Fellow farmers/growers, help! This is the best of our wombok. 🤔 Most of them have been far from perfect. The hearts are pretty loose, or have not gitmed hearts at all, and some have bolted before even forming a heart. Usually veggies such as brussle sprouts, cabbages and caulies need cold weather to form a heart or curd. Our other brassicas are going really well. So, are wombok different? Is out timing out? Is it worth trying a commercial variety? I'd like to blame our warm autumn, but I suspect operator error 🫤 All advice welcome! #chinesecabbage #wombok #help #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
The fellas have been getting some veggie seedlings in the ground! These leeks are planted nice n deep and close together. They are a fab veggie to grow as we can plant tonnes per bed, so it's a high yield for a small space. Also, few pests or diseases bother them. #leek #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
It's the endless summer. Glorious autumn forever. Slip, slop, slap on repeat. And retic on *every day*. We are two weeks off winter, and Perth has really not seen much decent rain, only a few mm in the rain gauge. We turned the retic off for a few days, but we are now in the middle of a stretch of high 20s and zero rain, and you just can't grow veggies without water. So we are eternally grateful for our mains water supply and the Water Corp who provide this city with excellent quality water. Our Farm is looking fine thanks to them! Perth's integrated water system includes dam water (which used to make up the lions share of Perths water supply, now down to about 1/3 due to reduced rainfall and stream flow), our desalination plants (a technical godsend, however not without environmental impact - we now pump back super saline water into our oceans), and groundwater (virtually a non-renewable resource which, if we take too much, impacts on our wetlands and other waterbodies). We must use this precious resource wisely. Drink it, wash with it, grow food and gardens that support biodiversity and cool our suburbs. But don't waste it. Our thoughts are with the farmers who don't have irrigation and who rely 100% on rain. It's a tough gig for sure. @watercorporation #waterwise #watercorp #water #growfoodnotlawns #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Twice a year we make up about 140 watering cans of our special soil drench brew and pour it on all of our garden beds! It's a recipe based partly on @gardeningaustralia advice, partly on advice from our annual soil test results. The drench gives the microbiology in our soils a nice lil kick along, and our veggies an extra boost. In our secret recipe we have molasses, milk, Seasol, Powerfeed, and Verigrow. It's a delightfully sweet, sticky, stinky, messy! It takes a team of volunteers in a proper production line to get this task done and it usually takes us a few sessions but it's so satisfying to cross off our list and know our soil and veggies are happy. @seasol_international on behalf of our veggies, thank you for these fab products! #soildrench #soilbiology #healthysoil #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Just some silverbeet looking fine! I referred to my notes from last year, which clearly stated ''make sure to have 4-5 beds planted with silverbeet by May. They stop growing when it gets cold and North Freo has insatiable silverbeet appetite". Ok, let's get some more planted! This May is so warm, so I reckon we can get a few more beds cranking yet! #silverbeet #insatiableappetite #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Fun little workshop this morning learning the basics for growing veggies. We covered soil health, soil amendments, planting, maintenance, pests and diseases and troubleshooting. May all our participants (and you, dear reader) go forth and grow veggies! Many thanks to the Department of Communities for your support! We have a whole swag of workshops coming up, including natural dyeing, weed foraging, gardening on the cheap - you can book these now on our website - link in bio. Plus, tool maintenance and cooking workshops are coming soon! @communities_wa #howtogrowveggies #perthsoil #gardeningworkshop #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Beets! We've really held back on this bed to see how big these beets can get...and there's definitely a few stonkers in there now! As always let's remember to eat the leaves just like silverbeet. Did you know they are infact the same plant, Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, just different cultivars. So there is no excuse for turfing ya lush leafy tops in the compost! Eat em up! Over the years we've got better and better at crop sucession, meaning when this bed is fully harvested we have more on the way. Hooray 🥳💜 #beets #beetroot #silverbeet #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Olive season is in full swing! 🫒 Today, we took up 1.5 tonnes of Freo olives to York for pressing into our special blend of olive oil! This oil will go to the members who picked them (one family picked 250kgs! Woah!). If youre cuious about what this is all about, we will be doing another weekend of picking for oil for fundraising* - 18 and 19 May. If you want to join in please register on our website and we will coordinate meeting points (most likely parks and/or verges, still to be determined). But beware - you might catch olive fever - the irrational desire to KEEP PICKING even though it's late and your arms are tired and you've already picked plenty...it's a thing. *Yes! We will have oil to sell...we just gotta pick em 😉 #oliveoil #olive #olivefever #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We have a whole swag of fab workshops coming up at the Farm. Next cab off the rank is Veggie Fardening For Beginners, but also check our website or Natural Fabric Dyeing, Gardening on the cheap (and in small soaces and in rentals) and Edible Weeds workshop. In the pipeline we have Tool Maintenance and some cooking workshops too! Phew! For now, here are the deets for Gardening For Beginners: If you've ever wanted to grow veggies at home, but didn't know where to start, we have the workshop for you! Join Amy to learn some practical steps to get started. As with all good gardens we will start with the soil, then we will cover plant selection, plant spacing, watering and maintaining your patch. You will get hands on and get to try some simple but essential tools and try some planting too. We will talk about products available and what is helpful to add specifically to our Perth soils. In this workshop we will touch on all subjects so you have a starting point and confidence to get growing. AND you'll take home some seedlings to inspire you to dig in! This workshop is aimed at beginners but more seasoned gardeners might pick up some tips too! When: Saturday 11 May, 9.30am to 11.30am (you're welcome to come along early to have a wander through the Farm) Were: North Fremantle Social Farm, Thompson Rd, North Fremantle (next to the Community Hall) Cost: free for members, $5 non-members. New social members always welcome, check our website for details - link in bio. Bring: Please bring your own gardening gloves (we have spares if needed) and wear sturdy shoes and gardening gear. This workshop is a part of our Grow, Cook, Eat, Share program sponsored by the Department of Communities, Community Garden Grants. #workshops #gardeningworkshops #Skillshare #resilience @communities_wa #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Folks! It's that time again! Come down to the Farm this Saturday to pick up some yummy jams, chutneys, pickles, dried herbs, dried citrus and more. Our regular House Honey man will be in with his gorgeous selection of honeys for you to sample and purchase. We will be running our Welcome Walkthrough at 9am. This is aimed at new picking members but anyone is welcome to join in and learn more about how to harvest and to see what's happening in our patch! If you're in at cuppa tea time, you're more than welcome to join us! #littlepantry #preserves #popin #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Just a few happy Farm snaps. The kolrabi are plump, the garlic is nearly all up, the broccoli is starting to make heads (still white fly free 🤞). But the best news is that it's finally, finally raining! 