Week 5 Update
The October Competition
The best photo of your vegetables growing
Is due by Monday 31 October! So get snapping now and email or MMS your photos to
0419 660 133 or berneice@rhealth.com.au to be in the draw to win a $50 voucher to Kingaroy Garden Centre.
Community Garden Open Day
8.30-10.30am, Saturday 29 October Pound Street Garden, Kingaroy
Come along for your chance to learn more about organic gardening practices such as:
• Composting
• Weeding
• Keeping pests away
• Companion planting and much more!
For more information contact Berneice at RHealth on 07 4162 5230
Organic gardening is easy...
Organic gardening is an approach to growing food, ornamentals and native plants using both traditional and scientific gardening techniques. The principles of organic growing can be applied at any scale — from large commercial farms to container plants on your apartment balcony.
For home and community gardeners, organic growing is low-cost and safe. Organics avoids the possibility of gardeners contaminating themselves and the city’s waterways through the erroneous use of synthetic chemical pesticides, fertilisers, fungicides and other biocides.
Organic gardeners learn about the ecological processes that go on in the garden. We use this knowledge to:
■ control insect pests without damaging beneficial insects
■ increase the fertility of our soils
■ place plants that benefit each other close together
■ increase the productivity of our gardens.
This fact sheet is from Community Gardens Australia and is available at:
http://communitygarden.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/organic_gardening.pdf
1 in 7 Households throws away $2500 worth of food each year...
Here are some ways you can minimise waste in your home
• Produce as many things as you can yourself, or source them locally. Grow some of your own produce, keep chickens, and shop directly from a local farmer where possible.
• Get a compost bin or worm farm for your ktichen waste. Use this to fertilise your garden and grow a blossoming vegetable patch.
• Consume less: only buy products that you really need. Try to avoid resorting to 'retail therapy'.
• Shop locally and avoid products that are processed or have a lot of plastic packaging.
• Recycle old clothing as rags for cleaning.
• Recycle old jars for jams and preserves. Use plastic containers to store leftovers and larder staples, or for cleaning products.
• Stop using paper and plastic bags: purchase or make a recycled cotton, hemp or string bag.
• Bottle your own filtered tap water instead of buying plastic bottled water.
• Practise 'positive pilfering': if someone is throwing something out that could be used, grab it!
Source: http://foodwise.com.au/get-foodwise/frugavore.aspx
Recipe ideas for 2&5 at breakfast
Breakfast is a good time to include fruit and vegetables and there are so many different ways to do it! Whether it is as simple as topping cereal with some fresh or canned fruit, making a quick smoothie or perhaps one of the following quick and easy recipes:
Banana and Cinnamon Toast
1 minute preparation + 5 minutes cooking
1 serve of fruit in this recipe
Serves 1 to 2 people
Ingredients:
2 slices multigrain bread, toasted on one side
1 banana, peeled and sliced
Cinnamon
Jam or honey (optional)
Method:
Spread the banana on the untoasted side of the bread, together with a little jam or honey if desired. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Eat as is, or if desired, heat under the grill or microwave until the banana is soft, about 5 minutes.
(Recipe from “FoodCents Family Cookbook”, published by the Western Australian Department of Health, 1997)
All Year Round Fruit Salad
15 minutes preparation
7 serves of fruit in this recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups melon, peeled and chopped
(watermelon, rockmelon or honeydew melon)
1 banana, peeled and sliced
½ pineapple, cored and cubed
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and cubed
Pulp of 3 passionfruit
Juice of 2 oranges
Methods:
Combine all fruit in a large serving bowl. Stir through passionfruit and pour over juice and mix. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
Hint - Make sure orange juice is poured over any fruits that discolour quickly, e.g. bananas, pears and apples.
Variation - All fruits can be used in this salad. When in season, use stone fruits, grapes, mangoes and strawberries.
Orange Loaf
20 minutes preparation + 35-40 minutes cooking
5 serves of fruit in this recipe
Olive or canola oil spray
2 cups self-raising flour
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup sultanas
Rind of 2 oranges, grated
1/3 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
2 eggs
¼ cup low-fat milk
1 tablespoon margarine, melted
Topping
125g reduced-fat ricotta
Rind of 1 small orange, grated
2 teaspoons freshly-squeezed orange juice
Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly spray a loaf tin. Combine flour, sugar and sultanas in a mixing bowl. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry, stir and spoon into tin. Bake for 35–40 minutes until cooked and golden. Turn onto wire cooling rack. When cool, spread with ricotta topping. Store in refrigerator. Serves 8.
Topping
Whip ricotta, rind and juice until smooth.
Variation
Replace half the flour with wholemeal self-raising flour and use 1 cup chopped dried apricots instead of sultanas.
Serving suggestion
Serve with freshly sliced citrus fruit as a gourmet breakfast, or spread with a little marmalade and cheese, e.g quark or cottage cheese, for a delicious snack.
© Healthy Food Fast, State of Western Australia, 2009.
Welcome to the Tucker Box Project Blog Page
To celebrate Fruit and Vegetable Month in September RHealth is launching the Tucker Box Project in partnership with the re-opening of the revitalised Kingaroy Community Garden.
The Tucker Box Project is an RHealth initiative to provide families with an opportunity to grow vegetables at home.
The first 50 families to register have received a Tucker Box Kit including:
Soil, Vegetable Seedlings, Fertiliser and an Information Kit
The aim of the Tucker Box Project is to challenge 50 families to grow the best looking and tasting vegetables in Kingaroy over a 12 week period.
Families will pick up their Tucker Box Kit on Saturday 17 September between 9-12pm at the Pound Street Community Garden in Kingaroy. Over the following 12 weeks families will receive fortnightly newsletter updates (including recipes and tips on growing delicious vegetables), be able to particpate in monthly competitions to win a $50 voucher to Kingaroy Garden Centre and have the opportunity to grow, cook and eat some delicious seasonal vegetables!
Keep coming back to this site to see delicious fruit and vegetable recipes, photos of everyone's Tucker Box's and keep up to date with how the Project is going.
For more information on the Project, contact Berneice at RHealth on 07 4162 5230 or email berneice@rhealth.com.au
Happy Vegetable Growing!!
The Tucker Box Project is an RHealth initiative to provide families with an opportunity to grow vegetables at home.
The first 50 families to register have received a Tucker Box Kit including:
Soil, Vegetable Seedlings, Fertiliser and an Information Kit
The aim of the Tucker Box Project is to challenge 50 families to grow the best looking and tasting vegetables in Kingaroy over a 12 week period.
Families will pick up their Tucker Box Kit on Saturday 17 September between 9-12pm at the Pound Street Community Garden in Kingaroy. Over the following 12 weeks families will receive fortnightly newsletter updates (including recipes and tips on growing delicious vegetables), be able to particpate in monthly competitions to win a $50 voucher to Kingaroy Garden Centre and have the opportunity to grow, cook and eat some delicious seasonal vegetables!
Keep coming back to this site to see delicious fruit and vegetable recipes, photos of everyone's Tucker Box's and keep up to date with how the Project is going.
For more information on the Project, contact Berneice at RHealth on 07 4162 5230 or email berneice@rhealth.com.au
Happy Vegetable Growing!!