1. business and industrial
2. agriculture and forestry
3. crops and seed

Going Organic
june-august ’11
$3.50 inc. GS
T
Dolichos Lablab —
how to use it as a
cover crop p 7
Lock yer gates! — how
to stop the fraccers in
your back yard p 14
Eat organic in Nimbin
— I heard it on
The Grapevine p 11
printed on recycled paper
www . tropo . org . au
Issue No 84 Official journal of Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation, TROPO
Buying Organic on the North Coast
What is TROPO?
To help promote the sale of organic produce in the Tweed Richmond
region, Going Organic has compiled the following list of businesses,
markets and box order schemes selling organic foods. If you would like
your business added to this list, contact the editor.
TROPO, the Tweed Richmond
Organic Producers Organisation,
was established in 1989 as a
grassroots local action group
dedicated to fostering organic
agriculture and gardening on the
NSW North Coast.
Organic Fruit and Vegetable outlets
Town
Shop
BallinaGo Vita
BallinaNourish
Bangalow
Bangalow Basics
Brunswick Heads Brunswick Health Foods
Brunswick Heads The Village Greens
Byron Bay
Life’s a Beech
Byron Bay
Fundamental Foods
Byron Bay
Ozigo
Byron BaySantos
Byron BaySantos Warehouse
Lismore
Fundamental Foods
LismoreGoanna Bakery
Lismore (Nth)
Rainbow Wholefoods
MullumbimbySantos
Murwillumbah
Fresh Wholefoods
NimbinNimbin Emporium
NimbinNimbin Organics
Address
19 Ballina Fair, Kerr St
2/28 Cherry St
29 Byron St
2/20 Fingal St
23 Old Pacific Hwy
44 Beech Drv
69 Jonson St
BP Service Bayshore Dr
105 Jonson St
7 Brigantine St
140 Keen St
171 Keen St
49 Terania St
51 Burringbar St
43 Wollumbin St
58 Cullen St
50 Cullen St
Box Deliveries
Byron Organic Boxes
Fiona O’Connor
0432 579 506
Nourish
Anna and Ray
6686 8955
Organics for Everyone Munch Crunch Organics
Coomera to Coolangata Byron Region
Eloise 0433 707 469
W: munchcrunchorganics.
com.au
T: 6684 7605
F: 6684 7931
If you would like your box deliver service listed or removed from Going Organic
please contact the editor, see the back for contact details.
Markets
(Rainbow Region) Lismore Organic Market — Tuesdays 7.30-11 am (rain
or shine), Lismore Showground. Contact Dave Roby 6628 1084
Gold Coast Organic Farmers’ Market — Sunday 6-11.30 am (rain, hail
or shine), Oval, Miami High School. www.gcorganicmarket.com
Byron Farmers’ Market — Thursdays 8-11 am, Butler Street Reserve.
Contact Vicki Rix 6629 1666
New Brighton Farmers Market — Tuesdays 8-11 am, 6684 5390
Grafton — Every second Thursday
Lismore Twilight Market — Every Thursday, 3.30-6.30 pm
Lismore Farmers’ Market — Saturday, 8 am-12 noon,
Lismore Showground
2
Since then, membership has
grown to over 150. Members
include commercial organic
producers, part-time farmers, home
gardeners, conventional farmers
considering converting to organic
methods, and many others with an
interest in supporting the kind of
agriculture that does not poison
people or the environment.
TROPO activities include
meetings and field days covering
practical organic farming and
gardening techniques and looking
at wider issues in sustainable
agriculture.
In the struggle for a cleaner,
healthier and more sustainable
world, your views count, and
TROPO helps make your voice
heard. TROPO members provide
input to a number of influential
institutions including NSW
Agriculture, OFA, organic
certification groups like NASAA
and BFA. The group also liaises
with produce wholesalers and
retailers.
Annual membership costs only
$28 and includes regular meetings,
field days and four editions
of the Going Organic Journal.
Membership also provides access
to experienced organic growers
interested in sharing their expertise.
See our membership form on page
23 and a full list of contacts on the
back cover.
You can also find us at
www.tropo.org.au.
Visit our new forum page,
www.wiserearth.org/group/TROPO
and we’ve joined facebook.
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Contents
Farmwalk - Avi and Zehvit’s Farm
3
Affairs of TROPO
President’s Report
4
6
Farmwalk Report - Sunflower sprouts
Cover crop Series
Dolichos Lablab
7
Hemp the healthy alternative
9
Classifieds
14
TROPO AGM
17
Djanbung Gardens open day
17
What’s on the web
18
Organic World News
Earth friendly fare
18
22
Rita Oort’s Chook Series
10
In the garden with Dave Forrest
22
On the Grapevine
11
What to plant this quarter
22
LOMs Fine Food Stall
12
TROPO membership form
23
Lock yer gates!
14
Contact details
24
Farmwalk
Saturday, 25 June, 10 am- 12 noon
Avi & zehvit’s farm
A
2 Boulder Close, Byangum, 2484
to Murwillumbah
N
vi and Zehvit are responsible for
supplying your market with delicious
tomatoes, strawberries and a variety of
greens They also specialise in oyster
mushr.ooms. Come and see the care and
attention that goes into growing these beautiful fruit and
vegetables.
Ba
rs
To Tweed Valley Way
Rd
og
le R
oad
ke
Ky
Directions: From Murwillumbah on the Uki/Kyogle
Rd farm is located 2 km after Byangum Bridge, on the
left hand side. The entrance is through the Organic Fruit
Stall, there are stall signs and flags, you can’t miss it.
BYANGUM
Cnr Boulder Close
and Kyogle Road
Dum Dum
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
3
Affairs of TRopo
T
President’s Report
his issue brings us to
the time of TROPO’s
AGM. There are
a good number of
Foundation members
still in the area and it would be a
great thing to meet up there. Where
were you when it started? What
was it you wanted? Are they issues
which are still in common with the
current membership?
My memories of that time are that
Organic farming was considered
impossible as a commercial
option, carried out only by small
scale loonies. Key points of that
impossibility were that weeds will
David Forrest
overtake the crops, they would
starve from lack of Nitrogen, be
eaten by insects and rot in the field
without artificial chemical pesticides
and fertilisers.
Faced with this, TROPO was
formed to:• Advance Organic agriculture;
• Support Certification of Organic;
• Expose conventional chemical
farming as not sustainable; and
• Offer functional alternative
practises.
