LFHW Partnership month

Grow It Local is a new community initiative to encourage more people to grow, share and eat locally grown foods and is a proud partner of Love Food Hate Waste. When we grow our own food, we change our relationship to waste in a number of ways. 

• Dig it, grow it, love it! When we grow something ourselves, we experience the whole journey from seed to ready-to-eat produce. This connection to the source of our food is really important, but rare in today’s world.
• Growers take a root to leaf approach. They appreciate the whole vegetable and know the tricks to using the stem and leaves in their cooking – beetroot leaves for a salad, cauliflower leaf chips, or broc stalks straight into a stir fry.
• Use it up. Peelings and ends can be stored to create stock or better yet left on. Most home gardens are organic and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of skin. You didn’t spend those long hours in the garden for nothing! 
• Seasonal gluts are turned into pickles and preserves. Home growers are usually skilled in the home-made department too! 
• Home growers eat the ugly veg. On the farm it may be discarded, but at home no-ones throwing away that disformed carrot. It’s celebrated instead. Enter the #growitlocalawards with your ‘wonkiest vegetable’ entry judged by Paul West. 
• When planned and managed well, the garden can act as the perfect storage, allowing you to pick fresh food on demand.
• Growers think re-use is rad. Rather than disposing of the ends, certain vegetables will re-grow just from their ends and stems. Like to know more; Sign up for this free, digital session
• And for anything inedible, there’s always the compost. Creating black gold for our soil from food scraps and continuing the circular economy to more delicious produce.

Underscoring it all, we become citizens of our food, rather than consumers. By digging in and getting our hands dirty, we become active in the food system, caretakers of our produce and food lovers ready to fight to reduce food waste.  

Think your place is too small for gardening? Grow It Local is all about celebrating all types of growers and a window-sill or balcony is perfect for herbs. A few small pots of herbs give you 24 hour access to pick what you need and avoids mint browning in your fridge by the end of the week. 

Grow It Local Spring Festival 

This Spring, Grow It Local is hosting a digital festival bringing together food lovers and growers from around the country. The programming has been curated by River Cottage Australia’s Paul West and features free, live, weekly digital sessions that are designed to educate and inspire both experienced and aspiring growers alike. 

There is a session every weekend until the end of November including ‘how to grow giant vegetables at home’ with Kevin Fortey live from the UK. Kevin has consulted to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Snoop Dog. We’ve a session on ‘how to grow’ from food waste with the forever awesome Peg Davies, a backyard lobster pasta session w/ Mark Labrooy from Three Blue Ducks, a super special mystery guest session on Oct 14 (yes, get excited!) and an exclusive live jam making session with the Country Women’s Association.

Become a Grow It Local member and sign up for the sessions at growitlocal.com

The host on Saturday October 10th is Peg Davies – presenting “Growing From Food Scraps.” Rather than throwing those scraps into the bin, Peg will talk us through how to use the ends to establish new plants and re-grow them into delicious veg. Peg is a long-time waste educator and an expert in using the garden to minimise her waste.

Read our Q&A with Peg here

Sign up for Peg’s session below

With thanks,

Darryl Nichols

Co Founder Grow it Local