It's yet another tough time for friends in NSW and our thoughts are with any of you affected by this most recent flood.
It's been a very active month at Northey Street City Farm with the Winter Solstice Festival. There was a Grow, Share, Yarn gathering the following day. Whilst there's lots of recovery work still to do at the Farm, we are getting there and we've now begun making steady progress with soil bioremediation.
We are delighted to announce that we were successful in our Bank Australia grant application for Dominique Chen (First Nations Advisory Group) to lead the development of First Nations content for permaculture and regenerative agriculture courses.
We are welcoming Costa, from Gardening Australia to the Farm in a few days, as part of International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW). We're super excited about it and hope you can come and meet him and glean more composting wisdom.
With food prices rising and shortages in some instances, was there ever a better time to do one (or more) of our Sustainable Living Courses to help you with growing food at home. We've got lots of interesting and practical workshops coming up, as well as lots happening in the Youth Ed area including Earth Arts, Earth Kids and more.
If you have some time on your hands and would like to get involved at the Farm, we have several volunteer opportunities.
To find out about all of these things and more why not grab a cuppa and give yourself some relaxed reading time. There's a lot in this newsletter!
Thank you for supporting Northey Street City Farm.
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2022 Bank Australia Community Customer Grants
We are so thrilled to have been included in this year's grant recipients.
The grant we have received will see the creation of an online training resource to accompany regenerative agriculture and permaculture courses in Australia. It will give participants an opportunity to explore ways to practically and meaningfully engage with First Nations people, protocols, and perspectives, towards a more equitable and respectful, land-based future.
We are delighted to have Dominque Chen, a much loved member of the Farm's First Nations Advisory Group (FNAG), leading this project. Dom is a Gamilaroi woman with over two decades of experience working within the community, arts, education, and research sectors, including project and organisational management. She is a practicing artist and researcher, and lectures at Griffith University / Queensland College of Art in the area of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art. She is currently undertaking doctoral study at the University of Technology Sydney, exploring the intersections between relational art, activism, and urban Aboriginal agriculture. Dom also facilitates the quarterly Grow, Share, Yarn gatherings at the Farm.
Thanks again, go to Bank Australia for the generous grant and also for their wonderful ongoing customer service: they are always very helpful and so easy to do business with.
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The vibe at the Northey Street Organic Farmers Market every Sunday is so lovely with people buying their fresh organic produce and groceries, with waste free options. There's always kids' laughter, music, and bird song in the air, as well as breakfast food, spiced chai, and fresh herb smells.
We are very lucky to have the City Farm Nursery as part of the market. After your shopping and organic breakfasts, you can visit the nursery and take home seeds and seedlings for afternoon gardening.
We are very happy to announce that COSTA from Gardening Australia will be visiting the markets on July 17th! A wonderful opportunity to meet Australia's most loveable ambassador of gardening, composting, and organic farming. Costa has become the official ambassador for International Compost Awareness Week.
Do you have compost? Find out how easy it is to start one on Sunday the 17th. Bring a date and the whole family.
Unfortunately, there's some sad news from the Market. You may have heard that market stallholder Ian Steinhardt (Nourishing Biodynamics) passed away recently.
Ian was a well-known and well-respected member of the biodynamic farming community. Best wishes to Ian's wife Jennifer, and their family and friends, during this difficult time. We will be thinking of you.
Friends of the Steinhardt family have set-up a fundraiser to help Jennifer purchase a new vehicle – something that would make a big difference at this time. Please consider supporting the campaign here.
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The June Grow Share Yarn was a small one but a good one. We were lucky to have Kuku Yalanji woman Ivy Minniecon come along and share her lomandra weaving, while we yarned, drank medicinal teas, snacked on native foods, and shared plants, seeds and stories.
Thanks to the jarjums for keeping the fire going!
The next Grow Share Yarn will be happening when the weather warms up in Spring, time and date to be confirmed. All First Nations mob and families welcome.
For more information please click this link.
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2022 Winter Solstice Festival
What a lovely Winter Solstice we had. A HUGE thank you to everyone who came, performed, volunteered, worked, and facilitated workshops. We received such positive feedback. See you at the next one!
