A Site Co-ordinator

Do you have maintenance and building experience? Can manage a team of staff and volunteers?

We’re looking for someone to manage the Farm maintenance and security, maintain Farm appearance, provide and coordinate activities for Farm volunteers as required and work with other teams/staff as required.

Have a look at the position description and selection criteria by clicking  here

An Enterprise Development Manager

Do you have demonstrated experience in developing and managing enterprises?

In this new role we need someone to manage and oversee the development of the Farm’s enterprises, manage events as required and support, mentor and build capacity of enterprise coordinators.

This is an opportunity to use your skills, networks and experience to help us develop ‘the Farm’ and its outreach through growing new and existing sources of revenue.

Have a look at the position description and selection criteria by clicking here

It’s our 600th market this Sunday (26th May) and we’d like to thank our stall holders and customers for their loyalty over the years. If you haven’t been for a while call in and see how you’ve helped us grow.

Sandy Creek Organic Farm is back from their autumn spell with rocket, lettuce and asian greens.

The Smoothie Cycle is also back from their festival excursions. Get a healthy start to the day with a pedal powered smoothie.

Look for Oxfam promoting their upcoming ‘Make Poverty History’ event at Northey Street City Farm on Sunday 2nd June.

A healing circle is forming around the weekly Northey Street Yoga Class on the lawn area near the Chai Café. The healing circle promises to be the perfect place to chill out in the morning sun. Bring a donation for the yoga, bring your kids for Bob Mud’s activities and bring your hats so you can take your time.

Be careful parking in Victoria Street this Sunday as a king tide is forecast; some minor flooding is possible around 10am.

Join us for one of our many fun and life-altering Sustainable Living Workshops, or take a systematic approach to acquiring the key skills required to be a fully-fledged Permaculture designer with the Permaculture Design Certificate, next offered on Thursdays from July 11th.

Some upcoming workshops include: Introduction to Dynamic Governance, Herbal Medicine Making, an array of workshops on Veggie Gardening & Small Container Gardening, a new and exciting 2-day Intro to Biodynamic Gardening and Making Plant Fibre Paper & String.

“National Permaculture Day is a chance to share thoughts, visions and lots of common sense ways that we can all make a positive difference to the world we live in” -  Costa Georgiadis

Come along to the Farm this Sunday for International Permaculture Day!

Find out more about Northey Street;

• How the Farm started
• What is Permaculture about
• Visit the green waste recycling centre, our market garden and other pockets of the farm

Find out all this and more at the free tour of the Farm at 8:30am  (stay tuned for another time slot). Sign up at the Market Shed, limit of 20 people so get in quick.

We will have an induction afterwards for anyone interested in volunteering at the Farm longer term.

Hope to see you Sunday!

A large portion of the farm’s front sign was washed away in the January floods, never to be seen again. So, as with all things, it is time for a change. We are calling out to you to help us design a new sign. Do you have a great idea or design? Let us know!

We are asking for submissions for the new sign design. It must:
- Be made from recycled items and incorporate the Northey Street philosophy of sustainability;
- Be flood resistant – ie. Not a solid wall, have anchor points;
- Be visually attractive and include the words “Northey Street City Farm”;
- Be cost efficient;

The chosen design will be built as part of a working bee hopefully around the end of May. The new fence will be incorporated into a new art walk that is in the early stages of development. Please forward all designs including equipment lists and specifications to info@nscf.org.au. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Autumn Equinox has passed; the nights will become longer culminating in the longest night of the year on the Winter Solstice.  At the Farm we celebrated with a working bee to plant out a windbreak of bushfoods and native trees and shrubs to protect the new education area from cold winter winds and summer storms.
We’ve just hired two new staff, and are on the look-out for one more read below to find out more..

