By Callum Ludwig
Yarra Valley ECOSS held a day buzzing with activity on Friday 14 April, with a wide range of different eco-friendly activities.
The usual ECOSS Valley Market was bookended on either side by tree planting in the Food Forest and a Hot Compost Workshop early in the afternoon, and a cultured food demo from Taste of Culture and a musical performance by Formidable Vegetable in the evening.
Graham George led the Food Forest Planting and said they had a strong group of about 18 attendees.
“Spring was very cold and wet and a lot of stuff didn’t survive, then the summer hit and got very dry so we were filling in some of the gaps today, we’ve intensively planted with some shrubs, blueberries, chives and local bush foods,” he said.
“It’s putting into practice what they learned from permaculture,but it’s also a chance for people to get together and swap ideas and see how things are going, which they perhaps couldn’t do in their own backyard if they haven’t got the space.”
Ari led a Hot Composting workshop in the afternoon, delving into the science behind creating a hot compost and what manures create the best balance of carbon and nitrogen.
Executive Officer at Yarra Valley ECOSS Chelsea McNab said they had wanted to move further into food security for some time.
“It just feels timely that there’s been community groups that have come together recently here and sparked the energy for this, and in that way, it’s been the community leading the way for this,” she said.
“We’ve always wanted to build a site here that is an education trail, in where everywhere you go you can learn something new and keep on building on that.”
The Valley Market began at 3.30 with plenty of fresh produce and homemade products available for keen shoppers to pick from.
At 5pm, kids had the chance to get involved in a new cultural food experience, a monthly initiative at ECOSS. This month they worked with cultured foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut, exposing kids to different ways of cooking and preparing
Formidable Vegetable were the exciting entertainment, having featured prominently in festivals around Australia and the world, even performing at events alongside megastar musicians such as Radiohead, Tame Impala and The Rolling Stones.
Formidable Vegetable consists of Charlie Mgee on uke and vocals, Mal Webb on slide trumpet and trombone, Kylie Morrigan on violin and Winx on ‘beets’.
