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Choosing the right education for your child

Choosing the right education for your child

Health & Family / By

Home education, school or alternative schools

Australian school-aged children will soon head off to State Government, private or grammar schools. Many will attend alternative Democratic, Steiner, Montessori or Reggio Emilia educational institutions while believe it or not, almost 20,000 Australian children will be Home Educated and not attend school at all.

A good solid education, one that prepares your children for life in an age of constantly changing technology where learning is a continuous process, is the most valuable gift you can give them. The options now available are many and varied. Parents are able to choose the style and type of education that suits their family and their children’s individual needs.

Home Education

Home educated children

For parents who are looking for an alternative to mainstream or alternative school systems, Home Education also known as modern Home Schooling, has been a successful and viable alternative around the world since the 1970s, and numbers are rapidly increasing.

Millions of children in various countries including Australia have been effectively Home Educated. Many have completed tertiary studies and apprenticeships while some are operating businesses, companies and employing others. Some have become teachers and are now teaching in alternative and mainstream schools.

The philosophy behind Home Education is curriculum free, natural learning sometimes called unschooling, a term coined by American educator and author John Holt in the 1970s, who claimed children enjoyed learning and learnt more in a spontaneous, less structured learning environment where a child’s interest directed their pursuit of knowledge.

According to Home Educators, when children are allowed to direct their own learning, it makes it a joyous experience and they quickly learn more without the need for any rewards.

Home educated students

They believe their Home Educated children are not limited to socialising with the same group of peers each year, isolated from functioning communities; they can socialise with people of all ages from various walks of life in all types of natural settings, enabling them to develop advanced communication and social skills.

For anyone concerned about the qualifications required, like John Holt and various other known educators, Home Educators believe parents are the best facilitators of learning just as they have been through the first five years of their children’s lives, a time when children learn more than any other time during their development.

The process of Home Educating children is providing them with a range of connections within their communities and various resources, then getting out of the way and trusting they will naturally and extensively learn. It’s more about how to learn, so children continually learn throughout their lives. It’s cooperative learning as opposed to competitive learning so knowledge is shared and extended with their families and others in their community.

For more information visit: Home Education Network Victoria    Home Education Association    Home Schooling Downunder    Sydney Home Education Network     Home Education WA 

Democratic Education

Democratic Education in schools around the world is a mode of learning that has a democratic goal and method of instruction. It promotes democratic values in education and self-determination within a community of equals including justice, respect and trust. Democratic Education is often where students’ voices are equal to the teacher’s. Classroom activities vary and are often determined by the children’s interests. Some schools hold weekly meetings with teachers and students to vote on their future activities and focus.

The oldest Democratic school is Summerhill, in Suffolk, England, founded in 1921, which still exists. It has voluntary class attendance and school meetings with broad powers.

List of democratic schools in Australia

Steiner Education

Steiner Education is a popular alternative that follows the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner who established the first Steiner school in Germany in 1919. It’s based on the role of imagination in learning and holistically incorporating children’s intellectual, practical, and artistic development.

Learning is divided into three main developmental stages. Early childhood education focuses on creative play and active participation. The primary stage focuses of developing artistic expression and social capabilities. Secondary education focuses on developing critical reasoning and understanding.

The aim of Steiner Education is to develop free, morally responsible integrated people with a high level of social competence. There are now more than 1200 Steiner schools in 60 countries with 40 in Australia.

Steiner Education Australia

Montessori Education

Montessori Education is an education model developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori.  Her method, which was established during the early 1900s, is used in public and private schools around the world. Montessori classrooms aim to encourage children’s innate passion for learning by providing them with opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained Montessori teacher. Children are able to progress at their own pace within an ordered framework.

Montessori Education aims to promote independence and freedom within limits and respect for children’s natural physical, psychological and social development.

Montessori programmes are now serving children and families in remote, indigenous Australian communities, where the Montessori philosophy unites with the culture and heritage of Indigenous Australians.

