Author Archives: sister Rasela

Up The Garden Path … audio tour of Mullumbimby Community Gardens of Eden

We are all one ...

Talofa, Sister Rasela swaying into the studios this morning after a weekend of delightfully delicious daydreaming, deep in the natural beauty of the Shire.

Since Friday, i have awoken in the rainforests of Mullumbimby in a mudbrick castle, picked breakfast and dinner from the surrounding scenery, wandered to the tops of heighty hills, danced in the depths of Wilson’s Creek, rose with the sun from the back of a car, played on the hillsides of a Mooball orchard and am now here to present to you an hour in the Community Gardens of Eden … oh, i mean Mullumbimby.

This week we’re going for a leisurely stroll around the Mullumbimby Community Gardens with the organiser of this weekends LIVING FOOD and LIVING SOIL FESTIVAL Sainttina De Moleay.

Sainttina,the festival coordinator has been involved in creating festivals since she was 17 years old, her area of expertise is templating community workshop programs that flower into large festival events.

She was instrumental in starting up Katoomba Winter Magic Festival, South Sydney’s arts workshop festival program, The Byron Millennium Celebration and she was subsequently invited by the Sydney Olympic Games to work at the heart of the media/ dignitary/ athlete matrix known as the Medal Ceremonies, as a ceremony manager. More recently she has worked extensively with children, creating play opportunities and studying the role of play in our formative lives.

The Living Food Living Soil Festival is a visionary yet entirely practical event. To put living soil firmly in the public consciousness is to bring people literally down to earth. This area is rich with talent and authoritative voices, and the line up for the day was directed by public opinion, and the simple request ‘Who do you want to hear from”. The answer: Dave Forrest, Ellen White, Silas Long, Barrie Phee, all bringing insight, practicality and compelling public speakingto the event.

In addition as access to brilliant knowledge, the festival has been structured to be accessible to children. To create focus and interactivity that will engage, inspire and awaken through a variety of activities. Hands on, inclusive, educational and it is also serious fun with an entertainment line up including Murray Kyle, Rebecca Ireland, Gabby Bliss, The Curly Cousins, Suzy Leigh, and a tie in with Dirt Girl’s creator Cate McQuillen who has been generous with her donation of prizes.

In addition to all this will be opportunities to learn about bee keeping; how to use a scythe; reusing your burn pile clippings to make a garden bed; planting a fruit forest, or pond bed; and maximising your soil’s effectiveness in so many ways.

The Garden, which is sited at the South end of Stuart Street in Mullumbimby may be hosting the festival, but it is also an opportunity to seed ongoing projects, and water and nurture them with community participation, so it will be the opportunity to get involved with a project that will bring you richness and life.

See you there Saturday October 27^th10am-4pm

Sainttina

When we spoke about getting together to chat about this years festival, we both thought … what better place to meet than in the gardens themselves, which is the site for the food and soil festival. I have to admit, I haven’t been to the gardens for about two years and I’ve never actually walked all the way around until now. I think it has to be one of my new favourite places in the whole of the Shire and that’s a big call seeing as there is so much natural beauty in this area … but edible natural beauty ??? mmmm that’s what we like here on belly !!

So for the next hour or so I’m going to take you on a gently guided audio tour (if you’ll be so kind as to let me) right into the heart of the gardens themselves. We’ll start not far from the front gate and work our way around clockwise, remembering that we are on island time. You need to slow down sometimes in life and take in all of what the gardens have to offer us which, as well as an abundance of food, life and vibrant edible colours, also harnesses a deeply peaceful and gentle energy that at times we both get lost in. I don’t even wear my sunglasses because i don’t want to dull any of the colours in this masterpiece i am walking through.

I invite you to stop what you are doing for the next hour and join Sainttina and myself on our Mullumbimby Communty Garden tour. Whatever you do don’t forget your sunhat cause the sun is shining and the weather is sweet … make you wanna move … your dancing feet.

The fingerlicking guitar picking music in the background is from Tommee and it’s taken from his “In Love With Every Melody” album which contains three incredibly beautiful pieces –

To Live … To Love … To Be Loved …

… each about 20 minutes long. I have chosen “To be Loved” for the first two parts of the wander up the garden path and “To Love” for the last two parts … so ….. are you ready to join us for a relaxing informative stroll around the Mullum Community Gardens ?? Bring your belly, close your eyes, open your imagination and lets get lost in ……..

Mullumbimby’s Community Garden of Eden Tour … Part One – http://soundcloud.com/chopsuey-roaming-radio/track-title

I strongly suggest you hit that link above if you haven’t yet. When i played this interview live on air, i sat in the studio with my eyes closed and was transported to another world. A live world of natural beauty that acknowledges the living soil around us as a community in itself. The plants and foods that grow to nourish us and enter our bodies as energy, are joined as a part of that earthly community, as we too may be if we chose to eat the foods that are grown around us. It enables the true sense of the words that bring us into the exact present moment .. here and now.

THE CLOSER – THE BETTER !!

The guitar playing in the background really moved me. It was as though Tommee was walking around beside us and some of you lovely listeners called up to ask about him. Tommee is an Indonesian, wild long haired, guitar. I say he is the guitar because it’s such a part of him i cannot differentiate. Each piece playing in the background is Tommee delicately picking and plucking, as though choosing the most beautifully ripe and luscious vegetables, fruits and flowers from the gardens with his chords and notes. I really loved making this piece, more than any of the other pieces i have ever put together. Food For All … what a beautiful sign. The openess and offerings of the gardens soon embrace you in a lovable, edible hug.

Are you ready to go further in with myself, Sainttina and Tommee … make sure you’re not getting burnt, it’s a bright bright sunshiney day !!

Garden Tour … Part Two – http://soundcloud.com/chopsuey-roaming-radio/up-the-garden-path-part-two

Joe Crow is the envy of all other Scarecrow’s ’cause word got out that he lives in THE BEST community garden in the world. He protects and watches over the gardens for the whole community, long after they have all visited and picked their food, tended their gardens, stayed, played and delayed what they were meant to be doing so that they might catch a sunset here or an early evening meal there . A Scarecrow never deserts his post, he is loyal and dedicated and alot better dressed than any other Scarecrow i’ve ever seen ! Oh, and he also asked me to remind you to LEAVE YOUR PETS AT HOME this Saturday.

As we near the twelve oclock area of the clockwise walkie talkie, we come to the end of the ‘free for all’ gardens and hover near the entrance to the ‘private allotments’. I see a huge robust line of kale smiling under the suns warmth and my mouth gives a little water at the thought of how good they would be steaming on a plate in front of me.

