Perth City Farm – the organic centre of town!

www.cityfarmperth.org.au
Perth City Farm is a branch of Men Of The Trees
Perth City Farm –
the organic centre of town!
An urban transformation miracle in the centre
of the city—Perth City Farm is now a vibrant
hub of Permaculture, Education, Art,
Community and Enterprise.
Take a short walk from Perth’s CBD district and
you might find yourself in our inner-city leafy oasis
of art and organic gardens. The Perth City Farm
started in 1994 as an environmental resource
centre and has grown into a spectacular
demonstration site for green city living. We are
located next to the Claisebrook railway station,
only a quick walk from Northbridge – the city
entertainment precinct.
Perth City Farm, a branch of Men of The Trees Inc.
(MOTT), was established on a heavily degraded
polluted industrial site in 1994. Hundreds of people
contributing many thousands of hours of loving
work have created a vibrant productive certified
organic garden. The derelict warehouses and soil
you can see in the image on the top right, have
been remediated to become an education centre,
market space, workshop areas, animal areas and
gardens.
The vision of Perth City Farm is to achieve
P.E.A.C.E. (Permaculture, Education, Arts,
Community and Enterprise). The venue hosts an
incredible variety of programs which reflect each
of these themes. The philosophy of the Perth City
Farm is simple: ―We plant trees to help people
grow‖. The project is built on the foundation of its
core values – respect, non-judgment and
compassion - welcoming and including all.
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[ Issue 1]
May 2010
City Farm Features
The Perth City Farm has several key features:
Organic Growers Market every Saturday – 8 am to
12 Noon.
Artisan’s Market every 4th Saturday of the Month
9am to 1 pm
Learning and volunteering opportunities Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
A nursery/organic garden centre to purchase
your vegetable seedlings, herbs, fruit trees and all other
garden needs.
Productive gardens that are educational and inspiring
- full of wildlife and productive plants.
Mosaic Art activities in partnership with Nulsen.
Activate Tree Planting Festivals in winter.
City Farm Café opening soon!
Organic Markets
The Organic Market is held each Saturday of the
month from 8.00am until 12 noon. The following
stall holders sell certified organic produce in the
market building.
Merri Bee Organics: (first Saturday of month)
Located in Nannup. Bee and Stuart sell organic pork,
beef, chicken, eggs, dairy produce, herbs, a wide range of
fruit and veggies, as well as cakes, baked savouries and
bread.
Marg Brock: bio-dynamic eggs, veggies and fruit.
Sona and Harry Toutikian: veggies, herbs, fruit
dips and sauces.
Harry Testoni: Bio-dynamic vegetables, especially
carrots and garlic.
Sue Hale: Sue specializes in asparagus in season
Baramba biodynamic beef: Edith and Sid from
Baramba sell beef on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the
month.
Wambyn Olives: Penny of Wambyn sells a range of
olive products.
Miessence: Nina represents Miessence and sells a wide
range of certified organic skin care products produced in
Queensland.
Beeswax Creations: Rewa sells beautiful handcrafted
candles from 100% bees wax. There is a candle for all
occasions
Environment House: Supply a wide range of items
including cleaning products, methods of pest control,
wormfarms, bokashi buckets, power meters, bottles &
bags, and magazines and books about saving energy .
Extreme Superfoods: Damian & Karri sell fruit
smoothies, raw food ingredients & raw chocolate balls as
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well as other health products.
The Organic Debate
Diverse Range
An Interview with Bee Winfield
Merribee organic farm, in Nannup
Other, non-certified producers of organic products, sell
their products outside the market building.
Bee sells at the Markets 1st Saturday
Of the Month.
Cliff Brockway — Cliff Brockway of Llanelly Orchard in
Roleystone, is a regular stall holder who brings a wide
range of non-certified organic produce to the Saturday
markets. Cliff says that May is a good month to buy
Pink Lady, Sundowner, Granny Smith, and Kings Cross
apples. Fuyu sweet persimmons are also available; All
are $5.00 per kg. Cliff’s Feijoa Pineapple guavas have
been selling very well and will be available for the next
few weeks. Valencia oranges, which are excellent for
juicing, are in good supply. Astringent (not sweet)
Persimmons will be coming in to season these fruit are
delicious to eat when they are very soft.