As the paranoid projections of the
1970s have continued to be proven
(unfortunately) correct, that is —
Peak Oil, Diminishing Resources,
Global Warming, Environmental
Degradation, Biodiversity Loss,
Overpopulation, Obesity/Famine
Dipole, Epidemic Cancer and
Asthma Rates, Pollution … nothing
new — but still current?
Many seminars, farm field days,
speakers and articles have put these
issues to interested people over the
years, contributing positively to
changes in attitudes and outcomes
for people living in our region and
beyond.
Rural Buying Service Pty Ltd
Simply the best ...
• The best advice • The best service • The best prices
For a great deal, see the experts at the Rural Buying Service where it pays to be a member.
More than 40 stores in Lismore offer discounts to our members yet membership costs only $25 a year.
Pumps & Irrigation equipment
Polypipe & fittings
PVC pipe and drain coil
Irrigation design
Water filters
White oil
Dipel
Derris dust
Pyrethrum
Garlic spray
Soap spray
Sulphur
Yeast Autolysate
Wild May attractant
Spray Tech oil
Symbex microbial spray
Blood and bone
Guano
Dynamic Lifter
Soft Rock Phosphate
Reactive phosphate rock
Natrakelp
Fish emulsion
Humic acid
Trichoderma
Soil pH kits
Full soil & plant tissue analysis kits
Grafting & pruning equipment
Fruit picking sticks
Crates & cartons
Brush cutters
Chipping hoes
Windbreak & weedmat
Seeds
Shadecloth & greenhouse film
Nursery equipment
Plant pots & planter bags
Work clothes & boots
Bee-keeping equipment
145 Casino St, South Lismore. Ph 6621 2853
Kays Lane, Alstonville. Ph 6628 5444
4
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Affairs of tropo
Fortunately many other groups have formed over
this time, all looking to contribute to the planets’
good (Check the TROPO web regularly for updates).
Some(times) negative actions are required to bring
issues to the fore or they go unrecognised, but many
small changes are starting to add up to something.
When I read agricultural media now I often see
Organic/Biological lauded as the cutting edge of
farming. Have a look at the products advertised in
this issue, and find out how they benefit your farm
production. We have good access to biologically
friendly farm inputs which help us maintain high quality
and yield.
The recent IBIS economic survey found Organic
farm production is the leading growth sector in
Australian business. Many Government funds to
farmers are aimed at supporting environmental
initiatives and our regional CMA should be recognised
for their role in this. Recently the Riverland Sustainable
Futures Fund, which manages $20KK to assist with
industry restructuring and promote economic and social
development, awarded a $447,000 grant to a farm to
expand their chemical free vegetable business. This will
allow the business to be able to support 9 more staff and
the increased turnover to the local economy of $3.5KK
per annum. Sustainable food production and economics
are able to occur concurrently! It should be noted that
Lismore Organic Market, which TROPO spawned, has
a similar effect but has never had any external support.
TROPO is looking to repeat this Organic Market
development again, partnering with members on the
Gold Coast.
Other local groups are accessing money to speed up
the rate of education and examples, or adding energy
to the current initiatives of TROPO. Is this your way to
contribute?
This AGM is about hearing from you, our members
or not, as to what you want this organization to achieve,
while expressing your engagement in creating it.
World Leaders in Sustainable Agriculture
High performance, highly concentrated:
Your local NTS Distributor:
• Liquid Fertilisers
• Microbial & Microbe Culturing Products
• Humate & Dry Minerals
• Fish and Kelp Products
• Bio-Management
Geoff & Debbie Bugden
Ph: 66243085 or 0410531561
email: pecans@dodo.com.au
www.wilsonriverpecans.com.au
Plus educational courses for sustainable
and biological farming practices
www.nutri-tech.com.au
76
BFA Registered Products
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
affairs of tropo
W
Sunflower sprouts
hat could be
hard about
growing
sunflower
sprouts, after
all you grow in a compost medium,
in a shade house, you aren’t relient
on the weather, especially if you’ve
got UV lamps to help your sprouts
along. It must be a piece of cake.
In reality I learnt that it isn’t as
easy as it looks, much like anything
really. Carol and Ken have been
growing sprouts for nine years and
their set up is pretty streamlined as
a result.
The aim is to have the sunflower
sprouts ready to be harvested on a
monday, for the tuesday market. In
the middle of summer this can be 5
days from sewing, in winter it could
be as many as 23 days, though any
longer than 15 days in the soil can
cause extra problems with fungus,
so they now employ growlights
during winter to extend the growing
time by one hour a day.
Susie Godden
of it’s own nutrients to grow the
sprout. A fine balance between
water retention and drainage needs
to be achieved though. The growing
medium also needs to be easily
washed out of the sprouts when they
are cut, that’s why river sand is used
at the top.
Thank you Carol and Ken, I now
have a etter understanding of what
goes on to get those lovely bags of
crisp, crunchy fresh greens.
Once the sprouts have been
cut the growing medium is tipped
onto a pile outside the growing
tunnel. This pile of soil can be
rotated successfully year in year out
without any amendments.
The washing and processing of
the growing sprouts is most time
consuming. They are washed no
less than three times before being
bagged and there is a fair amount of
wastage in the process. It takes one
person one hour to process 12 trays
(an equivalent of 4 kgs), so each
40kg crop takes 10 person hours
from harvesting to bagging.
First the seeds are soaked for half
a day, drained and then left to shoot
before they are spread in trays filled
with a very sandy compost and top
dressed with washed river sand.
As each sprout grows it is
imperative that its neighbours are
also growing, this way they support
each other on their way towards the
sun. If germination is patchy the
sprouts will fall over and harvesting
will become difficult and time
consuming.
The growing medium has caused
some challenges. Nutrients in the
soil are not important because a
sunflower seed contains enough
6
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
cover crops
I
Dolichos Lablab Lablab purpureus (L.)
n the last issue of Going
Organic I wrote about my
use of giant sorghum to
add organic matter, lighten
root knot nematode load,
suffocate weeds and grasses and
protect young trees. I use sorghum
as an occasional tool to achieve a
specific result. I use lablab as a part
of a continuing cycle in my beetroot
production. I’m going to refer to the
lablab as part of my beetroot system
but it really doesn’t have anything
to do with beetroot. This system
would work with many vegetable
plantings, especially systems that
revolve around weekly or fortnightly
plantings. I plant beetroot weekly
from March until October so I need
a 40m bed ready to plant each week.
What I want from the lablab is
the nitrogen that soil born microorganisms fix onto its roots, the
organic matter that the lablab adds
to the beds, the weed suffocation
that comes from the mass covering
the beds, the soil health and finally,
the ease of bed preparation for the
following crop.