We head off down towards the seed saving section (try saying that with a lisp) but we stop and smell the lavender along the way. There are so many moments in this garden where i just stop and smile at the perfectness of my surroundings. I found it very moving. The first time you experience something of such great natural beauty, it usually is.

Lets now meander further along the garden path and head right through the heart of it all on our …

… Garden Tour … Part Three – http://soundcloud.com/chopsuey-roaming-radio/up-the-garden-path-part-three

The community gardens are always looking for volunteers not just for the festival but constantly for the gardens themselves. Personally i find volunteer work some of the most rewarding in the world. You are simply there because you want to be. The rewards you reep in this particular capacity are a day in nature, in peaceful tranquility, heavenly and the best bit about it is that you get to pick a bit of heaven to take home with you for your efforts … or might i say effortlessness. Tis a great honour to work for others and provide nutrient dense, living, fresh and local as local gets, FOOD.

There’s a great amount of childrens energy here in the gardens. It’s as though there should be a home built right here as the sight of childrens clothing and shoes lay scattered amongst their play structures and slides. All we’re missing is an old rope washing line with cloth nappies floating in the fresh breeze to dry as they used to.

My eyes meet so many colours both in nature and from the arts based groups that provide the gardens with signage and direction for those that are new to its pathways. Happy, bright, positive signs is another thing you could volunteer to make if you are not much of a gardener. Or you could take a wheel barrow and gather dung from near by paddocks to be used as fertiliser. Volunteering brings such diverse opportunities and allows you to follow what your heart loves the most.

I think it’s time to wrap up the tour although i certainly don’t feel like leaving. As Sainttina heads back to appointments and organisational needs, i stay and sit as still as possible in the shaded hut that serves as a meeting place or work space and wonder just how i am going to put this experience to air and into words. I truly hope that you have managed to experience a touch of what magic i did in the gardens today. Here’s the last part of our …

Garden Tour … Part Four – http://soundcloud.com/chopsuey-roaming-radio/up-thegarden-path-part-four

The Living Food and Living Soil Festival is being held in the gardens SATURDAY 27th October from 10.30 til about 4pm. If you would like to volunteer or have an idea you think might work at the festival or for all other enquiries you can contact Sainttina directly on – 0402 170 846.

As well as Tommee’s “In Love With Every Melody” Album i also played 2 tracks from the Kooii album – “Call Out”. I chose tracks four and five because they had the most reggae influence and considering i am about to step onto the Island of Stradbroke for a long weekend of Island Vibrations and music from them along with many other roots artists … i thought it quite appropriate.

Happy happiness, lots of love and i’ll be back next season with our everexpanding waistline of gorgeous bellysisters !!

Sister Rasela xo

I hope you learn something new each day xo

Roaming Rasela – Audio from The Outback

Here’s the link to the audio version of what is written below – http://soundcloud.com/chopsuey-roaming-radio/roaming-rasela

Pop the kettle on and turn the volume up for a seven minute nibble on the ear of the Outback. The track in the background is Jamaican Mule by Oka and can be found on their latest album Milk and Honey – http://okamusic.bandcamp.com/music

Talofa … sister Rasela the wandering bellysister here, checking in from about 2,000 km’s away at the moment, in the Outback of Mt Isa, currently en route into the very centre of this humongous country, to discover some of the magic it holds. I thought it was about time i ventured away from the golden frills of the East coast, that’s been my version of Australia up until now, and started to head as far into the centre of this giant island as possible … that’s right … I’m heading for its belly button.

To say my journey began at a specific time or place would be misleading, I feel as though I’ve been travelling my whole life to get to this point. I’m awake AND alive within my personal dream to travel on endless roads, laid out ahead, with minimal definition as to where the side of the road ends, and the flat, vastness of the land around me begins. Out here, the dusty crust of the earth, appears to melt into the cracked surfaces on the land, creating a sunbaked haze that rises much like the blur above bonfire flames. It’s as though nothing lives out here, or even could, but it does and it did.

There’s a rather alarming amount of roadkill between Townsville and Mt Isa, heartbreakingly left in all manner of conditions. Some of it’s still fresh and being eaten by other wildlife as we pass, others remains, frozen, like fossils, their skeletons depicting the shape of the animal they once were.
I guess it’s an accepted part of driving on a desert road, I mean, I wouldn’t be here without such a road, and accidents happen I know, some pretty serious, but I just can’t help but feel more for these creatures out here, killed in their own home, than I do for a dented or damaged vehicle. Maybe it’s the vegetarian in me !!

Speaking of vegetarianism …. It’s like a foreign language in Queensland’s outback. I daren’t ask for a polenta bake or quinoa patty or a fresh organic salad with an apple cider vinegar and virgin olive oil dressing in any of the roadhouses along the way. There’d be no point anyway. There’s a part of me that wants to stand in the middle of the fried food roadhouse and scream out for my right to eat healthy, wholesome food … but I know my efforts would be either entirely futile or totally misunderstood. I might be taken for some looney that has gone bonkers through lack of meat … YES !!, THAT’S IT !!, the poooor girl hasn’t eaten meat for over thirty years … this was bound to happen. Take her away before this healthy disease spreads like a bed of basil and others out here start talking in that crazed vegetarian language … hmmmm … Lucky I packed my own lunch for the drive in.

I popped into the local shops in the small towns whenever we had a food break, just to look around you know, and see what kind of selection is on offer. I found alfalfa sprouts in one and some rice cakes in another, but my love of wholefoods prevents me from getting excited about too much else I’m afraid. I grabbed some bananas and a couple of not so shrivelled mandarins but it soon becomes clear to me that the further you come in, the older and more decrepit the fruit and veg gets in the small shops. Who knows where it’s come from or even when it got here. When a few of the locals appear to be struggling to exist in these trying conditions, I wonder what chance a fruit tree or vege patch might have. This is barren land, where some day’s the only thing that ever changes, is the actual name of the day !!

Some of the small towns we pass through are no more than a concrete strip of road, framed by some old wooden shop fronts, a pub, and the bus stop. They’re reminiscent of unvisited gravestones, left with no other option but to slowly deteriorate in the sweltering heat, that at this time of the year, has nowhere near reached its full and blistering potential.

People out here mention that their seasons are, interestingly, quite reversed. The winter months are still hot in the low to mid twenties so it doesn’t prevent people from enjoying all the outdoor activities that we do during our coastal summer. The evenings are cold enough to snuggle under a duvet and still fancy hot meals, soups and warm drinks. When the summer arrives though, it’s a different story. Too hot to even breath at times, in temperatures soaring well above forty, it’s a time to hibernate in
the airconditioning of either a car, workplace or at home and drink plenty of everything, with plenty of ice.

