Food from Perennial(ising) Plants in Temperate Climate Australia, for December 2012
Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Recipes — by Susan Kwong January 25, 2013
Ripe Solanum muricatum (Pepino, Pepino Dulce, Melon Pear)
This is the first monthly post for Summer in the ongoing research project about perennial plants and perennialising annual plants that provide food in temperate climate Australia. The original article introducing this project, stating its aims, and providing participant instructions, can be found here. Growers are sending me information on a month-by-month basis, then this information is collated and published the following month. The first monthly posts can be found by clicking on my author name (Susan Kwong), just under the post title above.
Comments (0)Making Labneh (Yoghurt Cheese Balls) with Nadia
Fermenting, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Milkwood Permaculture July 31, 2012
Nadia Lawton, master labneh maker (amongst many, many other things)
Labneh is a very easy to make and tasty cheese made of strained yoghurt, that can be stored in a jar of olive oil on the shelf. Cheese meets yoghurt meets olive oil meets extended shelf life (without refrigeration). And darn yummy. I’m in!
Comments (4)Food Preservation and Grandma’s Dill Pickles
Fermenting, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Niva Kay July 30, 2012
In my grandmother’s house you can always be sure to find the tastiest, crunchiest homemade dill pickles. "You have to choose the right cucumbers and they can only be found in the early cucumber season", she says. The right cucumbers are small and firm and slightly sweet. They are grown with very little irrigation, often irrigated only as seedlings. They are very different in flavor from the big European watery cucumbers and from the greenhouse grown cucumbers available year round. Their season is very short; early summer.
Preparing Our Children For a Resilient Future, Part II: Food Security
Community Projects, Compost, Consumerism, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Medicinal Plants, Nurseries & Propogation, Plant Systems, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes, Rehabilitation, Seeds, Soil Biology, Trees, Urban Projects, peak oil — by Anthea Hudson July 3, 2012
I doubt many would disagree that food is one of the most important things that we are going to need to become reconnected to, in times to come. Without a reliable food source, much hardship can be predicted and even potentially losses of life. In the future, food security will probably rely much more on sources of our own creation, by producing food ourselves and establishing networks with others in our community.
We will also need to acquire the knowledge to put these food systems into practice. It’s one thing to have wheat seeds to plant, but wheat doesn’t grow and become bread by itself. We have to know, and become proficient in, the processes involved in whatever we plan to produce — preferably before there is an urgent necessity to do so!
The activities below will introduce your children (and you!) to some of the principles and practices of creating food resilience.
Comments (8)Saturday Morning Breakfast, Queensland Style
Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Zaia Kendall May 17, 2012
Editor’s Note: Besides making a mean Saturday morning breakfast, Tom and Zaia make a formidable team to learn from as well. It’s not too late to jump onto their next PDC, starting in just a few days… (May 20).
Saturday is a special day for us: it is our only day off in the week and we like it being a family day. That is why I like making a nice pancake breakfast on Saturdays. This week our breakfast was made with mainly homegrown or locally grown ingredients.
by Zaia Kendall, PRI Sunshine Coast
Bunya nut pancakes, avocado chocolate mousse,
raw cream and a dollop of yakon & passionfruit jam. Mmmm….
Saturday is a special day for us: it is our only day off in the week and we like it being a family day. That is why I like making a nice pancake breakfast on Saturdays.
Last Saturday we had a feast of mainly homegrown yummies on the table: Bunya nut pancakes, Yakon and Passionfruit jam, raw cream, avocado chocolate mousse and bananas.
Comments (2)Making Miso
Fermenting, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Dion Workman February 4, 2012
Mashing cooked soybeans
It is now the middle of winter here in Japan and time again to make another year’s supply of miso. The deep flavour of miso soup (misoshiru) remains for many in Japan a daily dish. Traditionally the first meal of the day consisted of a steaming bowl of miso soup, a bowl of rice, and a selection of pickled vegetables. It is an excellent breakfast that will likely see a resurgence with the demise of industrialized agriculture and global food transportation.
The current trend for bread breakfasts (fluffy, sweet, white bread), the wheat for which is mostly imported, is occurring at a time when Japanese farmers are receiving subsidies to grow less rice! The health cost of this dietary shift will, no doubt, also soon become apparent. The simple diet of whole grains, fermented beans – in the form of miso, shoyu (soy sauce) and natto – vegetables, seaweeds, fish and very small quantities of meat has served the Japanese well for hundreds of years. The Japanese have the longest life expectancy of any nation in the world and, most importantly, in general remain in good health well into their final years.
Comments (27)Yacon Syrup
Food Plants - Perennial, Health & Disease, Medicinal Plants, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Zaia Kendall August 16, 2011
by Zaia Kendall
We had an over-abundant supply of yacon that had to be harvested. Yacon (also known as ground apple) grows very easy in our (sub-tropical) climate — one plant produces many rhizomes for division and re-planting. It needs very little attention when in the ground and Tom is of the opinion that it improves the soil where it has grown.
One can only eat so much yacon and we do not like wasting resources, and after visiting a health shop and noticing the latest health craze is yacon syrup, I decided to try and make some.
Comments (14)City Kids Move to the Country (and One Moves Back Again) – Part VI
Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, Markets & Outlets, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Recipes, Trees, Urban Projects — by Nicola Chatham June 30, 2011
Pit-falls, projects and laughs from our Permaculture journey.