Nitrogen is essential for all
growth. Most agricultural nitrogen
comes from industrial processes
using massive amounts of fossil
fuel to squeeze nitrogen out of the
air. Using industrial nitrogen allows
you to grow two or three crops per
year compared to my one crop but
it degrades the soil, alters the soil
ecology and pollutes streams, rivers
and oceans.
This is a case of sustainable
techniques that currently lower the
short term annual income but allows
the soil to continue producing food
without degradation.
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Along with the sustainable
approach, all this system is done by
hand. No machinery is used.
I plant three rows of beets in
every bed with driplines between
each row. When I am about half
way through the harvest of each bed
I plant lablab along the driplines.
You need a plant per sqm but I
want a faster cover so I plant about
6-10 seeds per metre of bed. This
planting starts in early Spring and
finishes in December. When the
plant is about 300mm tall it falls
over and starts running along the
bed. At this point you need to finish
harvesting the beets and get the
driplines out. Lablab is a vine that
easily and forcefully grabs things
like fences and driplines.
The lablab soon covers the entire
bed and the pathways and starts
crossing the block perimeters. If I
have the time I weed the beds before
the soil disappears under the dense
mat. As the lablab heads for the
fences it is easy to roll back. If you
just leave it it may climb fences and
get into the trees. I tend to treat the
cover crop as if it is a commercial
crop. When the beets get irrigated
the lablab does also.
About a month before I’m ready
to plant beets in each bed I pull up
the roots of the lablab. To pull out
each plant would take ages but to
simply pull the roots up takes 30
minutes per bed. The mass of lablab
dies and starts decomposing in
situ. As I pull each stem out of the
ground it is easy to see that the roots
cover metres in every direction. You
can easily see the nitrogen nodules
on the roots. I try to pull them
aggressively so the nodules break
David Roby
off and remain in the soil. Also, the
way the roots come out of the bed
shows me the condition of the soil
and lets me know how easy or how
difficult it is going to be to make
up the new bed. Three weeks later,
most of the leaves have disappeared
leaving the tougher vine.
When I’m ready to transplant
into a bed I roll the remaining tough
vines onto the next bed. This creates
a windrow of breaking down lablab
vines 1m high sitting on top of the
next bed I will be planting. This
means that each bed I plant has just
had 1m of mulch sitting on top of
it for a week. When you roll the
windrow off the soil looks beautiful
and ready to start pumping out
beautiful beets.
So I’m trying to stay a
month ahead of myself with my
preparation. If I do this successfully
after 5 or 6 beds the windrow stays
the same size. It is breaking down at
the same rate that I am adding to it.
If pushed I can roll away the
windrow, make up the bed and fill
the bed with transplants in less than
a day. My plan is to plant up a bed
a week so I don’t necessarily do the
whole job in one day.
The moment I roll the windrow
off the bed I cover it with compost
and chip it into shape. This process
mixes the compost into the soil. I
do this because the compost I make
would prevent water penetration if
left thickly on the surface.
I’m currently planting about 4050 beds a year. As I get to the end of
the block I have a 1m high windrow
left over. If I park the windrow
adjacent to the last bed, next year I
7
cover crops
will find I have a new bed. Similarly, if I want to make
the beds longer I can add a metre to each end each year.
Having the ground covered with thick Lablab makes
bed construction easy.
crops to aid my production process, it would be good
if someone reading this, who uses different processes,
could write about their systems. I look forward to
reading about it.
Each year I collect a couple of buckets of seed for
the next crop. I keep them in the fridge. I could easily
collect a lot more for eating. An hours harvest would
give me a couple of kgs of “poor mans beans” to eat.
In order to get the nitrogen fixing characteristics,
the lablab has to be inoculated with the correct microorganisms. I did this once 30 years ago and it is still
working beautifully.
I’ve been working on this system for a decade.
Each year I try to make some improvements to
make the process easier or better. Last year I added
woodchip to the pathways. I like the benefits. It is
enormously wet as I write this. The beds handle too
much water well but the pathways suffer every time
you walk on them. The paths with the woodchip
added are much better. After a season of lab lab the
woodchip has mostly disappeared. This means that I
need to add the chip each year. It also means that the
value of the chip is being transferred to the beds.
I am lucky and unlucky to have a border of
camphors around my beetblocks which I’m in the
process of gradually woodchipping. This will give
me a supply of chip for the next three or four years.
Each tree I chip lets more light onto the beetbeds
producing more beets and more dollars to spend on
more woodchipping.
To be healthy we need healthy food. Healthy food
needs healthy soil. There is no doubt that this system
is good for my soil. This system also has very small
footprints. Lastly, the work is physical but a hard days
work spread over a week is just good exercise.
After rereading this article I find I have left
something out. Of the 40 beds I’m making this year
37 are as I have described. Last year I failed to spend
a couple of hours weeding 3 beds before the lab lab
took over. This year those 3 beds will take me 2 days
longer to prepare. An hours weeding last year would
save me a day this year. Making sure the beds are
relatively weed free before the cover crop covers
them is important. In fact, weeding at the right time is
always beneficial.
Now that I have shared my methods of using cover
8
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Hemp —
the healthy alternative
H
emps seeds have been a staple food
for many nations across the world
for millennia containing two highly
nutritious sprouts in a woody shell.
The fibrous shell is usually removed to
produce hulled hemp seed which leaves the soft and
tasty nut centres. As one of the world richest source of
essential fatty acids, hemp seeds not only provide the
human body with all the essential fatty acids necessary
(omega 3, 6 and 9), but in the perfect 3 to 1 ratio of
omega 6 to 3. They also contain around 34% protein
and all of the 20 amino acids known to life including
the 8 the human body cannot produce. Hemp seed is
high in fibre and contains antioxidants such as vitamin
E and vitamin A, many other vitamins and minerals,
trace elements and even chlorophyll.
A number of studies have linked ADHD, depression
and even asthma with a lack of essential fatty acids
in the diet. Hemp seeds could potentially supply
Australians with the essential fatty acids our dwindling
fish stocks are struggling to provide. Hemp seeds do not
contain THC and do not have any psychoactive effects.
Seed used for human and animal consumption come
from the same low THC plants varieties which are used
to grow hemp fibre for clothes and building materials.
