YOUR LOCAL GROW COMMUNITY

MEMBERS 13731

REGISTERED PATCHES 3227

Area under cultivation 835,025 m²

Food waste diversion 6541 kg/week

Live Workshops

Sunday 5th December 2021 - 2:00pm

Soil - The incredible story of what keeps the earth, and us, healthy with Matthew Evans

As local growers soil is the heart of our gardens. It nourishes our plants, feeds microorganisms and ultimately enables life on earth. Soil is the unlikely story of our most maligned resource as swashbuckling hero. A saga of bombs, ice ages and civilisations falling. Of ancient hunger, modern sicknesses and gastronomic delight. It features poison gas, climate collapse and a mind-blowing explanation of how rain is formed. For too long, we've not only neglected the land beneath us, we've squandered and debased it, by over-clearing, over-grazing and over-ploughing. But if we want our food to nourish us, and to ensure our planet's long-term health, we need to understand how soil works - how it's made, how it's lost, and how it can be repaired. In this ode to the thin veneer of Earth that gifts us life, commentator and farmer Matthew Evans shows us that what we do in our backyards, on our farms, and what we put on our dinner tables really matters, and can be a source of hope. Isn't it time we stopped treating the ground beneath our feet like dirt? In this free, live digital session we’ll talk all things soil with tv host, master grower and all round super inspiration Australian Matthew Evans. We’ll learn about Matthew’s new book and get a few tips & tricks as to how we can all play a role in improving our soil to grow healthy, nutrient-dense food. Get ready to get inspired ! About Matthew Evans Matthew Evans Matthew Evans is Australia's favourite tree-changer. A former chef and food critic, Matthew is now a Tasmanian smallholder, food writer and food activist. He fattens pigs, milks cows, tends a garden and writes about food from his office on Fat Pig Farm, in the gorgeous Huon Valley. Matthew is the star of the long-running SBS TV series The Gourmet Farmer, as well as the recent documentary on seafood, What's the Catch?, in which he advocates for a change to Australian food labelling laws. He is the author of twelve books, including the authoritative Real Food Companion, his autobiographies Never Order Chicken on a Monday followed by The Dirty Chef, he co- authored The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book and The Gourmet Farmer Goes Fishing, and most recently published Summer on Fat Pig Farm Purchase Soil here: www.booktopia.com.au/soil-matthew-evans/book/9781922351418.html Learn more about Fat Pig Farm: www.fatpig.farm

Tuesday 7th December 2021 - 6:00pm

Ask An Expert - Prepping your summer garden

Prepping your summer garden (including best vegetables for a summer veg patch, how to protect your garden in the heat and jobs for the summer garden) Summer is finally approaching and there’s plenty to do around our gardens! For the edible veggie grower, summer is one of the most exciting times of year and the possibilities for delicious homegrown veg are huge! Tomatoes, basil, zucchinis, cucumbers, melons, strawberries, stone fruit, rhubarb and more! With a little planning and thought, our summer gardens can be real places of productivity and joy. In this session I’ll be discussing all the jobs to get started on in your garden to prepare it for summer and answering you questions about how to make sure your garden thrives under the hot blue sky.

Wednesday 8th December 2021 - 6:00pm

Leftover Love with Diana Whitton (CWA)

This live digital session is being hosted by Diana Whitton (Country Womens Association cookery officer) and is a conversation about creating deliciousness from what’s leftover. Learn tips and tricks to reducing food waste in your kitchen and share your own tactics too.

