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You are here: Home / Archives for Yandina community Gardens

Lemon Grass Infused Red Curry

18/01/2018 By

Lemongrass (takrai)
Use the pale lower end of the stalk which can be chopped finely, or bruise the tougher green part of the stem with a pestle, if larger pieces are called for.
Lemongrass can be used in curry pastes, stir-fries, and soups. The stems can be up to 60 cm long so trim the bae, remove the tough, outer layers and finely slice, chop or pound the white interior.
For pastes and salads, use the tender, white portion just above the root.
The whole stem, trimmed and washed thoroughly, can be added to simmering soups and curries and removed before serving.
The flavour of fresh is far superior to dried.

Red Vegetable Curry

Prep time 25 minutes & total cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

225 g bamboo shoots or tips (drained if from a can)

2 cups (500ml) coconut milk

1/2 cup (125 ml) water

2 tbsp red curry paste

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin seeds

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 medium potatoes, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground nutmeg

200 g pumpkin, roughly chopped

2tsp dried shrimp

150 g green beans, cut into short pieces

12 large dried or small fresh red chillis, roughly chopped

1 red capsicum, chopped

1 cup spring onion or Asian shallots, chopped

3 small zucchini, chopped

2 tabs oil (try olive, rice bran or coconut)

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves

4 stems lemongrass (white part only), finely chopped

2 tbsp fish sauce

12 small cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fresh coriander roots & 2 tbsp fresh coriander stems, chopped

3 tsp soft brown sugar

6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

2 tsp grated lemon/lime rind

2 tsp turmeric

black pepper and salt, to taste

Method

Cut the bamboo shoots in half, discard the tough ends and set shoots aside. Combine the coconut milk, water and curry paste in a large wok or saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Add the onion and kaffir lime leaves and allow to boil for 3 minutes
Add the potato and pumpkin to the wok and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, or until the pumpkin is nearly cooked. Add the beans, capsicum, and zucchini and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water if the curry is too thick. Add the bamboo shoots and basil. Season with fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar.
Serve with steamed rice.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Lemongrass, Living sustainably, Recipe, red curry, support species, Yandina community Gardens

What Are The Real Issues With Single-Use Plastic

18/01/2018 By

plastic-strawsWhat Are The Real Issues With Single-Use Plastic? What is single-use plastic? Single use plastics are any plastic that is designed to be used only once, often to contain food or other items. These include take away food containers, drink bottles, straws, coffee cups, packaging and plastic carry bags. Sometimes these plastics can be recycled, for example, plastic bottles and now soft plastics can be recycled by REDcycle to make bench seats. However, the sad truth is that a lot of single use plastic is thrown into landfill.

What are the real issues with single-use plastic? The top 3 are:

  1. Plastic components leach into our food and water and are a threat to our health.
  2. Plastic is choking up our oceans and has a grave effect on marine life.
  3. Plastic in landfill degrades, releasing its toxic components into our soils and groundwater.

Plastic and Our Health

Choice has just released an article that explains the health issues related to plastic and the components it is made of. To view this article, click here. In summary, the polymer molecules in plastic is not the problem but the smaller molecules released as plastic breaks down are small enough to migrate into our food and water. These molecules such as BPAs and phthalates are endocrine disruptors, mimicking our natural hormones. There is growing evidence that BPAs and Phthalates cause problems such as infertility, obesity, breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes (for detail see the article).

Plastic And Our Oceans

In the last few months we have seen the devastating effects of plastic on our marine life and the

plastic-lake-floatingplastic lake that is floating freely in the sea near the Caribbean (click here to see the video). Despite our best efforts, plastic containers, bottles, bags, and straws are landing up in the ocean. Research done in the UK has found that most fish caught for the market contain plastic in some shape or form. Sea turtles and even whales are not only being ensnared by plastic but die due to the ingestion of plastic.

Plastic And Landfill

90% of plastic used, particularly single use, is sent to landfill. The world produces about 300 million tons of plastic per year. It is estimated that 7 million tons land up in the ocean and the rest of the 90% not recycled ends up in landfill. In landfill, plastic breaks down into its smaller components and leaches into our soils and the water table, once again making its way into our food and ultimately our bodies affecting our health.

This is not the first advancement that we have made in human history that after many years is found to be detrimental to our health and the environment. Although the advent of plastic has made our lives much easier, it has come at a price.

