Does your child’s fussy eating turn mealtimes into a daily battle? There’s a secret weapon that can transform the way your child views food: growing your own food. Spring is a great time for a food adventure with your child.
Try regrowing celery with your little one! Food from Home’s regrowing celery resource will guide you through regrowing these tasty greens with easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions. It’s a fun and educational experience. Also, it might win your child’s interest in fresh vegetables!
To take the excitement up a notch, we’ve got a delicious kid-friendly recipe that will get them involved in the kitchen. Try making these tasty celery snails with your little one.
We haven’t forgotten about those picky eaters. Discover ways to get your child to enjoy fruits and vegetables without compromising on flavour.
By embracing the magic of homegrown food and cooking creativity, you can overcome fussy eating and create a happy food environment. Join us on this journey to happier, healthier mealtimes!
By Hee Jin Shin, Lucia Ierardo, Monica Edmonds and Rafael Moreira (Masters of Dietetics students, La Trobe University) 🌱
Spring is here, bringing with it the promise of longer days, sunshine, and warmer weather. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia is at least 2.5 times as likely to experience unusually high maximum temperatures this Spring. So, it is the perfect time to start getting your garden ready for the upcoming Summer heatwaves. Here are some easy and affordable ways to keep both yourself and your garden healthy on hot and sunny days.
Revamp your watering routine
Be sure to thoroughly water your garden when temperatures are at their lowest (in the early morning or late in the evening). Warm weather causes the water in plants and soil to evaporate away. Watering during the cooler parts of the day provides the water time to properly soak into the soil and reach the roots of your plants. Be sure to check with your local council to see if any water restrictions are in place.
Set up shade
Plants such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers are susceptible to damage caused by the sun’s intense rays. Shade cloth and garden stakes can be used to create a temporary screen to protect plants in garden beds during hotter days. Potted plants can be moved into shadier spots of the garden or brought inside. Providing shade helps to keep the soil moist and prevent sun damage.
Pile on the mulch
Top up the mulch on your garden beds so it’s nice and thick (between 5 and 10cm). Mulch insulates the soil from the heat, helping it retain moisture in the Summer. Organic mulches such as straw and grass clipping are the best for use in edible gardens, they provide extra nutrients to the soil as they break down. Mulch also has the added benefit of weed control. Be sure to fertilise before applying a new layer of mulch.
Keep it cool
It’s easy for your body to overheat when gardening in the summer heat. A high body temperature can lead to heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. To prevent overheating, drink plenty of water, wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing, and limit time in the garden to the cooler parts of the day (in the early morning and evening). A damp towel can help to keep your neck cool while outside watering. Remember that a hat and sunscreen are always essential when outside in the sun.
Hot weather can be challenging for both you and your garden’s health, but with proper preparation, you can ensure that both you and your garden can continue to thrive.
– Sophie (Master of Public Health student, Baker Institute) 🌱
It is winter already! It is the time of the year when we witness how the days get shorter and the temperatures gets colder. Not only that, but we notice the variety of fresh vegetables that appear in this cold season. The winter season is perfect for growing certain types of nutrient-rich vegetables because they contain higher amounts of sugar that allow them to survive and thrive in low temperatures.
Growing and eating winter vegetables is also good for the environment since they can grow locally, reducing the need for transportation and storage. On top of this, they are less expensive than out-of-season produce that needs to be imported. Let’s explore more about Australian cold-season vegetables and share tips on how to grow and enjoy them.
Winter Vegetables
There are many root vegetables and leafy greens that grow in Australia’s winter season. These include, but are not limited to cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, and celery. These vegetables are packed with many nutritious benefits like essential vitamins, minerals, and fibres for a healthy gut.
Cauliflower is a delicious and nutrient-dense vegetable. It contains a high amount of fibres, several vitamins, and minerals including:
– Vitamin C – Vitamin K – Choline – Potassium – Anti-inflammatory effects, help in the prevention of chronic diseases like arthritis and heart disease. – Anti-aging properties – High fiber content, promoting weight management by increasing feelings of fullness and regulating blood sugar levels.
