Slow Food Hunter Valley in Maitland, New South Wales | Non-profit organisation

Slow Food Hunter Valley

Locality: Maitland, New South Wales

Phone: +61 427 548 886

Address: [email protected] 2320 Maitland, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.slowfoodhuntervalley.com.au

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• Non-profit organisation
• Environmental conservation organisation
• Farmers market

25.01.2022 A group of Slow Food Hunter Valley members were lucky enough to be invited to by Nici and Brett of Limestone Permaculture for a tour and lunch at their amazing property. This is a truly inspiring place for anyone with an interest in growing food of any kind, or keeping farm animals, in a way that is modeled on systems in nature and with respect for the finite resources of this planet. Have a look at their Facebook and Instagram page "Limestone Permaculture" or website https:/.../www.limestonepermaculture.com/ to see what Nici and Brett have going on, or book yourself into one of their tours or classes. If you are looking for cooking and homesteading inspiration, Nici’s Facebook and Instagram page "Simply Homesteading" is full of wonderful ideas on how to take the garden bounty into the kitchen and make wonderful food from every part of the harvest. Slow Food Hunter Valley thanks Brett and Nici for sharing their time, passion and knowledge with us. We are all inspired to get outside into our gardens and put some of the many, many ideas into practice in our own patches. I am sure that many of us will be back soon!

24.01.2022 At Slow Food Hunter Valley we are passionate about the preservation of local and heirloom seeds that thrive in our bio region, as well as supporting the community to affordably grow their own food. Which is why we are so excited to see so many seed libraries sprouting up all over the Hunter Valley! our very own Maitland Seed Library - a joint partnership between Slow Food Hunter Valley and Maitland City Council. Collection is from East Maitland Library, Maitland Library..., Rutherford Library or Thornton Library https://www.maitlandlibrary.com.au//library-s/seed-library The Muswellbrook Seed Library - a collaboration between the Act Belong Commit Program, the Upper Hunter Regional Library, Sustainable Futures - Muswellbrook Hub and the Penguin Garden Club. The seed library is located at the Muswellbrook Library and at the Sustainability Hub on Wilkinson Ave. Newcastle Seed Libraries - a community run initiative of Newcastle Libraries. Collection is from Wallsend Library. https://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au//l/newcastle-seed-library Gloucester Seed Savers accessible from Gloucester Farmers Market. Don't forget you can start your very own seed library at home by letting a few select plants go to seed to grow for the next crop and to share with your family, friends and the greater community. Community seed libraries need our support to continue their growth, and please consider regularly donating back to your local seed library. If you are looking for seed saving and growing from seed tips, please see the comments below. And if we've missed any seed libraries located in the Hunter Valley, please let us know so that we can add it to the list! Photos (from left to right, top to bottom): 1. Maitland Seed Library by Jacqui 2. Telarah Public School children saving seeds by Anne 3. Turnip seeds in their pod ready to save by @thesimplifyresolution 4. A wheelbarrow full of turnip seeds by @thesimplifyresolution

24.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD GARDENING IN A HEAT WAVE Now is the perfect time to grow your own food Unfortunately when the temperatures exceed 40 degrees, like is expected in the Hunter this weekend, it makes gardening just that little bit more challenging. With climate change and increasing temperatures, the sad truth is that we need to adapt to growing in extreme heat. There are a couple of things we can do to continue to grow our own food over summer: Choose plants th...Continue reading

21.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA When vegging out in front of the television last week, I came across Jamie Oliver’s program 7 Ways based on his cookbook of the same name. He was making mushroom cannelloni accompanied by a green salad. With a gorgeous, oozy, cheesy sauce, it's a great meat-free dinner option to add to your #meatlessmonday repertoire. When I checked the ingredients list, I was excited to see that I could buy most of the ingredients from the Earth Market Maitland on Thursda...y 3/12 and local producers like: Blue Boat Farm Gate Felicia’s Homegrown Veggies Fosterton Biodynamic Farm & Bakery Four Acre Farm Good Growers Hunter Olives Growers & Seller Little Tin Shed Medowie Lorn Grower Margin's Mushrooms Nebo Farm (Matt & Liam Dennis) Shepherds Ground Udder Farm Hunter Belle Dairy Co. In the video, Jamie suggests a base of sautéed greens topped by mushroom-stuffed cannelloni and coated in a cheesy white sauce. At past markets, I have purchased spinach, Swiss chard and Tuscan kale. I always blanch the greens for a few minutes, refresh them in cold water, squeeze dry and freeze for future use. I do the same with the stems. Needless to say, I just defrosted my greens and sautéed them in a little extra virgin olive oil (evoo) with seasoning. The mushroom mix is easy too chopped onion, leeks, garlic and mushrooms sautéed in evoo and seasoned. Get the kids to stuff the dried cannelloni shells (or use Jamie’s fun technique demonstrated on YouTube) and place on top of the greens in a baking pan. Make your favourite cheese sauce and pour over the top. Bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes and share with family or friends. https://www.facebook.com/jamieoliver/videos/1844865578989683/ We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