So what can you do to eradicate the use of particularly single use plastic in your home and family? Here are some tips.plastic-bottles

  1. Replace your plastic bottle with a glass bottle or reusable container. Don’t purchase water in plastic bottles.
  2. When buying coffee, bring your own mug and request that that be used instead of the paper cups and lids.
  3. Make your own coffee in a coffee pot instead of using coffee pods.
  4. Learn to drink your beverages without straws.
  5. Buy vegetables that are not packaged in layers of plastic. Here you can find a farmers market or a good greengrocer.
  6. Take reusable bags when shopping and refuse the plastic bags when checking out.
  7. Collect all those plastic bags that you are unable to get rid of and find a place that takes recycled plastic. Often one of the big chain stores have this facility.

bring-your-own-bagOnce you make the commitment to stop accepting single use plastic, it then becomes a habit. Not so long ago people would stare at you if you brought your own shopping bags and the checkout attendant would not be happy! But now no one blinks an eye when you BYO shopping bags or coffee cup. It is now trendy to be plastic free! And quite pretty too! Boomerang Bags are funky and are available everywhere. If you forget your ‘Green’ bags, never fear, you can use Boomerang Bags and return them next time. Wax wraps, which replace plastic film wrap, are available in all sort of groovy fabrics and are very easy to make. Straws are also a big problem. Plastic straws are simply unnecessary! Would we be severely impacted if straws were not offered? No, we would still survive! We need to change the habit. The Last Straw is a campaign to end the use of the plastic straw in venues around Australia. It is also up to us to make the change. Saying no to single use plastic is the only way to get the message across. It starts with every one of us. You can make a difference.

Our next wax wrap-making workshop will be on Friday, 19 October.wax-cloth-wraps

Bookings are essential. To book wax-cloth workshop click here

Filed Under: Giving Plastic The Flick Tagged With: health and plastic, landfill, plastic, single use plastic, straws, sustainable living, wax-wraps, Workshop, Yandina community Gardens

Fun Had By All At Our Annual End Of Year Member Event

11/12/2017 By

One of our favourite times of the year at Yandina Community Gardens is when our members come together to celebrate what we have achieved for the year. This year’s event was no exception as we fired up the cob oven and shared a delightful meal together we also had occasion to plant a tree in memory of Bill Mollison, launch our intensive orchard garden, new website and give a special award to a long-standing member and contributor to the gardens.

Tree planting At Yandina Community Gardens
Dave planting a tree in memory of Bill Mollison
Bill Mollison
Permaculture guru Bill Mollison.

Last year with the passing of Bill Mollison his widow requested that all the Permaculture organisations plant a tree in his memory. We now have a beautiful Black Sapote in our orchard that will forever remind us of his incredible contribution to sustainable living. One of his quotes that lie dear to our heart at YCG is.

“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone”.

We also celebrated the launch of our intensive orchard garden that was made possible by the Sunshine Coast Council grant for their 50th-year birthday celebration. This garden showcases how to build a productive orchard in a very small space.

Orchard garden
Launching our intensive orchard garden

For some time we have recognised as a management committee that if we are going to extend our influence with regard to sustainable living beyond our own community we need to transform our website. This work was done in the last 3 months of the year and we would particularly like to thank Christa Louw (our IT volunteer) for the technical support in this regard. Our website has now come of age with WOO commerce, just to mention one new feature, that allows workshop attendees to book and pay for workshops online.

Our organisation would not exist without the dedication of many volunteers and we are particularly grateful to people who have made a long-term commitment to YCG. Each year the Committee will be recognising such people and this year we recognised Dave Clark, who has tirelessly supported YCG. Dave who is exceptionally knowledgeable in Permaculture design and did his Permaculture training with Bill Mollison in the early days has been with YCG since its inception. Thanks Dave for your contribution and dedication to our beautiful community space.

Dave Clark
Dave Clark being recognised for his long-term dedication to YCG

Some of our members who attended the event had this to say…

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday morning workshops and I have gained many skills at YCC.” Louise White

“The YCG is an inspiration. So fantastic to see so many working for a healthy sustainable future. Very educational and a great asset to the community.” Meri Luke

“YCG is a fantastic place for people to learn about growing their own healthy food and sustainability. Many volunteers put in many hours to make YCG the great resource and community that it is. It was fantastic today to see YCG volunteers recognised with the help of Sunshine Coast Council.”