Ah… Autumn… beautiful!
“It’s just too hard!” the voice in my head said. “How am I going to cope with the house, garden, turbo-charged grass and eroding drive-way on my own, now that Chris has moved back to Brisbane for work?”
Then my eye was caught by something orange on the swale. Wandering over, I noticed flies were buzzing around it like mad. Closer inspection revealed, draped under the new navel orange tree, this!
Comments (16)Bacteria – an Endangered Species!
Fermenting, Health & Disease, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Elisabeth Fekonia May 30, 2011
3 types of lactic ferment
The world is full of bacteria but there are certain bacteria that are fast becoming an endangered species. The bacteria that live in the gut of homo sapiens, particularly those of Caucasian origin, are fast disappearing. These particular bacteria comprise of the good bowel flora that is needed to create vitamins, break down undigested food particles and generally be a dominating presence within the nether regions. The importance of these bacteria cannot be overestimated as more and more victims can attest to the symptoms that a lack of these organisms will create.
Comments (12)Pickling Garlic the Okinawan Way
Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Anton Lo May 24, 2011
Making Okinawan pickled garlic is the perfect way to enter the world of pickling. Those who have the itch to make their own fresh, mouthwatering pickles are guaranteed success with this recipe. It is virtually fool proof — take it from someone whose first attempt at making sauerkraut yielded a moldy, smelly, and probably toxic mess. Making garlic pickles is simple as simple can be, and you only need these three ingredients:
- Fresh (not dry) garlic
- Salt
- Water
The recipe is also simple. Add salt to water until you can just float a small potato in it. I don’t know the precise ratio, and neither does the Okinawan ojichan (grandpa) who showed me the potato trick. The potato doesn’t have to be small, it’s just more cute and grabbable with chopsticks that way. Make sure you’ve scrubbed the skin clean beforehand, but don’t sweat it too much.
Comments (10)The Benefits of Eating Raw Cheese
Fermenting, Processing & Food Preservation, Recipes — by Elisabeth Fekonia May 4, 2011
Where in the world can you get hold of raw cheese? Not in this country, unless you make your own that is.
So what’s so special about eating raw cheese? Well it’s the flavour that you notice first. When chomping into a piece of cheese made from organic, raw milk, you really taste the difference! There is a certain complexity about raw cheese that is noticed straightaway after that first bite; and then you know you’re onto something good! Flavour is the first stage of experiencing the way cheese was meant to be. Another bonus is that it’s actually good for you! Healthy, organic, raw milk is very beneficial to your health, adds good bacteria into your gut and brings its own package of digestive enzymes with it. Raw cheese abounds in enzymes that help to digest the fats and proteins. When the food you eat has abundant bacteria and enzymes, then the digestive system is not over taxed.
Most of us suffer from depleted digestive enzymes and our health is often compromised for it. People often complain about feeling sluggish and lacking energy. This is because we are chronically short on healthy gut flora and digestive enzymes, as the food we eat is mostly dead.
Comments (6)Six Recipes for all that Zucchini and Summer Squash
Recipes — by Judith Goldsmith October 20, 2010
Sometimes our problem as permaculture gardeners is the pleasant one of abundance! Here are six suggestions for what to do with the last of the summer crop of zucchini and/or squash. Hopefully you’re checking frequently and not letting them get too big, but these recipes will also work with the baseball-bat-sized ones (just kidding). These recipes also highlight other summer crops like tomatoes, corn, and avocados.
Permacooking – Vegetarian Delights
Recipes — by Marcelo Severo September 16, 2010
There’s been a word or two in my ear that I may be presenting myself as nothing more than a meat-and-sugar eating beast on these cooking posts and that I’ve been neglecting my veggies. And it’s simply not true. Between the early morning offal fry-ups and the late night crème caramel indulgences, I cook and eat all sorts of things….
Comments (6)Permacooking – the Day Off
Recipes — by Marcelo Severo August 25, 2010
I wake up to a deficit of gas at the student camp, which translates into no easy hot water for my Sunday morning tea. There is also a surplus of horse manure sitting right by the cooking tent. I check on the horses and they seem fine. I collect a few scraps of wood and start a fire to heat some water. While that’s going, I grab a shovel and feed the horse manure to the closest flowering fruit tree I can see. Always somebody to feed. A cook’s work is never done.
Sweet Breakfast
Buckwheat pancakes with macadamia butter and ironbark honey. Sweet tea with lemon.
I catch up with Sean, one of the interns. He pulls 20 or so freshly plucked bush lemons out of his bag plus some information about the source of the horse manure. The horses got out of the paddock in the middle of the night and galloped around the student camp for a while before they got them back in. I slept right through the whole thing. It gives me something to chuckle about as I take a couple of Sean’s lemons and make us both some tea.
Comments (9)Permacooking – Milk, Tongue, Eel and Pizza Night
Animal Forage, Animal Processing, Consumerism, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Health & Disease, Livestock, Medicinal Plants, Recipes — by Marcelo Severo August 13, 2010
More Meat
I promised last week that I would tell you about the cows here at Zaytuna and I’m going to do just that. I’d like for the vegetarians out there (who will find most of this menu unpalatable) to still be interested in reading about these cows because it’s not just about the beef that ended up on our plates….
Zaytuna cow
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