Montessori Australia

Reggio Emilia Education

Reggio Emilia Education, which focuses on preschool and primary school-aged children, was developed after the Second World War by psychologist Loris Malaguzzi and parents in the municipality of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy. The educational philosophy is based on Loris Malaguzzi’s belief that children are able to express themselves in an astonishing number of ways due to their unlimited imagination.

Children’s contributions are valued equally with that of their teachers. They are both seen as educators and researchers exploring knowledge together. The goal is to provide a fun-filled dynamic learning experience for both students and teachers.

Reggio Emilia Information Exchange

State, private and grammar schools

Public and private mainstream schools all have their own sets of values and checking with each school before enrolling can be beneficial. Some small state primary schools in rural areas may be part of a cluster school program that involves interaction with other small schools. State, private and grammar schools generally follow a directed state curriculum with children learning within peer groups of approximately the same age. Students learning and development is assessed by the education authority.

Children's education

My School is a resource for parents, educators and the community to give readily accessible information about each of Australia’s just over 10,000 schools and campuses.

My School (Australian Government)

Wendy Morriss

 

Lemon Cordial

Make refreshingly simple lemon cordial

Food & Garden, Health & Family / By

This is a deliciously refreshing drink and so simple. The recipe was obtained from two French chefs who once operated a unique and distinct restaurant in Victoria. Other fruits may be used instead of lemons but less sugar would be required. Orange cordial for example would only need 1 cup of raw sugar.

You will need:
1 ½ cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ cups of raw sugar
1 cup of water

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil stirring. Allow to cool and then stir in the lemon juice. Bottle and use the same way as other cordial. (Pour a small amount in a glass and add cold water to suit taste). It will keep in the refrigerator for approximately a week.

Lemon Cordial

Holly Kendall

Young entrepreneur Holly Kendall and her organic enterprise

Food & Garden, Health & Family, People & Places / By

In 2015, Holly Kendall flew solo establishing an amazing scalable online business that provides families throughout Victoria with easy access to fresh, seasonal certified organic produce.

The intelligent and thoroughly charming young business woman based in Melbourne is also a healthy lifestyle advocate and a qualified nutritional therapist.

Holly Kendall at a community market

Her business Crisp Organics, now known as Holly Kendall Organics, is an online organic produce store with a daily delivery service that operates throughout Victoria. Customers can order all their fresh organic produce online and have it delivered straight to their door or community Co-hub.

She said after launching the business, it gained a lot of traction very quickly. “It’s an industry that is growing and people are becoming more aware of the benefits. I’ve found as people learn more about me, why I do it and the experience I have, a certain level of trust and reassurance has developed. I think being a nutritional therapist is something that reassures people as well because it’s all about promoting balance in the body and really supporting it naturally using healthy food. “

All the produce is certified organic and sourced from Australian farms where it is grown free of chemicals or pesticides and hasn’t been subjected to any long term storage. “I look for quality and I’m very strict on certification,” she said, “so I don’t take home grown or organically grown, it has to be certified so that both I and my customers have an assurance that it is legitimately organic.”

Holly tries to source the produce as locally as she can to reduce food miles so most of her suppliers are in Victoria. However, to avoid limiting the availability, she also sources some foods like bananas, sweet potatoes and foods that are out of season in Victoria from growers in Western Australia and Queensland. “A lot of my produce comes from the Mornington Peninsula, Thorpdale, Kooweerup and the Yarra Ranges. Some also comes from growers in Northern Victoria.”

She said basing the business online was an obvious choice. Her customers are able to obtain all the fresh, high quality produce they want and deserve for themselves and their families in the one place. It saves them time, money and the inconvenience of traipsing from one organic store to another and coming away feeling frustrated or disappointed. “Being an online shop and delivery service enables me to help many more people gain easy access to fresh, high quality food.”