🥹 May this rain make it all through our WA wheatbelt, may it fill dams, revive forests, germinate pasture seeds in fields and bring some relief to those hard working legends who grow our food! AND may we never forget that Mother Nature is in charge and needs treating a whole lot better than we are currently managing. #rain #finally #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
It *is* the village we all need: human connection and the life affirming act of growing food, outside, alongside the djitty djittys, sharing cuppas and bikkies and stories and recipes and friendships. Who doesn't need a lil bit of that? Sometimes we rejoice in the simple things (a WA AFL win 💜🤍💛💙, a new puppy); lament the troubles of the world (too numerous to list) and express outgage at the outrageous and savour the precious things (human connections, love). And somehow sharing these things collectively makes all the joy and grief and love and hope of our lives and of the world easier to bare and makes us richer. Here's to the village! May we all find one...or grow our own! Thanks for the beautiful article and for getting it @gardeningwithcaseyjoy @stmperth #thevillage #ittakesavillage #collective #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
What a glorious morning at Jetto's Patch! We are so grateful to be able to visit one of Australia's best food forest gardens right here in Perth. Despite a ridiculously hot and dry spell, plus, Michele and Dario being busy with family commitments, this garden is abundant, cool and beautiful! It shows us the resilience of permaculture systems. This garden could not be more different to our own North Freo Social Farm, where we grow familiar veggies in rows and turn over beds quickly using fairly high level of inputs. But each garden has its way and its purpose. Both are wonderful and valuable examples of organic, planet sensitive ways to grow food. Both are examples of urban food security and both show examples of alternatives to industrial food systems and our supermarket duopoly - we may not have Coles and Woolies shaking in their boots but gardens like this certainly sow a seed and give us food for thought. Many thanks to Dario and Michele who generously opened their garden, shared their philosophy on gardening, nature and life, and shared seeds and cuttings with us. Your dedication to organic growing and to education is so hearwarming! Thanks for the inspiration! @jettospatch #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #inspiration #coolgarden #resilience #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Do you know what a *Social* Farm is? It's a place were the *social* is just as important as the farming. And did you know we have an open house policy for cuppas? Feel free to join us on our volunteer mornings (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings) at about 10.30am for a free cuppa 🫖, a wander through the garden 🚶♀️and chat with our lovely volunteers. You don't need to be a member or a volunteer to enjoy this community space. Everyone is welcome. We'd love to see you at the Farm some time 😊 #welcome #wandjoo #freecuppa #social #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
And that's our 8 and a half beds of garlic planted! Hooray 🥳 . This year, we took our time getting beds planted as they became available, so some beds are already powering away. To prep the beds, we added extra compost, following the universal advice that garlic loves compost. But one piece of advice is a little more controversial - to soak the bulb in seasol prior to planting, or not? We here generally don't bother. Our Farmer Amy is not convinced of the benefits, but coordinating soaking overnight when we are not in on consecutive days is a hassle. As is having to count out exactly the number of bulbs needed for one bed, and inevitably not having enough or way too much! So, to keep it simple, the bulbs go straight into the beds, knuckle deep, pointy side up with lots of compost. And of course, a dose of seasol *after* they're planted. What's your method - soak or no soak? @seasol_international #seasol #garlic #soak #keepitsimple #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We had a fabulous workshop yesterday learning all about kimchi making! Gloria gave us the hot n spicy tips for making this delicious Korean treat, and guess what? It seems easier than you might think. We now have many kimchi conversations - better get planting more Chinese cabbages! Thank you, Gloria, for your wonderful, entertaining workshop, you're a natural presenter and passionate foodie! #kimchi #wombok #chinesecabbage #fermentation #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
This week ,we had a lovely visit from Casey @gardeningwithcaseyjoy . One of the great delights of gardening is sharing your garden with other gardeners who totally get it! We all had fun chats with Casey, introduced her to our worms and posed for the cameras. Our little Farm was putting a pretty show, all pinky purple 💜 🩷 Look out for us in the Casey's column in the Sunday Times soon! @gardeningwithcaseyjoy @stmperth #gardentour #cantstoptalkingaboutgardening #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Garlic's up! Always a delight to see this delicious crop push up through the mulch. Garlic is a long crop - 6-8 months, but well worth it. We have a couple of beds still to plant but so far so good! 🧄🧄🧄 #Garlic #up #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Exciting news! Our kimchi making workshop is this Saturday! Join our resident foodie, Gloria, to learn the secrets of making simple traditional Korean kimchi. At the Farm, Gloria has been eyeing off our crop of wombok (Chinese cabbages) for a few weeks and is keen to show you how to turn them into kimchi. Gloria will step us through the process from start to finish and she will provide you with your own sample jar to take home and ferment. Gloria will also show us how to make kimchi fried rice as a bonus! This workshop includes a light morning tea plus taste tests. Please remember to bring your own small clean jar. Follow the link in our bio to book! #kimchi #cookingworkshop #deliciouslygloria #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
