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Farmers Market Gawler

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +1030

Farmers Market Wayville

Sun, 10 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +1030

Adelaide families now have the opportunity buy fresh food directly from producers from all over SA at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market. The 20,000 strong crowd that turned up for the farmers market which formed the centrepiece of the 'Go Organic Festival' in September in 2005 encouraged the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society (RAHS) to back the foundation of a permanent farmers market by a not-for-profit community organisation. The market opened on October 1st 2006 with a massive crowd of 10,000 shoppers and runs each Sunday (apart from the weeks of the Royal Show) from 9am-1pm.

In the tradition of farmers markets, it is a food market at which both food producers and consumers can get a fair price for food produced in SA and support regional and sustainable land use. The market guarantees that you buy direct from the producer and is known for its strict adherence to the ethics of farmers markets which now number in their thousands worldwide as families seek to avoid overstored food from major retailers who pass on meagre prices to farmers. In Australia, the farmers market movement is represented by the Australian Farmers Market Association and SA's peak body, the SA Farmers Market Association, will soon be launched.

The Adelaide Showground location is superb, with a major bike trail, the Glenelg tram line, a major rail line, numerous bus routes all converging to make it one of the most accessible sites in Adelaide. Parking is also easy and cheap.

120 producers offer their extraordinarily diverse products (everything from oysters to almonds and bread to boysenberries!). It is accessed from the car parks at the Leader Street (southern) end of the Showgrounds.

Becoming a member brings with it 10% discount on all purchases as well as a right to vote in the management of the market. Details and memberships are available at www.adelaidefarmersmarket.com.au.

The Food Forest is a foundation stallholder at the market and presents a wide range of foods, always including its signature specialty - organically certified pistachio nuts. We are there on alternate weeks (we run short courses on the other weekends).

Autumn Open Day

Sun, 14 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0930

Hear about our Open Days
in Radio Adelaide's interview
with Graham Brookman.

Permaculture Walk & Talk

The tour will start with a brief introduction to Permaculture, the design system for sustainable living. We will then take you on a walk inspecting revegetation work along the Gawler River, vegetable gardens and poultry.

We will have a look at the passive solar, energy efficient buildings, including strawbale buildings, solar hot water and photovoltaic systems, rainwater catchment, composting toilet and reedbed systems. We then move on to the sanctuary where native vegetation adds to the diversity amongst the production orchards.

We will explain the growing of many of our fruit and nut species such as figs, apples, pears, carobs, pistachios, and grapes.

Tastings and sales of trees and organic produce will also be available.

More about permaculture...
Click here for directions and maps.

Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) with David Holmgren

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0930

Why study permaculture?

Join us for internationally-recognised permaculture training that will help you design sustainable, abundant homes, businesses, professions and communities.

Whilst population growth and consumption levels are pushing our Planet towards a catastrophic environmental tipping point, permaculture design offers a way that we, as individuals and communities, can take control of our future and live sustainably.  It is a design system which draws upon the great truths of traditional knowledge, modern scientific understandings and the ethics of a peaceful and democratic society. Developed in Australia in the late 70’s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, it is now taught in over 100 countries. Hundreds of thousands of people have graduated from Design Courses and are using this tool to build resilience and diversity into their lives, their local communities & in the workplace.

Permaculture can be employed by anyone, whatever profession or skill, on any scale, from balconies and backyards to farms, factories, businesses, schools and cities anywhere on the planet and in any climate. It offers a sustainable landscape, dignified human-scale living and self-reliant children who have the confidence to design a sustainable future for themselves.

It is based on three ethics: Care of the Earth, Care of Community and Acceptance of personal responsibility for consumption and population. Many practical design principles, technologies and strategies have evolved to make permaculture one of the most accessible and dynamic solutions to the issues we face in the 21st Century.  David Suzuki dubs permaculture 'Australia's greatest intellectual export'.

Permaculture Design Certificate

The Food Forest offers the 10 day course, spread out over three teaching blocks, roughly 2 weeks apart.

This 10 day intensive design course will present you with an opportunity to consider your life in a new light and give you increased confidence and many skills needed to design a sustainable and meaningful place for your future.

You will work with a group of motivated fellow students with diverse skills and backgrounds and learn through lectures, practical activities, small group work, case studies, DVDs, field trips and games. In addition to our experienced teaching team, you will have access to a wide range of printed and digital resources.