Currently it is illegal to sell hemp seeds in Australia
and New Zealand for human consumption; however it
is legal to buy for food. Hemp seeds are legally eaten
throughout Europe and the United States and hemp oil
can be legally eaten in New Zealand. Australia remains
the only westernised nation to prohibit the consumption
of hemp foods. The good news is that currently Food
Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) have
accepted an application for low THC hemp as a food.
They have written a risk assessment on hemp seeds
which can be found at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/
foodstandards/applications/applicationa1039lowt4708.
cfm.
The FSANZ assessment has proven that the
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Lise Bolton
consumption of hemp seeds and oil is safe for all
people including children. Their report also goes into
detail about the exceptional health benefits of hemp
foods. FSANZ have taken public submissions for the
application of low THC hemp foods, which they will
present to a ministerial council in December. The
council will then vote to change the legislation and
hopefully allow hemp foods into Australia.
A similar application was received to make hemp
food legal back in 2002. A ministerial council met and
voted to not allow hemp foods on the basis that it may
give a bad message to the youth of today. Australia still
allows many food preservatives and colours which have
been banned throughout the world and yet adding a
healthy food such as hemp seed into our diet is seen as
giving the wrong message.
In Europe and Canada the hemp seed industry is
booming. Retail sales of all Canadian derived hemp
seed products are now estimated to be as high as
US$20- $40 million (AUD18.6-37.3 million) annually.
Hemp seed products range from hemp pasta to hemp
ice-cream. Anything that can be made from soy can be
made from hemp seeds, but unlike soy there have never
been any reported allergic reactions to hemp seeds.
There is a possibility of a hemp seed industry
starting as early as next year in northern NSW. Licenses
to grow hemp have been available in NSW since 2008
and local farmers are already growing hemp for fibre to
be used for building materials such as hemp masonry.
A hemp seed industry in this area would not only be
beneficial to farmers but would also bring a hemp
seed hulling plant and hemp food manufacturing to
the region which will increase jobs and boost the local
economy.
In NSW the Minister for primary industries Katrina
Hodgkinson will be one of ten ministers to vote for the
legislation of hemp foods. Minister Hodgkinson has
been cited saying, “Food production and security is at
the top of my list”. You can email her to show your
support for hemp foods at office@hodgkinson.minister.
nsw.gov.au or email info@hempseedsaustralia.com.au
to be kept up to date with the FSANZ application and
to find out more information about how to help lobby
for hemp foods in Australia.
9
Chickens
T
The life of our chickens and the chickens in our lifeRita Oort
his last year we had an invasion of
predators.
Goannas, they come for their favourite
food from miles away and will eat up to
40 eggs per visit, snakes, who will eat 2-4
eggs but will also eat the chickens, foxes who sneak up
even during daytime. Foxes are smart silent hunters and
can snatch a chicken before your very eyes.
We even had a juvenile eagle, who landed in our
chook enclosure.
First thing first though, we trained our chickens to fly
in and out of their night quarters, by closing the door
and opening their windows.
The windows are about 1 meter off the ground and
their shed is corrugated iron. It has to be a huge goanna
to climb the tin.
It seems to be working for us, but don’t make the
mistake of putting a ladder to the windows.
I have put a couple of 25 gallon drums away from the
windows so the chooks have a stepping stone and can
get into their laying boxes.
The snake problem is more difficult, they can get into
the night quarters through the windows, so you have
10
to be vigilant and bring a torch when you lock up your
girls. Scan their home for hidden snakes before putting
them to sleep.
Now we have dealt with the goannas, but how do we
deal with the snakes?.
Don’t get me wrong, I like (some) snakes and I
wouldn’t like to harm any of them, but I do not like
them eating my chickens.
We have devised a gentle way to catch the snakes
and it is worthwhile to share this with you.
Take a large plastic flowerpot and remove the base,
you now have a sturdy ring to insert into a hessian or
feedbag.
Place the bag in front of the snake and gently tickle
his tail, with a stick if you like. The snake will naturally
escape into a dark place (your bag), it will turn around
and come back out again, so be quick and lift the bag
before he escapes.
What you do with the snake after you catch it is up
to you. Wildlife rescuers will release it on your property
and claim a snake will not survive outside its hunting
grounds. If you let it go within 40-60 km it will be back,
so a good recipe for B.B.Q snake is, maybe in the next
issue.
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
On the grapevine
D
o we really need another funky little
café with art slung on Tuscan walls and
Trompe L’oeil grapevines, heavy with
fruit, growing through supposed
cracks in the facade; twining
themselves luxuriantly around columns
and leafing mellowly lighted nooks?
Must we drink our coffee at the
very edge of thick bushland nestled
in sacred valleys and surrounded by
ancient caldera mountain cliffs?
Is it absolutely necessary to have
tasteful atmospheres and casual
elegance opening out onto the streets
of alternative small town communities?
Probably not but it’s nice to have in this
‘worlde gonne madde’ — especially when
the food is unapologetically, unequivocally vegan/
vegetarian and organic, all of it.
This challenge, which seems to be just that little
bit too brave for most modern restaurants and cafés,
has been taken up by ‘Nimbin Organics’ owners Anna
King and Dave Sykes. At the beginning of the year
What’s on the menu?
Those of you who have had it with
gluten will be pleased to know that over half of The
Grapevines dishes are gluten free and about half vegan.
I would start with a breakfast of Muesli and fresh fruit
— grapevines own handmade gluten free toasted muesli
served with yogurt and seasonal fruit $9
Mind you I quite like Avocado on toast (either spelt or
gluten free) served with olive oil and lemon wedge $7 and
with vegan pesto for $1.20
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Tanya-C. Hall
this dedicated couple decided that the moment was
ripe to extend their organic grocery business into the
realms of hospitality and joined forces with five star
chef Ashley Jones to convert the recently folded
long-time coffee shop hangout next door
into a sophisticated and vibrant café : ‘The
Grapevine’.
The new addition to Nimbin’s main
street caters for a market disgruntled
by too much compromise; may there
be many more art-slung, funky and
altogether pleasant nooks for us to enjoy
in the wake of a revolution in conscience
and consciousness bearing upon it’s crest
the best aspects of our culture and the
sustainability of our most constant habits.
Local art, music, literature and market produce
finds an outlet in this space as it has great potential for
a variety of events and performances, including film
nights.
Perhaps the growing street culture of Nimbin is
coming of age as the heady beginnings of an alternate
culture follows through with it’s aims?
