Summer Berry Harvest Day

Due to interest shown by many members in sustainable food, the steering committee has been working to develop connections with growers. As such we are very excited to announce our January event which will be a visit to a biodynamic berry farm approximately 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne where one of our Steering Group members, has WWOOFed in the past. (WWOOFing stands for "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" and is a form of farmstay involving work in exchange for food and accomodation)

DETAILS
When: Sunday 31st January1 0am - 3:30pm
Where: Trewhella BioDynamic Berry Farm, Cantillons Rd, Musk, Victoria
Cost: Amount of berries picked at $15 / kg

PROGRAM
10:00am - Farm tour
The farm is owned and operated by Liz Burns, a passionate farmer who has been involved in community development, environmental sustainability and health for many years. As well as berries, the farm also produces bush foods, medicinal herbs, eggs and honey with a small herd of Dexter cattle. For more information see the website <http://www.trewhellafarm.com.au/>

10:30am - Berry picking
Currently in season are blueberries, silvanberries, marionberries and boysenberries with blackberries starting to ripen. At other times of the year there are also raspberries, currants and gooseberries.

1pm - BBQ lunch
Please bring a plate to share to supplement some biodynamic beef raised by Liz at the farm!

2:00pm - Future directions - Community Supported Berries?
This event was developed as an introduction to the idea of growing an ongoing relationship with the farm and to create a TTB buyers group. The berries are grown in rows so the buyers group would be able to adopt a number of rows at the farm, which would be paid for at the start of the season for the farmer to manage . Then each summer a harvest day will be held to visit the farm and pick the berries in our rows. This will make it similar to a Community Supported Agriculture arrangement or vegie box scheme, where members pay a mixed vegetable farmer at the start of season and then receive a share of the harvest each week to provide their weekly vegetables. If there is sufficient interest amongst the group, it is likely that we will also do this in the near future.
CONTACT & RSVP
Please remember to RSVP by letting Michelle know by Friday 29th January 2010 indicating any dietary restrictions you might have.
Email: yang.michelle.ei@gmail.com <mailto:yang.michelle.ei@gmail.com>
Mobile: 0422 176 786

A sustainability vision that you can be a part of...

The Transition Decade vision:
A 10 year social and structural transition that enables the restoration of a safe climate.

You're invited to come along to the launch of the Transition Decade on 14th Feb 2010. The more people that are there the better!!!

Transition Towns will also have a presence at this event.

www.t10.net.au