“Great pizzas, great people; beautiful gardens and great opportunity to keep learning about living an organic lifestyle.” -Petra

Cob oven pizzas
Thanks to Trevor we all enjoyed tasty pizzas from our own cob oven

“Wonderful to know wonderful people surrounded by gardens of beauty and wholesomeness.” – Myshell

“I love coming to these gardens! Such good people, terrific workshops, wonderfully lush plants. So much knowledge gets passed on and great concept – there should be more of them.” – Jan L

“Yandina Community Gardens is an integral and very happy part of my life. It invigorates me and I love the people involved in the gardens. Also, we learn how to care for our natural heritage to preserve our planet for our children.” – Pam P

“It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this community garden which I hope will grow with more community awareness and be appreciated by all.” – Andrew

“Yandina Community Gardens provides such a welcome respite – an oasis of learning, creativity, and community. I look forward to each visit and feel very grateful for the people who enable the opportunities afforded to me through its existence.” – Jenny L

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Bill Mollison, events, Intensive orchard, member event, Permaculture gardens, sustainable living, Yandina community Gardens

Aquaponics System For Sale

11/12/2017 By

Aquaponics System

Aquaponics Patio Unit system purchased from Practical Aquaponics (Murray Hallum)

Aquaponics system

  • Large tub for fish (1250 litres) 1470 W x 1250 D x 910 H. Suitable for Australian Native Fish (new price $1309 for large tank only)
  • Small grow bed with clay-fired balls (approx. 100 litres)
  • Timber lid covered in shade cloth
  • Bilge pump – replaced in October 2016 with AquaPro AB3000 water pump from Practical Aquaponics (purchase price $122.50)
  • All plumbing including auto-siphon
  • Aerator
  • Water testing kit
  • Nets
  • Urban Aquaponics Manual 2nd Edition by Gary Donaldson

Offers around $800 considered

If you are interested in making an offer, please contact YCG Secretary, Lissa Evans by emailing info@yandinacommunitygardens.com.au

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: aquaponics, aquaponics for sale, Murray Hallum, Yandina community Gardens

Becoming More Self-Sufficient

11/12/2017 By

One of the objectives here at the Yandina Community Gardens is to help our members and community learn hands-on skills and become educated to live a more “self-sufficient” and “sustainable” lifestyle. Becoming more self-sufficient means becoming less dependent on outside resources and making more use of your own resources. Whilst complete self-sufficiency may not be possible for most people in today’s modern world, I do believe it is a rewarding pursuit. One that will yield many practical and personal benefits.

Self-Sufficient lifestyle

There is an abundance of information and tips out there on how to become more self-sufficient. Over the coming months, the gardens will be running a number of workshops to support you to become more self-sufficient. In this article, I will be focusing on three things you can do to reduce your living costs and become more self-sufficient. At the end of the article, I will include a list of tips for you.

1. Grow your own food Grow your own food

On average we spend about $150 a week on food and for a family, with a couple kids, this can be well over $300 a week. Almost all those costs can be eliminated by growing our own food. Get out and attend as many workshops as you can to learn the key components to growing your own organic nutrient-packed food. The main things to learn about include:

  • Loving your soil – having healthy soil is central to how good your food will be. Understanding how you can increase the humus content in your soil will improve your food quality and quantity.
  • Basic permaculture design principles – one-way permaculture differs from other methods of gardening is that it is not just a set of practical techniques; it is a way of thinking and of adapting to a particular ecology. Whether you are starting a new garden, or introducing permaculture principles to an existing garden, having some understanding of the key principles will definitely help you get closer to your self-sufficiency goals. Join one of our garden tours at Yandina Community Gardens to see what we do. Garden Tours at YCG
  • How to grow your own seedlings – growing your own seedlings is easy but not as easy as just throwing a seed in some dirt, there are a few key things you can learn that will increase your success rate. Join a local seed savers group so you can learn how to save your own seeds and you will have friends to swap seeds with as well.
  • Building garden beds and wicking gardens – if you don’t have the resources to build your own beds you can visit local recycling and demolition yards and find lots of valuable materials. Wicking beds are great for our subtropical climate and will help reduce your water use and grow super greens all year round.
  • Natural garden pest control – prevention is the best cure when it comes to pests. A healthy garden is the best defense. Natural pest control is cost effective and safe for your garden, your family, your companion animals, wildlife and the environment.Find out about our workshops, click here  

