Autumn Abundance

Dear reader,

It is well and truly autumn here in the Bay of Plenty. We've even had two frosts! During March I was very busy with workshops during the Sustainable Backyard Event and I attended Sundaise Festival near Waihi. I had a very attentive audience keen to learn what wild edibles they could eat. Photo of the weed walk below.

This month of April I completed my Permaculture Design Certificate, so I didn't run any workshops. Our group loved getting together so much that our wonderful Permaculture teachers Catherine and Neville are screening more amazing Permaculture videos and everyone is welcome. There's a flyer announcing the films below.

During May I am looking forward to running workshops on how to identify edible weeds with three booked. One is near Waihi May 3rd, the second near Rotorua May 16th and the third in Otumoetai, Tauranga City May 30th See the flyers below.

Also included below is a link to the latest blog I've written on nasturtium - showing how you can decorate a salad with the flowers and make your own capers with the seedpods.

Finally I've posted two photos of purslane seed capsules unripe and ripe to show how the seeds sit in a cup and how they're easy to gather.

Great health to you!

Julia

Reporoa School Visit

March 17th I had a wonderful happening involving a visit to Reporoa Primary school and doing a weed session with little 5 and 6 year olds. They were great little gatherers and enjoyed experiencing the plants. We made a pressed salad and a smoothie.

I am very keen to work with more children so that they know what plants growing around us they can use for food.

Making the pressed weed salad. We had grated carrot, finely diced apple, sultanas and lots of finely cut up weeds. Sprinkle some salt and then massage all the ingredients until the juice comes out. Massaging helps break open the cell walls and makes the whole salad more digestible and juicy.

Sundaise Festival Leading a weed walk at Sundaise festival near Waihi. Childrens' activities behind.

Here are the dates for the upcoming Permaculture films. They will be very inspiring!

Click here for the latest blog I've written on Nasturtium

To the left is a purslane growing tip showing the immature seed capsules.

In this photo the seed capsules are open showing the black seeds. The top of the capsule comes off like a cap and the seeds sit in the bottom half. This plant is very high in Omega 3 adding a valuable source of nutrition to your diet. If you save your own seed you are sure of more plants next year. You can take the cap off to get the seeds and tap the cup to get the seeds out into a container. If they're ripe they open very easily.