Food is a big issue out here if you want to eat organically and you don’t have your own garden. As a traveller, I don’t have time to start up a garden every place I land, so for the first time in many years, I am buying my veges and ingredients from ……. wait for it …… a supermarket. I have to admit that I am pleased to know that one in particular has a great organic isle where I can still get some of my favourite unpronounceable ingredients to whip up a meal. The choices are really limited though, and on certain days of the week there’s hardly anything left to choose from. The majority of people here, do their grocery shopping on a Saturday morning, and the traffic down those isles, is horrendous. The atmosphere is one of near desperation, with people bumping trolleys and politely fighting for the produce that has just arrived in trucks
from far far-away land. I kind of wander through, observing behaviour and clocking what people load into their baskets and trolleys … it’s not a pretty sight most of the time, let me tell you.

On a fresh note though, I came across facebook group here, called Mt Isa Fruit and Vege Swap, which is basically a group of people who either grow their own food or have fruit trees growing in their gardens. They post what they have an excess of, online, and leave an address so that you can pop over and grab what you need … for free. How many times have you walked past someones garden and wanted to jump the fence and hoe into a tree, laden with lemons or oranges, grapefruits or even mulberries ? People also swap gardening tips and herbs, an excess of basil perhaps ? A garden full of mint ? or even fruit that’s too high for the owner to pick … BYO ladder !! Fantastic community project. Byron needs one too I reckon !!

Mt Isa itself has a small fortnightly market. If you like homemade cakes made by little old ladies, fudge, handmade chocolates, and all manner of sweet treats you’re sorted, but there’s also glass jewellery, beads, doileys, knitted this and crochet that, and children’s clothes and toys. Frying away, right in the doorway to these inside stalls is the habitual sausage sizzle, the smell alone is enough to make me want to puke but I persevere with my near retching motions and make my way outside to, my now favourite stallholder …. the paw paw and honey man. Laid out on his table beneath the shade cloth, is a small but impressive array of fruits and produce from his garden, tangelos, paw paw, lemons and a variety of herbs. Even though he’s quick to verbalise the organic nature of his goods, I can’t help but question it just quietly, when not that far away – in fact right smack bang in the centre of this mining town – three chimney stacks pelt out some ungodly substance into the environment. Surely this must settle, in varying degrees, on and around the town and into the surrounding soil. I think what he really means is that he doesn’t use pesticides … either way his paw paws are superb … not quite as good as the ones in Samoa, but close … kind of …

There’s a part of me that didn’t want to eat anything when I first arrived here, I didn’t even want to breath in the air or swim in the pool for fear of being contaminated by the mining debris that the people here make endless excuses for. It’s a little too close for comfort for me and it’s times like this that I accept my circumstances, even if I don’t agree with them, and realise that there are many ways to live in this world, many choices to be made along the way, and my choice, at the moment, is to experience something out of the bubble I have been enclosed in for the past three and a half years in Byron Bay. In order to know that I have made the right choices, I’m choosing to put myself in different situations, where I have to find an alternative way to survive. I need to eat, so I have to find the best way to do that, against unusual odds at times. It’s a great instinct to develop, and it’s also refreshing to step out of a bubble and be reminded of how other people live, in order to really know that I’ve made the righ choices for ME … In MY life … and for MY body. What you chose to do with ours is entirely 100% up to YOU.

I’m outta here in a few days time anyway, leaving behind the smoking stacks, and following the road further inland on my quest to reach Alice Springs and Uluru. From there I’ll send word of fruitful discoveries and hopefully some organic love if I find some.

Meanwhile, if you’re in your vege patch this week, say hello to the herbs and the veges for me won’t you ? Giggle with the ginger, be grateful for the green beans, caress a carrot or two, stroke the silverbeet and spinach, kiss the cauliflower and be thankful for the feast that is available to you in that rich and fragrant soil of the Shire. While you’re at it … give that ocean a good long stare for me, drink in all of it’s hydrating happiness and whisper to it … that I’ll be back soon. Lots of love xoxo

Wild Food Feast

Talofa Lave … SISTER RASELA here to warm the cockles of your belly with yummy stories of food and fantastic-ness that seem to be abundant in this incredible area we are blessed to live in.

Last night was no exception in the ‘wandering happily around Byron looking for dinner’ game. I’d worked up quite an appetite having played some records beneath the giant fig tree in the garden of the Buddha Bar with 3 other BayFM DJ’s. SUNSET SESSIONS rolls from 4 til 10pm. Great little groove on a Sunday to keep you warm.

With belly stirring I headed for the Cardoman Pod vegetarian cafe at the end of the boardwalk arcade on Lawson Street. I love it there. Here’s another reason why – I came away with a heavily discounted meal. Heavy as in free !! Gotta love Byron for the wonderful sharing nature of the place and people.

As i drifted back across the road, I became pleasantly mesmerised by a young man with golden ringlets, standing on the street in front of my car strumming his acoustic guitar and singing his dusky little soul out. I stopped and listened to the rest of his set while I sat on the bonnet of my car, beneath the stars and ate my free dinner.

When he finished and after i had clapped at the end of each of his songs, I bought his CD in a show of support and admiration and asked him if he wanted to come sing live on this mornings show … unfortunately he couldn’t. I assured him that i would be playing his music on the show. The beautiful thing about this story is that i discovered only this morning, that he’s playing at WILD FOOD FEAST … which is what my two guests today are organising and here to talk about. He is KIT BRAY. Love him.

Tasty radio is what we aim to bring you every week here on belly and this week was no exception as we welcomed into the studio two estatically ethereal, honorary belly sisters who have a lotta WILD somethin’s going on.

Lealah Shostak represented the Byron Nature Conciousness today. Perhaps something to do with growing up amongst the billion shades of dense, rolling green-ness up there in the back hills of Main Arm on Grandaddy’s land, eating food straight out of the lush, juicey garden … and Grandad still lives there by the way. It’s clearly obvious that this young lady is an angelic gift to the world, radiating such purity and honesty in her gentle quest to live respectfully and peacefully with our Earth and rubbing a bit of sparkle off on each of us lucky people who come in contact with her. Go Lealah !!

Sofi Asha on the otherfoot, comes from an urban sanctuary in shining Sydney. Refined, graceful and armed with a wicked recipe on how to turn a milk crate into a funky little garden, the other half of the initial collaboration for WILD FOOD FEAST has also just finished studying Permaculture and thought … ‘Hey, why not start a community garden – the FIRST i might add – in Byron’. I don’t think that a think lasts long in this young lady’s head before it’s an action. Go Sofi !!

