Permaculture Living

Here’s my rough recipe for pumpkin soup. It’s not quite a pure pumpkin soup as I prefer a slightly deeper flavour and thicker texture.

All quantities are approximate, feel free to change them to suit your own taste.

1/3 of a pumpkin
1/2 a sweet potato
One potato
1/2 an onion
Small knob of ginger
Olive oil

Peel and chop the pumpkin, sweet potato and potato.
Steam all the vegies until very soft.
In a large saucepan, fry half an onion in a small amount of olive oil until transparent.
Add the ginger and fry it gently until you smell the ginger aroma.
Add the steamed vegetables and the water from the bottom of the steamer to the saucepan.
If there’s not enough liquid, add more water.
Simmer the lumpy vegetable mixture until it breaks down to a more soup like texture.
Put in the blender and blend until smooth.
Put it back in the saucepan to stay warm. (Lower the temperature if you do this - it boils like lava at this stage. and can be messy).
Or serve immediately and eat with a dollop of yoghurt on top.

In the end, my fifteen metres of pumpkin vines produced one single, solitary pumpkin. At least it was a beautiful orange colour inside and absolutely delicious as pumpkin soup and roast pumpkin.

A quick guide to some of the markets, stores, butchers, bakeries cafes and other sources for organic food in Brisbane. There are more than you might think at first!

Organic Markets

Northey Street Sunday Markets

Fresh organic vegies, meats, baked goods and more. There’s also an organic sausage sizzle and you can get an organic tea or coffee at the Chai Cafe. Run by the Northey Street City Farm at Northey St, Windsor, on Sunday mornings 6.30am to 10.30am.

Organic Produce Shops

Fundamentals

An organic foods supermarket at 219 Given Tce, Paddington. They also have a Whole Foods Cafe and an online store.

Mrs Flannerys

Health food, natural and organic foods. Stores are in Chermside, Wynnum, Woolloongabba, Loganholme, Maroochydore, Benowa, Robina, and Miami.

Hi-Vita Organics

Organic fruit, vegetables, meat, breads, groceries and snacks at 17 Bald Hills Rd, Bald Hills. Some products are also available for ordering online.

Cafes and Restaurants

Mondo Organics

An organic restaurant and cooking school in West End.

The Forest

A whole-food, organic vegan Cafe bar at 124 Boundary St, West End.

Home Delivery

Farm Fresh Organics

Certified organic food and groceries delivered to your home in Brisbane.

Organic and Quality Foods

Organic home shopping delivering in Brisbane, Ipswich, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

Ripe’n Raw Organics

Dedicated to providing the freshest organic produce in their home deliveries.

Suppliers

Barambah Organics

Makers of delicious organic milk, yoghurts, cheeses including feta and brie, quark and more.

Sol Breads

Organic sourdough bakery making delicious breads. There are bakeries in Newstead, West End, Paddington and Southport.

Allsop and England

Organic butchers and meat at 297 Old Cleveland Rd, Coorparoo. They have no website, but you can phone them on 3397 4117.

I love how the brand new pumpkins look before the flower opens.

Mmm, coffee. These green beans, after ripening, fermenting, drying, and roasting, eventually become your morning cup of caffeine.

Want to talk about permaculture, sustainable living, or organic gardening with other people, as well as live it? These are a few lists and message boards that are active and relevant to Aussie permaculturists.

Permaculture Discussion Forum

An Australian and active forum with separate boards for planting and growing, designing and building, the big picture, jobs and training, and more. The best forum resource on permaculture.

Permaculture Oceania

An email discussion group that usually has a few emails every day. Archives going back to 2002 are also available on the website.

The Earth Garden Path

Companion to the quarterly Australian magazine, Earth Garden. Has sections on living sustainably, cuisine and health, environment, building, gardening/permaculture, renewable energy and waste management.

Aussies Living Simply

A members only forum where you must be registered to access all forums, but you can view the most active threads from their front page. Lots of info and chats on backyard livestock, vegetable gardening, preserving, reusing, repairing and recycling, natural remedies and more.

Battles with the local possums continue. Not content with eating every tomato, chilli and capsicum plant within reach, they have moved onto the pumpkin vines.

Two of them have been returning to the pumpkin every week or so to test for ripeness. This was their last test - it’s now been fenced off.

Every week when I visit my garden at the farm, this tomato bush has doubled in size. I always thought tomato season was summer here in Brisbane, but autumn seems to be the time that the tomatoes rocket.

I had to learn all about the ubiquitous childhood vegetable nightmare, the Choko, as part of my permaculture design certificate. It’s really not as bad eating as you might think.

Latin Name: Sechium edule
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Other Names: Chayote

Origin: Domesticated in Southern Mexico and Guatemala in pre-Columbian times. It was introduced to Australia in the 19th century.

Description: The mature choko fruit is green and thin skinned, roughly pear-shaped with deep wrinkles. It grows on a climbing vine with stems of up to 10 metres.

Propagation: Can be propagated from a single sprouting fruit in late winter and spring in cooler areas, or all year round in tropical areas. It is not generally propagated from seed because of the difficulty of separating it from the fruit.

Cultivation: The choko is a vigorous vine which is easy to grow and perennial in mild, frost-free climates. Grows in nearly all soil types but prefers rich, well-drained organic soils. Has few predators or pests but needs protection from hot winds or frost. Plants bear fruit in autumn and winter. Can become a rampant weed under the right conditions.

Edible Parts: The root, young stems, seeds, and leaves are all edible.

Usage: The fruit, young stems and leaves can be eaten raw in salads. It can be used as a vegetable and boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled, or used as a fruit in pies and other desserts. The root is starchy and can be used as cattle fodder.

Nutrition: Contains fibre and vitamin C. The edible parts of the choko have a lower fibre, protein and vitamin content than other plants, but the micronutrients and macronutrients supplied by the fruit are adequate.

Other functions: Infusions of the leaves are said to dissolve kidney stones and to assist in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension (don’t try this at home). Choko stems have also been used in the manufacture of baskets and hats.

Recipes: While best known by Australians as a steamed and tasteless vegetable they forced to eat as children, it does work well in stirfry and other dishes where it can take on stronger flavours. Can also be used as an apple replacement in pies or fruit desserts.