On Thursday the 4th of December we will be running another Thrift Seekers Op Shop Adventure!

Led by a true expert with a LOT of experience (that’s a pat on the back for Leanne!) we will be travelling to the far away land of Preston to explore the wild expanses of Salvos, Uniting and Sacred Heart Mission op shops. With a stop for lunch at one of the lovely restaurants in that neck of the woods.

Thanks so much to the Community Bank on Queens Parade for supporting this program.

If you’d like to join us you can book in online here. Only $5. And don’t forget to BYO miki card on the day as we’re taking this adventure by PT (public transport).

Sustainable transport … sustainable shopping … a sustainable Christmas … how excellent!

With the combination of rain and sunshine the winter silverbeet and kale is growing out of control, going to seed and ready to rip out. But … before you do this, here’s a recipe to consider …

This week in Garden to Plate we made a FABULOUS! pasta dish - inspired by Jamie Oliver.

it is fabulous because it uses HEAPS of dark leafy greens!!! Reducing food waste from your garden and good for your health - a real win/win.

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of dried spaghetti or other pasta (500g)

• 8 cloves of garlic, peeled

• 600 grams of leafy greens, stems stripped out (eg. kale, silverbeet etc.)

• 90 grams of parmesan cheese

• 90 grams ricotta

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• salt and pepper

• water from the pasta

Instructions

• Boil a pot of water, add salt and cook the pasta

• With 10 minutes to go until the pasta is cooked, add the torn up leafy greens and peeled garlic cloves and cook until wilted.

• Add the olive oil to a blender, then use tongs to transfer the leafy greens and garlic to the blender as well, before whizzing until super-smooth. Add additional water from the pasta to thin out if needed. When silky smooth add the parmesan and whizz again … then add a good teaspoon of salt and lots of pepper to taste (and whizz again).

• Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sauce back into the pot too and mix it thoroughly through the pasta.

• Serve this very green pasta with lovely white ricotta dotted on top.

Bon Appetit! It’s really good!

Garden to Plate runs on Mondays from 11.30am-1pm. We cook a couple of recipes together each week … and then sit down to share a meal - it’s lovely! Book in online.

Annie Bolitho from Transition Darebin Food Swap has popped twenty packets of naturalised seed into our Seed Library - so do come and see if there's something there for you.

According to Annie your seedlings should jump out of the ground.

'Naturalised means the seed has grown for repeated seasons in the same place, so it's very strong. We have amazing gardeners in our Food Swaps and you'll see many of the seeds originated with them, like Clara's Pottimarron pumpkin, Damien's Trombocini, John's Marvellous Marigolds and  Roslyn's rocket.'

If you pick Bruno's Dad's Beans, a climber, try to save the best seed you can. Bruno's Dad kept them going in Reservoir from the mid-1950's, and Annie and Silvana Predebon who you might know from the CWA have kept them going.

Happy Spring gardening!

• Fairfield Food Swap is 3rd Sat each month, 11am, St Andrews Church, Gillies Street

• Reservoir Food Swap is 3rd Sat each month, 10am, Reservoir Library

• Thornbury Food Swap is 4th Sat each month, 11am, Thornbury Picture House.

We’ve got heaps! Last week at Preserves Group we made 24 jars in just 1.5 hours - very industrious and efficient.

So now we have loads of cucumber pickles, tomato relish and marmalade for sale. If you’d like some drop past $7 a jar. The profits support our AAA programs.

Thanks to those that came along.

New flood maps have been published for our area by Melbourne Water. If you haven’t seen them yet you can check them out here.

If you have questions or need more information SPAN Community House is running an info session on Tuesday 21 October at 6-7pm. The address is 64 Clyde Street, Thornbury.

You can contact Carmen to register, climate@spanhouse.org.