You know Mitre 10 on the bend of Johnson Street up there heading South out of town ? There’s a carpark just before it that leads to and runs along beside the sadly neglected and disused railway line. From what i can gather, the new community garden must be there. Just head there, i have a feeling you won’t miss it … or want to.

This is also the ‘venue’ for their “WILD FOOD FEAST”.

Commencing at MIDDAY it’ll sail through til 5PM on SUNDAY 15TH JULY.

Music to feed your soul will be heard from –

KINDLING (three pieces of Kooii)

KIT BRAY (The Time He Waits is the EP of his i bought last night)

LIFE LINE (Winners of Bulesfest Youth competition)

POTATO POTATO (also headlined in youth competition at Bluesfest)

There will be WILD workshops with Peter Hardwick who’s going to be taking strolls with anyone who wants to go with him, around the urban streets of Byron hunting for WILD food. Teaching us that there is an abundance of natural FOOD around us at all times …. we just don’t know it ! Take a tiki tour of the WILD kind and FEAST on nature with Peter.

All proceeds will go towards buying new solar panels for the community space of the Mullum Civic Hall a current project of the Byron Nature Conciousness (the local youth run non-profit environmental group).

The Byron Youth Nature Conciousness and the Byron Movement are holding the community event and the afternoon is going to be packed with so much deliciousness. Enter the raffles with wicked prizes, guzzle some chai to help you chat faster so that you can fit in all the amazing conversations you are going to have if you go. There’s going to be all these great local musicians, WILD food tastings, friends and family … sounds super yummy on a Sunday !!!

This project has also been given a small change grant from the Byron Shire Council. Thank you !!

To find out more about this event so you can get yo sexy ass down there go to their facebook event page WILD FOOD FEAST or just go !!!

dO It Do iT

xxr

M i l k i n g i t

Talofa and Good milky Monday morning to you. Sister Rasela here with you this morning, buckled in for another exciting episode in the belly kitchen where each week from 11 til midday we take you on a culinary adventure and discuss all kinds of topics related to food. Sometimes we roam far and wide for our stories and as we speak I’m sure Sister Tes is brewing something up for next weeks show but mostly we like to keep them local and relevant. Yesterday I grazed around the pastural streets of Byron and had lunch in an incredibly conscious café where they have a whole wall dedicated to sharing information about many of the things that we as consumers might take
for granted. One of those things might be MILK. Mothers, powdered, animal, carton, fresh from the udder, however you got it in those first days of your life, we all got it. How many of us still need it ? I wanted to find out.

Excited much !!

Where better to stand but outside one of our local supermarkets. Lots of people rush in to grab a pint or two (next best thing to the pub some say) and i thank you all for paying attention to this BayFM busker. It was me gently nudging a microphone in the happy faces of you shoppers and passers by, trying to get you to part with your voice as well as your thoughts and opinions so that i could get an idea of not only the diversity of you lovely people in the Shire on this particular day, but also the variations of your favorite white stuff. Bottled, bucketed, raw, flavoured, soy, rice, nut milks, skimmed milk, full fat, half fat, homogenised, goats, buffalo’s, a twist of kaluha. You all very gracefully gave your choices and why. Some were educated conclusions and some thought about only once the question was actually asked …

Q. “What milk do you drink?”

A. “Full cream, normal stuff”

Q. “Why?”

A. “Why not ??” was one answer !!

Well, we’ll here from a few other members of our community. One or two people mentioned a brand name and that’s not because I am indorsing any of the brands, I just thought it important to leave it in because they went on to explain why that was their choice which was more what I wanted to get across.

Let’s have a listen to what some of you folk out there in the Shire had to say when i asked the question … What kind of MILK do you drink and WHY ?? – audio

Shake it up baby !!

Did you have tea or coffee this morning with milk ? Did you splash it on your cereal ? Are you drinking a glass of it now ? Are you looking forward to sinking a glass of it later ? If you answered yes to any of the above, then what’s your preference and WHY ?

I guess why is the important word here because when I did some super sleuth secret squirrel investigating, into what milk was available to us here from your average supermarket, guess how many variations of MILK I found ? I bet you can’t …. Ok, I’ll help you.

One hundred and nine !!!!!!! There were 61 on the shelves of the pre packedvariety and another forty eight in the refrigerated section. That’s alot of choice for a town that has a popultion of around 9,ooo.

There is no right or wrong, and if there is, it’s up to YOU can decide what is best for you alone.As a nutritionist and a presenter here on this beautiful community radio station of ours, it gives me great joy to open up little pockets of information that you otherwise may not have known, and give you as much of that information as possible so that you can take control of your own life and make informed and educated decisions on what you put into … INTO … this uniquely gorgeous body of yours.

Blended in with all of that, like a creamy banana smoothie, I’m going to play you some local and Australian music from the likes of Kooii and Kingfisha who were here in town on Saturday night and had me movin and groovin non stop for hours, keeping both warm and fit as their amazing musicianship filled the soul, just as good food does the belly, leaving me feeling very happy.

Here’s a track from Bobby Alu, who provides the percussion side of things for Kooii, and who you may also recognize as the drummer for Oka. He’s pretty hard to miss, my beautiful Samoan brother. This track is called “Love you more” – http://youtu.be/VqlEkbX72F0

I’ll be back to squeeze some fresh drops out of the milking udder and fill you in on what you might not already know about the great white !!

Queen and cake

Good rainy Monday ‘Queens birthday long weekend’ morning to you. Sister Rasela here to splash around in puddles with you this morning as we take a dive into the belly show and wade around in the land of birthday cakes.
Well it is her Maj’s birthday (officially it’s actually the 21^stof June but celebrated on the second Monday of the month) so I gathered a bit of info on Lizzie to start the show with and from there we’ll move onto the lucious land of birthday cakes and find out their history, traditions and other interesting and quirky facts. A little later in the show I’m going to read you a cake story … from the perspective of a 4 year old so perhaps you might want to get cosy, make a brew, relax and enjoy the Queens birthday with us here, on your community radio station, where we never take a break. Yup, we’re here for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week, pumping out the love and good vibrations across the wet and wild airwaves today and every day.

Even when it’s raining the sun is always shining from the heart of town. I hope you can feel the warmth on these wintery days, and remember if you can’t, maybe you need to turn the volume up a little next time you’re listening ??

Whether you’re in your car, your home, your workplace or your headphones, thank you for tuning into the beautiful BayFM and for the lend of your gorgeous ears and eyes if you are reading online. You’re belly is safe with us … Happy Monday !!!

Ahem ! I present to you THE QUEEN’S titbits and trivia …

Did someone say titbits ?