21.01.2022 Slow Food Hunter Valley has recently partnered with Maitland City Council and the Maitland City Library to bring you the Maitland Seed Library! This is a wonderful free service to help you get access to a wide range of seeds well suited to the Hunter Region. It's the perfect way to help you affordably grow your own food to ensure you always have access to delicious, healthy produce There is currently a great selection of seeds in the seed library catalogue including cos...mos, carrots, snake beans, pumpkins (small gramma, blue banana & kent), marigold, okra and turnip - and we hope to see even more seeds added soon! We are on the lookout for more seeds to help build the seed library, and donations of seeds are greatly appreciated! Seeds can be brought to any branch of the Maitland Library, and when sharing seeds please confirm the seed's name, when and where it was collected, and the grower's name. Seed must be from open pollinated plants, and be non hybrid and non GMO. If you haven't saved seeds previously, please see our seed saving tips at: https://www.facebook.com/SlowFoodHunterValley/posts/2935648266521362 To access the Maitland Seed Library visit: https://www.maitlandlibrary.com.au//library-s/seed-library There a few simple steps to using the Maitland Seed Library: 1 Register for the Maitland Seed Library. Membership is free to everyone who lives in, works in or visits the Maitland area. 2 Select which seeds you would like to "borrow" and organise collection from a library branch. 3 Plant, care for your seeds, and grow lots of delicious produce We'd love to see your progress, and please send us updates and photos 4 Let the healthiest plant go to seed, and save seeds for your personal seed library and to "return" to the Maitland Seed Library to share with your community. If you are new to growing from seed, please see our tips at: https://www.facebook.com/SlowFoodHunterValley/posts/2911739518912237 And please look out for our regular Saturday gardening tips on our Facebook page including companion planting, getting rid of pests organically, and feeding your plants and the soil.

19.01.2022 A reminder that the 5th November - Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is back this Thursday! There will be lots of amazing fresh produce for sale from our local farmers The Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is on every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 8:30am - 1:30pm (or until sold out) at The Levee Central Maitland. Don't forget to bring your bags!

19.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD BANANA PEEL FERTILISER Now is the perfect time to grow your own food And to grow lots of delicious food our plants need access to nutrient rich soil. One quick and easy way to give our soil and plants a boost is banana peel fertiliser. It's also the perfect way to put waste products to a higher use. So when beautiful chemical free & local lady fingers were available at the recent Telarah Public School stall at the Earth Market Maitland , I d...Continue reading

19.01.2022 Slow Food Hunter Valley is excited to be part of the The Levee Christmas Special Market next Thursday 3rd December - and we need your help! We are looking for some Christmas helpers from 3pm to staff our stall and sell a range of prepared and packaged food products perfect to pop under the Christmas tree Also for sale will be delicious Maitland Street Food with serves of freshly cooked zucchini fritters and our beetroot relish. If you are able to help, please contact us ...on Facebook messenger or email [email protected] You will be joining a fun and caring team, and any help will be greatly appreciated All funds raised on the night go directly back to supporting Slow Food activities. And if you'd like to find out more about the Slow Food products for sale at the market, then please read on... Last Sunday a wonderful group of Slow Food volunteers offered their time to help make some lovely Christmas products. We made a jewel-like beetroot, rosemary and onion relish, perfect to brighten up Christmas meats, as well as an amazing range of herb salts and rubs. Organic sage, oregano, chives, marjoram, bay, lemon myrtle and Oldman saltbush have been combined with salt, and some with touches of chilli that will develop more complex flavours over the next three weeks. These handmade, herbed salts will make perfect gifts for someone special. We will also be making some festive, fruit bastes from local cumquats and mulberries to sell at the Christmas Market. A big thank you to MichelleK Photography who took beautiful pictures and helped with preparation; to Jane master alchemist, for putting together some zingy flavour combinations and making us all fresh herbal teas as we worked; to Anne, Lyn and Hari for their hard work in keeping the production line going; and of course to Amorelle for her generosity in letting us use her kitchen at the Reader's Cafe and Larder. Don’t forget to mark the date -Thursday 3rd December from 4pm for the The Levee Christmas Special Markets at The Levee Central Maitland! It is set to be a great market with a number of our Slow Food Earth Market Maitland producers attending along with a range of other Christmas market stall holders Photos (from left to right, top to bottom): 1. The Levee Christmas Special tile by The Levee Central Maitland 2. Slow Food Hunter Valley volunteers bottling beetroot relish by MichelleK Photography 3. Bottles of beetroot relish by MichelleK Photography 4. A basket full of herbs ready to be made into herb salts and rubs by MichelleK Photography

