Fresh Eggs

 Paul collecting the eggs  fresh and warm from the straw boxes in the chook pen (and the goat pen.) Some hens think they are goats we reckon!

Driveway from Cafe on Dusk

 

                                             Not a bad end to an evening meal at the Cafe

Black Gold

One haybale, a shadow of its former self

The sandy soil in the kitchen gardens here means that the discovery of a 10 cm plus layer of worm castings at the bottom of a haystack was cause for celebration!

 When this black 'gold' watered in and /or added to the soil the vegetables respond almost immediately.Salad lettuces seem to grow overnight sending out lush new leaves just perfect for salad greens.

At the bottom of the haystack

Teema (from Finland) collecting worms and worm castings

Some of the straw not fully decomposed was collected along with worms and castings so that a worm nursury could be established.

A sheet of black plastic was placed on the ground ..... four hay bales placed ontop and the middle filled with the collected material.

A layer of green waste from the kitchen and the fine debris from the juice machine was placed under the surface straw layers for the worms.

Everyone is happy tonight!  People, worms and plants!

A short walk from the Cafe

 

 

 

                             Tonight a short walk from the Cafe............close to Paradise.

Lots of Basil

A large bag of basil arrived from that wonderful supplier   'from just out the road'.....Mmmmmmm pesto.....lots of roasted pine nuts needed!

Fresh from just out the road

 

Just arrived and unpacked in the HUB Cafe kitchen.......baby turnips, beetroot, carrots and bok choy. 

More of the Same

Benny the guinea pig and the Beetroot Choc Cake

Gardening, eating, walking, smiling...Tasman Eco Village...and a coffee at the HUB Cafe.

Pulling out the yellow Butter Beans and tieing them into bundles to dry, so that the seed can be collected.

Beetroot Chocolate Cake that was made from a freshly pulled beetroot from the garden.

First Visit

Patrick ( from Germany) helping in the Veg Garden

     
















    I first visited the HUB Cafe at the Tasman Eco Village in November 2012.

 I first heard about the project when listening to an ABC radio article talking about Eco Villages and intentional communities in Sept 2102 and decided in November to visit.

Having a life time interest in gardening and back to earth sustainability I travelled to Hobart first then found my way down the Tasman Peninsula on the school bus to see the place first hand. I spent the week at Eco Village gardening, coffeeing at the HUB Cafe, and enjoying the facilities including the spa and indoor pool. The township of Nubeena and surrounds are on a bay and the beaches, bush and there are many scenic walks.

Over the last four months I have spent as much time at the Eco Village as I have back home on the mainland.

The Cafe features locally sourced food as part of the menu and a highlight of my last visit was to have a dish served that had greens and yellow butterbeans that had been grown 50 metres away in the kitchen garden.