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May 2010 Perth City Farm is a branch of Men Of The Trees [ Issue 1]

Perth City Farm –

the organic centre of town! An urban transformation miracle in the centre

of the city—Perth City Farm is now a vibrant

hub of Permaculture, Education, Art,

Community and Enterprise.

Take a short walk from Perth’s CBD district and

you might find yourself in our inner-city leafy oasis

of art and organic gardens. The Perth City Farm

started in 1994 as an environmental resource

centre and has grown into a spectacular

demonstration site for green city living. We are

located next to the Claisebrook railway station,

only a quick walk from Northbridge – the city

entertainment precinct.

Perth City Farm, a branch of Men of The Trees Inc.

(MOTT), was established on a heavily degraded

polluted industrial site in 1994. Hundreds of people

contributing many thousands of hours of loving

work have created a vibrant productive certified

organic garden. The derelict warehouses and soil

you can see in the image on the top right, have

been remediated to become an education centre,

market space, workshop areas, animal areas and

gardens.

The vision of Perth City Farm is to achieve

P.E.A.C.E. (Permaculture, Education, Arts,

Community and Enterprise). The venue hosts an

incredible variety of programs which reflect each

of these themes. The philosophy of the Perth City

Farm is simple: ―We plant trees to help people

grow‖. The project is built on the foundation of its

core values – respect, non-judgment and

compassion - welcoming and including all.

www.cityfarmperth.org.au

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City Farm Features The Perth City Farm has several key features:

Organic Growers Market every Saturday – 8 am to

12 Noon.

Artisan’s Market every 4th Saturday of the Month

9am to 1 pm

Learning and volunteering opportunities -

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

A nursery/organic garden centre to purchase

your vegetable seedlings, herbs, fruit trees and all other

garden needs.

Productive gardens that are educational and inspiring

- full of wildlife and productive plants.

Mosaic Art activities in partnership with Nulsen.

Activate Tree Planting Festivals in winter.

City Farm Café opening soon!

Organic Markets

The Organic Market is held each Saturday of the

month from 8.00am until 12 noon. The following

stall holders sell certified organic produce in the

market building.

Merri Bee Organics: (first Saturday of month)

Located in Nannup. Bee and Stuart sell organic pork,

beef, chicken, eggs, dairy produce, herbs, a wide range of

fruit and veggies, as well as cakes, baked savouries and

bread.

Marg Brock: bio-dynamic eggs, veggies and fruit.

Sona and Harry Toutikian: veggies, herbs, fruit

dips and sauces.

Harry Testoni: Bio-dynamic vegetables, especially

carrots and garlic.

Sue Hale: Sue specializes in asparagus in season

Baramba biodynamic beef: Edith and Sid from

Baramba sell beef on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the

month.

Wambyn Olives: Penny of Wambyn sells a range of

olive products.

Miessence: Nina represents Miessence and sells a wide

range of certified organic skin care products produced in

Queensland.

Beeswax Creations: Rewa sells beautiful handcrafted

candles from 100% bees wax. There is a candle for all

occasions

Environment House: Supply a wide range of items

including cleaning products, methods of pest control,

wormfarms, bokashi buckets, power meters, bottles &

bags, and magazines and books about saving energy .

Extreme Superfoods: Damian & Karri sell fruit

smoothies, raw food ingredients & raw chocolate balls as

well as other health products.

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Diverse Range

Other, non-certified producers of organic products, sell

their products outside the market building.

Cliff Brockway — Cliff Brockway of Llanelly Orchard in

Roleystone, is a regular stall holder who brings a wide

range of non-certified organic produce to the Saturday

markets. Cliff says that May is a good month to buy

Pink Lady, Sundowner, Granny Smith, and Kings Cross

apples. Fuyu sweet persimmons are also available; All

are $5.00 per kg. Cliff’s Feijoa Pineapple guavas have

been selling very well and will be available for the next

few weeks. Valencia oranges, which are excellent for

juicing, are in good supply. Astringent (not sweet)

Persimmons will be coming in to season these fruit are

delicious to eat when they are very soft.