Important Dates

Permaculture Courses for 2013. 
Thursdays from 11th July to 17th October
Intensive: 21st September – 5th October (Monday to Saturday), plus 19th October

Upcoming Workshops
6th April: Compassionate Communication – with Julie Lawrence and psychologist Elizabeth Borland
20th April: Secrets of Miso - with Ko Oishi and Momo Hosking – NEW Workshop!
20th April: Twist Weave – with Weva Deva
27th April: Intro to Dynamic Governance - with Erin Young
18th May: Compassionate Communication – with Julie Lawrence and psychologist Elizabeth Borland
25th May: Intro to Dynamic Governance – with Erin Young

International Permaculture Day Sunday 5th May 2013
Along with our usual Sunday markets, we’ll have a free Farm tour, some workshops and other treats. Check our website and Facebook page for further updates.

Winter Solstice – June 22nd 2013
Calling all musicians, artists, performers, cooks – anyone anyone who wants to be volunteer and share the joy of creating a Winter Solstice Festival at NSCF.  Please contact Kylie Mitchell on <siteandevents.mgr@nscf.org.au>

News from the Farm MC

Well we have hit the ground running since the beginning of the year kicking off with  a very productive strategic planning day last month to revisit the 5 year plan and align new work plans with it.  That day also gave us an opportunity for future scenario thinking and reprioritising.  Following on from that have been Team Reps and Team meetings developing operational plans based on the strategic day.

Some great progress has been made towards realising the gift of land from the Genesis Project – a significant share in ownership of a parcel of land near Maleny.  It is expected that the land will be listed for sale within the next few months with hopes for a sale and disbursement of all six shares soon after.
The key focus of this MC is the financial sustainability of the Farm and this focus is beginning to bear fruit with better tracking of team budgets and support for enterprise thinking put forward by staff.

Look out for a fundraiser coming soon – We are inviting support by donation of significant and appropriate prizes and the gift of time as booksellers.  There will also be a fabulous prize for booksellers only.  If members have ideas and or relationships with potential prize donors please call to discuss.
Other important processes underway are:

• Overview of the workers agreement in progress
• Participation in BCC local area planning
• Overview of staff appointments – Chai Cafe, Education coordinator
• Ongoing ratification of new memberships

FARMING TEAM

The gardens are looking great, we’ve been busy redesigning some of the garden beds near the Chai Cafe to make way for Market Stalls – come along on Sunday to see our handy work!

Volunteering at Northey Street..
Learn by doing as we harvest, weed, plant, fertilise mulch and prune our gardens and trees.  The weekly timetable for autumn is:
Tuesdays 7am to 12.30pm – Kitchen and Backyard gardens
Thursdays 7am to 12.30pm – Market garden
Fridays 8am to 10.30am – Bush regeneration area
Fridays 2pm to 4.30pm – Fruit tree orchards
Sundays 5.30am to 6.30am – Harvesting for market stall, 6am to 10.30am – selling farm produce
Contact Dick for more details on farming.mgr@nscf.org.au.

Ko has been doing a lot of work in the market garden, Dennis and Louise have taken on stewardship of the backyard garden and Belinda has put her hand up to look after the diversity garden. We are still looking for experienced gardeners to take on roles as volunteer stewards of our other gardens.

Tai Chi in the Garden

Every Tuesday morning from 7:30am

EDIBLE LANDSCAPES NURSERY

The nursery will be closed on Wednesdays for a while but we hope to be up and running on Wednesdays again very soon.
Our trading hours are: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 9-3, and Sunday 6am – Noon.
Have a possum or caterpillar problem? use molasses…
Want to accelerate your compost? use molasses – $3 for 200g
Need to give your citrus tree a boost? Epsom salts will do the job – $4 for 500g

Fruit trees now in stock: Dwarf Tahitian limes, Dwarf Kaffier limes, Dwarf Myer lemons, Finger limes, Tahitian limes, Kaffier limes, Lemonade fruit, Brown turkey figs, Tropical pears, Soursops, Acerola cherries, Bay trees, Miracle fruit.