2. Build a compost system

Organic waste comprises an estimated 20-40% of the solid waste stream that ends up in landfills. Organic matter breaks down slowly in landfills due to limited oxygen, which can contribute to methane gas production. Luckily we can compost! 🙂 Compost is the rich, black remnant of organic waste such as kitchen scraps combined with “brown” matter (i.e. soil, leaves).  The result is beautiful fertilizer for your garden. Intentionally composting accelerates the natural process of the breakdown of organic matter. Composting reduces landfill waste, saves you from using chemical fertilizers, and introduces beneficial organisms to your soil. A supporter and member of our garden Costa Georgiadis has a lot to say about composting.

3. Improve your hot water heating systems

What few people realize, is that the process of heating water in homes is extremely energy intensive and therefore expensive. An average household can use around 25% of its total energy on heating water.  So it’s important to use an efficient system that suits your needs. Reducing the amount of hot water you use and using a more efficient hot water system are great ways to reduce your energy costs and your impact on the environment. Given that over 85% of our electricity in Australia is derived from nonrenewable fossil fuels, the ecological cost of water heating is enormous. The warm showers that you so enjoy are most fun and likely at the same time contributing to massive greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming.

Luckily, there are other ways to heat the water that you use that are cost-effective.  It is a step to becoming less reliant on the power grid. Do some of your own research online.

Once you have your own food growing, have put together an efficient composting system and have reduced your energy consumption by heating your own hot water you will be well on your way to becoming more self-sufficient and saved lots of money.
There are lots more things you can start to incorporate into your daily life – here are some ideas.

Easy Self Sufficient Living Tips

  • Building a rain barrel to collect rainwater for lawn and garden irrigation.
  • Install solar panels with batteries to store household energy.
  • Add skylights and large, energy-efficient windows to take advantage of natural light.
  • Choose a solar oven to replace inefficient appliances.
  • Learn basic appliance, car, and home repairs and maintenance to save time and money to keep items in good repair for a longer time period.
  • Using a clothesline instead of a gas or electric dryer.
  • Choosing reusable grocery bags instead of disposable ones, and reusing store bags as trash bags.
  • Growing indoor micro herbs for fresh recipe seasoning.
  • Choose reusable cloth diapers that can be handed down to multiple children.
  • Learning to repair and sew new clothing, curtains etc
  • Learn basic culinary preservation skills such as canning or making fruit preserves to support a larger harvest.
  • Learning food fermentation methods for food and health
  • Choosing to walk or bike to work or on errands instead of using a motorised vehicle.
  • Choosing a low flow toilet or composting toilet to preserve water and use the human effluents
  • Choose energy efficient light bulbs and appliances to minimise the need for electricity.
  • Using a manual push lawn mower instead of electric or gas powered models.
  • Buying locally produced items to minimize transport costs and to support others interested in self-sufficiency.
  • Starting your own business to become economically self-sufficient instead of relying on an employer.
  • Developing natural beauty without depending on cosmetics, hair dye, and other products.
  • Choosing self-sufficient recreation such as camping, hiking, or other low impact activities that do not require extensive travel or elaborate assistance to enjoy.

Self-sufficient living tips can help anyone begin to develop their own economic and environmental independence. While it may not be possible to become completely self-sufficient, choosing just a few ways to participate in low impact living can have a profound impact on the environment as well as an individual’s self-esteem and personal satisfaction.

Roman Spur and his family have pursued a self-sufficient lifestyle for many years. To learn more about how to provide for your family in a more sustainable and self-sufficient way, join us at Roman’s workshop. Click here to book

Filed Under: Sustainable Living Tagged With: energy efficiency, growing food, making compost, Roman Spur, self sufficiency, sustainable living, workshops, Yandina community Gardens

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Our Location & Hours

41 Farrell street, Yandina, see map
Mon, Tue 8.30am-2pm, Sat 8.30am-12pm Closed public holidays

Workshops

  • Healthy soil

    Saturday 27th March 2021, 3-5pm, Time to grow your own food and wellness with Leonie Shanahan

    $15.00 – $20.00
    Select options
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    $15.00 – $20.00
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    Become a Qualified Permaculture Educator with Morag Gamble

    click here to find out more

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