Lunch would have to be Truffle and
Goats cheese brushcetta (gf), sautéed garlic button
mushrooms, chèvre goats cheese and rocket. Served
on bread and dressed with truffle oil. $11
But then ... gluten free vegetarian lasgana with
layers of roasted pumpkin, spinach, zucchini, rustic
tomato sauce gluten free béchamel sauce, topped
with cheddar and pecorino cheese and herbs $8.50,
optionally served with salad or chips for $5, sounds
scrumptious.
11
Lismore Organic
Market’s fine food stall
S
ue, Russell and
Susie took an
example of
produce to the
Ballina Fine
Food and Wine Festival
the last weekend of May.
Sue bought mountains
of oranges, cartloads of
ginger and a trailer full of
pumpkins (well almost) and
it helped to make the stall
look bountiful to say the
least. We also had a helping
hand from Kym O’Connell,
who lent display stands and
her effervescent nature for
the morning.
Trays of food and Sue’s
hot lemon, honey and ginger
drink were offered to the
public to taste. The hot drink
was an incredible success,
pulling people in from all over the field.
Russell cooked Pumpkin and Macadamia n
and again and again, and still people came bac
We also held a raffle of $50 worth of organi
which was won by Michelle McAuliffe. She w
her box the first market in June.
12
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
nut curry again
ck for more.
ic vegetables,
will be picking up
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
13
Coal Seam Gas
Lock yer Gates!
F
- and your neighbours’ gates too, to coal seam gas corporations
ull of hubris, there’s a parallel universe
intent on overriding any control you have
over your property then extracting the last
dregs of fossil fuel in a myopic attempt to
enrich the excessively affluent. With the
false notion of filling their coffers the governments
assist in sweeping aside environment and people to
facilitate this fossil mining.
Here it’s the gas companies who, were they to get
their pin cushion array of drill rigs and pipelines over
the Clarence Morton (us), would, by their own resource
estimate, extend Australia’s dependence on fossil fuel
by a mere 3 weeks, or since they plan to export the gas,
extend the world’s fossil consumption by 5hr 30min.
From experience so far it’s almost certain that soil,
water and food would be contaminated with toxins, both
from Halliburton’s fracking chemicals and from the
water that is pumped out of the coal seams themselves.
The National Water Commission estimates 1000 years
for aquifers to recover from fracking toxins.
At the coming coal seam gas conference in Brisbane
the Qld government Dept of Environment’s session is
titled “Enforcing land access…” No need for subtleties
in an Orwellian world! A couple of stories from Tara
will explain what this little phrase means.
Kate, a lovely, thoughtful, calm woman who once
lived on her wildlife refuge property at Tara set up the
Brigalo environment tent next to us at the Tara festival.
Some years ago, out of the blue, Kate got a phone call
from British Gas saying there was a team of geologists
coming to her property to see where to put a gas well.
Kate told them she doesn’t make those arrangements by
phone – that they’d have to come and talk to her. Sitting
in her lounge room Kate explained to them that since
her property was a wildlife refuge she was not having a
gas well on it. The BG lot told Kate “it is government
backed and that if she cooperated she could have a say
in where the gas well went otherwise they would put
it where they liked and it could be at her back door.”
Kate rejected that offer too so BG found a neighbour in
need of “rego and beer money” and sunk the gas well
on his place. For 2 years Kate and her son had bleeding
noses and were coughing up blood – said to be from
acid fumes, NOx and SOx in the gas as well as HCl
used in the fracking (to dissolve clay), by friends from
the Hunter who know by experience. As soon as Kate
and her son shifted away from their wildlife refuge their
symptoms disappeared.
Bryce Keating who has brain damage from a
car accident and several other debilitating personal
challenges already had a gas well on his property
at Tara. The locals say BG got him drunk before he
signed the contract. His contract stipulated 20m wide
pipe clearways but as soon as BG started the pipe
gathering lines to Bryce’s well, as well as pipe ways
to 4 more wells on properties further away accessed
through Bryce’s property, they cleared 40m wide
swathes of Brigalow forest. A legal halt was put to this
for renegotiation – it was no small deal, ¼ of Bryce’s
property was to be cleared without any negotiation.
Whilst the legal halt was in place we maintained
a pipe incursion blockade on Bryce’s property day
and night. Lot’s of visitors turned up in the 4 days
that we were blockading. Bill Date (“every one’s best
mate”) came with a cohort from Qld govt’s DEEDI.
classifieds
wanted: Organic certified citrus (all), watermelon
Share your tips
(pref sugar baby), rhubarb (deep crimson / red only),
strawberries, mango, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries, etc ... or any local fruit that’s a good colour and
taste, call to discuss. Fair price paid. Spray free considered for some fruit. 04 0607 5266 John or Benna info@
iceblocks.name
go@tropo.org.au or PO Box 5076 ,
East Lismore NSW 2480
Native bee rescue: If you find a nest of small
black stingless bees on the ground, from say a fallen tree,
I will come and give them a good home. Michael 6689
9291, koonorigan@gmail.com.
We would love to hear about your
labour-saving hints
14
Alan Roberts
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Coal Seam Gas
Bill reports directly to Anna Bligh.
He chatted for an hour or so and
left saying “you’re doing a really
good job, keep it up and I hope
your blockade is successful”. BG
videoed us from their side of the
fence with a shoulder mounted TV
camera and unsuccessfully tried
provocation. At 8am on our 4th
day a bulldozer and British gas
executive operators came right up
against the fence on one side and
the local cops drove up on the other
side. The cops said “The bulldozers
are coming through, BG doesn’t
recognise the legal proceedings,
we’ve been to see Bryce and he
doesn’t want anyone in front of the
bulldozers getting injured.” This
despite Bryce’s lawyer’s stipulation
that all negotiations were to be
via him. Bryce had drink driving
charges pending and claimed on
our video that he felt intimidated.
We also had the High Court ruling
“Entry by Invitation Only” notices
on the fence that BG
people read and ignored.
What’s a few court costs
when the pipeliners
are on a $100m/year
contract? At 1pm on that
4th day the BG letter
writer team turned up
to serve notices that
nobody took. So 30 of
the Qld Terror Squad
cops appeared and
summarily dismantled
our blockade person by
person. In our area we
can easily outnumber
the cops in a blockade
and that is what it is
going to take.
all of it, Brigalow was an extensive
biome, but now after massive
clearing many of its endemic
species are severely threatened.
Tara has some of the largest area of
Brigalow left. By law old growth
and remanent trees are marked for
preservation. BG however pushed
these trees with impunity. We took
many photos of these trees still
marked but flattened and sent them
off to the Qld dept of Environment
with no reply.