We'll have a bunch of photos on our website soon.
Thank you!
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City Farm Nursery
As the weather grows colder it can feel like the grey, overcast skies are dampening our minds as well as our gardens – so here are some reminders of the joys winter brings.
Classic temperate zone veggies like broccoli, silverbeet, cauliflower and climbing beans grow well now. This cool weather in the subtropics is perfect for growing lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum and carrots. Though lettuce is associated with summer salads, our winter sunlight provides leafy greens with enough photosynthesis to thrive, whereas direct summer sun can burn their delicate leaves.
Winter gardening is also the perfect time to get out and do some weeding, they're easier to pull out and have less chance of reestablishing at this time of year. Pulling weeds can be an uplifting meditation when imagining removing unwanted thoughts, memories or feelings with each plant pulled out.
Feeling grey in this chilly weather? Take a walk through our Nursery, there are plenty of colourful plants to brighten your day: bright yellow marigolds, red veined sorrel, purple Persian shields, deep blue pansies, pops of orange kumquats. We've not only got a feast for the eyes but a few of our favourite herbs to lift your spirits with a hot cup of tea: lemongrass, jasmine flowers, lemon balm, chamomile, and many mints!
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WHY BECOME A MEMBER?
Become a member today and start receiving your 10% plant discount at City Farm Nursery. Other benefits include 10% off merchandise and borrowing rights at the Farm's library. For all of the benefits please click here.
By becoming a member you will be contributing to the foundation of Northey Street City Farm, which is one of being a place to gather, learn and celebrate ‘Living Sustainably in the City’.
Find out more including how to sign up for your membership here. Subscriptions start at $12/year.
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EARTH ARTS
Call out for volunteers
Bob Mud is looking for a hand with preparing art materials on Wednesdays; helping out during playgroup on Tuesdays and Fridays; helping to set up, pack up and help out at Earth Arts on a Sunday.
Please see Bob on the Village Green at the Farm any of these days to find out more about what is involved and to chat about what days/times you are available.
More information can also be found here.
The next volunteer induction on Tuesday 2 August at 9:30 am. You must be willing to acquire a Blue Card.
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SOIL BIOREMEDIATION
Following the February floods, soil tests revealed contamination at the Farm. The great news is that we have undertaken bioremediation works led by Michael Wardle, the Farm's Adult Education Co-ordinator.
We are using a combination of biology and starvation to draw out the contamination. Following this is remineralisation, planning, and production. As a result of the project, there will be an 8-week turnaround time for planting edibles in each treated area. Exciting news hey!
This week the team had a fabulous educational session on creating seed raising mix and correct seed sowing methods. As a result, several trays of edibles are now in the greenhouse and our eager volunteers will be watching with interest each week as they germinate and become ready for planting.
We have a team of enthusiastic volunteers who are loving the combination of theory and hands-on. With around 90 plots to attend to though, there's plenty of room for more volunteers, so if this project piques your interest please email Michael: adultedn@nscf.org.au
There are still lots of other tasks to do post floods in order to bring the Farm back to life, including getting the compost hub operational again.
If you are new to volunteering at the Farm, please attend our next induction on Tuesday 2 August @ 9:30am. Enquiries can be sent to info@nscf.org.au.
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NO DIG GARDENING
with Michael Wardle
On Saturday 16 July, 1pm to 4pm
No-dig gardens are quick to build, low maintenance, and a productive option for garden beds.
In this workshop you will learn about how to build a no dig garden bed from scratch. Pioneered in the 70’s this is a great way of minimising gardening effort while kick-starting a garden with maximum fertility. A no-dig garden consists of layers of organic material that are stacked up to form a rich, raised garden.
In this workshop we will cover:
Why No-Dig
Principles and history
No-Dig design – it’s all about the layers
Planting out a no-dig bed
Maintenance
Water application
Soil management
To grab your spot in this workshop please follow this link.
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Sustainable Living Workshops |
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Learn practical skills and how to live sustainably by attending our half day / full day / weekend workshops.
NB: onsite workshops will observe social distancing requirements.
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Youth Education
Earth Kids
Our term 3 homeschool program and Spring School Holiday Programs will have a bird theme and are now open for bookings.