Holly once did all the home deliveries herself but she now outsources it to a refrigerated courier company, which has opened the business to the whole state. She still does deliveries in her own inner suburban area and picks up from farms and suppliers.

Another arm to Holly’s business is selling her organic produce at weekend community markets. She has also started operating pop up shops, which she said is a bit like roadside trading. She has linked up with Parks Victoria for a site at Westerfolds Park in Templestowe. “I take my van and an insulated trailer (that will soon be refrigerated) to a designated place and set up for roughly four to six hours in one location. It’s to make it easy for people to grab an organic option as a snack while they are in the park or something for dinner on the way home.”

Holly also plans to become certified organic herself, which she said will give customers that extra reassurance and she’s growing some of her own organic produce (all heirloom, non-hybrid varieties from certified seed) that she will sell as well. “There are a few certification bodies around but mine will be with NASSA because I’m growing in my backyard and they have a domestic certification. I’ll then be able to go to Farmer’s Markets. The requirement for Victorian Farmers Markets is to either be the grower or be working directly from the farm so there are a few technicalities that prevent me from currently going there but once I’m selling what I’m growing then that will open up for me.”

Prior to finding her passion and operating her business, Holly had tried many things. Initially she completed the first year of a hairdressing apprenticeship before realising it wasn’t for her and decided someone else should have that opportunity. She then did factory work packing fruit and kitchen goods and became a courier. She left for a while and completed a few different courses including one in civil construction to get her heavy machinery tickets, a truck licence and learn transport logistics, which she said has helped her with organising deliveries. She then went back to factory work while deciding what she wanted to do with everything.

She said one thing sort of led to another. She’d eaten organic foods since her late teens because she had digestive disorders and someone she worked with had told her about organics and the research on what chemicals were doing to people’s bodies. After eating organic food she said her digestive disorders started to fall away and she felt so much better. Her anxiety reduced and her skin was much nicer. “There were so many benefits, I felt more balanced physically, emotionally and my thinking was clearer and I don’t get sick at all. I haven’t been sick for years.

“I started meeting people in organics and going out to farms and one day I thought while I’m doing this for me I could give other people the same opportunity to have access to amazing, tasty, nutritious organic food, it was a no brainer.

“Both the organic health community and business community are cooperative rather than competitive so they’re very supportive. It’s a very down to earth community with beautiful people who want the best for others and the older generation are particularly supportive of younger ones coming in.”

Holly has even more projects lined up. One area of interest is speaking and education – teaching children about fresh food, what it is, where it comes from and how it supports their growth.” I’d like them to take their knowledge home and grow and use fresh food with their families so they have a healthy way of doing things and a fun way of doing it.  There’s so much information on the internet about what is or isn’t good for you yet there’s such a disconnection. I’d like people to understand that when their food is natural they can trust it and even more so if they’ve grown it themselves.”

Holly Kendall’s business Crisp Organics is now known as Holly Kendall’s Organics, which she operates with the help of her family, from her small organic farm in the hills of Wandong, Victoria.

http://www.hollykendallsorganics.com.au

Christmas in Australia

Does Santa Claus really exist?

People & Places, Health & Family / By

In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon who lived in Manhattan asked her father if Santa Claus really existed. He suggested she write to ‘The Sun’, which was a prominent New York newspaper at the time and ask them, while assuring her that “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so”.

Her letter appeared in ‘The Sun’ newspaper on September 21, 1887 and was answered by reporter Francis Pharcellus Church.

Now more than a century later the famous reply “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”, has become an indelible part of popular Christmas folklore and is the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language.

VIRGINIA’S LETTER:
“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Francis-Pharcellus-Church

Francis Pharcellus Church, author of the famous editorial

Francis Church was a war correspondent during the American Civil War who saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in much of society.

Virginia-OHanlon

Virginia O’Hanlon 1895

Virginia O’Hanlon married Edward Douglas in 1910. He left her shortly before their daughter Laura was born and they were divorced in 1930.