After last month's sell-out, the ladies have been busy in the kitchen making delicious preserves for YOU! come down this Saturday for a wander through the Farm, pick up a couple of your favourite preserves and join us for a cuppa. Our neighbours at the Bowlo are joining us this month with an info stall and shirt sales. Come n say g'day! #neighbours #preserves #chutney #relish #pickles #jam #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We spent last week prepping beds and this week, it's endless planting 🌱🌱🌱 It's not a chore. It's blissful, life-affirming, simple and deeply satisfying. It's believing that despite our driest 6 months since records began, despite knowing climate change is here and now, despite the worry we hold for our planet, it will rain again and we will tackle this huge problem together. 'Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can'. Right now, that means gardening the heck out of our suburb, tomorrow maybe it's writing a few letters or joining a conservation group or choosing a bike ride over a car ride... the possibilities are endless...🙂 #wewill #rain #climatechange #powerofcommunity #seedlings #planting #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
What a fun morning of Easter egg hunting, chatting with neighbours and sharing morning tea! Many thanks to everyone who came along to enjoy a lovely community event together. Special thanks to the pumpkin soup maker, hot cross bun toaster, and suppliers of Easter eggs (@sarahbourkeproperty ). The kiddos practically tiptoed through the Farm to make sure no veggies got squashed, there was a lot of sharing out eggs to make sure everyone went home with some! Well done, kids of North Freo! We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. #Easteregghunt #communityfun #easter #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Check out our new bottle top recycling station ♻️ ! We found that we were getting lots of lids via our Containers for Change collections (no lids allowed in the Containers for Change system) so our lovely volunteer Penny went on a mission to find out where we can recycle them... and she found @madeinthecityof . This crew collect pre-sorted bottle lids and make various cute products for sale right here in Perth. It might seem like a little thing, but every bit of plastic we can keep out of land fill, out of our oceans and out of our natural environment the better! So start collecting and sorting and bring them down. Once we get enough lids we will do a run to Made in the City Of so they can work the recycling magic! #recycling #recycle #plasticfreejuly #plastic #plasticrecycle #bottlecap #madeinthecityof #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia
It might be tempting fate... hope this doesn't jinx it 😬 But look 👀, no white fly under the kolrabi leaf. In fact there is not a single whitefly anywhere on the Farm. Quick, touch wood 🪵 It's honestly been sooo long, like 3 years, since we've had no white fly. A few months ago, in desperation, we removed all of our brassicsa, which host these pests in the hope of breaking the cycle. And it seems to have worked 🥳 ...for now at least. Most of our first sucession of brassicas are now planted, lets see how long the white fly respite will last. For now though, these crops are off to a great start! #organicfarming #integratedpestmanagement #whitefly #pest #kohlrabi #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We probably have just a few weeks of sold capsicum harvesting left. They are beginning to get wonky and small, but overall its been a good year 🫑🌶. In the second pic you can see a plump pink grub. These fellas can wreck a crop, but thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers we've managed them quite well this year. I'd say about 1 in 10 we're effected. Now, for a commercial grower, this would be devastating. But for us, it's not bad, and that's because our members are generally really tolerant of the realities of organic community farming. The most wonderful thing to hear folks saying is ' oh, I'll just cut the bad bit out' or 'I just eat around the holes' or 'I just wash the bugs off' or 'the taste is worth it'...Our veggies are not always perfect, but that's just ok, we roll with it and delight in the food we grow. And yes, that grubby capsicum was washed and fried up with Farm olive oil and salt and made a perfectly delicious side to a meal. Yum! #delicious #capsicum #integratedpestmanagement #greatful #grub #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Have you been spying olives in the hood 🧐 ? We've had a few enquiries about our Olive Pick n Press, and the short answer is YES! We will be organising two olive events, coming soon, so save the dates: Our first event will be the weekend of 4 May. This will be for members to pick their own olives, which we then press at York. You keep your portion of oil and pay your portion for pressing. The second event will be the weekend of 18 May. This will be our fundraising pick, so we are looking for volunteers to help pick as much as we can! These events will go online soon, and we will let folks know about it here and via our members email. If you want in, please become a social member, then keep an eye out for registration details. #oliveharvest #oliveOil #oliveseason #olivesinfreo #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
As the season of bunuru rolls on, another seasonal task is upon us, it's garlic planting time 🧄🥳 This is the first of about 8 beds we will be planting this season. Our Farmer was lucky to find these locally grown organic (uncertified) bulbs. And by local, we mean grown less than a km from her home! (Thanks @the.local.guy , Nibali stockfeed). These are ripper bulbs with nice big cloves for planting. We had fun breaking them all apart with some extra helpers from @soel_perth . With our bed prep, we've added an extra barrow of compost per bed as garlic love that good stuff. Blunt end of the bulb down, one knuckle deep, good water in with @seasol_international and fingers crossed for a good harvest in about 7-8 months time! #garlic #garlicplanting #bunuru #autumn #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We are ever optimistic at the Farm, getting right into autumn planting in anticipation of cooler days and nights. We've planted a billion or so brassicas, have peas popping up and lettuce, fennel, celery all in, or going in soon. Many of these seedlings are vulnerable now and can be ringbarked by slaters. Slaters thrive under mulch, but we simply have to mulch, or our soil suffers. So, in order to save our new baby plants from decapitation, we *do* indeed use pesticides. This organic certified bag of snail pellets will do the trick. We only use them as needed and this active ingredient is soft on pets and wildlife. It also, of course, keeps snails under control. So here's to getting these babies through their infancy, childhood and adolescence. May they plump out and reach their adulthood so we can gobblen them up! #snailpellets #slaters #gardenpests #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Here in Perth it feels like the worst of summer has finally passed! Its absolutely the best time of year to get into the garden, rip put the old dead, dying and crisp and sad stuff, replace it with new life, hope, and joy in the form of barassica seedlings! 