Born in 1926, Elizabeth was crowned Queen on 2 June 1953 and is currently fourth in the all-time list of longest serving British monarchy. Her great achievements include creating a new species of dog – the dorgi – when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund named Pumpkin belonging to Princess Margaret. So far there have been eight dorgis born into the world at the palace.

I saw a TV show about her a few years ago, and one thing I remember is that she has the same thing for breakfast each day: a type of cookie called Marie Biscuits, while she waits for her bath to be drawn: an exact amount of inches deep at an exact temperature.

Her Maj lists taking afternoon tea among her favourite pastimes. Alongside her special blend of royal tea, taken strong with just a dash of milk, are scones, potted shrimps and thin cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

Curries are a no-no on the palace menu as spicy foods just simply do not agree with Liz’s delicate taste buds. She prefers more simple and traditionally British meals such as roast beef, lamb cutlets and bread and butter pudding. A strict policy of no waste is also in operation with leftover roasts being recycled into shepherd’s pies and rissoles.

Hungry for lunch m'am ?

FAVOURITE FOOD: roast beef, lamb cutlets, shepherd’s pie, scones, bread and butter pudding, ice cream.

Her favourite apéritif is a Martini, shaken not stirred, finished with a twist of lemon rind.

A BBC documentary, All the Queen’s Cooks, revealed that tomatoes can only be served when all the pips have been removed to save them from becoming lodged in between the royal chompers and that it can take up to three hours for servants to lay the dinner table.

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson once famously escaped from a driving ban for speeding en route to the opening of the Channel Tunnel, where he was due to cook for the Queen. Having overslept suffering the after effects of a night out, he argued in court that he was forced to choose between the law and Queen and country. He escaped with a couple of points on his licence.

Thanks Liz ... you've been a good sport !

THE BIRTHDAY CAKE mmm mmmmm

The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthdaycelebrations in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century. Certain rituals and traditions, such as singing of birthday songs, associated with birthday cakes are common to many Western cultures. The Western tradition of adding lit candles to the top of a birthday cake originates in 18th-century Greece. However, the intertwining of cakes and birthday celebrations stretch back to the Ancient Romans. The development of the birthday cake has followed the development of culinary and confectionery advancement. While throughout most of Western history, these elaborate cakes in general were the privilege of the wealthy, birthday cakes are nowadays common to pretty much every Western birthday celebration. Around the world many variations on the birthday cake, or rather the birthday pastry or sweets, exist.

Whatcha smokin there Grandma ?

HISTORY

In classical Roman culture, ‘cakes’ of flat rounds made with flour containing nuts, leavened with yeast, and sweetened with honey were occasionally served at special birthdays, but more often at weddings as in Ancient Greece.

In early Europe, the words for cake and bread were virtually interchangeable; the only difference being that cakes were sweet while bread was not. In the 15th century, bakeries in Germany conceived the idea of marketing one-layer cakes for customers’ birthdays as well as for only their weddings, and thus the modern birthday cake was born. During the 17th century, the birthday cake took on more or less its contemporary form. However, these elaborate cakes, which possessed many aspects of contemporary cakes (such as multiple layers, icing, and decorations), were only available to the very wealthy. Birthday cakes became more and more proletarianized as a result of the industrial revolution, as materials and tools became more advanced and more accessible.

The service of a birthday cake is often preceded by the singing of “Happy Birthday to You” in English speaking countries or an equivalent birthday song in the appropriate language of that country. In fact, the phrase “Happy Birthday” did not appear on birthday cakes until the song “Happy Birthday to You” was popularized in the early 1900s. Variations on birthday song rituals exist. For example, in New Zealand, “Happy Birthday to You” is sung and is followed by clapping, once for each year of the person’s life and once more for good luck (well, i grew up in NZ and we never did that … i’ve still been pretty lucky though !) In Uruguay, party guests touch the birthday person’s shoulder or head following the singing of “Happy Birthday to You”. In Ecuador, sometimes the birthday person will take a large bite off the birthday cake before it is served.

The birthday cake is often decorated with small taper candles, secured with special holders or simply pressed down into the cake. In North America, Australasia and the U.K., the number of candles is equal to the age of the individual whose birthday it is, sometimes with one extra for luck. Traditionally, the birthday person makes a private wish, which will be realized if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath.

A birthday cake is shared amongst all the people attending a birthday party. This represents sharing of joy and togetherness. As a courtesy, it reflects one’s hospitality and respect for guests.

Come on now Emery ... that's not very nice !

CANDLES

The earliest reference to the tradition of blowing out the candles was documented Switzerland in 1881. Researchers for the Folk-Lore Journal recorded various “superstitions” amongst the Swiss middle class. The following statement was recorded, ““A birthday-cake must have lighted candles arranged around it, one candle for each year of life. Before the cake is eaten the person whose birthday it is should blow out the candles one after another.” This tradition can also be traced to Kinderfest (Kinder is the German word for ‘children’), an 18th century German birthday celebration for children. In 1746, a large birthday festival was held for Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf of Marienborn Germany. Andrew Frey described the party in detail and mentions, “there was a Cake as large as any oven could be found to bake it, and Holes made in the cake according to the years of the person’s age, every one having a candle stuck into it, and one in the Middle.” A letter written in 1799 by Goethe recounts: “…when it was time for dessert, the prince’s entire livery…carried a generous-size torte with colorful flaming candles – amounting to some fifty candles – that began to melt and threatened to burn down, instead of there being enough room for candles indicating upcoming years, as is the case with children’s festivities of this kind…” As the excerpt indicates, the tradition at the time was to place candles for each year of the individual’s life with some added candles ‘indicating upcoming years’. Some also smear out the name of the person before slicing the cake to bring good luck.

How about just smearing it all over your face instead ?

The tradition of placing candles on birthday cake has also been attributed to early Greeks, who used to place lit candles on cakes to make them glow like the moon. Greeks used to take the cake to the temple of Artemis… The Moon Goddess. Some say that candles were placed on the cake because people believed that the smoke of the candle carried their prayers to gods. Others believe that the custom originated in Germany where people used to place a large candle in the centre of the cake to symbolize ‘the light of life’.

Nowdays people place candles on birthday cakes and a silent wish is made before blowing out the candle. It is believed that blowing out all candles in one breath means the wish will come true and the person will enjoy good luck in the coming year. In contemporary Western cultures, two rituals are prominent: the singing of the traditional birthday song and the blowing out of candles decorating the cake by the birthday person.

Today, we believe, that if we blow out all our candles in one breath, our wish will come true. (By the way, if there are 88 candles on your cake, it’s okay to ask others to blow (with) you.