The Term 3 Homeschool Program is running from Wednesday 27 July to 7 September. Tickets are available here. Single session and full program tickets are available.
The Spring Earth Kids School Holiday Program is running from 27 to 29 September. Earlybird tickets are available until 4 September. Tickets are available here.
For both programs parent volunteer places are available, with discounted tickets for their children. Part-scholarship places are also available for parents holding Health Care Cards. Contact Emma at education@nscf.org.au if you are interested in these options.
Teacher Professional Development workshops
Outdoor Learning and the Curriculum: A Professional Development Workshop for Educators
Saturday 23 July, 9am – 4pm
with Emma Brindal and Bethan Burton
This
practical workshop draws on place-responsive pedagogies and nature
connection practices which connect students to place and foster care
for the natural world.
More information and tickets here.
Successful School Gardening: A Professional Development Workshop for Teachers and School Community Members
Saturday, 6 August, 9am to 4pm
with Jenny Kato and Emma Brindal
This workshop will introduce the practicalities of establishing and maintaining a school garden using permaculture practices and principles and how this can be linked to the curriculum.
More information and tickets are here.
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Tours and School Visits
We
are taking bookings for tours and school visits for 2022. As bookings
are not paid for until after each visit, there is no financial
commitment to make a tentative booking.
For more information and bookings for school visits, click HERE
For more information and bookings for group tours, click HERE
We run free farm tours on Tuesday mornings for groups of 4 to 8 by arrangement only. This is a great way to learn more about Northey Street City Farm. Please contact Ronni: educationandsupport.mgr@nscf.org.au if you would like to arrange a guided tour.
We also have a free farm tour for individuals on the first Tuesday of each month. Please arrive by 9:30 am at Chai Cafe to meet your tour guide.
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SURVEY |
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Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA)
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AFSA will be launching a revised Peoples' Food Plan at the 2022 Food Sovereignty Convergence/AGM. In order to inform its development, they've put out a survey open to farmers and eaters (everyone!) to shape the vision. To find out more and take the survey please follow this link. Survey closes Friday 15 July.
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City Farm Nursery
For all your nursery needs
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday
8:30am - 12:30pm
Sunday: 6:30am - 12:30pm
Closed Mondays
You can find out more about the nursery here.
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Pay-It-Forward Plant Program
The Native Plant Donation Program invites you to buy a native plant which we will forward onto First Nations communities to re-generate land. This way, you can help heal Country and support communities’ knowledge of and connection to native plant food and medicine.
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Northey Street Organic Farmers Market
Where your money goes directly to a local organic farmer or small ethical business
Sundays
6am to 11am Northey Street City Farm 54 Northey St.,Windsor, Brisbane
You can find out more about the market here.
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SITE HIRE
You can hire our unique site for weddings, parties, book launches and small events.
Contact the Enterprise & Events Manager on enterprise.mgr@nscf.org.au for prices and availability.
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FARM MEMBERSHIP
Did you know you can get a 10% discount at our Nursery by becoming a member of our Farm? We love to see people supporting the Farm by becoming members. You can become a member via our website, at the Nursery, or by contacting the Office on 07 3857 8775 or at info@nscf.org.au.
FARM DONATIONS
The Farm does not rely on government funding for its operations. We operate as a social enterprise running the City Farm Nursery, Sunday Organic Farmers Market, and Permaculture Education. We appreciate the financial support of our community, if you are able please donate by visiting our website.
We also have an Australian First Nations Scholarship Fund and if you wish to donate to this please donate HERE and then contact Adnan, E: finance@nscf.org.au to confirm this is where you would like your donation to go.
As a not for profit charity, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Pay-It-Forward plant program. Donate any amount to this program to add to the collection of native plants we will donate to First Nations groups on your behalf.
VOLUNTEERS
You can get involved with our vibrant Farm community by becoming a volunteer. Volunteer areas include farming, nursery, construction, and kitchen. We also occasionally need people with professional or trade skills (even off-site help, if you can’t get to the farm): building, electrical, plumbing, welding, accounting, legal, to name a few.
Expressions of interest can be sent to: info@nscf.org.au
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