BG also sprays the roads with
toxic coal seam and fracking
water as dust suppression. There
is so much of this water that their
evaporation ponds total some 4km2
– lots of potential for wind borne
spray.
The Australian Government’s
National Water Commission’s
“Position Statement on Coal Seam
Gas and Water” is excellent. It’s
worth reading the three pages of it
but here’s a small excerpt:
“Potential risks to sustainable
water management (from CSG).
• Extracting large volumes of
low-quality water will impact
on connected surface and
groundwater systems...
• Impacts on other water users and
the environment may occur due
to the dramatic depressurisation
of the coal seam, including:
- changes in pressures of
adjacent aquifers with
consequential changes in
water availability
- reductions in surface water
flows in connected systems
- land subsidence over large
areas, affecting surface
water systems, ecosystems,
irrigation and grazing lands.
• The production of large volumes
Before Joh Bjelke’s
2 bulldozers with ball
and chain cleared nearly
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
15
of treated waste water, if released to surface water
systems, could alter natural flow patterns and have
significant impacts on water quality, and river and
wetland health.
• The practice of hydraulic fracturing to increase gas
output, has the potential to induce connection and
cross-contamination between aquifers, with impacts
on groundwater quality.
• The reinjection of treated waste water into other
aquifers has the potential to change the beneficial
use characteristics of those aquifers.”
The amount of land cleared for each well head
at Tara is monstrous. Each of the wells we were
blockading had 14.2ha of Brigalow cleared per well
for the “gathering lines” from well to processing plant.
If, as they claim, each well extracts gas from a 1km2
underground that is 14% of the surface cleared to get at
the underneath bit. In BG’s EIS for 200 wells it’s a lot
worse – 33ha per well or 33% of the surface cleared to
get the gas.
Another major reason for locking your gate is the
excessive rate of fugitive methane emissions from the
CSG industry. New estimates of methane leak rates and
the global warming potential of methane put the life
cycle emissions from coal seam gas up to twice that of
life cycle emissions from burning coal. Or if the CSG
is being liquefied for export then burnt the lifecycle
emissions can be as much as 4.5 times that of burning
coal. So lock your gate and do the planet a favour.
You can find out about the Lock the Gate Alliance
from www.lockthegate.org.au You can make your own
“Lock the Gate” sign and High Court notice or you can
get them through the website.
Clearly success in keeping coal seam gas from
ruining agriculture and the planet depends on everyone
locking their gates at the outset. Already the whole 100
farmers in the Felton Valley south of Warwick have
locked their gates, 150 Kingaroy farmers have voted to
do the same and 500 farmers and landholders at Gowrie
Junction to the west of Toowoomba are locking their
gates. Let’s lock all the gates against the coal seam gas
companies in the Northern Rivers.
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16
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Affairs of TROPO
TROPO’s AGM
Saturday, 20 August, 10am start
Stroud-Watts’ farm
T
237 Camerons Road, McLeans Ridges
his year our AGM will
be held at Neville and
Julie Stroud-Watts’ farm.
Before the meeting we
will go on a walk around
their farm, see their passively cooled
cold room, commonly known as a
cellar and admire their array of solar
panels. They grow, among other things,
a wide range of greens for the Lismore
Organic Market.
The AGM will held about midday.
The details will be worked out during
the next month, so please check the
website nearer them time.
Agenda
Apologies
Minutes of 2010 AGM
Business arising
Treasurer’s report
Secretary’s report
President’s report
Election of 2010/11 committee members
Open day at Djanbung Gardens
‘Simple Steps to a Better Tomorrow’ nicely sums up
the Open Day on June 11 at The Permaculture College
Australia, and it’s going to be a whopper! Not only will
the Cert 3, 4 and Diploma students get a chance to show
off their knowledge by hosting workshops, tours, talks,
sustainability displays and lots more, but also there will
be a book launch to follow! ‘Pioneers of Permaculture’
is a compilation story featuring those ground breaking
Permies who got the movement happening, with a
lovely section on Robyn Francis (Owner, Educator and
Permie Extraordinaire of Djanbung Gardens). There
will be some extra special guest speakers during the
day, including some well known Permies from the
USA spreading the word through an innovative project
entitled ‘Surfers Without Boarders’, and the musical
wonders of Kindling, a funky slow soul duo, spin off
from the popular smooth reggae band Kooii.
The theme is ‘Simple Steps to a Better Tomorrow’,
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
and they are inviting you to come and learn some
easy, take-home ideas that you can begin now, to start
creating a better world for yourself and for those you
love. Some of the workshops include, Grow Your
Own Natural Crafts, Make a Worm Farm, Wild Food
Gathering and Recipes, Growing Healthy Communities,
Bamboo Construction, Making Compost Teas, and
heaps more, oh, and tonnes of kids activities! You’ll
be entertained, educated, networked and solution-ized!
Everything is fun and everything is free (except some
delicious snacks at the café, books, take-home goodies,
and if you feel the urge to support their fundraising, of
course!).
Join the Djanbung gang on June 11th from 9.30am3pm, with the Book Launch to follow from 4pm,
78 Cecil Street, Nimbin. For more details www.
permaculture.com.au or call on 6689 1755.
17
News
F
Organic
News Snippets
What’s on the web
or those of you who
care to saunter through
virtual space there has
been a bit happening
that would interest
TROPO members and you can find
out more if you care to drop in on
the TROPO wiserearth site or if you
can stand it, facebook.
Wiserearth have just set up an
Wiserearth Australia page where
you make connections with all the
sustainable, earth friendly groups
and projects going on around this
beautiful continent.
TED is a nonprofit organisation
devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading’,
you can often find short interesting
little talks on utube and I recently
saw one that was just down
TROPOs street. I’m not sure
if you’ve heard of open source
software but basically it allows
software (for example
applications for word
processing, accounts or even
operating systems) to be
worked on by anyone inclined
to do so and then their efforts
are all return to the pool of
general knowledge. This idea
has now spread to hardware.
Marcin Jakubowski,
originator of ‘open source
ecology’, discovered first
hand how much money went
into fixing his tractor, it made
him bankrupt so he decided to
start from scratch and make
his own. The blue prints of
this project are published
online for anyone to make use
of ... I think he boasted of
making a tractor in 6 days for
12,000 USD. And that is not
18
all, it is the first step in his ambition
to write a set of instructions for
building all the equipment needed to
set up a self-sustaining village. The
link is online (wiserearth, facebook
or google it up yourself).
