Each week we post a gem from Gumtree – the online buy, sell, swap site – that is odd, unusual or just plain different. Most items are/were for sale in South-West Victoria or not far beyond.
This week we have a tradey with a twist (we added the image):
[box] Todd Henry’s Gardening services: I’ll mow your lawn 😉 with the best manscaping around. [/box]
If you enjoy Gumtree gems, read on:
All I need is the air that I breathe
Always check the auto-correct!
Each week we post a gem from Gumtree – the online buy, sell, swap site – that is odd, unusual or just plain different. Most items are/were for sale in South-West Victoria or not far beyond.
This week we have unearthed a piece of furniture in need of a new home:
[box] Couch: For sale! Need GORN ASAP pick up only. The left side is a bit hard to push in because its bent. Brought fit 800 selling for 250 Ono. Just need to put bent bit back 🙂 [/box]
Don’t miss our other Gumtree gems…
All I need is the air that I breathe
Always check the auto-correct!
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] H [/dropcap]ow many times have you been lured into buying a sumptuous-looking cookbook, only to find that the fine print includes ingredients that you have either never heard of, or which are almost impossible to buy? (Fresh bamboo sticks, dried banana leaf, mud crab…)
And we all own at least one cookbook that has such convaluted, complex recipes that even if you source the ingredients, you haven’t got time to devote an entire day to making dinner.
There are no such problems with this week’s choice for Bookmarks, which is a collection of recipes from the Port Fairy Consolidated School and Community.
This is what Michaelie Clark, from Warrnambool Books, has to say about her selection:
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] ‘T [/dropcap]his book was released by the Port Fairy Consolidated School and Community last year and is very impressive (deviates greatly from the old binders you used to get with photocopies of Mum’s yo-yo recipe, etc)!
It has been a consistent seller since its release.
In 2007, the Port Fairy Consolidated School made a successful application to join the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, which gave the students the tools and support to grow, harvest, prepare and share food, with a strong focus on the value of local produce.
An important result of the program is the Shared Hands Cookbook, a beautiful collection of recipes from the school and its associates, the local culinary community, and others they are inspired by. The book includes high quality, full-colour photos of most of the dishes, plus lots of images from the garden, the school and around the town.
The recipes are easy to follow, diverse and incredibly tempting (the ‘Baked Zucchini Stuffed with Spicy Rice’ and the ‘Quince and White Chocolate Muffins’ would be pretty hard to pass up), but best of all is the book’s wonderful local flavour.’
Yum!
[box] You can keep up with new releases at Warrnambool Books via its Facebook page.[/box]
Catch up on our other Bookmarks…
Ben Sanders: Retro meets whimsy
Getting fit the fun way with Marie Bean
Can Paul Jennings put a foot wrong?
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]urning old quarries into beautiful places and spaces is something of a Warrnambool speciality: the late Sir Fletcher Jones did just that with Pleasant Hill outside his Raglan Parade factory.
About a kilometre up the hill from his masterpiece is another, equally impressive transformation of a former council quarry into the Warrnambool Community Garden and Hub.
Instead of taking things from the land, the Warrnambool Community Garden has spent the past six years putting life back into it.
The 2 acre site on the corner of Grieve St and Grafton Rd is a shining example of organic and permaculture gardening, with the site divided into areas of raised vegetable beds, more than 50 fruit and nut trees, a herb garden, bush tucker area, communal garden and 56 individual garden beds, all of which appear to be thriving.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he individual plots are planted and maintained by group members who are assigned a patch of dirt for their own enjoyment. When Bluestone visited last week, the spring crops were booming, with beans, snap peas, rhubarb, spring onions, several varieties of lettuce and thick clumps of silverbeet among the delicious produce.
Incredibly, there was barely a weed to be seen.
“We have a flag system,” explained Convenor Geoff Rollinson.
“That means that if your plot is looking a bit neglected, a flag goes up on it…but we have never had a flag. It is the thought of being flagged that is the deterrent,” he said, laughing.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he garden is home to several employment scheme projects and works in closely with other like-minded environmental groups around the area, who can also make use of the Hub: a retro-fitted portable classroom that showcases energy efficient building.
This weekend (October 12-13 from 10am), the garden is hosting its annual Dirty Weekend full of gardening and sustainable living-related activities, including composting, permaculture techniques, learning about edible weeds and indigenous foods, cooking with ‘ugly’ vegetables and various stalls, exhibits and competitions. A dry stone wall building workshop will also be held with expert David Long ($88 – bookings 0429 928 511).
[box type=”bio”] For more information on the garden, or how to become involved, visit its website here.[/box]
Other stories you might enjoy…
This is the sort of thing that once stimulated “controversy” in households across Australia…to Hoover, or not to Hoover, the new carpets? When Mum bought her first Hoover in the 1950s, this was included in the instruction booklet.