18.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD FRUIT FLIES Now is the perfect time to grow your own food There are a wide range of fruit fly prone plants that are starting to fruit - including stone fruit, citrus, apples, pears, berries, banana, tomatoes and capsicums. Before our fruits really start producing is the best time to get ourselves ready for the onset of fruit flies! Fruit flies are attracted to ripening and fermented fruits and vegetables and the fruit can be stung when the...Continue reading

18.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD NATIVE FOOD PLANTS Now is the perfect time to grow your own food And to celebrate National NAIDOC Week, why not grow some native food plants in your garden. This week, the children and I undertook a survey of the native food plants at the grounds of Telarah Public School. Our survey revealed quite a range of easily grown and hardy native food plants well suited to the Hunter that you might also like to grow. Lomandra longifolia: Number one a...Continue reading

17.01.2022 Did you know it's #NationalRecyclingWeek? To celebrate, we would love to share some facts and tips so we can all think of recycling in a new way and hopefully increase our recycling habits! In 2017-18, we used some 3.4 million tonnes of plastics in Australia. Just 9.4% - 320,000 tonnes - was recycled. Of that amount, 46% (145,700 tonnes) was reprocessed in Australia and 54% (174,300 tonnes) was exported for reprocessing. With recovery rates so low, that means a valuable re...Continue reading

17.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD TOMATOES Now is the perfect time to grow your own food And October is the perfect time to sow tomato seeds!! No other plant receives more attention from both amateur and professional gardeners alike. They are a beloved and common ingredient in the kitchen and make a natural choice to include in your garden. Here are some tips to promote their success:...Continue reading

17.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA I heard a wonderful interview on ABC Radio on Saturday explaining the significance of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. It is typically celebrated with friends and family, and lighting of oil lamps or candles to symbolise a victory of light over darkness. It is a festival that celebrates new beginnings perhaps something we all desire at the moment. There are dozens of dishes traditionally eaten during the festival, and a popular snack made at this time i...s samosas. What a perfect idea for this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe! You can pick up the flour and ingredients for the filling at the Earth Market Maitland this Thursday. My suggestion is to check YouTube for some very informative demonstrations on how to shape and fill these tasty little parcels. Happy #Diwali everyone. SAMOSAS Pastry: 225g plain flour, 1t sea salt, 2T oil, 100ml water To make the pastry, mix flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the oil and 100ml water to make a firm dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5-10 mins until smooth and roll into a ball. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 30 mins. Filling: 500g potatoes, peeled and finely diced 1T oil 1 onion, finely diced 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 2t curry powder or your own spices t salt and ground pepper 2T finely chopped fresh coriander leaves 100g fresh or frozen peas 100ml vegetable stock To make the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic, mix in the spices and fry for 10 mins until soft. Add the vegetables, seasoning and stir well until coated. Add the stock, cover and simmer for 30 mins until cooked. Leave to cool. To make the samosas: Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and roll out into a circle of 15cm. Divide this circle into two equal pieces with a knife. Brush each edge with a little water and form a cone shape around your fingers, sealing the dampened edge. Fill with 1 tbsp mixture and press the two dampened edges together to seal the top of the cone. Repeat with the remaining pastry. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan to 180C. The oil should come 1/3rd of the way up the pan. Deep fry the samosas in batches for 8-10 mins until crisp and brown. Take out and drain on kitchen paper. Serve with a cucumber raita. Raita: 1 Lebanese cucumber, cut into small dice 500ml (2 cups) plain yoghurt 2T finely chopped coriander 1 tsp salt Combine all ingredients, thinning with a little water if required. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