She received a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College in 1910, a Master’s degree in education from Columbia University in 1912 and a Doctorate from Fordham University. She was then a school teacher in the New York City ISD. She became a junior principal in 1935 and retired in 1959. She died in 1971 and was buried at the Chatham Cemetery in New York.

Throughout her life Virginia received a steady stream of mail about the letter she wrote and she included a copy of the editorial in her replies.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!

Wendy Morriss

Erika Sedgman

A plan for simple backyard permaculture

Food & Garden / By

The average house block can be transformed into a wonderful, productive and convenient food oasis using permaculture principles in the design process. Permaculture systems aim to maximise the benefits of various elements in the garden to reduce cost, labour, pollution and waste by creating convenient and interacting zones.

Permaculture plan

The first zone, which is generally outside the back door of the home, contains the most frequently required and visited areas i.e. the lemon trees, the herb garden, the kitchen greens garden and the hothouse. The annual crop garden and orchard need less attention so they can be placed in a zone further away from the back door.

If chickens are included, then placing them between the orchard and the vegetable garden allows them to have easy access to both when they are required to clean up after cropping or to consume fallen fruit and bugs in the orchard. Connecting a small water tank to the hen house roof and plumbing it to their water supply saves time spent dragging water to them.

The compost area and worm farm has been conveniently placed close to the vegetable garden and the hen house. The hen house is generally visited twice a day (in the early morning and evening) so the worms can be fed and items can be dropped in the compost on the way. A more labour efficient way to compost could be incorporating it into the chook yard and letting the hens who scratch for a living, turn it over while adding their own fertiliser.

Deciduous fruit trees and vines have been placed on the northern side of the yard because in summer they provide shade and during winter they let in sunlight. Bee hives have been placed in the orchard because as well as proving honey, bees are also invaluable as a pollinating agent. The hives can be owned by the householder or leased and serviced by a local beekeeper. This usually involves a fee but also includes a share of the bounty.

Lawn areas are costly, labour intensive and non-productive so reducing these areas, keeping only what is required for recreational purposes and putting the rest into food production makes a lot of sense.  Generally this is part of an entertainment area in a zone close to the northern side of the house so that it’s a shady spot in summer and a lovely sunny spot during winter.

The front of the yard has been planted with natives for interest, aesthetic reasons and to attract native birds and small native animals including lizards, which are beneficial for the garden. It could also have an added pond feature to attract native frogs, helping some of our endangered species to thrive.

By Erika Sedgman
Havenhill Permaculture

https://www.facebook.com/Havenhill-Permaculture

 

Heather-Gillespie-Organic-Flower-Grower

Organic flower grower talks about growing peonies

Food & Garden / By

Heather-Gillespie-Organic-Flower-Grower

One of my all-time favourite flowers is peonies often referred to as peony roses due to their likeness in appearance to roses yet they aren’t related. They really are however, the Queen of flowers with spectacularly beautiful, large, soft blooms that come in a range of colours from white, ivory and lemon to shades of mauve, pink, orange and red and they can be successfully grown in the home garden in cooler climates.

Peonies are often denoted as being difficult plants to grow but they are really simple to grow when you know how, and once established they require little maintenance. When you get it right, people will admire and fall in love with your peonies for years to come. They flower throughout spring and can live for more than 100 years.

The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, a rare fusion of fluff and majesty, the peony is now coming into bloom.
–Henry Mitchell, American writer (1923-93)

Peonies take pride of place adorning many of the amazing gardens of China and Europe and were painted by 19th century impressionist artists including Renoir.

They are native to Asia, Southern Europe and Western North America and have a history that dates back to being cultivated in China more than 4,000 years ago.

There are two types of peony plants, herbaceous peonies and tree peonies. Funnily enough tree peonies aren’t at all like trees. They are short bushes that grow to about a metre in height with stick like branches that are left after the plant has finished blooming and become dormant. Fortunately, both the tree peony and the herbaceous peony like the same conditions and environment and both produce the same extraordinarily beautiful blooms.