Cliff also sells a range of fresh fruit juice, eggs and

honey. The Marri honey is now coming to an end, and

the bee hives will soon be moved to an organic

strawberry farm.

The Organic Debate An Interview with Bee Winfield

Merribee organic farm, in Nannup

Bee sells at the Markets 1st Saturday

Of the Month.

Organic farming makes use of open pollinated seeds that

have been collected over several generations. Seeds

from open-pollinated plants produce crops that are

similar to the parent plant in qualities of taste, colour,

fertility and yield potential. Whilst it is possible through

careful selection of the best seeds to improve the strain

of a particular crop, the resulting plants are true to the

original plants, and are not hybrids. Hybrid plants do not

produce young plants that are exactly true to the parent

plant, the seeds are sterile and the farmer has the cost of

purchasing seeds every year.

Organic seeds are difficult to obtain, especially in

Western Australia due to the quarantine laws. Many

seed suppliers in the Eastern states do not sell to W.A.

farmers. There were some seed savers in Busselton, but

unfortunately the business has closed due to the

retirement of the lady who ran it. This has left W.A.

organic farmers with no corn seeds except a few small

operators such as Troy Dowling in Ballingup.

Organic farmers face another serious threat – the lifting

of the ban on genetically modified crops. This is a

problem, as the possibility exists that pure organic plants

might be cross-pollinated with GM crops, either by wind

or through bee activity. Turnips, mustard, Chinese

cabbage and a couple of other plants, will readily cross-

pollinate with GM crops. Five out of eight councils in

Agriculture minister, Terry Redman’s own electorate,

have declared that they wish to remain GM free. Terry

Redman is promoting GM in WA.

― Organic farmers of W.A. need our support in their

fight against the possible threats that GM crops present.‖

Says Bee .

Honey, Fuyu Persimmons and Feijoa (Pineapple guavas)

COMPETITION

Enter our “Name the City

Farm Café” competition

to win a lunch for 4 people.

Email your suggestion and

name to:

info@cityfarmperth.org.au

[Closes 31 May 2010]

W A N T E D

Café Manager

Exciting opportunity to run a new cafe that will integrate organics, training and culture.

Min 3 yrs business experience, including

providing healthy foods.

Email : info@cityfarmperth.org.au

for more details

Cafe Opening Soon !

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May 2010

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

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Organic Market 2

3 4

5 6 7 8

Organic Market 9

10 11

12 13 Waste Wise

School program Dept of

Environment and conser-

vation with Josh Burns

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Organic Market 16

The Great Re-skilling

17 Ross Mars perma-

culture certificate

18 19 20 21 22

Artisan’s Market

& Organic Market

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24 25

26 27 28 29 Organic Market

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City Farm

Event

Volunteer

Lunch

12 noon—1 pm

Hosted Event

Not organized by City

Farm)

Joint Event

(Organized by City

Farm in partnership

with other entities)

info@environmenthouse.org.au

Men Of The Trees Western Australia

The Society founded for the Planting and Protection of Trees

Non-Profit - Voluntary - Founded in Perth 1979

Volunteer Lunch

Volunteer Lunch

Volunteer Lunch

Men's’ Shed Men's’ Shed Men's’ Shed

Men's’ Shed Men's’ Shed Men's’ Shed

Men's’ Shed Men's’ Shed Mens’ Shed

Men's’ Shed Menes’ Shed Men's’ Shed

New Opportunities for

Women

New Opportunities for

Women & Mosaic Art

New Opportunities for

Women

New Opportunities for

Women & Mosaic Art

New Opportunities for

Women

New Opportunities for

Women & Mosaic Art

Community Lunch New Opportunities

for Women

New Opportunities for

Women . & Mosaic Art

Volunteer days are Tuesday,

Wednesday Thursday and Saturday

VET in Schools

VET in Schools

VET in Schools

VET in Schools