Infinite EarthFest (Winter Solstice)

Our Infinite EarthFest (winter solstice) event is happening this Saturday folks! The weather forecast is looking great for Saturday and we look forward to celebrating the winter solstice with you! We have a number of fun activities happening throughout the day (most are free!) such as this one...      

The Native Bee / Insect Hotel workshop was so popular at our last event that we're running it again. The work experience crew have pre-made the wooden boxes and have cut and prepared all the inserts ready for easy assembling on the day. As with the previous insect hotels, a $10 donation to make and take one home would be appreciated.

There will also be an opportunity for the kids to participate in painting a large scale mural. This workshop is part of the Running Wild June/July school holiday program and is facilitated by local artists Cassie and Tegan. Be sure to visit the Running Wild marquee where you'll find artist Val dot painting during the day on a pre-loved piece of furniture to give an example of creative upcycling. Val will kindly be donating the completed piece to Running Wild as a fundraiser in support of their youth programs. Funds raised through the sale of raffle tickets will greatly contribute to the running of their school holiday activity programs on the SMBI. Raffle tickets can be purchased at the Running Wild marquee and the team will also be selling very cool recycled record bowls as part of their fundraising.

There will be loads of fantastic stalls on the day offering such things as plants (ornamentals and edibles), a variety of arts and crafts, homemade preserves, handmade / handpainted upcycled clothing and accessories, gardening products, eco friendly products, handcrafted jewellery and homewares, books, face painting, community info and service stalls offering natural therapy services, dreadlocking through to pyschic tarot readings...  

Live music will be happening on the day with Homeless Yellow playing and there will be opportunities for the kids to have a jam with the band throughout the day. There will be some instruments provided at the performance area for kids to use during the jam sessions, but of course feel free to bring your own along too! And local favourites Island Time will also be providing some sweet tunes. Members of MUGS (Macleay Ukulele Group) will also be joining us and will be in a marquee where you can chat to them about all things uke! If you have a ukulele bring it along on the day and have a jam with the friendly uke players and you'll be able to find out about their practice / meet up days and performances if you're keen on joining the group.

There will of course be plenty of delicious food available at the festival. Wood-fired pizza, soups, curry, asian food, organic snacks from the market and all your favourite beverages and sweet treats from the coffee bar area.

Infinite EarthFest is a proud partnership between The Organic Farm and Running Wild. The day will be about celebrating the winter solstice and also celebrating the achievements of the wonderful and dedicated work experience team. This Saturday will be the official opening of one of the major projects that they've been working so hard on... the earthbag garden circle area, which now houses the pizza oven. It's such a beautiful community space that the crew have created and we're so happy to be sharing it with everyone. We expect it will be a very popular, well utilised and much loved space by many! And the regular market fire circle area will also be a nice spot to sit on Saturday to warm up. There sure have been some large gatherings there during these past few chilly Saturday mornings!           
Our market bus will be doing regular pick ups and drop offs from the Macleay Jetty for all our visitors from neighbouring islands, Karragarra, Russell and Lamb as well as those traveling over from the mainland. We'll endeavour to meet all incoming ferries so just keep an eye out for the bus pictured below, but if the bus isn't there when you arrive just call or text the number shown and the little bus will be down there in a jiffy to collect you! 

So, that's just a quick outline of some of the fun being offered this Saturday, so hope to see you there!
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Going Organic - June 2016

Going Organic

with Eleesa Zlatic of the

 Lemon Farm Organic Market

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

Hello. Eleesa is currently on an adventure in WA immersed in sacred women’s business with four Women Elders and should be arriving back on the island around the time this publication lands in your letterbox. While it has been business as usual with the market operating during Eleesa’s absence, her beautiful presence certainly has been missed by all and we’re very much looking forward to her return. Eleesa’s daughter Ayla has taken on the responsibility for ensuring that the market continues running smoothly and her business management skills have been most impressive for one so young. Top job Ayla! 

We’re very excited that our next Infinite EarthFest event is getting closer. Saturday 25^th June is the day and we invite you all to come along and celebrate the winter solstice with us. On offer will be a lovely range of winter warming comfort style food such as hearty pumpkin soup served with turkish bread, delicious curry and wood-fired pizzas. Traditionally, pizza may not be thought of as a winter food as such, but as far as we’re concerned pizza suits any season. Especially wood-fired pizza! Yum! Our friend Mai will be joining us with her popular MI Street Food stall offering tasty Asian treats and the market will also be operating as usual on the day with an abundance of fresh produce, cold drinks and organic snacks available. And of course the organic coffee bar will be serving your favourite hot beverages and sweet treats.

       

There’ll be entertainment and activities suitable for all ages and abilities happening throughout the day. Be sure to check out the free activities and workshops being offered by some of our talented island artists and crafters who are so very generously volunteering their time and sharing their skills with visitors on the day. A great line-up of stalls selling their wares and promoting their services will be at the festival. Stall sites booked out very quickly this time so if interested in having a stall at our next Infinite EarthFest (Spring Equinox) scheduled for September 24^th please don’t hesitate to register your interest now. If what you have to offer has a creative or sustainable focus (ie: eco-friendly, green living, arts, crafts, handmade etc) we’d love to hear from you.

This Infinite EarthFest is a proud partnership between The Organic Farm and Running Wild (Youth - Conservation - Culture) and besides being a celebration of the winter solstice it’s also a celebration of the achievements made by the amazing and dedicated work experience team. The day will be an opportunity for visitors to view and enjoy some of the completed community projects that they’ve worked so hard on around the farm.

Our courtesy market bus will be doing regular pick ups/drop offs from the Macleay Jetty for our inter-island and mainland visitors throughout the day, so phone or text 0476 000 996 to arrange a ride. This service is also offered every Saturday coinciding with our regular market.

And speaking of the market, a change in season means a change in produce so we now have all those lovely cold weather fruit and vegetables to enjoy… plentiful pumpkin varieties, this is when potatoes, silverbeet and spinach are at their best, the kiwi fruits are so very good, the apples are deliciously crispy and full of flavour and all those juicy citrus! We realise that these cold mornings means it’s all the more difficult to bounce out of bed early on a Saturday morning to rush to the market to snap up your favourite produce before it runs out. It can be quite the dilemma! We understand and we sympathise. We also offer a convenient solution. Order a produce box and we’ll have it ready and waiting for you to collect after you’ve enjoyed that leisurely sleep-in that you so deserve. Complimentary delivery of produce boxes on Macleay is also offered, and for inter-island and mainland customers we send via the ferries. For produce box enquiries and orders please phone or text 0476 000 996. Happy winter everyone and stay warm. Love from the market crew xo