Wild Fermentation

I've long been taken by Sandor Katz's book Wild Fermentation but next weekend he's in Wellington in the New Zelaand festival. The tickets to the big night event are $100 including food and drinks but the next day 9:15am they are only $18. I've got to find a way. Dont know how yet, but got to. here's a link and look him up At the moment I have at least 6 live ferments going and that doesnt even include my compost. So I've got Kombucha, Kefir, Caspian Sea Yoghurt, red wine vinegar, wine, sauerkraut, oh and rewana, but I havent done that for a while so it's sitting in the freezer.

Preserve Swap and plan for more swaps

Kia ora Whanau, Well, I've given myself the mish to write a blog a week, and/ or get you guys to help me write them. First up the preserve swap on Feb 15th was a huge success, and on advise to put it out there, rather than just friends, I've put it up on OOOBY. Please check out and feel free to tell your people IF you're in Palmerston North or can get here for the swaps. If this link doesnt work, go to Oooby (Out of our back yard) and go to groups and go to Permaculture Palmerston North Swaps. f you're interested in being part of our swaps, get yourself on the text lists. At the start of the month you get a text to see are you in or not, totally optional, sweet as. You may also want to help with the organising of these swaps- doesn't take much, but means we can have more & different swaps. All swaps encourage sharing, getting in sync with the seasons, the garden, supporting the non-money economy, recycling, intergenerational transmission of knowledge and of course eating well! These swaps are for people in Palmerston North or who can get to Palmerston North for the swap time. Chutney/ Jam swap- next one is 5-6pm 15th March, text me, Donna, 0220687280 if you want to be added to the list, we have a core group & welcome new people with yummy recipes! Bring along labelled 4 jars of preserves, (or multiples of 4) and you get back 4 different ones. My personal fav from the Feb swap so far is the Mushroom pickle. We have a few a year, mainly in the peak of the season, to fill up the cupboards. Ferment swap- for the culture. Bring your 4 x culture and copy of instructions to keep it alive. e.g.Caspian Sea Yoghurt, Mother of Vinegar, Kombucha, Kefir, Rewana, Kimchi, Ginger Beer, Sauer kraut..you get the gist. That'll be April/ May. We have small containers if you need them. There's talk of a wine swap, :o but we haven't got on to that yet. Matariki Seed swap to get ready for spring. Save your locally grown seeds, when we've set the date, time and venue we'll keep you posted. It'll be around June/ July.

Potato variety swap- bring along 4 (or multiples of 4) named seed potatoes- about the size of a big egg, you get 4 different ones back. Save your seed spuds in preparation. Swap around August. Seedling Swap Around mid November. You know when you get 600 lettuce seeds and there's no way you're gonna eat 600 in a season or even two seasons...well bring them along in 4 punnets, and get 4 different punnets back. Or for the bigger seeds, like kamokamo, just two seedlings. Cuttings swap- date not set yet 1. Perennial edible, eg, rhubarb, berry canes, asparagus, jerusalem artichokes, rosemary, passionfruit plants, tamarillo, loquat... 2. Perennial- other uses, eg flowers, or useful permaculture plants like lavender, bamboo, flax, companion plants, Text me 0220687280 Donna indicating which swaps you're keen to be in.