16.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD RAISING SEEDLINGS IN SUMMER FOR A WINTER CROP Now is the perfect time to grow your own food And even though it's still summer it's also a great time to start thinking about planting for your cool weather crops All brassicas can be raised from seed now and watching your own seeds germinate is very rewarding. Cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli seeds can all be planted in seed trays, ready for transplanting into the...Continue reading

16.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD GARLIC HARVEST, CURING AND STORING Now is the perfect time to grow your own food And now is the time to harvest your garlic! In fact some of the early varieties have already been dug up. A lot of planting was done in autumn back when we were all home and seeking garden therapy, and some of you may have planted garlic borrowed garlic from the Maitland Seed Library. We hope that you have been nurturing your crop and are excited to dig it up an...Continue reading

14.01.2022 What have you been cooking with your home grown produce? Students of the Telarah Public School have been cooking momos with their very own King Edward potatoes. And don't they look amazing Telarah Public School is part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation which supports children to grow their own food and cook it at school. Slow Food Hunter Valley has been supporting the Telarah Public School garden since 2013 and we very glad to contribute to this wonder...ful initiative. We have a strong relationship with the school garden who regularly sell their excess produce at the Slow Food Earth Market Maitland, and last year the Telarah Public School Garden twinned with the St Denis Primary School Garden in Uganda as part of the Slow Food Gardens in Africa program to support communities in Africa to have continued access to good, clean and fair food. See more

13.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA Recently we featured a post on the wonderful efforts of the Slow Food Hunter Valley Community Cooking Program which provides healthy meals for those in need from donated produce. There were quite a few requests regarding the recipe for the vegetable frittata pictured in the post so here is a simplified version a perfect dish for #meatlessmonday. This recipe is great for cleaning out the fridge of any leftover vegetables that need to be used or leftover roas...ted vegetables from a previous meal. Frittata is so versatile as it stores well and you can package it up for a breakfast-on-the-run or serve it with salad for an easy lunch. Don't forget that you can also purchase the eggs, vegetables and herbs at the next Earth Market Maitland on December 3 or visit Reader's Cafe and Larder for produce in between market weeks. For more ideas on making good use of all your purchased food go to https://www.facebook.com/LoveFoodHateWasteNSW/ Vegetable Frittata 10 large eggs C cream Salt and pepper 1 cup grated cheese of your choice 3C chopped/sliced/roasted vegetables Chopped fresh herbs Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with cream, salt, pepper, and the cheese. If using uncooked vegetables, you can sauté them in a 25cm oven-proof skillet for 5 minutes before adding the egg mix. Shake the skillet to distribute the custard and bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until the eggs are barely set. If using leftover baked vegetables, just mix them through the custard and follow the cooking instructions above. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

13.01.2022 A huge thank you to everyone who helped with our Native Food Gardens project which was funded by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment's Communities Environment Program We had a fabulous opening today with Meryl Swanson MP, the Federal Member for Paterson, Mayor Loretta Baker the Mayor of Maitland and Cr Ben Mitchell - Deputy Mayor of Maitland joining us to celebrate this brilliant garden which showcases local native food plants. We know it wi...ll be a community resource for many, many years as it becomes fruitful, mature, and more beautiful. Extra big thanks to Amorelle Dempster who conceived and managed this project and to Jarrad Long of Bounty Organics who designed and implemented much of the garden along many wonderful Slow Food Hunter Valley volunteers. Thank you to Jill Norburn and her team from the Maitland-Rutherford Girl Guides who partnered with us in this project to build a native food garden in the grounds of their guide hall. And special thanks to the wonderful young guides who helped with the planting from 7am this morning and then hosted us for a delicious morning tea. This is truly a community project, driven by the good will and hard work of Slow Food Hunter Valley and the Girl Guides Australia movement and supported by the Federal government through a $15,000 CEP grant and Maitland City Council who will now upgrade the driveway at the hall. Thank you to you all.