The Environmental Working
Group regularly releases it’s ‘Dirty
Dozen’. These are the twelve
vegetables and fruits to avoid eating
if you can’t get them certified
organic. The data has been drawn
from statistical analysis of testing
conducted by USDA and the FDA.
If you eat 5 items from the dirty
dozen each day, the EWG say
you will consume an average of
10 pesticides a day. Whether the
same if true of Australian fruits and
vegetables I can’t tell you. They also
list a clean 15 which have the lowest
amount of pesticide found on them,
to eat from this group you would
only consume 2 pesticides daily.
Canada
Researchers at Sherbooke
University Hospital in Quebec have
found the Bt toxin produced in GM
insect resistant crops, such as corn
in the blood of women. Destroying
the belief that the Bt-toxin was
destroyed in the human gut.
USA
Research by three separate
US universities, funded by
National Institutes of Health
have found prenatal exposure to
organophosphate insecticides are
causing IQ deficiencies.
Africa
The Danish Institute for
International Studies (DIIS) has
put a halt to fears that organic
agriculture will affect small-holder
farmers in Africa. Results from over
200 farmers showed that yields
increased when organic farming
methods were used, land is used
more efficiently through techniques
such as inter cropping and income
for the farmers increased as well.
Australia
The WA government is doing a
good job of supporting GM wheat
and Monsanto, or is it? It seems the
agriculture minister, Terry Redman
is all for GM and Monsanto,
having just sold 20% of state grain
research company, Intergrain, to
them. On the other hand WAs
premier, Colin Barnett was busy
assuring the Japanese, during a
trip there in March, that no GM
grain would find it’s way into their
noodles. Former organic farmer,
Steve Marsh’s, neighbour has just
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
News
planted a larger area of GM Canola, obviously quite
unconcerned that his crop was instrumental in helping
Steve loose his certification. He has the support of the
PGA (Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western
Australia) who are starting a producers’ defence fund to
help with legal costs associated with his decision.
On a happier note, Kellogg’s is to join a couple of
other food giants and phase out all GM ingredients from
their produce by 2012. Though I’m not sure where
they’ll get their produce from, not WA by the look of it.
UK
The Soil Association has called for a complete ban on
routine use of antibiotics in farming as a new strain of
MRSA (methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has
been found in dairy herds. The bug though safe to drink,
can be deadly if it infects a wound.
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Germany
Germans have been warned against eating raw
lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes to halt the E coli
outbreak in Hamburg that has killed 16 people so far.
They haven’t found out the source of the bacteria but
the fear of out break is spreading to other countries.
Another good reason to eat local vegetables.
Canada
And when it all becomes too much and you need to
relax with an organic beverage, you can now have a
vodka. Tyler Schramm’s vodka won ‘Spirit of the Year’
in 2010, beating 65 international distilleries. He uses
certified organic potatoes and pure water from glacial
streams in the coast mountains of British Columbia. The
result I’m told, ‘is full-bodied ... notes of coffee and
caramel with hints of earthy potato and subtle smoke’.
“It’s the rich, complex character and a subtle aroma that
makes it stand out.”
19
Community
L
Matchmaking service for gardeners
andshare Australia
provides a social
networking service
that introduces people
with spare land to
others wanting to grow vegetables,
but with nowhere to do it, through
its website www.landshareaustralia.
com.au
“Public concern for ‘food miles’,
mounting food prices and a desire to
get back to old fashioned flavour has
generated a dramatic rise in people
wanting to grow their own fruit
and vegetables and with the recent
caused flood events and associated
food shortages, there’s never been a
better time to get started,” said ABC
commentator and co-founder of the
new service, Phil Dudman.
“But as the movement grows,
backyards in Australia are getting
smaller leaving thousands of wouldbe revolutionaries yearning for
a piece of dirt on which to grow.
That’s where Landshare Australia
comes in,” said Phil.
“We are calling for people in the
Northern Rivers to register their
interest in Landshare Australia — as
landowners, gardeners and helpers
- to demonstrate to the rest of
Australia how the concept works,”
he said. “Helpers can offer their
assistance in the field or share their
knowledge online by answering
questions and participating in
the website forums. We are also
looking for people to register as
‘supporters’, those who support the
idea of freeing up more local land
for food production and want to be
kept up to date with the Landshare
movement.”
20
Landshare Australia’s inaugural
supporter is Northern Rivers Food
Links which will help take the
concept to the communities of its
five participating councils.
Two early participants who have
registered their interest are grower
Maria Bramely-O’Connor and
landowner Heron Lee, who both live
near Lismore.
“The usual arrangement is that
the gardener provides the landowner
with a share of their produce so
everyone wins. It’s that easy,” says
Phil.
Maria says “I have recently
moved here from the UK and
am well aware of the success of
Landshare over there. It’s great
to see it happening here in the
Northern Rivers.”
Participants are needed on ‘both
sides of the fence’ – people who
have large backyard, hobby farm or
rural property as well as those who
want to get a vegie garden going or
even just help in gardening projects.
“Landshare Australia is all inclusive.
We are encouraging everyone
to join us in the grow-your-own
revolution; individuals, families,
schools, church groups, businesses
and commercial growers. With
widespread community support and
participation, we will be well on the
way to securing our food future,”
said Phil
The key to its success will be the
website and Landshare Australia is
looking for supporters to help spread
the word and sponsors to help it all
happen.
“We plan to make the Landshare
Australia one of the leading
websites for any Australian gardener
not only providing the matchmaking
service, but allowing them to chat
with other growers, get the very
best growing advice from our veg
doctors and download ‘how to’
guides,” added Phil.
“Our back yard is small and
shady and I’m really keen to find a
space to grow some fresh organic
food for my family.”
Landowner Heron Lee has a
small farm just north of Lismore.
“One of my goals is to share
it with others by making space
available for people to grow food
for their families and possibly small
scale cropping. I think Landshare
Australia is an exciting project with
great potential and I am very much
looking forward to being involved,”
said Heron.
Landshare Australia is based
upon the hugely successful
Landshare UK website launched
last year by celebrity chef and
ethical food warrior Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall (River Cottage). The
UK site has been hugely successful
with over 56,000 growers,
landowners and helpers registered to
date and still growing. The UK team
are also advising the Landshare
Australia team.
“We want people of the Northern
Rivers to join in with enthusiasm
and show the rest of Australia how
they can share!”
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
earth friendly fare
Pumpkin and Macadamia
Nut Curry
Russell Scott
Ingredients
2 tbs macadamia oil
750g chopped pumpkin
50g roasted macadamia nuts
150 mls water
50g roasted macadamia
butter
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
fresh or dried chilli to taste
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric or 2 tbs
grated fresh turmeric
1/2 tsp sugar
Blend the maca butter and water into a paste. Chop the nuts
and leave to the side.