Specials - Gypsum 25kg for $19

The Nursery is looking for donations of ice cream containers, and glass bottles. Drop off donations during opening hours please.
Thank you to all of our fantastic volunteers. If you’d like to volunteer come in any day we’re open aside from Sunday – just too busy to teach you anything!

Planting for Pizzas Project Worker needed..
The Planting for Pizzas is a supported gardening project for people with diverse needs and abilities. The Brisbane City Council funds the project from their Active Parks Program on a six monthly basis with a written weekly program of activities appropriate to the season and the participants’ abilities.

We’re looking for another project worker to work alongside Patricia Cabrera in running the program of activities which support participants to expand their gardening and cooking skills and to gain the confidence to participate in the other activities at the farm and the wider community. This role is 4 hours a week on Wednesdays. For more details visit our website by clicking here

Allotments
The allotments are coming back to life after the flood and the summer weed invasion, with a working bee two weeks ago that cleaned up the area and made lots of new compost. Vivienne, the allotments coordinator, has welcomed new allotment holders and is purchasing new tools for the use of allotment holders. She has arranged an educational session for allotment holders for Saturday 13th of April.

EDUCATION AND SUPPORT TEAM

Welcome to Francesco Gimelli – our new Education Co-ordinator
Francesco completed his PDC in 2009 with Geoff Lawton and has just moved back to Queensland from Melbourne. He has been a university tutor in reshaping environments, involved in the Melbourne PermaBlitz group and spent time in Thailand working on the Panya Project to design and build Permaculture systems. Francesco starts on Tuesday 9th April.

We farewell our previous Education Co-ordinator Murray Carew and wish him all the best with teaching at Ferny Grove High School.

PERMACULTURE EDUCATION (NSCF)
The program of Permaculture courses, Sustainability Workshops, school activities and other group tours continues. See details of upcoming courses below.

Permaculture Courses for 2013 – take advantage of our early bird discounts – book now
Learn knowledge and skills for designing productive gardens and properties, growing your own food, applying appropriate technologies, using resources wisely, designing animal and plant systems to minimise your workload, rebuilding community values, and generally reducing your impact on our precious environment.
Next courses:
Thursdays from 11th July to 17th October
Intensive: 21st September – 5th October (Monday to Saturday), plus 19th October

Bob Mud’s Earth Arts Activities – Bob Mud is overseas for all of April, if anyone would like to lead these activities on Sunday contact us. In the meantime Ray our resident carver will be around ...find out more
Earth Arts Workshops for visiting school groups – by Hands On Art

Sustainable Living Saturday Workshops – Some new workshops have been announced for 2013:

6th April and 18th May: (9am – 12pm) Compassionate Communication - with Julie Lawrence & Elizabeth Borland
20th April: (9am – 12pm) Secrets of Miso – with Ko Oishi and Momo Hosking – NEW Workshop!
20th April: (9am – 12pm) Twist Weave – with Weva Deva
27th April and 25th May: (9am-12pm) Intro to Dynamic Governance – with Erin Young

We’ll be announcing our winter series of workshops at the start of May. Stay tuned.

For more details as well as booking information, please see our website
Education enquiries: <education@nscf.org.au>
Education bookings: <info@nscf.org.au>

FREE FARM TOUR:  Every Tuesday morning 9.30am – everyone welcome… meet on the kiosk deck. If you are interested in volunteering at the Farm, the volunteer induction is after the tour. The tour takes about an hour.

SITE AND EVENTS TEAM

Welcome to Vonny Andrews our New Chai Cafe Co-ordinator
Vonny comes to us with extensive experience in the Cafe industry gained through starting up and directing Blackstar Coffee. She has 25 years of involvement in community events including organising a flood fundraiser street party in West End and running cooking workshops for migrants. Prepare for some exciting changes in the menu and vibe of the Chai Café as Vonnie takes on the challenge!

We farewell Kat Massey after 18 months of early morning Chai Co-ordination rain, flood and shine, and wish her well in her studies.