BIRTHDAY CAKE VARIATIONS

Variations on the birthday pastry exist outside of Western culture. The Chinese birthday pastry is the sou bao (壽包), lotus-paste-filled buns made of wheat flour which are shaped and colored to resemble peaches. A single large pastry is not often served, rather each guest is served their own. In Korea, the traditional birthday dish is a seaweed soup. In Western Russia, birthday children are served fruit pies with a birthday greetings carved into the crusts. The Swedish birthday cake is made like a pound cake and is often topped with marzipan and decorated with the national flag. A Dutch birthday pastry are fruit tarts topped with whipped cream. The Mexican birthday tradition involves a piñata, a colored brittle container filled with candy.

ummm .. is this the shitty Chinese version ?

A number of historians believe that the birthday cake was first cooked-up in ancient Greece. The Greeks formed round or moon shaped honey cakes or bread and took them to the Temple of Artemis to honor the Goddess of the Moon. They placed candles on the cake so that it would glow like the moon, and the smoke of the lit candles carried their wishes and prayers to the Gods who lived up above, in the sky.

In medieval times, the English placed symbolic objects inside their cakes. Sometimes coins or thimbles were mixed into the batter. The person who bit into the coin was sure to be wealthy, while the poor person who found the thimble would never marry. (Oh my! Imagine that.) Needless to say, if the cake fell while baking it was believed an ominous sign and the poor
birthday girl or boy was guaranteed an entire year of bad luck.

Halfway through the 17th century, Europeans had made considerable advancement in the art of cake-making. They’d begun to create the precursor to today’s modern cakes. This was mainly thanks to technological development: reliable ovens, food moulds and refined sugar to make icing. Round cake hoops of wood and metal began to be used as moulds.

A SWEET PROGRESS

The first icing was made from a boiled composition of the finest available sugar, egg whites and various flavors. It was then poured on the cake, which was put back into the oven for a while. The cake was soon crowned with a hard, glossy, ice-like
covering. Molded cakes and fancy icing was hugely popular in Victorian times. The art of baking cakes progressed through the ages, and it was not until the middle of the 19th century that the modern cake as we now know it was born. The taste and appearance was enhanced with extra-refined white flour and baking powder (instead of yeast).

Amazing what can now be achieved with the introduction of icing ...

The ‘World’s Largest Birthday Cake’ was on display at Cashman Center in Las Vegas on Nevada May 15, 2005. The 1,30,000-pound cake, made as part of the City of Las Vegas’ Centennial celebration, was 102-feet long, 52-feet wide and 20 inches tall, and took 500 volunteers 14 hours to construct and decorate. A Sara Lee Foods facility in Tarboro, North Carolina baked the 30,240 half-sheet cakes needed for the project.

Here’s to luscious birthday cakes, sweet dreams and delicious wishes.

Here’s the wonderful birthday cake story i found and read out by Allie Brosh. Check out ‘Hyperbole and a Half’ to read and see more – God of Cake reading – audio

Hyperbole and a Half is a combination of web comic and blog written by Allie Brosh. The comic is drawn in Paintbrush and is intentionally artistically crude. It is a retelling of her life, and includes stories from her childhood as well as the challenges she faces as an adult. Brosh has also expanded the comic into a series of web videos in a similar style, which have been popular http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com.au/

F A S T I N G … the lowdown on the slowdown

Talofa … Sister Rasela simmering on the hotplate today in the belly kitchen, bringing you more tantalising talk about food … or in this case – lack of it.

Each week we strive to bring you a show packed with tasty fillings and informative, inspiring stories surrounding food, and my inspiration this week came from an article article i read in the Sunday paper regarding a woman who had managed to starve herself to DEATH after embarking on a FAST.

How is this possible you and i both may wonder ? In the Western world, where foods of all descriptions and flavours are available to us on tap, where food is shared with friends and family and if you are lucky enough to live in a community such as Byron, you are able to get a free meal every day of the week through volunteer organizations and donations.

Added to all of that, food tastes so good. It’s delicious and tempting, nourishing and warming, fresh and alive (hopefully) and if it’s not then it’s not so bad that you would just stop eating … surely ?

Fashionably fast living ... did you forget to eat ??

Well, there are many of us that share this world of ours and it’s clearly obvious that we are not all the same. Our views and thoughts and beliefs all depend on how we were raised, with what values and ethics, what country we were born in, how our childhood panned out, any number of changeable issues can determine what we decide is best for us.

This particular lady, who was the victim of self starvation, decided that she wanted to go on a fast. There were no details of how heavy she was before she started the fast that killed her, no history into her eating habits (or lack of), no story that lead to the tragic outcome. It was a 5 line story about how she went on a fast and after a couple of weeks, after plees from her children, after her body must have been begging her mind to feed it … she died.

Many people might read this and jump to the uneducated conclusion that fasting is dangerous. The same as you may put on the tv (if you have one) and believe every single thing that they want you to. “It must be true, i heard it on the tele!!” Oh, is this the same tele that provides you with misleading advertisements and promises of extremely fast weight loss if you buy their product ? The same one that guarantees you youthful looking skin even if you are 85 and covered in wrinkles ? Oh and my favorite – sugar free, chemically sweetened, ‘healthy’ foods ? Same story … different angle.

A huge part of my love of community radio is to help share information and knowledge. To encourage listeners and readers of this show to think for yourselves. To question what you read and see and to make educated or at the very least informed decisions on what is best for YOU.

In the same way that i don’t believe (or even watch) anything i see on tv, i present the information on this show in a way that leaves it up to you to do whatever it is you will, with whatever information i share with you. Some things may apply to you, some to your neighbour, and some to the old lady that lives in the bush 30 km’s from you. You might be visiting town, you might have lived here all your life, you might even be about to leave, whatever your story is, that’s the most important thing to remember … that it is your story and it is the one that enables you to make the decisions you think are best for YOU.

... but is seeing believing ??

I wonder what this starving woman’s story is and i wonder if her story may have had a different outcome if she had have listened to belly today !!

Without further adieu … let’s get some info on FASTING and PURIFICATION.

Fasting and Purification have been described as very uplifting experiences that can enhance your mental well being and overall attitude IF it is done correctly.

A few different types of fasting can be considered depending on your specific need and desired outcome. You can eat nothing, a single food, or you can simply eliminate one or more foods in your diet.

Fasts can last anything from a day to several weeks or months. Most religious and healing traditions recommend fasting for therapeutic or spiritual advantages.

Fasting has been noted way back in history when the Winter supplies ran low for our ancestors and they were forced to go without, living sometimes on no more than water and fresh greens.

My, how life has changed ...