There are a few simple steps to successfully growing peonies:

  1. As with any plant, make sure you have the right climate to begin with. Peonies need a cooler temperature for bud formation so you will need to be living in a cooler climate. In Australia they are best grown in mountain districts, parts of Victoria and Tasmania.
  2. You will need well drained soil as peonies hate having soggy feet.  It’s easy to work out whether or not your soil is well drained. Dig a hole and if water in it takes a day or two to drain away, it’s safe to say it’s not. You can correct this with lots of compost and by raising your garden bed above the natural soil level with more compost and soil loaded with organic matter.
  3. Make sure the garden bed is in full sun. Peonies require a lot of sun to flower, unless you are in a slightly warmer climate in which case you might need to think about partial shade to protect them from the heat of the midday sun.
  4. Add loads of lime. In their natural environment peonies thrive in a lime-based soil.  So when I say lime, I mean about 2 litres of lime in the hole you plant them in and then 2 litres of lime every year. If in doubt add more lime not less.

  1. Apply some good organic fertilizer. I was once told by an older lady who was an expert peony grower to dig a hole, put in some lime and throw in a dead rat, and then plant. I laughed and wondered how many dead rats she thought I had handily laying around. Well-rotted chook poo is my favourite but cow or sheep manure is just as good. Be a bit careful with horse manure because you can get a lot of weed seed with it and it may be mixed with wood chips that take time to break down.
  2. Plant your herbaceous peony with the eyes facing upwards and about 5 centimetres below the surface. Plant your tree peony as you would any other plant. Make sure they are not competing too much with other plants.
  3. Don’t smother your herbaceous peony with too much mulch.  The beautiful herbaceous peonies find it hard to push through too much. The tree peonies however, stay above ground with dormant branches during winter and then burst into life in spring, so feel free to mulch these.
  4. Be patient.  It can take a few years to get your first flowers but I promise you the wait is worth it.

By Heather Gillespie, Organic flower grower

https://www.ridgeroadblooms.com

 

My grandmother’s easy scones and damper with variations

Food & Garden / By

In Australia during the turn of the century, cooking was carried out using very basic ingredients. Locally produced Mutton, beef and fish were cooked with a small amount of pepper and salt and served with vegetables, herbs and fruit taken fresh from the garden.

Many families had their own chickens so eggs were plentiful and due to the many dairy farms and house cows in the town’s surrounding areas, so too were milk and butter.

Staples that were purchased, and often in bulk, were flour, tea and sugar. Flour was used in various ways to spread the meat and vegetables further. It was plain flour so yeast or cream of tartar with bicarb of soda were added as natural raising agents.

Two items that were commonly cooked were scones and damper. They were quick and easy, delicious, economical and fed many.

We discovered in our kitchen that there are so many things a cook could do with basic scone/damper dough and we have added our favourite variations.

We have kept plain flour with natural raising agents in the recipe, which can be replaced with self-raising flour. The dough needs to be put into the oven more quickly when using natural raising agents. We have also used raw sugar, which is the least processed form of cane sugar. A modern variation we’ve added is pizza base, which basic scone dough is ideal for. Cooks then didn’t have scone cutters so clean fingers were used to shape the dough.

Basic scone dough and all its variations.

SCONES / DAMPER
2 cups of plain flour (unbleached white or wholemeal)
2 level teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 level teaspoon of bicarb of soda
1 level tablespoon of butter
1 cup of milk

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Using an extra fine strainer (sometimes known as a coffee strainer) sift cream of tartar and bicarb of soda into the flour. Rub butter into the flour mixture. Pour in milk and using a metal spoon mix into soft dough. Place dough onto floured board and then flatten it out a little (gently). Cut the dough into squares with a metal knife. Make them round by shaping with your fingers, place on a greased tray and bake in a preheated oven for approx. 15-20 minutes at 180-200˚C.