13.01.2022 As part of our monthly spotlight on a local community garden, we've been speaking with the HMC - Hunter Multicultural Communities Inc so that we can understand a bit about what makes their community garden so special. Hunter Multicultural Communities (HMC) is located in Waratah and part of the services they offer is the Waratah/ Mayfield Community Garden, which has been operating for 6 years. The community garden successfully produces a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, h...Continue reading

12.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA I have been revisiting some old favourites in my recipe collection recently and came across nasi goreng or Indonesian fried rice. It meets all my selection criteria for a Monday night meal quick, healthy and tasty with leftovers for lunch the next day. After a visit to the Earth Market Maitland last Thursday, I was able to buy most of the ingredients to put in the fried rice. It is wonderful to have access to such a wide variety of fresh produce. Be sure to ...bring your bags to the 5th November - Slow Food Earth Market Maitland and grab some goodies. I prefer to use brown rice but any long grain rice is fine. For 4 people, you need 3 cups of cooked rice. Once you have prepared your vegetables and rice, the dish can be put together quickly. I used: Brown rice cooked and cooled Broccolini stems and flowers separated and chopped Bok choy stems and leaves separated and chopped Coriander bunch chopped, bunch leaves picked Shallots - sliced Assorted mushrooms quartered Ginger and chilli cut into matchsticks Eggs (1 per person) boiled, shelled and halved 2T kecap manis 1t sesame oil In a wok, heat 1T vegetable oil and stir fry ginger, chilli and shallots. Remove to a plate. Heat another tablespoon of oil and stir fry mushrooms for 4 minutes. Add stems of greens and stir fry for 4 minutes. Add leaves, flowers, cooked rice, kecap manis, sesame oil, shallot mixture and chopped coriander. Stir fry until rice is hot and leaves are wilted. Serve the nasi goreng topped with boiled eggs, extra coriander leaves, sliced chillies and lime wedges. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

11.01.2022 You are all invited to join us for our monthly Slow Food Hunter Valley Business Meeting this Tuesday 20th October at 7pm! It's where we plan our goals and activities for the upcoming months, and check in our current initiatives - including Terra Madre, community gardens, Earth Market Maitland, Maitland Seed Library, Community Cooking Program, Ark of Taste, social media, grants, and membership . New people, ideas and energy are always very welcomed Meetings are currently being held online via Zoom, and please send an email to [email protected] if you would like a link to join.

11.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA I’m always looking for ideas for interesting plant-based dishes that stand alone without the need for meat. There’s lots of inspiration to be had on social media, in magazines and on television but my favourite way to conduct research is to eat out at one of the many great cafes and restaurants in the Hunter. When lunching with a friend recently, we shared a delicious spring gnocchi. So here is my attempt at recreating the dish. Don't forget that you can buy a... lot of the ingredients from the Earth Market Maitland. The next market is Thursday November 5. Green Gnocchi (Gnocchi Verde) 800g floury potatoes like Desiree (Nebo Farm) 300g plain flour (Fosterton Biodynamic Farm) 200g cooked spinach (Nebo Farm) Extra virgin olive oil (@Hunter Valley Olive Growers and Sellers) Additions 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced into 3cm pieces and blanched for 2 minutes 200g podded broad beans or edamame, blanched for 2 minutes Sugar snap peas, blanched for 2 minutes Grated parmesan cheese Persian feta Parsley pesto (or use basil when it comes into season) Snow pea sprouts for garnish I found a simple recipe for spinach gnocchi on the My Little Italian Kitchen blog. See instructions in the link below: https://www.mylittleitaliankitchen.com/gnocchi-verdi-green/ Once the gnocchi were cooked and drained, I added crunch by sautéing them in a little extra virgin olive oil. I also sautéed the asparagus, broad beans and sugar snap peas. To assemble the dish, toss the sautéed gnocchi in a little pesto and place in the middle of the serving plate. Top with sautéed spring vegetables and Persian feta. Garnish with grated parmesan and snow pea sprouts and a good grind of black pepper. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