🥦 (Or lettuce or beets or fennel...so much to choose from). This morning, we got in more caulies, transplanted some strawberry plants and planted out thyme and oregano. We also had our volunteer induction and met some lovely potential new farmers! This all happened under the watchful eye of our many resident djitty djittys. This gorgeous fella was in the misty foliage of our asparagus field. What are you planting now? #autumn #bunuru #cool #djittydjitty #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Join the volunteers at North Fremantle Social Farm as they host 'Know Your Neighbour Day' as part of Neighbour Day in 2024 Walk or cycle to North Fremantle Social Farm and get to know your neighbours! Bring your Friends and families, or just come along by yourself - all welcome! Enjoy a tour of the farm, as well as activity ran by friendly volunteers. Tea and coffees, sausage sizzles also provided! Saturday 16 March, 9.30am—12pm FREE EVENT! #neighbourday #knowyourneighbour #freeevent #sausagesizzle #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Join us for our traditional Easter egg hunt and bring and share morning tea! Our morning will run like this: 9.30 am, meet at the Farm under the shelter and will go over some Easter egg hunting etiquette, including helping everyone find eggs and sharing. 9.40 am sharp, hunting starts! 10 am, Join us for a cuppa tea/coffee and share some morning tea together We provide and hide the eggs, the hunt and the cuppas. You bring the kiddos with their baskets/bags and a little bit of morning tea to share (if you can). Bring your friends, family and neighbours. Everyone is welcome! #Easter #easteregghunt #allwelcome #butpleasersvp #communityfun #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Harvesting veggies at the Farm is more like a treasure hunt than shopping at the supermarket. It definitely helps to have time to wander through, check under the covers, touch, smell, and see what's around you, read the labels and enjoy the vibe! The smiles show us that it's worth taking the time to wander through! #treasurehunt #harvest #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
And that's our Little Pantry for the month! Was lovely to see the Farm bustling yesterday. Our Pantry is now bare, yes at total sell out again! But don't worry, our team will be back in biz next month with more of your favourite boutique, small batch, jars of yum for sale. Many thanks to everyone's support! #LittlePantry #soldout #nextmonth #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
This is just a little note to remind you about our Little Pantry THIS Saturday, 9 am at the Farm. The Pantry will include a fruit stall by some lovely locals with organic fresh fruit grown on their property in our great southern. Plus we will have all our usual favourites - chutneys, pickles and relishes, jams and and honey, plus dried teas, herbs and citrus. We are turning in to a mini Farmers market! AND you’re invited to join us for our first Welcome Walkthrough. This is aimed at picking members, but anyone can tag along. The idea is to take a wander through the Farm with Amy and learn what is available for harvest, how to harvest it, and maybe even pick up some cooking tips. You will also get a feel for what is getting planted, how we manage soil health, nutrition, pests, and so on, so feel free to hook into our walkthrough just to get some gardening tips for home. We will start our Welcome Walkthrough at 9.30 am. This is a free, casual event and everyone is welcome! Hope to see you there and if you happen to be in at smoko, join us for a cuppa! #LittlePantry #preserves #farmersmarket #welcome #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Happy last day of summer everyone! We've had a really delightful week this week getting our seedlings in. We are so looking forward to autumn! #planting #veggiegarden #autumnveggies #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Out with the old, in with the new. This is pretty much the last of the tommies. It feels good to get them out now. And, it may be a touch early, but we are busy getting in our first round of barassicas. Somehow, our early crops of caulies and broccoli seem to always do well, so in they go! So far, we've got beds of cabbages, purple caulies, regular caulies, regular broccoli and soon to be planted sprouting broccoli. What's missing from this list is brussles sprouts and kale. We've just struggled so much with white fly in the last couple of years, we've decided to only grow what we are most confident will bring us a good yelid, with minimal pest management. In the past we've kept kale in all year round, meaning our whitefly were building huge dynasties, generations of happy thriving whitefly civilisations under our inedible kale leaves! This meant, of course, that all our brassicas were instantly infested. So this season we are keeping their habitat to a minimum. 🤞 #kale #winterveggies #planting #endofseason #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
What a fun morning learning all about worms and making worm farms! 🪱 Did you know that worms have no eyes, no ears, no teeth, but five hearts 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷? They are a really integral part of our organic farming system here at North Freo, we use their castings (poo) every time we plant a seedling. Our volunteers are the A team, and our worms are the B team! Many thanks to the @cityoffremantle for sponsoring this event, and to @earthwise.community for supplying the worms. PS, Seriously, if you want to purchase the best worms in the west, go to Earthwise Community Garden, Bagot Rd, Subi. This garden, opshop and community centre is well worth a vitst not only for its worms but also its beautiful, homespun, inspitional, organic, earth and people care vibes. #worms #wormfarm #workshop #bestgardenworkers #reuse #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Here are our upcoming events, what a programme! Our worm farm wokshop prep is in full swing for this Saturday. We've collected additional worms from our friends at Earthwise in Subi - seriously, the best worms in the West 🪱🪱🪱 Unfortunately this workshop, which we are running with the City of Freo is sold out 🫤 but we hope to see you at another event soon, or just pop in for a cuppa and a wander through on any Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning. @earthwiseopshop @cityoffremantle #workshop #PerthWorkshops #worms #wormfarm #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Nice lil harvest today from our increasingly messy and dishevelled farm! Tomorrow, for the first time in about a million years, the temperature will dip below 30 in North Freo. This means one may venture to *turn the oven on*, hooray! These juicy beets can fulfil their destiny and get roasted up along with a conchiglie silverbeet and ricotta bake. Yum. If you're in WA we hope you have managed to stay cool, hydrated, and resolved to do what you can to kick climate change in the bum, hard, because summers like this are no fun. We want roasted beets not a roasted planet. 💪 #climatechange #kickclimatechangeinthebum #beetroot #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Isn't it always the way? The uninvited pumpkin outperforms all the others... and smothers a few beds in the process. Does anyone else dither as they see this unfolding in slow motion plant time? To weed it out and keep the calm orderly vibe, or let it go, understanding that this pumpkin wants to live and thrive exactly where it is, bringing chaos and pumpkins in equal measure... well, in this case, we let it live and thrive, and it's paying off! 🎃 Bring on the autumn pumpkin soup 🍲 #chaos #gardenchaos #pumpkin #selfseeding #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
