Weed notes (as video-poem)

With this new work I think I've created another bridge between the pragmatics of our household's transition away from anthropogenic waste production, and the poetics of it.

First workshop at Tree-Elbow

My first Eat your Garden workshop went very well. We started in the house showing the systems of waste regeneration and growing we have put in place.

And then braved the cold to talk about soil structure, composting, root and stem pruning, chooks, planting green manures, crop rotation, and so on and so forth.

I was fortunate to have six keen and happy students and Meg made a honey cake for us, which of course was a highlight.

Eat your garden

I'm taking my first workshop in our garden tomorrow called Eat Your Garden! I've prepared notes for a beginner's course in creating an ecological system in your backyard to supply your own food (based on permaculture principals). Here's the first page of notes for my students. Click for bigger.

And here's the google doc I've created for you to freely use and share. If you have any suggestions for improvement or things I've left out (suitable for a 4 hour crash course), please comment below.

Weedy recipes #1 – cooking with dock

Here is my simple dock soup recipe that I dedicate to my friends in weeds-expertise, Diego and Alexis.

1. Forage for dock, wild fennel and other wild plants such as warrigal greens.
2. Wash and cut up stems and leaves of dock, mallow, wild radish and/or mustard greens.
3. Chop up a few cloves of garlic, one onion, or if you find three-cornered garlic (onion weed) chop that up as well.
4. Place olive oil in soup pot and heat.
5. Cut a lemon in half and smell it freely.
6. Throw the garlic and onion into hottish oil.
7. Caramelise until smokey brown.
8. Throw in a few washed and cut potatoes.
9. Cook for a few mins on a high heat then pour in water.
10. Throw cut up dock and company into pot.
11. Add salt and let boil hot for 10mins or so.
12. Put heat down to simmer for an hour, and add lemon juice, wild fennel seeds or any other spices you enjoy.
13. Serve with your favourite bread.

Also, here's a simple dock vegetable dish:

Clean stems and leaves and cook in boiling water for several minutes. Strain off water, drizzle a little lemon and add pine nuts. Toss and serve. Yum!