11.01.2022 We hope you find this list of November planting and gardening tasks useful. November is getting warmer so early morning or late afternoon are the best gardening times and don't forget to wear plenty of sun protection Direct sow in the ground: Amaranth... Bean (climbing/dwarf) Beetroot Carrot Chives Coriander Cucumber Endive Ginger Lettuce (iceburg/cos) Marrow Melon Parsley Parsnip Potato Pumpkin - see our growing guide: https://www.facebook.com/SlowFoodHunterValley/posts/3322472987838886 Radish Rocket Salsify Silverbeet Spring Onion Sunflower Sweet Corn Turnip Plant in seed trays: Artichoke Basil Cabbage Capsicum Celeriac Chilli Celery Eggplant Kale Kholrabi Leek Mint Okra Squash Tomato - see our growing guide: https://www.facebook.com/SlowFoodHunterValley/posts/3429313820488135 Zucchini Sustainable Gardening Australia has provided a November garden to do list, which serves as a reminder on what garden tasks to tackle right now: Planting - November is another big month to plant out your summer crops. Plant flowers - Some colour in the patch isn’t only pleasing to the eye, but can help us de-stress and relax. The pollinators and other good guys will love it too. Try some nasturtium, dianthus, gerbera, verbena, snapdragons, petunias, marigolds, phlox and celosia. Green manure - crops like clover, pigeon pea, soybean, wheat grass, barley, millet will all help improve your soil. Mulch - helps conserve water and adds organic matter to your garden. Plan for the heat - Make a couple of shade cloth tents. They don’t have to elaborate, just a simple, moveable structure that you can put over the top of some of the sun sensitive veggies. Think of it as slip, slop, slap for your plants! Don’t forget to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide yourself. Check grafted fruit trees - Look for shoots growing up from below the graft and cut them off. The rootstock will take over your trees if you let them go. Garlic - If some of the leaves are turning yellow and the stalks softening, it’s time to start harvesting. Weeding - cut down the competition in your veggie patch. We'd also like to suggest you start preparing for fruit fly, and take a look at our fruit fly management tips at: https://www.facebook.com/SlowFoodHunterValley/posts/3447923361960514 Happy gardening!

09.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA Recently the Slow Food Hunter Valley Community Cooking Program had lots of cabbages donated so they didn’t end up as food waste. Amorelle Dempster and the program volunteers were very creative with their cabbage recipes. In addition, some of the cabbages were used to make a market snack of Japanese cabbage pancakes that are a popular street food from Osaka. These were sold to raise money to go towards improvements to the Earth Market Maitland. This week, the ...family reminded me that I, too, had cabbage that would soon end up as waste if it wasn’t used. Needless to say, this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe is based on the Earth Market snack of okonomiyayi. The word "okonomiyaki" is derived from "okonomi" meaning "as you like" and "yaki" meaning "grilled. Accurate to its name, okonomiyaki can be served with a variety of toppings which can include sliced spring onions, red pickled ginger, toasted sesame seeds, shredded nori, Japanese mayonnaise and spicy barbecue sauce. This is a simplified version of the recipe but it is worth researching some more authentic versions. Japanese Cabbage Pancakes (serves 4) Ingredients 250g plain flour 50g cornflour 2 free range eggs 375ml water 400g finely shredded cabbage 2 sping onions, finely sliced Method Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Add cabbage and spring onions to the batter and stir to combine. Head 2t of vegetable oil in a medium frying pan and add a quarter of the batter, flattening to make a pancake. Cook for 4 minutes on each side. Keep warm while you make the rest of the pancakes. Top pancakes with your choice of condiments as suggested above. You can easily add extra left-over vegetables to the mix if you like. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen

07.01.2022 Growing spaces come in all shapes and sizes This balcony garden by Wendy Siu-Chew Lee in nearby Sydney demonstrates how it is possible to grow an abundance of fresh food in a compact area and only using containers! It certainly is a beautiful growing space and an inspiration to us all. Well done to Wendy and thank you to Gardening Australia and Costa Georgiadis Official for sharing Wendy's story with us. Our gardens will be loving the rain this weekend and hopefully be jumping to life to bring you all lots of delicious fresh produce. We'd love to see your kitchen gardens and what you are growing, and please feel free to share a picture in the comments below. Happy gardening

06.01.2022 Kapsali Farm is having a bulk egg special It's a great way to support a local farmer and buy delicious pasture raised eggs at a discounted price. To order please contact Kapsali Farm directly. Kapsali Farm will also be back at the 19th November - Slow Food Earth Market Maitland this Thursday at The Levee Central Maitland from 8:30am - 1:30pm or until sold out. We hope to see you there :)

04.01.2022 If you are a local grower then it is time to think about showcasing your growing talents to the world at the Maitland Show this February The Maitland Show is back in 2021 between 19 and 21 February, and is the first country show to go ahead since COVID-19. This year, Slow Food Hunter Valley is very excited to be looking after the produce section! We hope that our community has something they are proud of in their patch to enter into the competition. It's a great way t...o show to the world the amazing produce that the Hunter Valley can grow With 40 different entry classes and 84 prizes, there is a huge range of different types of produce to be entered, including pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, melons, eggs, herbs and much more! To find out more and how to enter: https://www.slowfoodhuntervalley.com.au/maitland-show-comp/