The extended format of the course is designed to cause minimum disruption to other parts of your life. It will allow you to absorb and practise skills from one learning block before moving on to the next. However the residential aspect is important, as it helps you become fully immersed in learning about sustainable living.

Sessions are scheduled on most evenings, but we finish at 5pm on the last day of each block. With roughly 2 weeks in between each teaching block (depending on how the dates fall each year). The first teaching block is 5 days, the second is 3 days and the last, 2 days. There are usually 3 days which are ‘weekday working days’; these may need some planning to take off ‘normal work’. Whilst this format may seem less than ideal if you are from a distant location, many participants use it as an opportunity to visit permaculture projects or WWOOF between teaching blocks.

In The Food Forest PDC you will work on a major design project of your choice. Many of the excellent designs have been implemented around the world.

Whilst many people study permaculture as a design system for their personal and/or professional lives, successful completion of the course will qualify you for a Permaculture Design Certificate which makes you eligible to practice or teach permaculture commercially. The course may also be recognised as relevant prior learning towards the completion of requirements for the nationally accredited VET Certificate IV in Permaculture.

Topics

The course at The Food Forest will cover such topics as:

Permaculture ethics & principles & design of sustainable systems
Reading landscape, land capability assessment, site mapping
Passive solar design for houses and structures
Sustainable energy sources, ‘waste’ and recycling
Appropriate human settlements, architecture and planning
Linking of design elements for maximum efficiency
Personal, family and community strategies
Soil management/ Soil health: improvements and maintenance
Urban and rural farming and gardening
Orchard and food forest design and practice
Alternative economic models & legal structures
Catchments, water management (urban & rural) and aquaculture
Revegetation, agroforestry, bush food and wildlife
Value-adding and direct marketing of food
Application of Permaculture Design in all professions & trades
Design for extreme events - fire, flood, wind and famine

Whilst many examples will be drawn from warm temperate environments (as experienced in South Australia), care will be taken to make the teaching relevant to other climatic areas.

We stress that the PDC is a design course and there is insufficient time to cover the fine detail of managing elements such as how to care for chickens or grow mushrooms. We, and others, do offer workshops on obtaining such skills.

Principal Tutors

David Holmgren, co-originator of the concept of permaculture, will be presenting during the first part of the course, providing a unique opportunity to update your values and techniques or start your permaculture career at the cutting edge.

In 2003 David published “Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability”, a book which was the first significant development on the permaculture concept since Bill Mollison’s “Permaculture Designers’ Manual” (1988). David continues to refine permaculture in his writings and research.

His new book, ‘RetroSuburbia’ was launched recently and is a key reference for practical urban design. To find out more about David and permaculture, see www.holmgren.com.au

Annemarie Brookman is co-owner of The Food Forest and runs its organic market garden and busy office. She organises The Food Forest’s stall at the Adelaide Farmers Market and coordinates volunteers and staff at the property.

She has observed societies, crafts and cuisines in many countries. Her passion for local, wholesome, and visually beautiful food and her skills as a designer are expressed in a direct and practical manner. She is expert in the integration of poultry and vegetable production and is a keen observer & photographer of insect ecosystems. Time management, small scale marketing, engaging children in gardening, mentoring to empower people to get involved with the future of their food and sustainable home-building are included in her talents. She is qualified in permaculture design & training, art and craft.

Graham Brookman

has experienced land use all over the world and his search for ecologically sustainable farming systems led him to the permaculture model devised by Mollison and Holmgren. Graham has put the model to the test and teaches his findings in an energetic, interactive and practical style.

Discovering how to build with straw bales has given Graham free rein with the construction of an amazing series of beautiful and environmentally responsible structures. He has taught hundreds of others how simple it is to use straw bales in building anything from a garden bench to a house.

He is a qualified horticulturalist, teacher and permaculture designer and was founding chairman of the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market and the Gawler Environment Centre. Though first a farmer, he has been involved in town planning

and has made numerous educational films.

Guest Tutors and Field Visits

A wide range of guest tutors, selected for skills and qualifications in their particular field and their commitment to sustainable living and permaculture will also teach in the course. Extensive notes are provided. Tours will visit a wide variety of outstanding examples of permaculture and the people who are making it work, in and near Adelaide.