VARIATIONS

FRUIT SCONES
Add 1/2 to 1 cup of dry fruit and 1 tablespoon of raw sugar to the basic dough.

DATE SCONES
Add 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped dates to the basic dough.

CHEESE AND HERB SCONES
Add ½ to 1 cup of grated cheese and chopped fresh chives to basic dough.

PUMPKIN SCONES
After rubbing butter into flour, add ¼ cup of sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup of cooked pumpkin and mix to soft dough.

DAMPER
Mix the dough with ½ cup of milk and ½ cup of water. Knead lightly once or twice on a floured board and cut 2 slits in the top. Place on a greased tray and bake approx. 30 minutes at 200˚C.

PIZZA BASE
Roll out basic scone dough, put on greased trays and top with a sauce and what you have available. Bake in preheated oven approx. 30 minutes at 200˚C.

PIN WHEELS
Roll out basic scone dough. Spread with filling or paste. Roll up like a Swiss roll and slice. Bake in preheated oven for approx. 15-20 minutes at 200˚C.

DUMPLINGS
Cut basic scone dough into squares (handle lightly) and roll into balls. Boil in sauce or place on top of casseroles or stews.

GOLDEN SYRUP DUMPLINGS
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons of sugar to basic scone dough and make into dumplings. SAUCE: Bring to boil 3 tablespoons of butter, 1 ½ cups of water, 2 tablespoons of golden syrup, ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) of raw sugar. Simmer dumplings in sauce mixture approx. 20 minutes.

 

Sweet-Betsy-at-a-market

Sweet Betsy’s journey to becoming a delightful mobile café

People & Places, Food & Garden / By

A few years ago, twin sisters April and Kirsty along with their close friend Lindy, embarked on a journey to follow their long-held desire to own and operate a mobile café. They found an old vintage Franklin caravan and transformed it into an adorably cute mobile café and named her ‘Sweet Betsy’.

Original-state-of-Sweet-Betsy

The three partners tow her to three markets each month and attend annual events throughout the year selling coffee, tea, spiced chais, vanilla chais, iced coffees, iced chocolate, soft drink, juices and water. To sweeten the experience they offer old-fashioned home-made muffins, cakes and slices including a few gluten free varieties. They also sell packs of baked treats and a large variety of bottled jams, pickles and chutneys to take home.

“The idea was a dream that for a long time didn’t come to fruition because I was living interstate,” Kirsty said. “After I came home, we decided to give it a go.  We put an advertisement on a buy swap and sell Facebook page and a lovely couple answered it. We found Betsy as we called her, camped out in a paddock and we towed her to our parent’s house.”

The three friends then pulled out the old furniture and April and Kirsty’s parents helped them renovate. “Mum did all the interior decorating while Dad did all the grunt work and he remodelled the servery,” April said. “Then Lindy’s wonderful cousin donated our beautiful timber bench tops.”

Kirsty-Lindy-and-April

April, Kirsty and Lindy all love to bake, which brought them together. Kirsty and Lindy met each other while working together many years ago in hospitality. Kirsty now also works at a bank, Lindy makes special occasion cakes from home and April runs her own driving school. They all grew up in the country and they now all have young families.

April said originally the dream was to have the business operating full time but they have come to the conclusion that it’s not realistic while they have young children. “Setting up a coffee van somewhere at six in the morning with young children at school logistically at this time is difficult to do. Ideally it would be a lovely goal to aim towards.”

The small business, after operating part time for one financial year, managed to cover initial expenses, which were substantial and make a profit. Among the initial capital expenses was a coffee machine costing $4000, a grinder costing another two and a large fridge. “Another expense was the learning curve,” April said. “We started from scratch without any real business plan. We didn’t know anything about setting up websites and we had no idea how to label our jars, which are inspected by the council. We didn’t know what coffee brand to use or what cups to buy. Knowing how much food to bake and bring was another big learning curve. Initially there was a lot of waste.”