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On-demand videos

Workshops and Events

Sunday 12th December 2021 - 9:30am

Urban Micro-Farming Workshop

WORKSHOP DATE: Saturday, December 12th, 2021 (9:30 - 3:30) LOCATION: Springwood, NSW. Blue Mountains Our Urban Micro-farming workshop is an introduction to growing your own organic veggies and seedlings, composting, keeping poultry and growing mushrooms on an urban scale. Whether you are just getting started with growing your own food or want to upscale your patch, this workshop will get you fired up to grow lots more food at home. The workshop combines fun hands on sessions with detailed course notes full of practical skills and resources. We'll show you the basics of successful seedling propagation, bed prep, crop spacing and organic pest control methods to maximise your production of nutrient dense veggies in a small space. Learn the art of composting, and how to make organic liquid fertilisers and inoculates to boost your plant health and soil biology, without the need for store bought or chemical fertilisers. We share how we raise and keep poultry for eggs and even meat, in a way that is ethical, sustainable and integrated into an urban food production system. You'll discover how easy it is to grow your own supply of fresh oyster mushrooms and the steps involved in simple mushroom cultivation. You will even head home with your own grow kit to start growing your own delicious mushrooms straight away. We'll step you through the growing process, from inoculation to fruiting, so you can get growing protein rich mushrooms at home. The workshop takes place at our home and urban micro-farm in the lower Blue Mountains. We operate a small scale urban market garden, supplying veggie boxes to our local community, as well as for our own family. We love sharing the skills we have learned over the past decade to maximise food production and minimise waste. Head home with our detailed course notes and resources to get you started on your own successful urban scale micro-farming journey, plus some free seeds or seedlings, a mushroom kit and other goodies to get you started! COVID SAFE & CANCELLATION POLICY Covid-safe check-in and proof of vaccination will be required to attend this event. We ask that you abide by the current government covid-safe guidelines while attending the event. Please be advised that bookings are non refundable should you choose to cancel your attendance within 14 days of the event. In the event of poor weather the workshop may be postponed to the following week (SUNDAY) so we ask that you keep the following Sunday free just in case. Please provide your phone number upon booking so we can contact you quickly if required. If the workshop needs to be cancelled, a full refund will be provided, or you will have the opportunity to postpone your booking until the next available workshop. If you are unable to attend a rescheduled event due to cancellation, a full refund will be provided.

Latest products

$15.00 - Wakefield, NSW

Yellow Cherry Guava

Small tree with edible fruit.

$10.00 - Wakefield, NSW

Pepino

Pepino - sprawling bush with edible fruit - yellow with purple stripes when ripe (tastes like rockmelon)

$10.00 - Wakefield, NSW

Rosemary

Rosemary plant

$4.00 - Eaton, WA

Warrigal Green Seedlings

Warrigal Green Seedlings. Good ground cover. Cook like spinach.

$20.00 - Caboolture, QLD

Hot Chillies! Orange Habanero and Super Hots.

I planted way too many chillies this year and currently have an abundance of various varieties, mostly Orange Habanero and bunch of crazy super hots. I will also have some Thai chillies coming on over the next few weeks. I'd love to swap for other fresh produce. I'm currently picking about 1Kg a day and trying to process them for smoking and dehydrating, making hot sauce and fermenting them, but struggling to keep up. Quantity on hand will obviously vary.

$6.00 -

Farm Fresh Eggs!

Beautiful farm fresh eggs for your brekkie! Our mixed age and breed flock of hens, lay beautiful eggs of all shapes, sizes and colours. $6/dozen