Venue

The Food Forest is a remarkable 20 hectare, certified organic permaculture farm and learning centre that is the result of the passion and vision of owners Graham & Annemarie Brookman. From its buzzing biodiversity come over 150 varieties of organically grown fruit and nuts, wheat and vegetables, honey and carob beans, as well as free range eggs, nursery plants and timber. Most of The Food Forest’s produce is sold at the Adelaide Farmers Market. We’ll be harvesting and eating some of the products during the PDC!

Broadband and Wi-Fi access is available in the teaching area and accommodation studio.

Teaching and research

The farm conducts research into organic growing and climate change adaptation and hosts collections of tree crop varieties representing a unique genetic resource, willingly shared with others wishing to establish sustainable plantings. Valuable information about the hydrogeology of the Adelaide Plain has come from the farm’s scheme to draw floodwater from the Gawler River and recharge the Q4 aquifer underlying the farm, to offset declining water levels and quality.

The Food Forest also has an extensive short courses program which complement the PDC. The property operates as one big teaching area and course participants will be involved in a hands-on permaculture project such as revegetation or garden construction.

History

The heritage-listed, pioneer homestead and much of the history of the farm has been retained. When the Brookmans bought the property in 1986, it was not much more than a bare barley paddock; only a few towering River Red Gums remained along the Gawler River from the time when the Kaurna Aboriginal people camped in their shade and gathered food from the land. The riparian understorey had become a mass of boxthorn, prickly pear and sour sob and the soil was degraded from years of continuous cropping. The indigenous riparian ecosystem has now largely been restored and the revegetation systems developed, have been adopted by other groups.

A movie made about the river repair is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_r62zvWKhk

Sustainable building technology

The old stone barn has been transformed into a Learning Centre for the presentation of courses and workshops. Nearby is the government-approved ‘loo with a view’, a Clivus Multrum composting toilet & reedbed system which transforms human by-products into reeds for mulching, rich compost for fertiliser and saves many thousands of litres of water every year.

Environmentally responsible building technologies are also demonstrated in ‘The Studio’, Cellar-door, an Eco-gazebo, the tiny ‘Cosy Cottage’ and a Coolroom, all of which are constructed with straw bales. The Cob Oven shows the ancient craft of building with special mud mixtures. The extension to the heritage listed homestead is an exemplar of passive solar design using a fusion of straw bale, stone and well-insulated corrugated iron. Rainwater is collected for use in the house; grey and black water is treated by a reedbed system and used in orchard irrigation. Solar panels heat the water and photovoltaic cells provide the house with almost 7kW of green electricity; surplus power is fed into the grid.

Awards & ABC TV

2016 Permaculture Elders Award for Contribution to Permaculture
2013 Winner, Barossa Regional Food Awards
Finalist Premier’s Natural Resources Management Award: Service to NRM 2012 Honourable mention in The (En)Rich list: Post Growth Institute
2011 Adelaide Showground Farmers Market: Chef’s Inspiration Award
2009 Australia Day Corporate Citizen Award, Town of Gawler
2007 Winner SA Premier’s Food Awards: Environmental Sustainability
2006 Finalist National Banksia Environmental Awards, Education category
2005 Winner Nature Foundation SA, Good Business Environment Award for Environmental Responsibility & Leadership
2004 Winner Premier’s Food Awards Leadership in Sustainable Industry Finalist Year of the Built Environment, Exemplars Program
2003 Winner Organic Federation of Australia National Award Best Organic Producer. Runner up for the Best Organic Education Project.
2005, 2001 State finalist National Landcare Awards

ABC Landline: The Food Forest featured on ‘Landline’ on April 6th 2008. To view this informative 10 minute segment visit: http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s2208413.htm
ABC Gardening Australia: Episode 10: A farming special on June 2, 2012. See the 7 minute, permaculture focussed segment on: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/video/video_index_June2012.htm

YouTube- Food Forest TV Channel

The Food Forest has made 30 micro movies with experienced cinematographer/video editor Sam Collins, to create 'how to' videos, ranging from practical straw bale building techniques to controlling codling moth in your apple trees and restoring your watercourse.

See the films at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFoodForest

Logistics

Accommodation

There is a range of accommodation options available to suit your needs. Breakfast is included in the accommodation fee. You can camp on site and bring your own tent, van or swag. There is shared, bunk-style accommodation available at The Food Forest. Alternatively, you could book private accommodation such as a cabin or airbnb not too far from The Food Forest. Of course if you don’t live far away, commute from home or a friend’s place. See the full brochure for details.

