Hi Leanne here. This week I got to escape the paperwork and spend a day in the Community Shed with the Thursday Women in the Shed group. How fun!

It was just their second class and they were finishing off their first project, a gorgeous cherrywood chopping board. To make these they’ve used a variety of handsaws along with jigsaws for cutting, and planers, rasps and files for shaping. Then they’ve practised hand sanding, explored the orbital sander and the mouse sander, and also checked out all the grades of sandpaper.

This week in the morning we looked at finishes - beeswax was our go-to as a food safe option, but we also talked about estapol and danish/other oil, and had a practical intro to shellac and French polishing.

In the afternoon we briefly used the drop saw and looked at screws and nails, practised countersinking both, had a crack with the electric drill and all the bits … and started to think about putty for filling etc.

The women also started to think about and plan for the next project they will be self-selecting.

ACC is pretty pleased to let you know that this program that has been so popular has just been announced as a State finalist for the Fiona Richardson Gender Equity Award 2021, by our peak body NHVic. We’re proud to have pioneered it. Lots of other houses are running similar programs now - and we’re sharing our model and hoping that heaps of women can build skills and confidence - and local friendships - from participating in the locally adapted versions of this course that are popping up in metro and rural areas all across Victoria!

Nails and screws … and why you’d take the time to countersink

Shellac … and the bits and bobs

Find out more about all the amazing and cool things that have recently been incubated in neighbourhood houses here!

Hi friends, did you know that we have a mini op shop here at ACC?

It is in the shelves inside the doorway if you enter from the front garden, and it is open any time we are. There’s a payment jar there. And if you don’t have cash you can pay by EFTPOS at the office.

As a guide everything is typically $1-$2 however it works on an honesty system - pay what you think it is worth.

We have lots of lovely things in the op shop at the minute, including some good books and quality clothes. You should take a look next time you are passing by!

Our little houses are jam packed with plants and seeds and books. Make the most of the glorious autumnal days with a neighbourhood walk - and pop past ACC to enjoy some community sharing and caring! ❤️

A few* years ago when Becca was still around we had Maria from My Green Garden come along to run an olive preserving workshop here at ACC. And at the end of the workshop we were instructed to put our brined produce in a dark place to do their magic.

Fast forward to today and at our home we are just about to renovate. And so the ‘dark place’ (in our case that being the bottom shelf of the pantry) was emptied. And the olives emerged.

I have to say they don’t look that fancy on the outside. But oh boy, they taste amazing.

I am convinced and now 150% on board with home olive preserving - if you’ve got the space to put them away for a year or two (or five!).

The method we used that I liked the most was a simple 10% salt brine solution, with a sheet of baking paper under the lid and a dash of olive oil on top of the water. One jar I opened also had a scrunched ball of paper inside to keep the olives under the water level. I know we tried a few methods in the workshop and I think Maria may have presoaked some of the olives for 4-10 days beforehand (my jars had notes on the lids reminding me of the pickling process). Others went straight in (note they just take longer to taste good).

I know I’ve been a bit vague with the details … but it was a while ago now … so here is a similar recipe to what I remember and here is another simple recipe from Mount Zero Olives that you might also like to try … their olives are delicious right? This recipe includes some vinegar and a two step process. But still seems doable.

Did you do that workshop too? It’d be great to hear what you thought (and if your olives were as yummy as mine).

*that’d be 2016!

A lovely photo of Anne starting the process of planting up our new garden bed from last week. We’ve got a dwarf lime for the centre of this bed, and then we’re filling it up around the edges with herbs - parsley, sage and oregano. Under the lime we’ll put some shallow root flowers to add a bit of colourful cheer like nasturtiums and alyssum.

The back two beds will have a clump or two of permanent plants like heritage rhubarb (this donation from our friend Mark has struggled along out on the front nature strip) and pineapple sage (ideal for neighbourhood cocktails hey friends …) and then some leafy greens and other crops that we’ll rotate through seasonally - for cooking and salads etc.

Fun hey? We’re also in the process of putting in a little seed raising greenhouse and potting station.

So if you are interested and would like to do something community minded and outdoorsy on a Friday morning - you might like to join us in the garden. Come along from 10am. We’ll reward your hard work with morning tea at 11.30am!

Note this week we’ll be planting out these beds AND spreading tan bark. So all muscled-wheel-barrow-friendly-folk are particularly welcome!