Contemporary fasts however, usually consist of abundant vegetable and fruit juices with combinations that create names such as ‘detox’, ‘liver cleanser’, ‘immune booster’ … unfortunately, many of the methods of juicing are not conducive to the purpose as much of the nutritional value can be lost in the process or afterwards. The best method of juicing is by using a cold press juicer which slowly squeezes the juice out of the vegetable or fruit, allowing it to retain the majority of it’s wholesome goodness. Fresh and organic produce is by far superior of course.

All of this said though, fasting just on juices can seriously impair both the digestive strength and metabolic rate of certain individuals and have been known to cool and weaken the body resulting in abnormal weight gain after the fast. This is not said to scare you but rather to remind you that we all need to be aware of what is best for us and that your fast, should you choose to do one, should be matched to your individual body type.

The word FAST indicates an important feature of the fast itself, It signifies the speeding up of the cleansing and renewal process by slowing down the normal digestive routine. The fast and the slow … nice balance !

Beware of fast fasts !! Anything that is slow and sustainable is far better for you and your beautiful body and in the long run teaches you better eating habits that you will hopefully be able to maintain throughout your luscious life.

I’ll give you a sneak peak into 5 different fasts i know about. You may have tried one or all of them or you may be considering starting one of them. I embarked on a fast about 7 years ago to help combat a sinus infection that was unbeatable with conventional medicines. It was meant to last 2 weeks but i was so euphoric and happy on it that i ended up staying on it for about 3 months. I was buzzing, beaming, high, clear headed, a little light headed, a bit skinny and not hungry at all. Quite scary actually.

I guess i got to the point where i felt starving, but at the same time i felt almost terrified to eat anything. I didn’t know where or how to start again. It was as though i had trained myself off of food. All i had been eating was selected steamed veges, raw salads, a bit of oat bran and lots of water along with some supplements/super foods.

The moment i realised i was starving was the same moment i realised that this is how an eating disorder could start. Through my fear of eating. Wanting to and knowing that i should but just not being able to. I had no cravings, no desire to eat, my mouth didn’t water for anything … these were all things i wasn’t used to !!

Inside me though i felt hollow, empty, airy, and i instinctively knew that i needed food. Something warm, wholesome, flavoursome, savoury …. so i headed to my favorite macrobiotic vegan cafe and ordered the vege lasagne.

When i remember back to this moment and describe it, it was like i tasted food for the first time in my life and realised what i had been missing out on. The second i put a mouthful of the layered, tasty, creamy, dreamy lasagne in my mouth, the very millisecond it touched my tongue, i felt my whole body absorb each ingredient in that decadent dish and pull it into my starving cells. I let out a low moan with each slow chew and the volume increased with each new spoonful. I smiled, i felt the colour come back to my cheeks, i felt that warm, wholeness in my spirit again, i felt grounded and complete.

I never looked back.

Let’s look forward instead and take a look at 5 popular fasts that may tickle your fancy –

Raw fruit, vegetable or liquid fast
Steamed vegetable fast
Whole-Grain fast
Micro-Algae fast
Absolute fast

I’ll be back with the lowdown on all of these just as soon as i feed my pet aligators. If i’m not back soon, please let someone know ….

See ya later aligator !!

Straight from the mouths of babes

Talofa lava and welcome to another episode of tasty talk. I have officially been a part of belly for almost 2 years now and as we near the beginning of the Winter season at BayFM i thought it an interesting time to take a listen back to when i started and therefore realise how far i have come.

When i first decided to start on belly, i had no experience in a magazine radio show … you know, talking to people and putting together interesting and informative radio. I had plenty of experience as a music DJ and still love that ‘other side’ of my radio personality, but life aint nothin’ without a challenge, so i approached Sister Tess and somehow convinced her to take me on as a bellysister. I hear the words “You’re in !!” Now all i have to do is make it happen.

The first live interview i did took me to Ocean Shores Public School where i was eager to delve deeper into the Nutrition Programme that headmaster Chris Horitz has set up as part of the school curriculum. I had read about it in the local paper and decided that this was a major part of my passion surrounding Nutrition – to help educate children, the next generation, about the importance of good, healthy and nutritious foods in their lives and that of their families.

Each week, a different class from the school boards a bus early in the morning and heads down to the New Brighton Farmers Market where they have a set budget to spend on creating an amazing lunch. The lists and ingredients are all worked out in a classroom activity prior to the children attending the markets, so by the time they have their purchasing jobs completed and the goods in their hot little hands, all that’s left to do is sample the free delights that the generous stall holders provide for the ever hungry and eager children.

I talk to all of them all one by one and ask them various questions about their specific role in the preparation of the meal and their opinions on some of the interesting and unusual foods they may be tasting for the first time here today. Finger limes are popular, as are the dried bananas they get to chew amongst the fresh morning dew.

Once all of the buying, tasting and gathering is completed, the kids jump back on the bus and head back to school, a mere five minute journey away. A gentle ambiance is restored to the marketplace once again and the birdsong replaces the chatter of excited children, happy to be in a different kind of classroom environment than one they are used to on any other school morning.

Once back at school, i interviewed Chris Horitz the headmaster and was impressed by his level of enthusiasm and dedication for teaching these lucky children how to prepare and put together a nutritious meal. He’s thrilled with the support he has received from the parents, marketeers and organizers of the programme but even happier with the response from the children themselves, who are over the moon to be involved so hands on, in this lesson of love.

I leave his office (it’s not been often that i’ve left a headmaster’s office without being in trouble) and eventually rejoin the children in class and think about the words of the headmaster. He is a positivly influential man and his passion for teaching grows far out of the confinements of the classroom walls, and deep into the land surrounding his school and the children, as they explore the humble beginnings of food and not just accept that it comes from the fridge at home or the supermarket shelf. He hopes that they will go home and teach the rest of their family what they may be learning here for the first time and also that they will be inspired to plant their own little patch of food somewhere, at some point in their lives, whether it be now or sometime in the future.

There is also a garden up and running on the school grounds, to further the experience of eating locally and knowing where that food comes from and how it is grown. Future plans are to plant seedlings from the market, and eventually sell them back from a stall at the very market they started from to raise money for other great school projects.

Meanwhile lunch is being prepared back in the classroom as the produce is being arranged and preparation begins. The aroma of passion fruit is making my mouth water so much i’m afraid you’ll be able to hear me dribbling into the mic when i record the kids talking about this next stage of the game.