Cauliflower is a versatile vegetable that can be cooked and featured in different types of recipes. Ways to enjoy eating it:
– Roasting – Grilling – Steaming – Boiling – Mashing – Using it as a gluten-free alternative to traditional flour in pizza crusts of bread.
Gardening tips for cauliflowers: – Start cauliflower seeds in trays during summer (January- February) and transport them later into the garden, allowing them enough time to grow before the weather gets colder. – Choose a sunny location in your garden for planting cauliflower. – Keep the soil evenly moist by providing consistent water to the plants.
Carrots are a nutritious and popular root vegetable. They are known for their bright orange colour, and they can also be found in other colours such as purple, red, white, and yellow. Carrots are an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals like:
– Beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body and is important for maintaining healthy vision, skin, and immune function – Vitamin K – Vitamin C – Potassium – CalciumIron
Carrot can be roasted, steamed, or boiled, as it is a versatile vegetable that can be enjoyed in various ways:
– Raw: enjoy carrots as a crunchy snack or add them to salads. – Cooked: combine carrots in soups, stir-fries, and other cooked dishes. – Juices: enjoy refreshing carrot juices on their own or mix them with orange or beetroots for added flavour and nutritional benefits. – Baked Goods: use carrots as a natural sweetener in cakes.
Gardening tips for carrots: – Carrot seeds can be sown in Australia during the period of January to May, when the soil temperatures range from 8 to 30°C. – Carrots can be harvested 12–18 weeks after sowing. – Carrots need regular watering to keep the soil evenly moist.
Cabbage is a leafy green vegetable from the Brassica family. It is a nutritious vegetable that offers many benefits, including:
– Contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. – Has high fibre content that supports a healthy digestive system. – Contains compounds with anti-inflammatory effects. – Helps control blood pressure and lower bad cholesterol levels in the blood. – Rich in vitamin C, it supports a strong immune system. – Contains antioxidants that contribute to healthy skin and vision.
Cabbage serving ideas:
– Raw: shred for salads or use as wraps. – Cooked: boil, steam, sauté, or stir-fry. – Fermented: make kimchi for a sour and probiotic-rich option. – Stuffed: fill the leaves with savoury fillings. – Coleslaw: mix shredded cabbage with a creamy dressing and other vegetables. – Stir-fry addition: add sliced or shredded cabbage to stir-fries. – Pickled cabbage.
Gardening tips for cabbage: – Cabbage grows in cool weather like autumn, winter, and early spring. – Select a location in your garden that is sunny and has well-drained soil. – Cabbage can be harvested in as little as 12 weeks for early maturing types, while later maturing plants may take up to 15-20 weeks.
Celery is a plant that grows in wetlands and belongs to the same family as carrots and parsley. Celery has a mild, earthy, and somewhat spicy taste. Health benefits of celery include:
– Supports heart health: the minerals and antioxidants in celery protect the circulatory system, minimising the risk of heart disease. – Improves digestion: the fibre component of celery helps healthy digestion and may protect against stomach ulcers. – Anti-inflammatory properties: the compounds in celery help reduce inflammation, benefiting those with conditions like arthritis. – Blood sugar control.
Celery is a versatile vegetable that can be enjoyed in various ways:
– Salads: add it to salads to provide a refreshing crunch and flavour. – Soups and stews: Add celery to soups and stews to enhance the taste and texture of the dish. – Raw snacks: enjoy celery as a raw snack, perfect for dipping with hummus or other healthy spreads. – Juices and smoothies: Mix celery with other fruits and vegetables for nutritious juices and smoothies.
Gardening tips for celery: – Celery is a cool-season crop and best grown in spring and fall to avoid the extreme heat and cold. – Celery requires a sunny location with deep and fertile soil to grow. – Celery seed takes around 2-3 weeks to start growing.Keep celery consistently moist
We hope you enjoy these delicious and nutritious seasonal vegetables and make them a regular part of your meals. By introducing these vegetables into your diet, you will not only improve the taste of your food, but you will also provide important nutrients and health benefits to your loved ones.