If this disgusting hot spell is getting you down, here is a little story about artichokes. As you can see, they are well past their dazzling purple heyday 💜. They are as brown as toast and as brittle as emotions after a long hot day under the belting sun. But if you tug the middle of what was the flower, you can see these delicate seeds - don't they remind you of birds of paradise? Off they float, whimsically on the breeze to find a little patch of dirt, ready to germinate when it rains. AND if you look closely at the base of the old scarecrow remains of the plant, you can see a second method of regeneration. Artichokes send out little pups or suckers which eventually will take over from the old plant. This new pup is genetically identical to the original but has a significant head start on any of the little seeds, which are a long way off germinating. So there you go, an interesting and beautiful plant and its two methods of reproduction. The moral of the story is that life persists even through extraordinary hot, bleak, and brutal weather. Nature is amazing and resilient and deserves our respect and awe. Let's not push it to the edge. #lifeforce #artichoke #summer #heatwave #perthweather #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Some of our squash and zucchini beds are *still* producing the goods! (Maybe we have a lot today because it's been too hot to come and harvest!). Definitely some mildew about and many beds are being removed, but our cucurbit tail will wag a little bit longer! #zucchinis #squash #summer #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Beakerson is back! On truth, we don't know if this is the same Beakerson from previous visits, but maybe it is 🤷♀️ Beakerson is a Straw-necked Ibis. What a magnificent creature*! We are lucky to have this wild beauty grace us with their presence. You can see in the little clip that Beakerson is panting and feeling the heat - a great reminder to top up bird baths! This can really mean the difference between life and death for our feathered friends 🐦 * We absolutely do not refer to these birds as bin chickens! They are incredibly intelligent, adaptable, and beautiful. They are wild creatures that have managed to work out a way to thrive in our urban environment by exploiting humans' wasteful ways. They deserve our respect! @birdlifeoz @birdlifewa #strawneckedibis #Ibis #birdsofaustralia #wildanimals #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Well, that's a first! Today, for the first time ever, we all scuttled off home before sitting down for a cuppa...why? It was 34 degrees by 10 am! 🥵🤒🫠Despite this, we got one step closer to finishing our next shade structure (I know, frustratingly close!), picked some veggies for St Pat's, checked the retic and gave some seasol to our seedlings. Stay cool and stay safe, Perth folks! @stpatsfreo #heatwave #perthweather #shade #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Here are a few little observations at the Farm at the moment. There is always something happening. @northfreobowlo @freoshed @cityoffremantle #whatshotwhatsnot #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
It might seem crazy to plant out seedlings just before a heatwave. It's definitely not idea! But these lil guys have been patiently waiting to move into real soil for ages, they are getting rootbound. We decided planting was the best option. With care, shade worm castings, seasol and love, in they go. Good luck, little ones! #goodluck #seedlings #planting #heatwave #perthweather #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
This is our amazing Little Pantry team. They are absolute geniuses in the kitchen, whipping up beautiful boutique small batches of preserves made primarily from organic produce from the Farm or our backyards. You can actually taste the care, creativity and love these ladies put into each jar - true! Each batch may take hours to prepare and their work is 100% volunteer powered. They are absolute gems, and I think you will agree that they deserve a round of applause! Many thanks to all our customers who support the Little Pantry and in turn, support our Farm. The Little Pantry opens on the first Saturdsy of the month - mark your calendars! #LittlePantry #preserves #preservingtheharvest #boutiquebatch #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Our first Little Pantry for the year is THIS Saturday, 9 am at the Farm. After our sell out Christmas Fair we’ve been busy in the kitchen cooking up some yummy preserves for you. The majority of our fresh produce comes directly from the Farm which means our Little Pantry items are organic, local and grown and made with love by us. We’ve got gorgeous selection of chutneys, pickles and relishes and they are absolutely delish - basically summer in a jar. Now is the time to stock up to keep you going all year! We also have all your sweet favourite jams and and honey, plus teas, herbs, citrus. We will also have our special NFSF olive oil soaps for sale. Hope to see you there and if you happen to be in at smoko, join us for a cuppa! #handmade #preserves #chutney #jam #LittlePantry #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Not a bad harvest for an end of January, 38 degree day! Despite this delightful harvest, we can report that our lil Farm is looking very tired and worn out, crisp around the edges droopy, seedy and struggling. We are really just in a holding pattern now waiting for the edge to come off this summer heat. We will be getting in a few seedling next week, but really it's just about trying to keep things alive and eking out the remaining harvest of summer, while trying yo keep the place looking kinda decent. And trying to stay cool ourselves! 😎 #summerVegetables #summerharvest #toohot #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