Organic farming makes use of open pollinated seeds that
have been collected over several generations. Seeds
from open-pollinated plants produce crops that are
similar to the parent plant in qualities of taste, colour,
fertility and yield potential. Whilst it is possible through
careful selection of the best seeds to improve the strain
of a particular crop, the resulting plants are true to the
original plants, and are not hybrids. Hybrid plants do not
produce young plants that are exactly true to the parent
plant, the seeds are sterile and the farmer has the cost of
purchasing seeds every year.
Cliff also sells a range of fresh fruit juice, eggs and
honey. The Marri honey is now coming to an end, and
the bee hives will soon be moved to an organic
strawberry farm.
Organic seeds are difficult to obtain, especially in
Western Australia due to the quarantine laws. Many
seed suppliers in the Eastern states do not sell to W.A.
farmers. There were some seed savers in Busselton, but
unfortunately the business has closed due to the
retirement of the lady who ran it. This has left W.A.
organic farmers with no corn seeds except a few small
operators such as Troy Dowling in Ballingup.
Organic farmers face another serious threat – the lifting
of the ban on genetically modified crops. This is a
problem, as the possibility exists that pure organic plants
might be cross-pollinated with GM crops, either by wind
or through bee activity. Turnips, mustard, Chinese
cabbage and a couple of other plants, will readily crosspollinate with GM crops. Five out of eight councils in
Agriculture minister, Terry Redman’s own electorate,
have declared that they wish to remain GM free. Terry
Redman is promoting GM in WA.
Honey, Fuyu Persimmons and Feijoa (Pineapple guavas)
Cafe Opening Soon !
COMPETITION
Enter our “Name the City
Farm Café” competition
to win a lunch for 4 people.
Email your suggestion and
name to:
― Organic farmers of W.A. need our support in their
fight against the possible threats that GM crops present.‖
Says Bee .
W A NT E D
Café Manager
[email protected]
Exciting opportunity to run a new cafe that will
integrate organics, training and culture.
Min 3 yrs business experience, including
providing healthy foods.
[Closes 31 May 2010]
Email : [email protected]
for more details
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[email protected]
May 2010
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
esday,
ys are Tu
a
d
r
e
e
t
aturday
Volun
ay and S
d
s
r
u
h
T
ednesday
4
5
Community Lunch
New Opportunities for
Women . & Mosaic Art
New Opportunities
for Women
Men's’ Shed
10
11
Menes’ Shed
12
Volunteer Lunch
New Opportunities for
Women
New Opportunities for
Women & Mosaic Art
Men's’ Shed
Men's’ Shed
17
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19
Ross Mars permaculture certificate
Volunteer Lunch
24
6
7
Men's’ Shed
13
Waste Wise
Mens’ Shed
20
14
8
9
15
16
Organic Market
The Great Re-skilling
22
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VET in Schools
21
New Opportunities for
Women & Mosaic Art
Artisan’s Market
& Organic Market
Men's’ Shed
Men's’ Shed
25
26
27
Men's’ Shed
2
VET in Schools
School program Dept of
Environment and conservation with Josh Burns
Men's’ Shed
New Opportunities for
Women
1
Organic Market
New Opportunities for
Women
Volunteer Lunch
Sun
Organic Market
W
3
Sat
VET in Schools
28
New Opportunities for
Women & Mosaic Art
Men's’ Shed
29
30
Organic Market
Men's’ Shed
31
VET in Schools
Men Of The Trees
City Farm
Event
Volunteer
Hosted Event
Not organized by City
Farm)
Joint Event
(Organized by City
Farm in partnership
with other entities)
Lunch
12 noon—1 pm
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Western Australia
The Society founded for the Planting and Protection of Trees
Non-Profit - Voluntary - Founded in Perth 1979