$220.00 - Cottesloe, WA

Edible Gardening Mentor Pack

If you're just starting out on your gardening journey it can be difficult to know where to begin. Should you rip up the lawn? Does your soil need improving? What should you grow first?? And once you've answered one question it might feel like you instantly have 10 more! It can really help to have someone looking out for you as you start getting your garden growing. Providing the advice, suggestions and motivation you need to grow a garden that thrives. Someone you can check in with whenever you bump up against a challenge or have a specific question to resolve. Through my one-on-one mentoring sessions I'll help give you the guidance, confidence and courage to create your own backyard paradise. I've gardened my whole life and have been cultivating an edible organic garden in Perth for the last 7 years. When I started, the backyard was a barren patch of dry grass - now it is a thriving garden, filled with trees, veggies, herbs and flowers. I am passionate about helping people bring a bit more nature into their lives, grow their own food and - most of all - get confident and inspired to get their hands in the dirt, the sun on their backs and start creating something beautiful. How do the mentoring sessions work? - First purchase your Edible Gardening Mentor Pack (either for yourself or as a gift for a friend). This gives you 3 x 30 minute zoom sessions with me, to ask any questions you might have about your garden. The sessions can be used anytime across a 3-month period. - I’ll then be in touch to arrange a suitable time to chat and to find out what specific subject areas you’d like to discuss - I'll send you a Zoom link for the time we've arranged and then we'll chat! - After your first session, it's totally up to you when you want to book in for your second and third sessions. Just send me an email when you're ready to chat again and we'll organise a time that works!

$80.00 - Cottesloe, WA

30 Minute Digital Garden Consultation

If you're just starting out on your gardening journey it can be difficult to know where to begin. Should you rip up the lawn? Does your soil need improving? What should you grow first?? A little one-on-one guidance at these times can make a world of difference, giving you the kind of confidence and courage that is hard to get from google searches, books or online videos. This is where I can help. I've gardened my whole life and have been cultivating my own edible and organic garden in Perth for the last 7 years. When I started, the backyard was a barren patch of dry grass - now it is a thriving edible garden, filled with trees, veggies, herbs and flowers. I am passionate about helping people bring a bit more nature into their lives, grow their own food and - most of all - get confident and inspired to get their hands in the dirt, the sun on their backs and start creating something beautiful. How do our consults work? - First purchase your consult (either for yourself or as a gift for a friend) - I’ll then be in touch to arrange a suitable time to chat and to find out what specific subject areas you’d like to discuss - I'll send you a Zoom link for the time we've arranged and then we'll chat! - You'll also get recording of our consult that you can watch back at any time and if you have any lingering questions after our chat, feel free to get in touch with me to discuss further.

$150.00 - Bermagui, NSW

30 minute Digital garden consultation

Getting started in growing your own food can be a little intimidating, especially if you don't know someone that can help show you the ropes. Books are good, so is youtube, community gardens are better, but it's hard to beat someone talking to you about your space, your dreams and your challenges from the comfort of your own patch. I've been growing food in some form or another for the last 15 years and am here to get you started down the lifelong path of growing your own amazing produce. How does it work? Purchase your consult, either for yourself or a friend. Contact me at paul@growitlocal.com to arrange a time and date. Email me a rough idea of what you want to talk about Grow it Local will send you a Zoom link and I'll run through a half hour consultation at the agreed time Grow it Local will send you a recording of the consult for future reference I'll chase up any outstanding questiosn or queries that may have arisen during the consult

$5.00 -

Jap pumpkin seedling pairs

Potted Jap Pumpkin seedling pairs for $5 a pair. Contactless pickup.

$54.99 - Bermagui, NSW

Signed copies of "Homegrown" by Paul West

PREORDER - Books Shipped on OCT 26 Everyone knows that homegrown tastes better. It doesn't matter if you grow a few herbs on a window sill or you're a full blown master kitchen gardener, the joy is the same. Join me in my garden and kitchen over the course of year as I help you grow, cook and build your own homegrown experience. It features growing guides for every season, easy DIY projects that you can make and stacks of delicious recipes. Growing and cooking your own food is a small bit of radical action that you can take to make the world a better place! For every pre-order copy sold, $5 will be donated to the HalfCut organisation, an Australian charity which purchases high value rainforest properties, protecting them from future development and handing them back to Traditional owners. Every book sold will save 2m2 of Daintree rainforest! Price breakdown $44.99RRP for the book ($5 of which goes to protecting the Daintree) $10 flat rate postage anywhere in Australia AUSTRALIA ONLY

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Get down with local food experiences that celebrate local produce, growers, chefs & like-minded eating establishments.