Food

Meals are included in the registration and include vegetarian, vegan and omnivorous options. Delicious, healthy, local and in season is important to us! A lot of the food served at the course will be harvested from The Food Forest, including as many varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs. We have also preserved produce from the different seasons. We don’t produce everything; milk, cheese, bread, grains, pulses, meat will be sourced locally, in many cases direct from the producers. We do our best to cater for different needs but as we are cooking for a substantial number of people, please note that for very specialised dietary requirements you may need to bring some of your own supplies.

Come Prepared

We strongly recommend reading some of the following texts. Many of these texts are available though David Holmgren’s online store or visit your local library:

Books:

David Holmgren’s new Book (2018) ‘RetroSuburbia: the downshifter’s guide to a resilient future’
Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, David Holmgren. His website: www.holmgren.com.au, has an abstract of his book as a free download. Look for ‘Essence of Permaculture’. Easy to read and not too long.
Introduction to Permaculture, Bill Mollison & Reny Slay - Tagari (http://www.tagari.com)
The Holistic Life by Ian Lillington, Axiom Australia, (publ 2007)
Permaculture Designers Manual, Bill Mollison - Tagari (This is the standard reference book for designers but it is not a ‘light’ read) (http://www.tagari.com)
The Permaculture Handbook, Peter Bane, 2012, New Society Publishers, Canada
Permaculture Design, A step-by-step guide, Aranya, Permanent Publications, 2012
People & Permaculture, Looby Macnamara, Permanent Publications, 2012 (http://loobymacnamara.com/home/)
Permaculture Pioneers, stories from the new frontier, edited by Kerry Dawborn & Caroline Smith, publ: www.holmgren.com.au
Gaia’s Garden, Toby Hemenway, 2009 2nd ed, Chelsea Green
The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience, Toby Hemenway, 2015, Chelsea Green
Edible Cities: Urban Permaculture for Gardens, Balconies, Rooftops & Beyond, Judith Anger, Immo Fiebrig, Permanent Publications, 2013
Tropical Permaculture Guidebook - McKenzie and Lemos (www.permacultureguidebook.org)
PIP magazine: Australia’s permaculture magazine. Full of great articles – wonderful to subscribe to!

Web based:

Richard Telford’s website: www.permacultureprinciples.com Excellent! Has easy to read info about permaculture. Lots of photos and diverse examples.
Milkwood Permaculture: excellent info: www.milkwood.net
Good Life Permaculture, based in Hobart, Tasmania. Inspirational: (http://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/)
Geoff Lawton website: www.permaculture.org.au. It includes a segment on The Food Forest
Many more YouTube clips... including those at Food Forest TV: www.youtube.com/user/TheFoodForest

DVDs:

Design for Life, Permaculture, The Food Forest Story, DVD, 2010. www.foodforest.com.au You can see the 3 minute trailer on YouTube (the whole DVD is available for purchase from The Food Forest website).
Introduction to permaculture design, Geoff Lawton, DVD, www.permaculture.org.au

There are many other Permaculture book titles, DVDs and there is a lot to google about Permaculture. Have fun!

Costs

The costs are listed in the downloadable pdf brochure. It lists early bird discounts & standard prices.

If you need to establish a payment plan to pay the course fee by installments over the period leading up to the PDC, please contact us. We are happy to facilitate this, but we ask you to set up this plan prior to the course, so that the full fee is paid by the time the PDC commences.

After Care

Stay in touch with us by email, Facebook or our free quarterly Food Forest Newsletter by subscribing on our website.

The Next PDC

Our PDCs are scheduled each year in autumn, starting late April. See the full brochure for details.

For Details

Annemarie Brookman at The Food Forest:

Postal: PO Box 859, Gawler SA 5118, Australia

P: +61 (0)8 8522 6450

E: foodforest@bigpond.com

Location: 80 Clifford Rd, Hillier, SA 5116. 20 min walk from Tambelin Railway station on the Gawler line.

Deep Winter Tour

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0930

Join Annemarie and Graham Brookman at The Food Forest, an award winning, certified organic peri-urban farm and permaculture learning centre near Gawler.

Tour the 20 hectare property, including the 1200m2, intensive vegetable garden and observe the integration of chickens, geese & sheep in a low rainfall ecosystem that produces 150 different varieties of fruit, nuts, vegetables, and value added products. They sell the majority of their produce at the Adelaide Farmers market.

