More growing room for Spring!

Every year, in the lead up to Spring, gardeners start plotting and planning how they can gain more room to grow. We’ve put together some ideas to help you maximise your space and ensure that you’re growing (and therefore eating) responsibly.  Spring is only 5 sleeps away!
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Homemade Fruit Leathers

Fruit leathers are a fabulous alternative to store bought, additive laden, roll ups.  This recipe is easy to make at home with kids and has only 4 ingredients. My family likes the combination of raspberries and banana, but any combination of fruit can be used (apple & cinnamon, cherry & cranberry or mango & pineapple are also delicious). If you don’t own a dehydrator these can also be made in the oven, though drying times may vary.
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Grow your own pineapples from tops ?

Did you know that pineapples contain a compound called bromelain and eating a fresh pineapple full of bromelain induces a feeling of well being? We all know that homegrown tastes even better so why not try your hand at propagating your own from tops?
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Moss House Swap & Foraging Tour with Diego Bonetto – 7 May, 2017

This International Permaculture Day, member Margaret Mossakowska kindly re-opened her garden to the Crop Swap community. This large suburban food garden features eleven raised vegetable beds (seven of which are self-watering), large composting bays and worm farms, a chicken forest, native stingless bees, insectary gardens and a habitat pond.
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Cook Your Crop: Claudia’s Babaganoush

The sharing of this recipe is the result of a swap that took place between two members from the same suburb. One is a grower, the other is a cook. The first offered up a bounty of huge eggplants from her front garden, while the other had nothing to swap, but loved to make babaganoush. The eggplants were gifted with no reciprocation required, but the cook took the eggplants home, made the delicious dip, and returned some to the grower.  Of the countless swaps that have taken place, this story has to be one of our favourites.

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Pocket City Farms Swap – 18 March, 2017

At our Pocket City Farms swap this month we offered members free soil testing provided by the wonderful team at Vegesafe.  Home gardeners brought their soil samples along and were able to have them analysed on site for metal and metalloid contaminants.  What a valuable service to ensure that soil is safe for growing edibles in!
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Permaculture Sydney North Swap – 6 March, 2017

Crop Swap Sydney was proud to collaborate with Permculture Sydney North for a special evening swap.  At the mothly meetings Laurie, Crop Swap’s founder, discussed the Crop Swap idea, its evolution, some of the weird and wonderful items that have been exchanged and its involvement with permaculture.

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All About Heirlooms

Have you ever eaten rainbow corn, purple carrots or pink radishes? Varieties such as these, that sound too magical to be true, are known as heirlooms or old cultivars.  In recent years they have become highly sought after for their superior taste, interesting appearance or because they are uncommon in supermarkets.  For these reasons, they are perfect for the backyard veggie patch, and your dinner plate!
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5 edible flowers to grow & cook

The culinary and decorative benefits of edible flowers are endless. There are many easy-to-grow varieties and most can even be grown in pots. They have the ability to transform any boring dish by injecting new colours and flavours, and are an interesting talking point (especially when you can declare that they are homegrown). Here are 5 of our family favourites to brighten up your table this Spring. […]