It's not often we harvest our beetroot trifector all at once, but here they are, Golden, Chioggia and Four aces! They are beautiful, don't you think? Our members report that each variety has its own unique flavour. Beets are one of our most popular veggie. We grow them all year round, but they definitely do best in spring and autumn. In the height of summer, they are just not super consistent in size due to patchy retic coverage. In winter they are just so s l o w. But either way, we persist all year round because we just love their earthy, sweet flavour! 🩷💛❤️🤍 #beetroot #chioggia #golden #fouraces #eattherainbow #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Come and get crafty with us! This is not your typical Farm workshop but it was requested by some folks after learning that our farmer, Amy crochets little vegetables for fun. At this workshop you will learn the basics of crochet, how to make a ball and how to make the sepal (the leafy bit on the top). If you can master crocheting a tomato you can, in theory, put these skills to crocheting loads of different vegetables, animals and characters - welcome to the art of amigurumi! Amigurumi is the Japanese craft of crocheting small stuffed toys. If you have crochet hooks and yarn, please bring them along. We will have several sets spare so if you don't have any gear, no worries. NOTE: It's very unlikely you'll finish this project in our session, but hopefully you'll get a good enough understanding of the process to complete it at home. If you have never stitched a crochet stitch before, it might be that you just master the stitch, and don't get to making the ball. No matter your skill level we will all have fun learning! When: Wed 31 Jan 6.30pm to 8.30pm Where: North Freo Bowlo, 8 Thompson Rd, North Freo (next door to the Farm) Tickets: Free for Members, $20 non members. North Freo Social Farm members receive a discount or free tickets to all workshops! New social members welcome - check out our website for details. #workshop #crochet #craft #perthcrochet #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Beautiful morning at the Farm today. Our tasks were weeding around these lovely lettuces, now ready to harvest; pulling out finished tomato beds and getting some seeds direct sown (lettuce, rocket and radish) with our trusty jang seeder; and giving some seasol to our newly sprouted purple caulies and golden acre cabbages. Oh and more weeding of course! Hard to believe we are setting our sights on 'winter veggies' already! Hopefully we will only have a couple more hot spells, then a nice slow slide into cooler weather. #changeofseasons #alwaysweeding #jang #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Celery is truly one of the loveliest veggies to grow at home or at ya local community garden. Once you taste the good stuff, you'll realise it's worlds apart from the shop variety. Ours is strong in every way- flavour, texture, smell. It will delight your senses, though sometimes it does get too strong and a taking a hearty chomp can knock ya socks off! Anyway, here is a little harvesting tip - don't use a knife. Just give each stalk a little tug and a wiggle from side to side, and let it beak off close to the base. This makes a clean scar on the celery, and it heals up nicely, rather than leaving a daggy stumpy bit that will rot and possibly harbour disease, which can enter the whole plant. Also, the sound of breaking of breaking off a celery stalk is just one more sensory delight you don't want to miss! Here's to a long, delicious harvest! #celery #harvest #knockyasocksoff #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Who knew pesky purslane could be so delicious 😋. The idea behind today's purslane party was to get a full understanding of this fascinating plant as a weed AND as a food. 🌱 As a weed, it's incredibly successful, with each plant producing up to 250,000 seeds each, and each of those seeds able to remain viable for up to 40 years! It pops up all through the warmer months, and due to its matting prostrate habit, it can easily smother little seedlings, robbing them of water, nutrition, water, and light. But let's not vilify this plant. It is found all over the world and has fed humans for millennia. It is known as an incredibly nutritious vegetable rich in omega 3, protein, potassium, vitamins A, C, and E. It is an Australian bush tucker and fed Indigenous folk and colonisers alike. Today, we taste tested four purslane based dishes from around the world. Our Turkish friend brought in her traditional dish with onions, garlic, purslane, tommies and rice. We had a Chinese style stirfry with garlic and capsicum from our friend who grew up in Hong Kong. We tried the Greek health food, as described by our friends Greek mother-in-law, plus we made the tzatziki recipe from the excellent book 'Weed Forager's Handbook', which is also where most facts noted here come from 😉 Interestingly, all of these dishes were prepared with our own North Freo Social Farm olive oil, plus extra farm grown veggies. How delightfully delicious! So tiday, while we definitely did some much needed weeding, we will never curse this plant again but rejoice in its existence on our beautiful earth! Seriously, we have made some purslane converts today! Have you tried it? #eatYourWeeds #purslane #healthfood #superfood #weedForaging #weeds #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
And moving right along to our roma tommies. These are the staple in our tomato selection. We allocate 4 out of our 11 tomato beds to Roma's because they are popular, yummy, prolific, and have a long production period. This cultivar is Roma Thor, a commercial variety and the only variety we buy in as seedlings from the Seedling Factory (who grow about a zillion seedling trays a day for huge commercial growers, and are happy to take our orders of a few trays every couple of months). These seedlings (or seeds if you source less than commercial amounts) are expensive, but the return is huge! Romas are traditionally grown for sauce making. They are meatier with thick walls and contain less watery juice, resulting in rich, thick sauces. Originally, roma plants were determinants, meaning the plants would grow, put out all its flowers, then develop fruits all at once, thus producing a glut - perfect for preserving into sauce. However, this modern cultivar, Thor, happens to be indeterminate, so it needs pruning and staking and gives us a long harvest period. In the photo, you can see Farmer Amy standing beside one of our romas, which is way above her head and still putting out fruit and flowers! Sadly, this year a couple of our beds suffered blossom end rot, most likely due to early heatwaves and insufficient shade. Happily, though, with some extra love and attention, they have now recovered and are still producing healthy tommies. This is a definite repeat for next year, if we had more space, we would fill them with romas! #10outof10 #tomatoes #romatomatoes #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Introducing Rouge de Marmande! 🍅 This is the first year we've grown this variety and we will definitely do so again. These beautiful ribbed beefsteaks are a French heirloom variety from the 1920s. They are yummy and look great sliced. Our experience this year was that they put out a tonne of fruit early. Honestly, some plants had over a kilo of fruit before they were knee high! As the season progressed, the fruit have become smaller, and trusses have fewer fruit, which is fair enough for these early fruiting, big producing tommies. This variety is reputed to do well in cooler climates (as I'm writing this, it's 39 degrees, Perth has hardly a cooler climate 🌞). They are also an early variety. So next year we'd like to get these hard workers in the ground early, say late August, so we can get a solid early crop, and perhaps the fruit that come later will also be big and plentiful. One feature that we enjoyed observing at the Farm was their delightfully fuzzy buds and flowers. In the morning spring sun they are truly beautiful. They also often put out flowers with faciation. This is a kind of mutation resulting in an extra big, kind of elongated flower, which in turn produces big wonky shaped tomatoes with bumpy, dented bottoms or funny shaped tommies with odd bulgy bits. Here at the Farm we love these wacky, unique, impossible-to-find-at-the-supermarket veggies! I would definitely recommend these for home gardens. They are an indeterminate variety and need pruning and staking. #tomato #tomatoes #hairloomtomatoes #faciation #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