See environmentally responsible buildings constructed with straw-bales (including a coldroom), passive & active solar energy collection, a compost toilet, waste-water reedbed systems and an aquifer recharge project.

To register your interest, please tick the box on the Deep Winter registration form.

Fruit & Nut Growing

Sat, 06 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0930

Growing your own fresh fruit and nuts has to be one of the most satisfying things you can do in your own backyard or property! What's more, South Australia's Mediterranean climate enables us to grow the most intensely flavoured and nutritious tree crops in the world.

This one-day workshop will explore different varieties of stone fruit, citrus, olives, pecan nuts, figs, apples, pistachios and as many other crops as you desire. We will also discuss preserving techniques to stock your pantry for supply through the seasons.

The course will develop skills required to plan, establish and manage fruit and nut trees in a garden or plantation.

Using demonstrations, practicals, walks and talks, we'll examine the selection of varieties, pollination requirements, planting material (grafting and other propagation techniques), orchard establishment, tree shaping, irrigation, soil fertility and pest management.

You are welcome to bring plans of orchards you are planning and soil samples for testing.

Also see our fact sheets for information about some of the wonderful species we can grow in Mediterranean climates as well as growing fruit and nuts.

Bookings & Refunds

In the unlikely event of insufficient registrations, the organisers reserve the right to cancel the course with one week’s notice. In this case a full refund will be made.

Organic Vegetable Growing & Free Range Poultry

Sun, 07 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0930

Growing high quality organic vegetables is not difficult once you understand the ecology of the garden, especially if you use free range poultry. This course will show you techniques for managing a self-sufficient backyard or small scale commercial garden and the basics of free range poultry husbandry.

We will consider the selection of vegetable species through the seasons, garden design, bio-diversity, irrigation, pest and disease management, mulching, composting and soil fertility, meeting quality and organic standards and small scale marketing.

The Chook is the world's original recycler and pest controller. We will look at its housing, breed characteristics, supplementary feeding, keeping hens out of the lettuces and foxes out of the hens, managing pests and diseases in free-range flocks, rearing your own replacements, as well as chickens and geese in orchard management.

Bookings & Refunds

In the unlikely event of insufficient registrations, the organisers reserve the right to cancel the course with one week’s notice. In this case a full refund will be made.

Introduction to Permaculture

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0930

A concentrated introduction to the principles and techniques of this complete system for the sustainable design for gardens, farms, homes, waste re-use, economics, community development and energy management. Inspect appropriately designed structures and growing systems on this organically certified property and solve some property design challenges using three-dimensional interactive modelling.

Bookings & Refunds

In the unlikely event of insufficient registrations, the organisers reserve the right to cancel the course with one week’s notice. In this case a full refund will be made.

Building with Strawbales

Sun, 04 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0930

The Course

In this two-day course we will present you with an opportunity to assess the opportunities for strawbale building in your life, whether you wish to build your own home, construct a chook shed or just decide if strawbale is the right medium for your project.

We take you through the theory and design of strawbale building as well as actually building part of a strawbale structure and well discuss load-bearing versus pole frame structures, various wall shapes, foundations, plastering options, floors - earthen, concrete and wood.

You will learn through lectures, practical activities, case studies, videos, slides and a wealth of printed material.

In past workshops we have built an extension to the homestead at The Food Forest, a commercial coldroom, the 'Eco Gazebo', the 'Studio', an indoor/outdoor food preparation entertainment area and a beautiful sculptured garden wall using this extraordinary medium.

Topics

Basic construction techniques
Load-bearing vs pole frame structures
Design principles and site assessment
Doors and windows
Natural finishes
Floors, foundations and roof options
Fire, termites and rodents
Building regulations and Council approvals
Costs
Builders, Contractors, Owner Builder comparisons

Pricipal tutors

Lance Kairl, Gerald Wittman, Bohdan Dorniak, Graham Brookman and Annemarie Brookman.

Bookings & Refunds

The organisers reserve the right to cancel the course with one weeks notice if registrations are insufficient. In this case a full refund will be made.

Fact sheets on strawbale building

Growing Mushrooms and Micro Greens

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +1030

Growing mushrooms and micro-greens is a magical process that you can do at home to feed yourselves and friends or expand to grow a business.

We've recruited Chris Nuss and Ella McHenry from Little Bunyip Farm to run this workshop to unlock the mystery of converting straw into gourmet food and seeds into vibrant micro-greens, through processes anyone can master.