04.01.2022 This month the Slow Food Hunter Valley Community Cooking Program has been very busy cooking up meals to people who find themselves in need. Our fridge has been filled to the max this last week with a record number of meals and variety - with 80 kg cooked food and approximately 240 meals! Our program is one of several in the Maitland area which aim to address the difficulties which some are facing at this time, although rather than serve meals directly to the public, meals a...re delivered by OzHarvest Newcastle to Rutherford Neighbourhood Centre, Carries Place and Samaritan Youth Accommodation. We have some Eggsellent News The Community Cooking Program is now fortunate to be receiving regular donations of wonderful eggs from Just Been Laid. A warm thank you to Sarah and her ‘girls’! As can be seen from the photos below, they are being put to good use with huge slabs of chocolate cake, and a 30 egg frittata! A special thanks also to Tony Milburn and Little Tin Shed Medowie for their donation of late season pumpkins and cauliflowers, Lucie and Marco from Shepherds Ground for the new seasons garlic, and to Nebo Farm for their regular donations of vegetables. Casual volunteer needed!!! Our Tuesday morning volunteer, Jenny, is away for 4 weeks. She is a champion of food prep and will be missed, so if there is anyone who would like to take her place, even for a week, we would love to hear from you and please contact us on Facebook or at [email protected] for more information. Thank you so much to our volunteers and community for your continued support, we couldn't run the Cooking Cooking Program without you

04.01.2022 As part of our monthly spotlight on a local community garden we've been speaking with Silsoe Street Community Gardens, so we can understand a bit about what makes their garden so special. Silsoe Street Community Gardens was established over fifteen years ago at 58 Silsoe St Mayfield. The story is that the block of land upon which the garden sits was donated to the community by some ladies who lived across the road. The garden has seen rise and fall in activity over the years ...Continue reading

03.01.2022 We humans, to our core, like to be in control. We like to fix things. The old model of fixing things was to clear land for agriculture & remove pest species (both plant and animal) with chemical. The consequences of these fixes are now making themselves apparent. We are learning (slowly) by our mistakes. Because we’re a fix-it species hopefully as everyone learns they’ll attempt to right their wrongs. And we need to spread the word, as quickly as we can. Looking at our...selves as PART of an ecosystem instead of being in control of one is critical. Every little piece is just as important as us. From soil biota to koalas; we must fight as hard as we can to save all of them. Join the activities of #TerraMadre to learn more about how we can all protect our ecosystems: https://terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/event/

03.01.2022 A reminder that the 19th November - Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is back this Thursday! There will be lots of amazing fresh produce for sale from our local farmers The Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is on every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 8:30am - 1:30pm (or until sold out) at The Levee Central Maitland. Don't forget to bring your bags!

03.01.2022 A reminder that the 15th October - Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is back this Thursday! There will be lots of amazing fresh local produce on offer The Slow Food Earth Market Maitland is on every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 8:30am - 1:30pm (or until sold out) at The Levee Central Maitland. Don't forget to bring your bags!

01.01.2022 RECIPE IDEA From little things, BIG things grow. When I visited The Hutch Cafe at Phoenix Park Farm, I met a young student who was participating in the Growing Future Farmers program. He was proudly showing off a huge zucchini that he had grown as part of the program and asked for ideas to get it from paddock to plate. Of course, a lot of people had the same response good old zucchini slice. I thought it would be a great idea to revisit this staple for #meatlessmonday. ...It’s a perfect dish for the kids to make during the holidays easy to prepare and very tasty. Instead of baking it as a slice, I cooked the mixture in muffin cases. The muffins are good for breakfast or lunch on the run and make a handy snack on a holiday excursion. Feel free to experiment with the recipe by adding a mix of vegetables like grated carrot or even sweet corn kernels, herbs and crumbled feta instead of cheddar. Zucchini Slice Ingredients 400g finely grated zucchini 1 large onion, finely chopped 1C grated cheddar cheese 1C self-raising flour C vegetable oil 5 eggs Salt and pepper Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180C 2. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, onion, cheese, sifted flour, oil, and lightly beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper 3. Spoon into muffin cases and bake for 30 minutes or until brown and firm. We hope you enjoy this week’s #meatlessmonday recipe. We love to see what you are cooking with your fresh produce and please feel free to share your favourite recipes and food pictures with us. ~ Helen