And that's the last of the cucurbits planted for this year, and they've been pretty fab actually (in previous years, we've really struggled!). Here's some cucumber learnings from this season: The main factor that turned our fortunes was shade 😎 With our helphul new shade structures many beds that previously would have had to struggle along in full belting hot Perth summer sun, had some relief, and they loved it! The other factor was slater management. We've found that slaters love to ringbark tender young cucumber seedlings, leaving many to perish or fail to thrive. So this year we've been diligent in keeping snail pellets appropriately and regularly applied, plus, very importantly we've kept the mulch away from the new seedlings. Slaters love living in mulch, so keeping the mulch a little bit away from the base of the plant means it's just that little bit more tricky for slaters to find. Here's to many more crunchy cucumbers to round off our season. 🥒🥒🥒 #cucumber #cucurbitaceae #shade #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Check out our new notice board! 📃 We are pleased to be able to share info about upcoming events, stalls, workshops, and more via our fab new noticeboard. The frame was constructed and installed by Freo Mens Shed and funded by the City of Fremantle. So big shout out and gratitude to City of Freo!! 🙏 A lot of folks ask us how we operate and who funds the Farm. All our operations are covered by our own membership fees, fundraising and sponsorships (thanks @sarahbourkeproperty And @the_left_bank!) 🙏. But we do often apply for and receive generous grants from the City of Fremantle. Oh, and they have provided us with this particularly wonderful, multi-million dollar parcel of land on which we operate. 😉 The City of Freo have always been nothing short of supportive in many various ways, and we are eternally greatful! @freoshed @cityoffremantle @freostory #gratitudepost #community #noticeboard #cityoffremantle #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Yellow Pear Cherry tomatoes! In previous years, this variety has proven to be a total winner - prolific, delicious and cute. But alas, this year not so! We've already removed this row because they just completely collapsed from disease. I really can't say why, they received the same treatment as the varieties which are still going strong. It could be that the seeds were infected - they are about four years old. Anyway, we did manage a small and precious harvest! This variety is a heirloom classic, and a very handsome tomato indeed. It's very popular with our members. Almost a citrus, fresh flavour, it adds a gourmet vibe to a salad or any dish. It's indeterminate, so needs staking and pruning for (normally) a good long harvest through summer. We will definitely grow these again - can't judge a variety on one season alone. New seeds are on the cards though! #cherrytomatoes #yellowpeartomatoes #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Join us for a purslane themed morning at the Farm and get to know purslane-as-weed AND purslane-as-food! We will be observing, harvesting, weeding, tasting and learning all about this intriguing plant. Purslane is found pretty much all over the world, including WA. It is a bush tucker and features strongly in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking, is packed with nutrients and is a delightful addition to many recipes. It is also abundant in our Farm! Our morning will consist of purslane chats, some weeding (yes, we need a hand to keep purslane-as-weed in check) and will end with a yummy morning tea including some special purslane-as-food recipes. Everyone is welcome to our workshops. North Freo Social Farm members receive a discount or free tickets to our workshops. New social members are always welcome - sign up today on our website! When: Saturday 20 January, 9am Where: North Fremantle Social Farm Tickets: on our website (link in bio) Free for members, $5 non-members #eatyourweeds #purslane #edibleweeds #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Hooray! Our final shade structure for the season is up! This summer, our mission was to construct four more ~13m shade structures. They are based on the four shorter ones we tried last summer. The new ones attach to the first set, so now 2/3 of the Farm has shade - at least at some pint of the day. It's nicer to work under, reduces temperature and evaporation, and also gives nice Farmy vibes. While we were at it, we came up with a plan to shade out new office which has lovely north facing windows - great in winter but a bit much in summer. It's not fancy, but it's cheap and effective! We've had a couple of early hot spells, which were tough, but this shade means the plants now have half a chance next heat wave, which is no doubt on its way. #climatechangemitigation #climatechange #shade #happyplants #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Black cherry tomatoes 🍅 🖤 This is the first year we've tried this variety, and they've proven themselves to be winners! Despite getting them in late when they were a tad rootbound, they've done really pretty well. They have not been as vigorous or productive as the classic cocktail cherries, but their taste and look make up for that. They are delicious, tangy, and look gorgeous in a salad alongside other coloured tommies. Googs says these heirlooms are either Russian or maybe American 🤷♀️. Either way, they are fab. They are indeterminate, meaning they need staking and pruning, and they will continue to produce throughout the season. They are quite lovely to watch ripen as they go a strang kind of deep pink before they turn this dark mahogany brown. We've found them somewhat disease resistant, though now they are starting to succumb. We planted these on 12 October. They are now just beyond their peak production period, but we will leave them in for a few weeks yet to eek the most out of the harvest! We sold this variety at Totally Tomatoes, so we are very curious to know (if you bought some), how they are performing in your garden. Please let us know! #blackcherrytomato #cherrytomatoes #indeterminate #Tomato #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We had a little visit from a baby wattle bird and their family today. We often see wattle birds whizzing around or grabbing a quick drink drinking from our bird bath, but this little one stayed and sung to us for just a few moments. What a delight to be at the Farm and to observe other wild creatures that we share suburbia with. #biodiversity #suburbia #birdlifewa #birdlife #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