Baking for the business is carried out in Lindy’s registered kitchen where they all get together and bake whenever they need to.

Sweet-Betsy-at-a-market

Lindy said their Sweet Betsy is heavy weighing around two tons. “Kirsty usually tows,” April said, “she’s the only one with a car strong enough but Lindy can borrow her parent’s Pajero and they are now really good at reversing and getting into tiny spots.”

The original affordable petrol generator they used was noisy so they have since invested in the best one on the market, one that is almost silent and moderates the power so it’s much more economical. The van also has an 80 litre water tank and a waste water storage tank making her completely self-sufficient so they can park anywhere.

“We love it, we all really enjoy it,” Kirsty said. “The events are great, we’re out interacting with people and everyone’s really nice but behind the scenes preparation while managing our time around kids and working other jobs can be challenging.”

April said what she likes the most is getting to know the other stall holders. “Most are like-minded small business owners and people who work from home that just want to get out and make their hobby more than it is. It’s a really lovely welcoming community.”

Roasted-Colonial-Goose

Enjoy your Aussie Christmas with roasted colonial goose

Food & Garden / By

Colonial goose was cooked in Australia by our colonial ancestors who missed having their customary English goose for Christmas dinner. They improvised by stuffing a leg of lamb or mutton, which happened to be plentiful at the time, with traditional English goose stuffing and then roasted it.

Colonial Goose is a delicious Christmas dish when served with simple seasoned gravy made from the meat juices.

Roasted-Colonial-Goose

You will need:
Leg or shoulder of mutton or lamb (boned)
3 rashers of bacon finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley
3 cups of fresh breadcrumbs
2 finely chopped medium onions
1 teaspoon of thyme, sage and marjoram
½ teaspoon of grated or ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 well beaten egg
Milk

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl except the egg and milk.

Stir in the egg and enough milk to just moisten the ingredients. Stuff the opening in the meat and tie securely with cotton string. Place in a baking pan allowing it to roast in its own fat in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes per half kilogram. To serve cut the string.

Quick and easy gravy: Pour fat out of the pan leaving the meat juices. Place one tablespoon of plain flour in the bottom of a jar. Add pepper and salt and fill the jar with cold water. Shake with the lid on and pour the contents into the pan with the meat juices and stir constantly over the heat until it thickens. Serve hot.

The perfect apple sauce for your roast pork

Peel and core 3 medium apples and chop or thinly slice. Place in a small saucepan and half cover with cider. Cook uncovered until the cider has partially evaporated and the apple is pulpy. Remove from the heat and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 heaped teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle on some black pepper and serve hot.

Roast cooked by head chef Brad Sampson at the Noojee Hotel, Victoria

making an organic floral centrepiece

Make an organic Christmas floral table centrepiece

Food & Garden / By

Our talented organic florist, Danielle Clark has put together a simple centrepiece for the Christmas table using items you may have around the house and flowers and foliage from the home garden.

You will need a large bowl and a pillar candle tall enough to keep the flame safely away from the finished arrangement. Gather foliage and flowers from the garden. Pull off any dead leaves or damaged petals and trim the pieces ready to use.

Place the candle in the middle of the bowl and create a lattice effect across the top using sticky tape.

Start with a few larger pieces of foliage and look for pieces that are even in shape. Pull the leaves off the lower part of the stems so there aren’t any under the water and arrange them in the bowl symmetrically. Danielle has used fern.

Add another layer of foliage. Danielle has used some English box.

She has then added some gum, variegated holly and a few pieces of asparagus fern. The idea is to keep building the foliage placing the stems through the spaces between the tape until you can’t see it, or see the bowl.

Add a few larger flowers arranging them symmetrically. Danielle has used red roses but there are many varieties and colours that can be used.

Then add some smaller flowers to complete the arrangement. Small pink roses, tea tree, forget-me-nots and a small native flower have been used to complete this one.

The beautiful finished centrepiece ready to place on the Christmas table.

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