Thursday 24 March 2016

Infinite EarthFest (Autumn Equinox)


The first of our mini festivals for this year is the Infinite EarthFest (autumn equinox) coming up this Saturday 26th March held alongside the regular Saturday organic market. It runs from 8am to 2pm

Some of the stall holder goodies will include plant sales (edibles and ornamentals), upcycled and recycled clothing, upcycled jewellery items, natural makeup, arts and crafts, local honey, handmade soaps, fairy gardens, upcycled vintage linen, worm farm products, preserves, community info stalls etc…

And some fun things happening throughout the day will include...

Funky Junk Music Making Workshop (FREE) runs from 9am to 1pm - This is a Running Wild event as part of their school holiday program. The facilitator of this workshop will be local musician Mike (Homeless Yellow) and is sponsored by the Jam for Jams project. The Running Wild team will be there on the day so if you'd like to sign up for the Easter school holiday program just look out for the folk in the green Running Wild shirts! 

Oriel Mirage Belly Dancers will be performing at 10am

Make a Native Bee / Insect Hotel - runs all day (or until material supplies run out) A $10 donation is asked for this activity. 

Native Stingless Bee Talk with Brendan Veitch at 10.30am

Rag Rug Making with Eileen Lawson - runs all day

Bay Island Learning & Care - Autumn Crafts and Face Painting - runs all day.
    
The market coffee bar will be serving up organic coffee and teas and will have some delicious locally made raw treats available. And of course the Organic Market will be trading as usual for all your fresh produce, dry goods, dairy, deli and snack items! 
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Thursday 10 March 2016

Going Organic - March 2016

Going Organic
with Eleesa Zlatic of the
 Lemon Farm Organic Market

(monthly column from The Friendly Bay Islander magazine - March 2016 edition)

Oh how I have been looking forward to Autumn arriving… and here it is! After the heat that February brought with it, we will all be embracing a more pleasant temperature. The Equinox in March symbolises a point in the year when the nights grow longer, the days grow shorter and it heralds a cooler change leading into Winter. Traditionally the pivotal points in the seasons were honoured, they marked the major changes in the Seasons, and this year to celebrate the Equinoxes and Solstices we will be hosting 4 micro festivals called: Infinite EarthFest

Our first is an extended market to celebrate Autumn and will be held on March 26th 8am – 2pm. It will focus on green living, health, creativity and sustainability. We will be working in conjunction with the Artists at Work held the same long weekend. A free bus will run from the Artists at Work, via our Festival and onto the Arts Complex.  Please like THE ORGANIC MARKET MACLEAY ISLAND Facebook page for more details.   

These are the dates for the festivals:
Infinite EarthFest
Autumn Equinox:  Saturday 26th March
Winter Solstice:  Saturday 25th June
Spring Equinox:  Saturday 24th September
Summer Solstice:  Saturday 17th December

We are looking for stall holders with a point of difference, if you have eco-friendly products, create recycled goods, have crafty pre loved items, or art to sell, we are interested.  Are you a musician who has a world music, environmental style?  Do you create Healthy food or snacks?  If you would like to be involved text or email me please. There will also be some interesting workshops that you can attend.  

We have recently been accepted as a Land for Wildlife site, which is super exciting. We dedicate over 50 acres of land to natural vegetation and wildlife. This program will help us with regeneration of the bushland and wetlands, and will give the local wildlife species the chance to increase in numbers. 

The Work Experience program at the Organic Farm is going well.  It is such a delight to hear laughter, and good spirits as people work alongside each other to achieve the goals that are set. We are harnessing everyone’s natural talents and skills, and as an observation everyone is thriving.  The Training program has just begun, and everyone has the opportunity to achieve a Level 1 in Construction. This program is also available to the general public at a nominal fee, so let us know if you’re interested.

Boxes… on my goodness, you are all legends! We are happily making up boxes filled with love, oh and chemical free fruit and vege each week for lots of lovely folk.  If you would like to make a commitment to your health and support what we do, just email or text me and we can arrange a box package to suit your needs.

I mentioned texting me as I have a smartphone which is clearly smarter than me! I somehow miss some phone calls, so please text or email me for the best results. There is a lovely lady who contacted me last month via msg, and required some help with her diet. I apologise to you, as I can’t find your number to call you back.  If you read this please ring me again, as I would love to help.

Find Your Tribe is the first gathering for the Macleay Island Red Tent, on April 10th … you're invited to come with an open mind and a willing spirit ready to connect with a new community of aware and awake women. Island women can come together in a beautiful space to be accepted unconditionally as themselves, to share their life journey, and nurture not only themselves but their kindred sista’s.  For more details, please like and share our facebook page: Macleay Island Red Tent.

Well as you can see life has been incredibly busy, but wonderful! We promised a Coffee Bar and we are getting closer. It was suggested to me that I should tell everyone that the start date of January 2016 was actually a misprint and I meant 2017...! Mmmm!  I am hoping it will be up and running by the time this article is printed. 

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Please note:  The article mentioned hopes of the Coffee Bar to be up and running by the time of printing. We can happily report that it IS FINALLY up and running. So come on down and grab a tasty organic coffee on Saturday! Hurrah!  
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