In this weeks show we are joined in the studio by Chris Fullon,Founder of Australian Urban Growers.
Christopher Fullon describes the nutrient cycle in the Aquaculture set up
Jimmy Southwood shows the results of the nutrient fed plants
The low cost growing set up developed by Christopher Fullon
Jimmy Southwood and Dave Whitfield at the entrance to Barrambin Urban Farm
Barrambin Urban Farm at Kelvin Grove State College
We will talk about urban farming and the future of food security, we will also give you a tour of their set-up in Kelvin Grove State College College and the work that Jimmy Southwood is doing to ensure Indigenous practices are the foundation for learning.
Tune in tomorrow at midday on 4ZZZ 102.1fm for all your ECORADio goodness or listen back after on 4zzz.org.au
This system of agriculture has now hit the interwebs.
Activists from legal, communications, mutual aid and class mobilisation backgrounds met to discuss ways that they might be stronger together at a Community Day for Climate at Brisbane’s Northey Street City Farm organised by XR Meanjin.
Geoff Ebbs, Andy Paine and Devlin Pointon at XR Community Day for Climate
Summer in subtropical Australia can be a disheartening time in the suburban garden. European vegetables run to seed before maturing, go mouldy in the humidity or burn to a brown leathery crisp after a day in the sun. Tropical fruits, corn, eggplant and chillis are the exceptions that provide the abundance temperate gardeners associate with autumn.
Clean and seal the jars while the jam is hot
The problem with chillis, though, is that you can’t make a meal of them. They are just too strong.
Here is a chilli jam that is mild enough for most people to heap on a cheese sandwich. Those who like it stronger can simply leave the seeds in. (See the sidebar To Seed or Not to Seed)
The basic recipe was developed by combining the appropriate features from 15 different recipes at https://chasingchilli.com.au/chilli-jam-recipes-you-need-to-make/
Sweet peppers provide some bulk of the right colour (they were much, much cheaper than red capsicums at my local shop the day I made the jam) and carrots provide the pectin and body. I originally kept all the vegetable strips quite long in an attempt to create an interesting presentation but, when I saw how hard it was going to be to wrangle into the bottles, I smashed it up in the saucepan with the stick blender.
Remove the seeds to reduce the “heat” of the final jam
Ingredients:
500g of hot chillis
500g-1kg of sweet peppers (or capsicums – some people use tomatoes)
1kg of white sugar
1 litre of vinegar (I used kambucha vinegar that I had made accidentally by overbrewing my kambucha)
Method:
Find enough jars to hold the jam. Allow for a total of about 2 litres for the ingredients listed here.
Slice and seed the peppers and the chillis (Removing seeds as desired – see discussion below)
Grate the carrots
Put the vegetables, sugar and vinegar into a large saucepan
Put over low heat until it comes to the boil.
Chilli jam ingredients ready to cook
Turn the oven on low heat
While the jam is coming to the boil, wash the jars and place in the oven to warm and dry.
When the jam starts boiling, turn it down as low as possible to keep simmering and stir and test regularly.
Test by dribbling jam on cold plates and waiting until cool.
When the jam on the cold plate forms a skin and is sticky, turn off the jam, take the jars out of the oven and place on a clean cloth.
Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars
Clean the outside of the jars
Place lids (or seals) onto the jars while the jam is still hot.
Allow to cool for 24 hours before moving.
To Seed or Not to Seed?
The jam pictured here has the vast bulk of the chilli seeds removed. This makes it much much milder as the seed and the flesh surrounding the seeds contains most of the spice.
I posted the steps of the recipe on facebook as I prepared the jam and many people commented that they do not remove the seeds. “Leave them in!” “That’s where all the taste is” “My weapons grade sambal uleck retains everything but the stems”
Regardless of your preference in terms of spice, remember that handling the seeds and the flesh will cause your hands, and anything you touch, to feel like it is burning. I spent one night writhing in agony under a pillow pressed hard against my eyes convinced that I would never see again just because I washed my face with my hands while cleaning up after chopping chillis a couple of years ago.
One comment on facebook assures me that chilli does not actually burn but only creates the painful sensation of burning. That is good news but most people would prefer to take the precautions and avoid the pain. I do not use gloves, but I am very careful not to touch myself while handling chillis and to wash up regularly with soap and water and lots of rinsing. 18 hours after making the jam my hands still feel hot and swollen.
AN AQUATIC veterinarian critical of the dredging project in Gladstone Harbour has attacked testing and reporting methods used by authorities.
Dr Matt Landos has written a long list of criticisms of testing by Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC) and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP).
Those departments yesterday went on the front foot, delivering lengthy answers, and rejections, of Dr Landos’s criticisms.
It’s been reported today that Metcash, the grocery wholesaler that operates grocery chain IGA, is on the brink of making a deal that would see it buying up pubs and profiting from dangerous and addictive poker machine revenue.[1]
This development is an attempt to better compete with grocery giants Coles and Woolworths, who together own and operate more poker machines that the top five Las Vegas casinos. Let’s show IGA that we appreciate them for not owning harmful pokie machines – that we want them to stick to what they do best as an independent supermarket chain: serving their community.
As their executives sit down over the next few days to consider what to do next we have the power to show them that the community will back businesses that do the right thing by the community. Let’s encourage IGA to keep up the good work by demonstrating that integrity goes further in attracting a loyal customer base than making an easy buck from addicted gamblers at high loss poker machines.
Since learning about the significant profits Coles and Woolworths reap from society’s most vulnerable, we’ve received an outpouring of emails and calls from GetUp members letting us know about their decisions to shop for their family’s groceries at their local independent grocer, because they serve their community and refuse to profit from the pain of problem gambling.
One member wrote of her decision to take her business elsewhere: “The reward in making my stance is a great feeling… and happily knowing that around $100 a week of mine is being lost to their coffers and now goes to a more principled and more ethical competitor!”
Add your name to the message so IGA knows they have our support and they shouldn’t compromise their values for an easy dollar:
Oftentimes doing the right thing is also what’s best for the bottom line. In this case, the bottom line is that people like GetUp member Karen, whose husband took his life because of his losses at dangerous machines owned by Woolworths, need the option of grocery shopping at a business that doesn’t have blood on it hands.
We can show Metcash that good business means making good decisions. IGA’s real competitive value lies in its reputation as a family-friendly alternative for shoppers who care about community values.
PS – Coles (owned by Wesfarmers) has admitted that it doesn’t consider its hotels a core business and is looking for a way to separate its hotels and poker machines from its liquor business. It is also believed that Coles is concerned about reputational damage caused by its ownership of high loss poker machines.[2] There is no need for Metcash to own poker machines in order to be competitive with liquor sales, and we can encourage them to make the right decision: http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/pokies-reform/iga/dont-profit-from-problem-gambling
[1] ‘Metcash takes on goliaths in a pub fight’. The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 July 2012. [2] ‘Independent supermarkets deal hand on low prices’, Herald Sun, 9 July 2012.
GetUp Action for Australia is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp Action for Australia’s work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly towww.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp Action for Australia, please clickhere. Authorised by Simon Sheikh on behalf of GetUp Action for Australia, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.
A new vision of how we farm and how we eat, and of how to take better care of this planet’s biological resources, will be needed to provide food for a growing population.
You received this e-mail because you signed up for NYTimes.com’s My Alerts tool. As a member of the TRUSTe privacy program, we are committed to protecting your privacy.
