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Apples & Plastics this World Environment Day

I am determined to break my fixation with plastic bags and plastic stuff. That statistic I heard somewhere. sometime last year might be vague in context but has been wedged deep in my brain ever since – every piece of plastic ever produced still exists in some form. A lot of plastic, right?

If plastic were not a man(woman)made material then having something stick around for generations would be a good thing. But the only materials and objects that should become permanent pieces of our natural surrounds should, I think, be natural.

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Create bush tucker meals this Reconciliation Week

Book your Bush Tucker Cooking Circle Lunch now

Join Cooking Circles learn which native Bush Tucker plants you can grow and cook with. Learn how to harvest from native plants for using in savoury and sweet dishes, in drinks and baking. Taste testing and detailed notes included. We will then cook with some of the many ingredients and enjoy a native Bush Tucker lunch together

Narelle Happ is a garden designer and horticulturist who specialises in native garden and permaculture design.

She has over a decade of experience and is passionate about creating ‘living’ spaces which are nurturing, productive and sustainable.

Garden styles range from natural bushland, rainforest, cottage or formal. Permaculture designs include garden layouts for food production and sustainability. Designs that extend to engage and educate communities and schools by creating kitchen gardens and living classrooms.

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A new year and a welcome

The first newsletter for the year is out, and it’s full of cooking and community goodness.

It’s great to be back and seeing in a new year, slowly. I’m still moving at a Carribean pace, and thinking fondly and what has been a magical wedding and honeymoon over December and January. Magical truly is the word! But on with the show….

Cooking Circles has started the year by organising a fun workshop with local Canberra restaurant, Pod Food. On a whim I contacted Sam of Pod Food via social media late last year, after Circles volunteer Michele ran a packed restaurant event with Taste of Bangladesh in Manuka. Sam’s idea of an outdoor paella gathering at their restaurant on a summer night sold Michele and I, and the workshop sold out in under a week. Our paella sess will go ahead this Wednesday with 30 women from many different walks of life.

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An ‘Unconventional Apology’: Interview with Chantal

1. What inspired your project, The Unconventional Project? Can you tell us a little bit about what the project does?

Unconventional Apology Project was sparked by a tragedy in my family. My grandmother, Unconventional Apology Project was sparked by a tragedy in my family. My grandmother, Unconventional Apology Project was sparked by a tragedy in my family. My grandmother, Unconventional Apology Project was sparked by a tragedy in my family. (Trigger warning: this interview contains a story of domestic abuse and violence from the ‘read more’ tag).

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Finding Food Plant Solutions: Interview with Karalyn

To say I was excited when I first heard about Food Plant Solutions is quite the understatement. Through Canberra Friends of Dili of which I’m a casual member, I was contacted by a fellow member who suggested I speak to Karalyn of Food Plant Solutions in Tasmania. There were synergies, she explained, with my interests in Timor Leste and its vast edible plant diversity. And it didn’t take me long on this mob’s fascinating website before I was contacting Karalyn to talk more.

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Food Security in Timor Leste

by Sarah Burr

What is food security? To be food secure is to always have access to sufficient, nutritious, and affordable food. Food security covers the dimensions of time, place, quantity, quality, and cost. To be food insecure is to be lacking at least one of these components. Food insecurity can lead to malnutrition, stunted growth in children, and ill-health. In Timor Leste, two-thirds of the population are food insecure.

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Women in agriculture in Timor Leste

by Sarah Burr

Women are incredibly important to agriculture all over the world. In Timor Leste, women in mountainous areas (where 70 per cent of the Timorese population lives) carry out most farm activities including taking care of animals and cultivation of rain-fed crops such as sweet potato, cassava and fruit. Timorese women increasingly took on farm work during conflict as men left towns and villages to fight. Post-conflict, women have continued this work due to men returning from war suffering physical and mental injury. This farm workload is on top of women’s other duties such as child-rearing, housework, caring for elders, and community responsibilities.

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