glorious gardens

We were blown away by the Thuthuka School garden in Tembisa Township near Johannesburg as seen last week on Around the World in 80 Gardens. After viewing some stunning botanical gardens in Cape Town and a beautiful and opulent garden and home in Parktown, Johannesburg - the Thuthuka School garden brought tears to my eyes! The students work in the garden of their school to grow edible herbs and flowers, vegetables and trees. The children are so happy and delighted to have the space and resources to be able to beautify their school and you can feel their enthusiasm and passion when they show you around...

(it's about 3.20 minutes into the clip here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgUJHL7-qGY)



There's not much information around about how they started the garden or how they have made it so beautiful- as far as I can google they have had support from Food and Trees for Africa - a South African based organisation that embrace best practices in sustainable environmental activities that empower poor communities while also playing an important role in reducing carbon emissions- truly inspiring!

ANZAC biscuits

This lovely photo is from Pia's blog. Her friend brought her these ANZAC biscuits right to her door on ANZAC day. There were also ANZAC biscuits being baked in my house on Saturday, and although I didn't take a photo of them they were delicious. Good baking Amber!

christmas hampers

To help spread the christmas cheer a couple of us helped out with delivering hampers on Saturday for JCA. We, along with 250 other volunteers grabbed our maps and navigated our way all over Sydney!

The hampers were delivered to refugee families, some who have been here for 3 yrs to those who arrived a week ago. We delivered ours to the most divine Sudanese familes who were all so gracious when accepting the gifts. I was amazed that not one of the children ripped into the hampers but instead sat so patiently!

Today there are a staggering 21 million recognised refugees in the world – a number almost equivalent to the total population of Australia. Almost 9 million of these ‘refugees’ are actively seeking refugee status. Over 6 million are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), forced to flee their homes largely due to internal conflict in countries such as Sudan, Burma, Afghanistan, Columbia and Iraq. Currently more than 70% of the total refugee population seek refuge in the developing world.

Over 40% of the total refugees are from our own neigbourhood of Asia and around one quarter are from Africa. Australia takes in a tiny number – approximately 13000 in total, 6000 who are allocated under the humanitarian category.

There is more information on the above when you visit Refugee Council of Australia.

So although the delivering of hampers is just a small splash in the ocean it definitely is one of the most rewarding things you can do at christmas! I will be making it a yearly event for sure!

green thumbs

I suddenly have the urge to join a local community garden. After picking up the real (food) handbook with the SMH a couple of weeks ago, i have a real hankering for a little bit of digging!

This little handbook for those who didn't manage to pick one up, was packed full of interesting tidbits and buzz words such as locavore: someone who only eats food produced locally. There was info on where to go to join your closest community garden.

If you would like to join a community garden and don't know where to find them take a look at this list and put that green thumb to work!

Our resident Jamie Durie-esque friend has also alerted us to the square foot garden. This is great for those who have limited space. This is a great "how too" link if you are interested in this method. Conceived by Mel Bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening, the techniques have been enthusiastically adopted by gardeners all over the world! Have a go!

a little herb garden

When we were last in Kenya, I planted a herb garden with Basil (my favourite), Parsley, Chives, Coriander and Mint. It made our not so great food that little bit better! Nothing like some Basil to add some fresh zing to a pasta sauce. I've just planted a herb garden on my balcony in Sydney, but wishing that I had these so I could have them all organised on the kitchen window sill.Available from one of our favourite shops, top3 by design, the Eva Solo pots are self watering. The vase in the base of the pot holds the water for the wick to bring up to the soil as the plant requires it. How cool is that?

the table for 20 verdict

So we LOVE Table for 20. The space is beautiful, the food is excellent and the concept is just so cool. All the staff are lovely AND a percentage of their profits go to the Hope Street mission, which is around the corner in Surry Hills. $80,000.00 so far.... we will definitely be going back. It's the most understated restaurant/bar i've ever been to so don't tell too many people!
Photos above were taken by the lovely Flea during our dinner.

table for 20

A few of us (the not so sick ones) are trying out this restaurant tonight for a friends birthday. It sounds pretty interesting and cool. One table for 20 people only. They say they don't do trendy, or restaurant reviews or promotion. Just feeds for locals.... the owners think it's important for people to share a meal together. I think it sounds great and we'll be sure to report back. Although with only 20 places each night it might be better to keep this one a bit quiet.... shhhhh!

Bastille Day Banquet

Not only is Amber slowly becoming famous in the world of Dove, but she also hosted a Bastille Bay extravaganza at her lovely new place on Sunday. Harriet and Amber cooked up a storm, inspired by a Food Safari episode last year the day lived up to all expectations. Everything was perfect from the food, to the wine and the little decorations.

A little peek at our day.......