masses, your first pizza and maybe your second will cook like a dream in under 5 minutes, but by the time you get to your fourth or fifth the oven cools and you start getting nasty doughy uncooked centres.

Time for the next stage! Let’s make an eski out of this mudpie!

STEP 11: MIX IT MAKE IT

Make a sludgy mix of equal parts clay and sawdust and add water until you get that nice mudpie consistency, use a shovel to chop up any clay lumps. Apply it just as you did in stage 3, no need to pack it down too hard, you want all those air pockets made by the sawdust to trap the heat inside.

STEP 12: FIRE IT BAKE IT

Then all that’s left is to light a fire to dry it out and once it’s hot enough, why not push the burning embers to side and cook a delicious wood fire pizza!? There is nothing like it! Although warning once you try it you might become a pizza snob and those second-rate takeaway ones will never do! Perhaps a good thing for the health and the hips!

STEP 13: DO IT DOOR IT

Of course if you want to get into sourdough bread baking you’ll need a door. Pizza’s cook merrily fast in a super hot oven with the door off, but bread needs too cook more slowly and evenly so you’ll need a door. The bright sparks among you would have made the door first and then built the oven around it so it fits like a dream, but that’s not how we roll here. We just grabbed some timber off-cuts and banged them together then carved it to fit. Hey, it does the job! The bread needs a cooler over so remove all the fire embers before you bake it, once the dough is in shut the door and return in 15 minutes for a mouth watering delight! But don’t be too greedy let it cool a bit first, it’s still cooking once you take it out!