Heat 2 tbs of oil and add mustard seeds, when they pop add
the chopped chilli and curry leaf, pumpkin, sugar and salt and
stirfry for 5 minutes on a medium heat.
Add tumeric and continue to stirfry ’til it starts to brown
(about 5 mins), then add macadamia nut butter/water paste and
continue cooking ’til the pumpkin is ready but not too soft,
adding more water if necessary, but keep it fairly dry. Toss in
the macadamia nut pieces and serve hot or cold.
All Welcome
All TROPO members are invited
to attend committee meetings
which are now held on the second
Tuesday of each month after the
LOM.
All members of the public interested or
involved in organic gardening, farming and
food — and willing to be immediately forced
into slavery — are welcome to become
TROPO members (see membership form,
page 23).
Seriously, even if you are not a member
but are just interested in finding out more
about organics on the North Coast—
or want to help see it spread — call a
committee member.
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
21
What to plant
the home gardener
H
June to August
In my garden
Broad beans, beans, beetroot,
all cabbage family, all onion
family, peas, tomatoes and
potatoes (frost-free) beets,
asparagus and rhubarb crowns,
lettuce, carrots, parsnips, parsley.
Dave Forrest
ello out there – hope
you are getting along
swimmingly! Take
heart, the Bureau of
Met. data shows a
swing back towards average weather
for this Spring. So prepare for
drought and flood now (old Roby
saying)!
Raised beds, well structured soil,
managing surface water all have
given results, but there have been
plants under pressure from water
in the soil. Everyone’s had some
trouble with lettuce this year, but
‘baby anything’ greens will fill in
temporarily. Early Brocolli planting
(Feb 1st) started harvest before
the end of April, good gear to get
into the diet. It, like most in the
drizzle, appreciated Silicon 1:100
and Trichoderma 0.5:100 with fish
hydrolysate 1:100 on the leaves to
hold fungal growth. Potato planting
is late this year as soil conditions
haven’t favoured their requirements
yet. A small crop (yielding 20kg)
just to keep food supply up is OK
as they usually yield something.
Plant up ’til August if frost free.
Cherry tomatoes handle the wet
better than their bigger relos, but
appreciate getting up off the ground
and some sun for winter yield when
planted in April. Shallots, all the
Choys, Mustard, Rocket, Kale and
Basil have been speed growers this
Autumn and the beans surprise us
by keeping on flowering and picking
well. Bananas are very consistent
year round but a few blow overs
need to be disced to keep weevil
culturally controlled. The Navelina
Oranges were late to colour up with
the overcast weather but are healthy
eating in cool, damp weather. Four
consecutive cultivars of oranges and
mandarins will pick from Autumn
to Spring regularly supplying the
most biologically available Vit C
supplement known.
Protect-A-Fruit
Fruit Fly Exclusion Bags
Fruit flies are a common problem around most Australian gardens.
With the help of our reusable exclusion bags you can protect your fruit from
these pests without using any harmful chemicals.
Bag:
300 x 350 - Small - $2
600 x 500 - Large - $3
Sleeve:
600 x 300 - Small - $2
900 x 350 - Large - $3
(Reduced prices on orders of 10 or more)
Bigger orders better prices
*Commercial organic growers wanted for trial*
Contact David on: 0240327158 or 0419594697
chloerachelma@hotmail.com
22
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Get into organics — join TROPO now
TROPO Membership Form
To join the Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’
Organisation (ABN: 43 805 045 275), fill out the
following form and send cheque or money order for
$28 to: TROPO, PO Box 5076, East Lismore, NSW
2480. Please make cheques and money orders payable
to ‘TROPO’.
Name
Town
Fax
Interests
Organic certification type
Total Land area (ha)
Producing now (ha)
To be developed (ha)
Would you like to be included in a list of members
available to other members? YES/NO
Address
Phone (wk)
Occupation
Postcode
Phone (hm)
Email
Going Organic #84, June-August 2011
Can you help in TROPO organisational activities?
YES/NO
Skills to share
Information/experience wanted
Signature
Date
23
Special Interests
Alternative Technology — Paul Jessop 6621 2465
Avocados — David Roby 6628 1084
robyalst@nrg.com.au
Bananas — Tony Lattanzi 6676 4264
Citrus — Phil Buck 6677 1421
Coffee — Rod Bruin 6679 2012
Food Nutrition — Tony Stillone 6621 8007
Macadamias/Custard Apples — Dave Forrest 6688 4346
organicforrest@hotmail.com
Permaculture/Small Crops/Sheep — Hogan Gleeson
6689 9217
Poultry — Rita Oort 6688 8307
Organic Foods — Russell Scott 6689 1668
Climate Change Action Network — Alan Roberts
6663 5224 alan_roberts@ozemail.com.au
Going Organic
Maureen Pedersen 6636 4307 roseberrygardens@yahoo.com
Dave Forrest 6688 4346 (ah) organicforrest@hotmail.com
Dave Roby 6628 1084 robyalst@nrg.com.au
Steve McAlpin mcalpin@dodo.com.au
Alan Dow possibly@exemail.com.au
Alan Roberts 6663 5224 alan_roberts@ozemail.com.au
Carol Boomsma
Registered by Australia Post Print Post No.
PP225824/4031
TROPO Committee 2011-12
TROPO ABN 43 805 045 275
Those listed below generally give a lot of time to TROPO
and make their phone numbers available for contact by
members and other interested in organics. Please remember
all have ongoing commitments to their families, farms or jobs
so phone between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm.
If unclaimed please return to
Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation
PO Box 5076, East Lismore, NSW 2480
Get in touch with TROPO
Going Organic Magazine
Editor — Susie Godden 6689 9338
go@tropo.org.au
Advertising — 6689 9338
advertising@goingorganic.organicproducers.org.au
Contributions welcome
www.TROPO.org.au
Spring ’11 Contributions due: August 9, 2011
24
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Australia
Copyright 2011 TROPO and individual authors. Material in Going
Organic may not be reproduced without permission. Please consult
the editor.
Opinions expressed by contributors to Going Organic are not
necessarily those of the editor or of other TROPO committee
members.
Every effort is made to publish accurate information and
stimulating opinion, but neither TROPO nor the editor accepts
responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed or implied
on these pages.
Such statements or opinions should not be taken as professional
advice.
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