Engaging children in gardening and cooking activities can teach them valuable lessons that can affect their nutritional habits up until adolescence. Eating well can ensure that kids can get all the nutrients they need for energy, learning and growth. It also helps reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other health conditions in later life. Creating a positive relationship with food is important and one way we can do this is by getting them involved in growing and cooking the food they eat.
Here are some of the main benefits of gardening and cooking with your children:
Inspire Healthy Eating
Children will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment after growing their food. Many children feel more willing to taste the food they have grown or cooked themselves. It can also generate conversation around new fruits and vegetables they haven’t tried and encourage a larger variety of fruit and vegetables. Ideally, kids (as well as adults) need a rainbow of different fruits and vegetables for good health.
Spend quality time
Spending time in the garden and kitchen can be fun and exciting activities for children of all ages. Parents can teach children the benefits of eating fruits, vegetables, and herbs. These activities also increase the bonding between children and parents and create wonderful memories.
A fun activity with an older child would be to discuss:
Which fruit, vegetable, or herb to plant
Where to plant the seed, seedling, or plant
What kind of delicious meal or snack they can make using that food
Develop motor skills
Gardening and cooking are great for when kids are most curious. It allows them to touch, feel, taste, smell, and see a variety of plant foods. Not only that but gardening and cooking involve lots of different movements and activities that help children to develop several fine and gross motor skills. Fine motor activities are being able to grasp, hold and pinch objects to make them move in a certain way. Gross motor activities include movements of upper and lower body muscles.
Fine motor activities: holding a shovel, using an age-appropriate knife, or carefully picking fruits from the plants.
Gross motor activities: carrying water can, digging holes for the seeds, and stretching to reach attached fruits.
Develop positive behaviours
Children who grow their plants and prepare meals with their parents usually develop key social skills. Gardening teaches them patience, as they plant a seed and wait for it to grow for weeks before enjoying its fresh produce. It also teaches them responsibility, as they learn how to take care of their plants every day to grow properly. Additionally, cooking with parents helps children to develop skills like:
Confidence
Following instructions
Planning
Focusing
Sharing
Learning from mistakes
Children can discover multiple things from nature to nutrition. Gardening and cooking are good opportunities to teach them the science behind the growth of plants, their basic lifecycle, and their need for water, soil and sunlight. It can also help with other skills like math. Consider these activities:
Counting seeds
Measuring the growth of the plants
Comparing the sizes of fruits and vegetables
So parents, start to prepare the seeds and watering cans for your little ones. This is a great way to start a new healthy habit, aiming for less screen time and more green time.
There are so many benefits of growing your own food at home, many of which you may not initially think of. The Australian Dietary Guidelines tell us that we need approximately two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day – that is a lot of produce, and the costs certainly add up. So, as the cost of living is continuously rising, and the climate emergency becomes more front of mind, do we all need to be turning to home gardening? And what are all the related benefits?
Food systems and security
First off, growing your own produce at home has positive impacts on your household’s access to food. Major world events see global food systems under pressure and supermarket shelves are left empty. This makes access to affordable and fresh produce difficult. Therefore, growing food at home may be just the solution we are all looking for.
The evidence tells us that home gardens directly improve household food consumption and nutritional status. They are a cost-effective source of diverse and nutritional foods that can build long-term household food security. Therefore, growing food in your garden can strengthen your local food system as well.
Environmental co-benefits
While food systems are closely linked to the health of our environment, home gardening can also have direct positive impacts on the environment as well. Evidence suggests home gardening provides a unique opportunity for neighbourhoods to promote biodiversity and conserve natural resources. Studies looking at specific cases also show that growing a variety of plants at home can benefit other organisms – serving as habitats, enhancing pollination, and reducing soil erosion. Therefore, growing your own produce will also have important sustainable impacts on the environment.
Health co-benefits
There is a range of individual health benefits when it comes to getting into the garden. Some may be too obvious to even realise but they certainly can’t be ignored!
Physical health
Growing your own food at home benefits our physical health by getting us outside and into the garden:
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. The evidence tells us that at home gardening can have a number of mental health benefits including:
So, why wouldn’t you want to garden? Home gardening has positive impacts on not only the food system and environment, but also your individual health. It enables access to fresh and healthy food, it has a lasting effect on our natural environment, and it helps keep people healthy! What’s not to love? So, this weekend, we challenge you to get out into your garden and plant just one thing. You’ll get to enjoy the fruits of your labour in no time!