WINTER SOLSTICE
The Winter Solstice planning committee wants you!
The annual winter solstice party is coming up in just under three months and we’re getting excited. To make it the best thing ever, we are looking for volunteers who can help out with any of these tasks:
Catering set up and cooking assistants,                                        Kids art and activities
Entertainment                                                                                       Children’s fire coordinator
Cob ovens                                                                                             Waste management crew
Site design                                                                                            Site decoration & signage
We need people to help with the planning and to help with preparations between now and June 22nd.  And, of course, hands on deck on the day.
Help us celebrate the longest night at the farm!
To get involved, contact Kylie at siteandevents.mgr@nscf.org.au.

RUST BUSTERS – tool group 8:30am – 12:30pm   Every Wednesday
Interested in tool and shed maintenance, organisation, auditing and other site maintenance projects? Join the all-inclusive Rustbusters group. Come along on Wednesday mornings or
contact Kylie Mitchell on siteandevents.mgr@nscf.org.au

ORGANIC FARMERS’ MARKETS:  Sundays 6am – 10.30am.  Come down and support your local farmers, and buy some of the freshest produce around.  The NSCF Markets will provide you with fresh from the garden produce, and if you can’t find it at our markets, you are probably not meant to eat it.

Free meditation class at the Markets

8am at the Mango stage
Chai Cafe: Sundays 6am – til we run out of food and/or steam usually around 11:00am  Enjoy the chance to sit and chill with family and friends.  Buskers will entertain and the café staff will serve it up hot.

Come along to the Farm soon, and enjoy the relaxing oasis, the green heart of the city!

Education & Support Team,
Northey Street City Farm

Northey Street City Farm

Corner of Northey & Victoria Streets, Windsor, Qld, Australia
Ph: (07) 3857 8775,  Fax: (07) 3857 8108   Email: info@nscf.org.au

Secrets of Miso with Ko Oishi and Momo Hosking

Come and learn the art of making miso, an ancient ferment from Japan. The precursor to Miso is thought to have originated 2300 years ago during the era of “Yayoi”, which also coincides with the popularisation of rice paddies . However, it took another 1600 years for this ferment to be perfected.

The season has arrived yet again to concoct this intestinal ally, as we move from a time of abundance and rapid growth, to a period of gradual development. We happily welcome the arrival of Autumn, a seasonal sign to begin our miso creation.

The workshop that I will be holding is based on a recipe a farmer passed down to me when I was working on an organic farm in Japan in 2011.

Variation of this recipe has been trialled over the last couple of years and I am continually working towards improving the flavour of this amazing food.

In a nut shell (In a soy shell really), my workshop will include:

• A taste test of pre-made miso after six months of fermentation
• A variety of recipes and ways in which miso is enjoyed
• How to start “rice-koji”, a precursor to a number of Japanese Ferments such as:
  • soy sauce
  • miso
  • sweet rice wine

• How to soak, cook and process soy beans before mixing with rice-koji
• How to make “shio-kiri koji” – mixing of “rice-koji” with salt
• How to mix the koji and the soy beans together
• Methods of storage
• Maintenance during storage
• And finally, how to enjoy it after months of temptation

The Planting for Pizzas is a supported gardening project for people with diverse needs and abilities. The Brisbane City Council funds the project from their Active Parks Program on a six monthly basis withe a written weekly program of activities developed by our Farming Manager, Dick Copeman appropriate to the season and the participants’ abilities.

The Planting for Pizzas Project Worker’s role is to organise a program of activities which support participants to expand their gardening and cooking skills and to gain the confidence to participate in the other activities at the farm and the wider community. This role is 4 hours a week on Wednesdays.

To read the full position description and selection criteria click here to download

• Applications must address each of the selection criteria (approx 100 words each)
• Please also include a CV with at least two referees
• Applications are due 5pm Thursday 11th April 2013
• Proposed start date is Wednesday 24th April 2013

Please submit application electronically to: info@nscf.org.au, using the subject: Planting for Pizzas Project Worker application