Homemade Fruit Leathers

Fruit leathers are a fabulous alternative to store bought, additive laden, roll ups.  This recipe is easy to make at home with kids and has only 4 ingredients. My family likes the combination of raspberries and banana, but any combination of fruit can be used (apple & cinnamon, cherry & cranberry or mango & pineapple are also delicious). If you don’t own a dehydrator these can also be made in the oven, though drying times may vary.
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Moss House Swap & Foraging Tour with Diego Bonetto – 7 May, 2017

This International Permaculture Day, member Margaret Mossakowska kindly re-opened her garden to the Crop Swap community. This large suburban food garden features eleven raised vegetable beds (seven of which are self-watering), large composting bays and worm farms, a chicken forest, native stingless bees, insectary gardens and a habitat pond.
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When life gives you lemons…

Why not use the peels to make your own chemical free, enzyme cleaner?  This recipe lifts dirt, grime, and odors without introducing harmful chemicals into the equation. Member Raelene kindly shares her recipe and knowledge with us.  This is definitely one to try.
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Pocket City Farms Swap – 8 April, 2017

This month’s swap was all about citrus.  The amount of fruit brought along meant that bags and bags were donated to The Food Pantry who kindly distributed it to those in need.
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Cook Your Crop: Claudia’s Babaganoush

The sharing of this recipe is the result of a swap that took place between two members from the same suburb. One is a grower, the other is a cook. The first offered up a bounty of huge eggplants from her front garden, while the other had nothing to swap, but loved to make babaganoush. The eggplants were gifted with no reciprocation required, but the cook took the eggplants home, made the delicious dip, and returned some to the grower.  Of the countless swaps that have taken place, this story has to be one of our favourites.

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Pocket City Farms Swap – 18 March, 2017

At our Pocket City Farms swap this month we offered members free soil testing provided by the wonderful team at Vegesafe.  Home gardeners brought their soil samples along and were able to have them analysed on site for metal and metalloid contaminants.  What a valuable service to ensure that soil is safe for growing edibles in!
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Permaculture Sydney North Swap – 6 March, 2017

Crop Swap Sydney was proud to collaborate with Permculture Sydney North for a special evening swap.  At the mothly meetings Laurie, Crop Swap’s founder, discussed the Crop Swap idea, its evolution, some of the weird and wonderful items that have been exchanged and its involvement with permaculture.

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107 Rooftop Swap & Free Workshops – March 3, 2017

Last Sunday we swapped on the 107 Rooftop, an inspiring rooftop permaculture garden in the middle of Redfern.  Some people walked with their bounty from just up the road, while others travelled from Bexley, Arncliffe, Blacktown, Maroubra, Denstone and Naremburn.

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Lane Cove Family Swap – Feb 25, 2017

For our first Lane Cove swap we partnered with Lane Cove Council for a very special family event. The Living and Learning Centre was a great venue on a rainy Saturday morning and produce was aplenty.  We’re always excited to hear where and how people are growing and on this occasion spoke to swappers from[…]

Pocket City Farms Swap – Feb 11, 2017

Our February swap at Pocket City Farms was set to be a HOT one – with weather forecasts predicting 38 degrees, the farm kindly offered us the use of the air conditioned common room. Despite the heat, a small but dedicated crowd turned up to swap.  We even had growers travel from as far as Wolli creek, North Strathfield and Pyrmont!

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Manly Vale Crop Swap & Native Honey Tasting – Jan 15, 2017

This event signified our first on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and visitors came from far and wide.  One family even travelled from near Hurstville to swap with us! On arrival, their arms brimmed with huge pesticide free zucchinis, flavoursome onions and freshly harvested beetroot.
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Carlingford Permaculture Crop Swap – Dec 3, 2016

On December 3rd we managed to squeeze one last afternoon swap in before the silly season set in.  Set under a marquee in the beautifully planned garden of a Permaculture Sydney North member, attendees sipped refreshing homemade cordial (made using garden ingredients), tips and recipes were exchanged, and the owner conducted a tour.  The garden buzzed with blue banded bees, new figs were spotted, hot rasperries were eaten straight from the bush and all marveled at the beautiful pomegranates on their way.
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Crop Swap Sydney Turns 1!

On November 19th Crop Swap Sydney turned 1! During our first year hundreds of swaps took place between 2,000+ growers.

We’ve loved hearing stories about how some of our members forged local friendships through this network, and connected over the growing (and eating) of healthy homegrown produce. Thank you to our members for being a part of a small idea that seems to be making a difference, and we welcome any newcomers who are keen to start growing and sharing!
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Pocket City Farms Swap – Nov 5, 2016

We’re excited to announce that our first Inner West crop swap will be held at Pocket City Farms at Camperdown Commons. Come along and swap in the grounds of the former bowling greens which have now been transformed into a 1200m2 market garden. These are accompanied by 180m2 of community food forest, a chicken coop,[…]

Grower Profile: Nadine’s Monster Kale

Many of you may have seen Nadine’s post about her monster kale earlier in the week.  In one year she grew 6 plants in raised beds that were so prolific that they are now taller than her.  There’s no wonder she always had mountains of kale to swap at previous events. There have been many enquiries about what her secret is, so here she kindly shares some growing tips.

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Grower Profile: Tonys $1 a day Food Challenge

Crop Swap Sydney member Tony Tang is a well-travelled family man, who cultivates his own mushrooms and wears a suit to work.  As the son of an engineer and a good cook, gardening was always in his blood, but it was his interest in education, food insecurity and waste, that lead him to undertake a month long, $1 a day food challenge.  Not only did he succeed, but he also managed to raise $3,350 for the charity, Second Bite.
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Moss House Sustainable Swap – Sept 11, 2016

Last weekend Moss House opened to the public for Sustainable House Day, and served as the venue for our first swap of the  season.  This property is a great example of a working permaculture garden on a suburban scale, and was an inspiration for many members who were able to see elements of sustainable permaculture food garden design in action.
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