It's the post you've all been waiting for - our annual tomato-medly-in-a-basket post 🍅🥳🍅 But alas, we have one more variety growing that did not make it into the basket, the rouge de Marmande. These are the big beefsteak varieties, and they are so popular that there's rarely a red one in the row! See additional photos for reference 😉 It's been a pretty great season so far, despite a couple of rows of blossom end rot. In total, we planted : 4 beds of romas, 2 cocktail cherries, 2 green zebras, 1 yellow pear, 1 black cherry, and 1 rouge de Marmande. 11 beds in total. Was that enough? Never. The winners this year have been the romas and the cocktail cherries. They are classic, robust plants with abundant and delicious fruit. For the tomato geeks, we will share some details and experiences, both good and challenging, of each variety over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned! And we are super curious to hear how your crops have worked out, so please share. There is so much to learn! #Tomato #tomatoes #tomatomedley #rainbow #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
The silly season is upon us! From our Farmily to yours we wish you peace, joy, lots of relaxing and what ever it is that you want to do! #happychristmas #christmasinfreo #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
That's the last asparagus harvest for the season, and it's been a ripper season. Asparagus is a test of commitment, it's takes a good few years to get a reward. This lot was planted in September 2020 as tiny, feeble, feathery babies, and this spring, they've given us their first real harvest. We've been harvesting since about September this year. Now we let them all grow into ferns so they can photosynthesise for the remaining summer and autumn, get all the energy from the sun, and store it in their ever growing crowns underground. Then, next spring, they will shoot up their spears for another even greater harvest. Before we say goodbye, we will give them a good weed, feed and mulch, and then send them off to grow into that beautiful mass of green. Perennials are such fun to grow, they really make you think and act with the seasons. #asparagus #asparagusFern #perennials #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
🍅 A little tomato update, and it's mixed. Here is the bad news: Two of our four beds of romas are suffering from blossom end rot (BER) 🙁 Each season, we've had a touch of it, but this year, we've lost a significant amount of tommies. It looks awful, but it's not a disease or infection. It's a nutrient deficiency, namely calcium. But it's more tricky than just not having calcium in the soil. In fact, according to our last soil test in March, we were bang on at the high end of the desired range. There are two factors that I think are at play here, over and above the existence or not of calcium. The first is water. We had a couple of early heat waves before we got our shade structures up. Even with regular water, plants can only function properly to a certain point in the heat. Too much transpiration (water evaporation from the leaves), plus the roots simply unable to take in enough water means the plants do not have enough water in them to deliver the required calcium to the fruit. We now have shade up, and fingers crossed, this will help the next lot of developing fruit. The second factor is more in our control - nitrogen levels. At the bed prep stage, I decided to add an extra 30% organic fertiliser, knowing tommies are pretty hungry plants. However, I think I overcooked it. As you can see, the plants themselves look lovely, lush and green. What has happened is the plant has prioritised the new growth, sending all the goodies, including calcium to the shoots, not the fruit. This is a good learning for next year. I think it's worth increasing the fertiliser a little, but not so much the nitrogen rich fertilisers. We've also been pretty lax on pruning these particular beds, allowing those new shoots to steal nutrients needed by the fruit. Another factor is spil pH, which can affect calsium (and all nutrient) uptake, but I'm confident we are ok on that front. On the upside, out other two beds (under shade cloth are going pretty well, as are most of our other tomato beds. 🍅 #Tomato #blossomendrot #freo #freostory #communityGardenswa #gardening #veggiegarden
Our summer garden is ticking along ok. In winter and spring we did really well getting carrots in, germinating and growing. Thanks to good succession planting, we've had a solid few months of harvesting. We haven't been great at thinning them, so we end up with sometimes wonky roots of various sizes (carrots, like people, come in all shapes and sizes - don't let supermarkets fool you into thinking carrots have a standard size*!). They are super delish! Honestly, home grown, organic, fresh carrots are world's apart from their poor shop bought counterparts. 🥕🥕🥕 *And don't let the fashion industry fool you into thinking people have a standard size either! #carrots #delish #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Just a few snaps from our end of year doosie woosie at Point Walter/Dyoondalup. It was a great get together at a most magical part of out city - and its just over the river from the Farm! It's very satisfying to spend a moment with friends in a besutiful place with delicious food reflecting on a lovely year of growing, learning and connecting. We are blessed. #endofyear #celebrate #pointwalter #dyoondalup #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
We had a beautiful morning at the Farm. We gave our fruiting veggies a side dress to keep them pumping through summer, plus we gave the tommies a little trim. As expected we are starting to see some fungal disease start on the tommies with yellowing leaves. We just prune them off, make sure the plant is supported with water, nutrition and shade and cross our fingers! How are your tommies going this season? #Tomato #tomatoseason #shade #shaded #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Christmas Community Fair! There was plenty of slip n slide action, loads of snags n sweet treats, gorgeous gifts for sale, happy kids and dogs and lovely community vibes all round. Thanks to all our fabulous stall holders helping folks stuff those stockings. We are chalking this one up as a success, and it's all thanks to the wonderfully supportive community that we are a part of! Big shout out to the team of volunteers who pitch in and make the magic happen! And as always, many thanks to our sponsor, Sarah Bourke - thank you for being a special part of our community, our Farm and our Fair! @sarahbourkeproperty #ChristmasFair #volunteer #community #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar
This week we got our new noticeboard installed! Thank you @freoshed ! And of course our first notice was about our Community Fair TOMORROW! Our gazebos are up, name tags printed and our stall holders are eager to bring you a huge variety of gorgeous, tasty, unique, locally made, organic, beautiful, handmade, fabulous goods! Not to mention kids fun galore! Come and check it out! It's TOMORROW folks! 📅 Sunday, 10 Dec, 9 AM - 12 PM 📍 North Freo Social Farm, 10 Thompson Rd, North Fremantle ✨ Free Entry! #noticeboard #freofun #freofair #christmasfair #NorthFreoSocialFarm #freo #freoStory #thisIsFreo #freoPages #perth #communityGardens #kitchenGarden #urbanFarming #organic #organicFarming #organicwa #eatTheSuburbs #socialFarming #communityGardenswa #gardening #farmToFork #northFreo #growItLocal #growingCommunity #gardeningAustralia #permaculture #permacultureAustralia #noongarBoodjar