As restrictions ease and many of us seek out ways to connect with our communities again, community gardens offer an inclusive and free/low-cost opportunity to grow food and friendships!
Community gardeners at Berwick Community Garden
Community gardening not only provides a range of mental, physical, and social health benefits – but also positively impacts the environment.
Here are five reasons to join and support your local community garden in 2022:
Community gardens provide a safe, inclusive and healthy space to be social, make friends, and help build community cohesion and connectedness. Community gardens offer people opportunities to share knowledge, experience and culture, but also to listen to other individual’s experiences and tips that they have to offer!
Community gardens positively impact the environment through shortening food supply chains, reducing food miles and CO2 emissions, and preserving green spaces that improve air quality, promote biodiversity, and the natural cooling of air and surfaces. Furthermore, community gardens can build community adaptation to climate change – through building social and community resilience, food security and community trust.
Learning new skills
Community gardens provides an opportunity to learn important new skills and knowledge in relation to nature, self-development skills relating to confidence, food literacy, responsibility, cooperation, creativity and understanding. Learning how to grow edible foods also promote food security, lifelong learning and knowledge that can be passed down among different generations.
Community gardens can offer fitness, food and friendships!
So, if your goals for 2022 include increasing fitness, consuming more nutritious foods, alleviating stress, connecting with your community or taking climate action – getting involved in community gardening is a great place to start.
Did you know that the South East Melbourne region is home to over 15 community gardens? You can find all the up-to-date information about the activities and initiatives happening at our local community gardens in our revised South East Melbourne Community Garden Directory!
Visit or download our newly updated South East Melbourne Community Garden Directory, now live on the Food from Home website, the Community Garden Directory is available in several formats:
Fruit and vegetables come in a variety of colours and are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that boost the immune system and reduce the risk of numerous chronic health conditions. They are also an excellent source of dietary fibre, which can help to reduce cholesterol, promote regular bowel function, and improve gut health.
Eating the recommended 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit each day, from different colours and varieties will keep you energised and focused throughout the day.
There is no better way to care for your health than by focusing on a nutritional intake abundant in fresh, seasonal, and homegrown produce. Growing your own food enables your fruit and vegetables to be picked at their peak and consumed soon after harvesting, meaning high vitamin, mineral and antioxidant levels, fabulous flavour, and freshness – so it is a win on every level.
It is the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables that give them their different colours; so choosing your favourite seeds to plant across the year from each of the colour groups below is a great way to increase exposure to various phytonutrients (plant chemicals) as well as diversity in your dietary intake. See table below that explains the health benefits of different coloured food!
Colour
Fruits or Vegetables
Phytochemicals & Benefits
🍅 Red
Tomatoes Capsicum Strawberries Apples Beetroot Red grapes Red peppers Red onion
Herbs and spices are another ideal way to boost the phytochemical and antioxidant content of a meal. Using these to top meals is a great way to add flavour to your favourite recipes and can help to reduce the need for added salt. Some great herbs to try your hand at planting to easily include in meals at home include:
garlic
coriander
parsley
oregano
basil
thyme
sage
rosemary
chives
mint
Try to eat a rainbow of colourful fruits and vegetables each day to get the full range of colours and consequently vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and health benefits.
So next time you’re thinking about what to grow at home – don’t just consider the seasons, but also give thought to the vegetable colours you are planting. Variety is the spice of life!
What do I need? All you need is organic matter and space in a garden or even just a container and if none of the above are possible find out what your local council or community has on offer. Some councils now offer a small compost bin that is supplied with your green bin so you can send all your compostable waste off with the weekly bin collection.
A compost pile will be successful when you have a good balance of organic matter, water, oxygen, time and all the good organisms to help with the breakdown process. There are so many ways to compost you just need to find what suits you and your lifestyle.
