Workshop Weekend at the Farm

 The kitchen and barn were abuzz at Ambury Farm last weekend, with local participants attending preserving and Bokashi workshops run by Friends of the Farm members.  Inspired by community ideas generated at our Sweet Talks event earlier in the year, the workshops were advertised around the Mangere Bridge area, through our new Facebook page, email tree and at community WasteWise presentations.  A total of 20 people attended a workshop and, without exception, gave excellent feedback.

The preserving workshop, facilitated by Sharryn Park, gave participants hands-on experience making orange marmalade, pineapple marmalade, lemonade, rhubarb and ginger jam, lemon honey and meringues (to use up the spare egg whites!).  The friendly, laid-back atmosphere of the workshop provided the perfect setting to get to know each other better and swap cooking tips. And the results were particularly well received, with each person taking home a couple of jars of the finished product. Sharryn’s tips on presenting a jar of jam as a gift inspired us to start planning our Christmas hampers now!

The relaxed, hands-on experience continued the following day at the Bokashi workshop, with our environmental educators Meredith Fountain and Caroline Walmsley showing participants how to construct their own systems using repurposed paint containers and buckets.  People appreciated the ‘know-how’ of the facilitators and went home with practical skills to get their own Bokashi systems up and running.  Some also had Christmas on their minds and were making plans to give Bokashi systems away to family and friends.

In general, the workshops contributed to our community’s growing knowledge about how to reduce waste in our households, through using what we don’t want (fruit and food scraps) to create things we do want (preserves and compost).  Having our timeline showing how long it takes waste to break down in landfill on display outside the barn captured the attention of workshop participants, as well as many other visitors to the farm, and reinforced our “WasteWise” message.

Participants’ children spent the afternoon exploring the farm and having fun together and we all appreciated the lovely homemade afternoon teas provided by Friends of the Farm member Caroline Walmsley.  Special thanks to Jacqui Geux, who documented the workshops for us through the beautiful photos below.

The weekend generated lots of ideas for future workshops, including making vegetable preserves (e.g. chutneys and sauces), cooking $10 meals, and composting/worm farming.  If you have an idea about a workshop you would like to attend or run, please contact us by email at justineskilling@gmail.com or through our Facebook page www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheFarmMangereBridge