Simply Good Food Farm Days

The Simply Good Food CSA runs regular Farm Days which non-members are welcome to attend. They offer an opportunity to visit the CSA's gardens and orchards, engage with growers, and join in whatever farming activities are happening on the day.

The next Farm Day is on Saturday July 5. Here's the schedule for the day:

Start: 11:00am at Featherston Railway Station

Morning session: Enjoy a talk on some of the oldest Maori garden sites in the Wairarapa along the Cape Palliser Coast; includes a presentation by Colin Walker on the history of cultivation in New Zealand. Opportunity to help with seed processing.

Lunch: The Paddock.

Afternoon session: Visit the greenhouse with the new heating unit near Greytown and learn about winter indoor vegetable production

Finish: 5:00pm at Featherston Railway Station

Cost for the day is $20 per person or $40 for a family. This includes lunch, as well as transport to and from the station and between the different sites with guides from Simply Good Food.

RSVP by Wednesday July 2 to info@simplygoodfood.co.nz or (06) 379 7866.

(Pay on the the day or post a cheque to: The Wairarapa Growing Company Ltd, 76 High Street North, Carterton 5713.)

http://www.simplygoodfood.co.nz/

6 ways mushrooms can save the world (Video link)

Ramsey recently told me about the "Ted Talks" series of inspiring short lectures. A few days later I received this from another friend. In it, Paul Stamets talks about the absolutely fascinating world of fungi. Well worth viewing! http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/258

Australia now has a national Slow Food office!

The most recent news on the Slow Food website is that our Slowfood friends across the Tasman have now got a national Slow Food office. With 36 convivia and over 2000 members, Australia is now the fifth largest country in the Slow Food league of nations. Details can be found at http://sloweb.slowfood.com/sloweb/eng/dettaglio.lasso?cod=3E6E345B0f0a825934MVH2EEF445

Alice Waters on the future

Chef, restaurateur, food writer and food activist extraordinaire Alice Waters offered these thoughts at Terra Madre, a Slow Food event in Turin in 2006:

I believe that the destiny of humankind in the twenty-first century will depend most of all on how people choose to nourish themselves. And if we can educate these senses, and break down the wall of ignorance between farmers and eaters, I am convinced — because I have seen it with my own eyes time and again — people will inevitably choose the sustainable way, which is always the most delicious alternative.

—quoted in Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee

"Grow Your Own" screening on Tuesday 10 June at 7.30 (Paramount Cinema)

I received an invitation from the Wellington Rotary Club to attend the screening of the British film "Grow Your Own". The trailer suggests that it's worth seeing: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/621149/grow_your_own_trailer/
The film screens at 8pm. The $25 donation includes a drink. Proceeds are being donated to the Changemakers' Refugee Forum. Further details can be had by emailing brianklee@clear.net.nz or telephoning Brian on 04 973 8533.