Types of composting
Spinning aerial bins
On ground bins or piles
Buckets or sealed containers
Vermicomposting (worm farm)
Ingredients for a successful compost
Greens – see table below
Browns – see table below
Water
Oxygen – either by turning the compost pile or layering with browns
Worms/ insects
Animal manures like sheep, chicken, cow or horse.
Other – eggshells, hair, vacuum cleaner contents
Ingredients to avoid
Inorganic materials coloured & glossy paper
Animal products like meat, bones, fish, dairy, fats
Pet poo (there are special compost systems e.g. Ensopet)
Diseased plants (eg rust, mildew)
Greens / wet (Nitrogen rich)
Brown / dry (Carbon rich)
Vegetable scraps
Hay
Leaves
Sawdust
Grass clippings
Dry leaves (shredded)
Weeds (without seeds)
Brown paper bags
Seaweed
Newspaper (shredded)
Coffee grounds
Cardboard boxes
Tea leaves (avoid plastic bags)
Toilet rolls
Aged manures
Mulched trees/branches
Common problems:
Too dry? Water it
Too wet? Add more browns
Vinegary flies? Add more browns
Starting to smell bad? Add more browns and aerate it
Not breaking down? Add more greens
Rats getting in? Check that you’re not putting in dairy, meat or bread
If composting excites you but you don’t think you can do it just yet why not check out Sharewaste to donate your scraps to a local composter or get in touch with your local community gardens.
Join the Cockatoo Sustainable Food Project for weekly “Zoom in on your Garden” Q&A sessions, and further gardening resources and support from local community.
Need more inspiration, motivation or information about composting? You can find lots of upcoming events as part of Compost Awareness Week 2nd – 8th May 2021.
The benefits of growing and harvesting your own food does not have to only happen at home or at your community garden. Have you thought about growing food at work? Workplace vegetable gardens is increasing in popularity and builds upon an increasing trend of vertical and rooftop gardens, at-home growing and community gardening. There are many appealing factors of having a communal veggie patch in a workspace, so here we will provide you with a brief introduction to office-based edible gardening and some practical tips to make your workplace more sustainable.
Benefits of growing edibles in the office:
Plants help purify the air by absorbing pollutants. They can also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. High levels of CO2 can cause headaches, drowsiness and difficulty concentrating.
Optimise balconies or otherwise unutilised indoor and outdoor spaces.
Provides an incentive to staff to get up from their desks, to observe and interact with the plants.
Indoor plants and greenery lead to a significant reduction in anxiety, depression and fatigue, thereby increasing productivity, creativity and overall mental health of staff.
Encourages staff to begin growing food at home as well as eating fresh seasonal produce.
Fosters staff community connectedness and positive relationships.
What conditions are needed:
An indoor or outdoor area that receives at least 5-6 hours of natural sunlight per day.
Ideally north-facing, floor to ceiling windows (or windowsills for smaller plants).
Raised garden beds or pots.
A coordinator or designated team to ensure ongoing maintenance of the garden.
What to grow:
Salad leaves and greens (lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, herbs) = ideal for beginners, suitable for indoor or outdoor with low light.
Roots (carrot, parsnip, beetroot) = suitable for indoor or outdoor.
Fruit trees = can be potted, ideal for balconies or deck areas.
To help get you started, you can pick up some Food from Home FREE seeds (including carrot, parsnip and silverbeet) at all branches at Casey Cardinia Libraries or Greater Dandenong Libraries. If you’re not sure where your closest free seeds are, register your interest on our home page and we’ll let you know!
REA Group Limited office-based edible garden (based in eastern suburbs Melbourne)
If you cannot foresee an edible garden growing in your workspace, there are many other simple ways to make your office a little more sustainable:
1. Green spaces If your office space is not suitable for growing food, you can still optimise unused spaces with indoor non-edible plants. Many are ideal for low lighting and suitable for big or small spaces. These include succulents, rubber plants and peace lilies. Depending on the number of indoor plants you have, they have the ability to absorb sounds, thus reducing the distraction of background office noise. Creating a green space can become a respite from stressful workspaces and allows staff to experience the many health benefits of indoor plants.