Chris and Ella wanted to get their small farm at Watervale to quite quickly produce a meaningful income so they could spend family time on the property. Oyster mushrooms & micro-greens seemed to offer quick income turnaround, as well as being delicious and wonderfully healthy. Commercial quantities can be grown just using rainwater from the roof, and farmers markets are a great place to sell them (if you haven't eaten them all!).

With a little bit of technical know-how, like mushroom substrate preparation & microgreen growing media, trays and harvesting - that you'll pick up at the course, you'll be eating your own mushrooms within weeks!

You'll receive one kit for preparing your individual mushroom farm, and microgreens tray (during the workshop) so you can enjoy the satisfaction and wonderment of harvesting these beautiful foods at home AND you'll also take home extra mushrooms and microgreens kits and instructions, to continue growing into the future.

Preservation of Food - from Garden to Kitchen

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +1030

Southern Australias unique environment enables us to grow plant varieties which provide long seasons of fresh food from almost any species we choose but even the best planned garden or orchard produces the occasional glut. And anyway there are so many types of food that we would love to have out of season; pickled olives, dried fruit, frozen sweetcorn and delicious nuts sound pretty inviting in the middle of winter.

Preserving is the answer and this course will teach you the secrets of small scale, natural food preparation, preservation and storage.

Learn about when to harvest, freezing, drying, storing successfully, combating pests, keeping the vitality in stored food, pickling, fermenting, home milling, food hygiene, packaging, small scale marketing and self sufficiency.

This one day intensive course will involve food quality tasting, the hands-on operation of small scale food processing equipment and the sharing of treasured recipes and techniques from different countries.

Planning Your Property

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +1030

In this one-day intensive course we invite you to take a fresh look at ways of determining the potential of a piece of land (large or small) and at the elements and processes which lead to a sustainable design.

The course will help you to assess land and plan the development of a property to suit your life goals. Well explore the identification of personal aims, land ownership options, designing for sustained productivity, soil, water, fencing, machinery, taxation management and finance as well as the choice of crops and animals and how to rebuild lost ecosystems.

Bring along your plans and, if relevant, soil and water samples to test and discuss in an interactive learning environment.

This is a good course for those who may be considering a full Permaculture design course but want a taste of what it would be like.

You may like to read this article for some hints about property design.

Becoming a Certified Organic Producer

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +1030

As demand for certified organic food continues to skyrocket in markets around the World, Australian landholders are beginning to realise the importance of the export markets and growing domestic markets which are now available to certified organic growers. This is a short course to introduce potential growers to the practicalities of organic production.

Data researched by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries shows annual growth in the organic food market of 15% annually in the countries to which Australia exports most food. Trends suggest that the Japanese market will be about $25 billion by 2005, the UK $10 billion. Germany and France will be larger markets than the UK. In Australia growth in the market is desperately hampered by the supply available.

Community opinion has moved steadily against factory farming, genetically engineered food and the unknown contaminant load of conventionally produced foods, particularly in countries affected by eco-disasters and given that food travels by many pathways to the consumer, organically certified produce is gaining acceptance as the only reliably safe food, unless you grow your own or have a direct relationship with a grower.

Prices received for organic produce generally command premiums of 30-100% and many organic growers often receive single requests to export quantities of dried fruit and other foods equivalent to more than their entire annual production.

Becoming a Certified Organic Grower is not a difficult process but there is much to learn about the management of soil fertility, pests and diseases through organic means as well as the regulations governing initial certification and continued registration as a certified grower.

Presenters of the course will explain certification standards and will take participants through an inspection of organic growing systems at The Food Forest, explaining what they are looking for in terms of certification.

Annemarie and Graham Brookman who grow some 150 varieties of organic vegetables, fruit, nuts, native foods and grains as well as free-range poultry at their property, will share their experiences of converting from conventional to organic and the way they have been able to improve soil fertility, cope with pests and diseases, and develop direct markets.

Australian Bush Food

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +1030

For tens of thousands of years Aboriginal people got their food from the native plants and other creatures which inhabited this ancient continent. A rich range of staple foods, eggs, herbs, spices, stimulants, tanning agents, creams, anaelgesics and other pharmaceuticals, possibly even contraceptives, were found in the natural environment. Through seeing, touching and tasting this one-day course will introduce you to the Bush Tucker that can be grown in gardens and on farms, from identification through to harvesting, processing and marketing.