2. Composting Reduce food waste and waste removal costs and have a dedicated food scraps bin in your office. A colleague who has a compost bin at home can take this bucket home each week. Alternatively, you could look at joining a community composting scheme such as Share Waste, where organic waste can be dropped to neighbours who may have compost bins, worm farms or chickens.
3. Keep Cups on hand We’ve all had those days where we have forgotten our keep cup. Creating a communal collection of reusable cups in the office can help on days like these! You can also just take an ordinary mug to your local coffee shop.
4. Loose leaf tea Some teabags are not recyclable nor biodegradable and consist of microplastics, especially those premium brands who use higher levels of plastic mesh. So, ditch the bags and embrace loose leaf! Bonus points if you source your tea from your local bulk foods store.
5. Eco-friendly workplace practices As many of us are heading back into the office, being intentional of your office practices can help reduce waste and energy. Such as reducing your use of printing, opening the blinds instead of turning a light on, and avoid heating/cooling as often as possible. You may also want to organise your office days with your colleague who lives nearby so you can carpool. Every effort to reducing your carbon footprint, no matter how small, is an effort worth giving.
Extra resources:
Click here for a case-study of an office-based edible garden based in Eastern Melbourne.
Click here to access Food from Home’s Monthly Growing Guides (FREE to download)
If you have only been growing food for a short while, or still just thinking about edible gardening, Autumn is a great time as any to get into the garden and begin growing your next season of produce. With more frequent rains and less intensive garden management, Winter veggies require less care and attention than your summer veggie garden. They practically grow themselves with Melbourne’s cool and wet climate!
We’ve compiled some of our favourite Autumn garden blogs and articles to help get you started:
For a simple growing guide, check out Food from Home’s March Growing Guide. Below are some of our suggestions for beginner-friendly edibles to consider adding to your garden, courtyard or balcony!
Brassicas
If you have the space, broccoli, kale and some mini-cauliflowers are perfect for those new to gardening as they are easy to grow successfully. Choose seedlings that are small and young and avoid those with tough looking stems. Brassica crops will grow better if planted in full sun (a spot which receives a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight each day) but can tolerate partial shade (3-6 hours of sunlight each day). Consider using fine netting to deter white cabbage moth, or finely crushed eggshells to stop caterpillars, snail and slugs from enjoying your new seedlings.
Garlic
Easy to grow in small spaces! To grow garlic, you can use garlic bulbs purchased from the supermarket, but if bought from a nursery you are ensuring you are getting a variety that is disease and chemical free. Break the garlic head into individual cloves and plant them pointy end up, 5cm deep, 20cm apart. Like onion, they take a long time to reach maturity (9 months), so take some time planning where they go. Choose a pot or area in your garden that you don’t plan on using for your spring/summer veggies!
Peas
Make the most of your small spaces and grow peas up a trellis. Great fun for the kids to pick, shell and eat all within 10 seconds! Different varieties grow different heights – make sure to check the tag on the plant/seed packet for more information. Dwarf and bush peas grow to about 60cm high, ‘Melbourne Markey’ (also known as Massey Gem) grow to 50cm high. Sugar Snap peas are also a tasty choice.
Broad Beans
One of the easiest plants to grow. Plant before May to harvest in Spring. Sow 10-15cm apart. Coles Dwarf are a hardy variety, best for handling strong winds. At the end of the season, remember to leave a few of the last pods to dry on the plant and you have some seeds ready to sow for next year’s crop (or to share with your friends and neighbours!).
Leafy Greens
Lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, rainbow chard (also known as silverbeet – perfect for stirfrys!) all grow well in Autumn and into Winter and are perfect for beginners. Within about 8 weeks from sowing seeds (less if planted from seedlings) you can start to harvest leaves from outside the plant.
If you have any questions or have some further tips to add, make sure to connect with out FFH Community Group, where you will receive great advice from likeminded locals with lots of knowledge and experiences to share.
Want to get growing this weekend? Pick up some free veggie seeds as part of Food from Home’s Free Seed Initiative at one of your local libraries across Greater Dandenong, Casey or Cardinia. If you’re not sure where your closest seeds are, head to our website, fill out the form and we’ll let you know.
Food from Home 