Knives are slicing, dicing and impressively chopping as voices echo excitedly around the compact space. Tables that are usually reserved for ordered work and neat book keeping are covered in breadcrumbs and sharp knives. All around i see vibrant colours; star fruits gleaming like they belong in the sky, apples crisp and juicy, plump pears, bananas ripe and tasty, salad leaves fresh from the farmers garden glow in all their shades of green, tomatoes red as the rosy cheeks of the children cutting them, cheeses and yogurt, fresh and fragrant, mingle with the smell of fruits opening in front of me and baring their innermost gloriousness.

The whole scene is one of pleasure and joy, enthusiasm and effort, hunger and mouthwatering patience and i myself feel that at least once, in each child’s life, they should have the right to experience something as wonderfully sharing and natural as the preparation and consumption of a meal bursting with as much wholesome and vibrant pureness as the children themselves.

Ocean Shores Public School has great initiatives in place to encourage sustainable living and learning and if i could choose a school that I’d want to go to then this would be it … hhhmmm, pity i have already completed my primary education. Good to see the next generation with so much opportunity to learn the things that a lot of us grew up taking for granted but that are so important in these times that we are now living.

Here’s to educating the children of the world and guiding them into the healthiest life possible. From school life to home life, for the rest of their lives, let’s hope that opportunity’s like this one at school plant the seeds of wholesomeness that grow into love for themselves and the planet we live on.

As for me, I’m happy to have been able to have shared this interview with you a second time and am planning to go back to OSPS and see how the structure of Nutritional learning is holding up. I also plan to have less uuuummmm’s than my first interview and a variety of questions for the children that enable them to open up and really share with us their thoughts and views on food and how it affects their lives.

I’ll be back with more conversations, straight from the mouths of babes.

xx sister R

Underwater LOVE

Aloha and goooood day to your beautiful belly’s. Sister Rasela simmering in the belly pot today where it’s going to get very wet and a little wild – and I’m not talkin’ bout the weather. I’m actually talking SEAWEEDS and i will be for the next wave of interesting and informative belly-liciousness.

Hmmmm … What are the different types of seaweed you may ask ? What are their nutritional benefits and healing properties ? … and how the heck do you use them ?

Staying in the water, we swam amongst a few favorite foods and recipes provided by some of the worlds greatest surfers, who might have come across a bit of seaweed in their time. Then we drenched ourselves in a few water logged food facts you might not already know. For example, are you aware that …

The largest modern fishing trawler drags a net twice the size of the Millennium Dome in London ??
It takes 5,000 litres of water to make 1kg of cheese, 20,000 litres to grow 1kg of coffee and 100,000 litres to produce 1kg of hamburger beef ??

To help you stay afloat in a sea of belly love, all the music tracks i chose today were from Sunny Coast boys, OKA who released their eighth beautiful album titled “Milk and Honey” so i featured this through out the show. Trouble is though, i was so busy yapping away in the depths of a wonderous water world that i only got to play about three. I suggest you go buy it and listen to it yourself as they are my favorite flavoured band in the history of Australian music. Delicious. http://www.okamusic.com/HOME.html

Back in the world of coloured fronds and ocean grace, we get down to salty sultry business as we descend to the land of mermaids and starfish.

All of the information about seaweed is taken from my ‘bible’ and all time favorite nutrition book called “Healing with Wholefoods” – Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition by Paul Pitchford.

Seaweeds are powerful sea vegetables which have been used for thousands of years, thanks to their ability to enhance health and heal many ailments. Their properties have enabled people of all nationalities over the years, to live happier and longer lives when used correctly in a balanced diet.

Our unique and beautiful human bodies begin their development in the womb, surrounded by saline solution where we are nourished and cleansed by blood that fascinatingly consists of almost the same composition as sea water.

The seaweeds can be classified by their colours, with a selection of reds, browns, greens, blue-greens and yellow-greens. Photosynthesis is responsible for their specific and individual colours and various conditions in which they grow determine their nutritional content and structure.

Sea plants contain up to ten to twenty times the minerals of land plants as well as a huge vareity of vitamins and other elements which make them an amazing source of both food and medicine.

Some healing and medicinal properties of seaweeds are – salty flavour; detoxify; soften hardened masses; act as lymphatic cleansers; alkalize the blood; lower cholesterol; remove residues from radiation in the body; improve water metabolism; treat swellings; reduce inflammation and other heat conditions affecting the heart and lungs; treat hemorrhoids; promote digestion; remedy for sea sickness; the list goes as deep as the ocean itself. Make sure you get advice on what is best for you depending on what you need at the time.

They are also used in general to treat swelling, nodules, lumps, goiter, swollen lymph glands and chronic coughs where heat signs and yellow or green phlegm is present.

The nutrients in seaweeds are absorbed and assimilated easily partly due to the fact that our own blood is made up of all one hundred or so trace elements in the ocean.

You don’t need much to get you started. Paul Pitchford recommends 5-15 grams a day. Introducing new foods into the body can sometimes take time and you may notice a few strange smells, in certain situations, that you haven’t previously encountered. Start slowly and add new foods gently. Combining them with foods such as adzuki beans works well as this both softens the fibre of the bean if you cook them with a strip of Wakame or Kombu, and also adds to the flavour of the dish.

When i first started eating seaweeds most of them were from Japan and as we know in recent times, our divine oceans have been used and abused and are sometimes so heavy in toxic pollutions and commercial waste that what comes out of them needs to be more thought about than ever. I would recommend exercising caution when selecting anything from the ocean. Make sure you know where it came from and the quality of the bed of water in which it grew. Then you are able to make your own informed and educated decision as to what you place on the tongue of your gorgeous body.

Here’s a few seaweeds and their high source of nutrients for a light lowdown from the book ‘Healing with Wholefoods’ –

“Hijiki, arame, and wakame each contain more than ten times the calcium of milk; sea lettuce contains twenty-five times the iron, hijiki eight times the iron, and wakame and kelp about four times the iron of beef; depending on when they are harvested, kelp, kombu and arame contain one hundred to five hundred more times iodine than shellfish, and six hundred to three thousand times the iodine average of other marine fish.”

As well as being harvested in Japanese waters, an increasing number are also being wild crafted on the shores of America and now Europe.

You may like to find out more about AGAR-AGAR which can be substitued for gelatin in jelly’s and to set certain dishes. Be careful of the highly processed forms though that have been bleached and transformed into something more toxic than nutritional. Do some research !!

DULSE is popular in flake form and can be sprinkled over veges or added to soups to give them an earthy purple colour and an oceanic flavour. Exceptionally high in iodine, it’s a good substitute for salt.

HIJIKI and ARAME grow over rocks or the sea bottom and once cut and dried in the sun, they are boiled til soft then dried again until it emerges black and ready to eat. These are both excellent sources of calcium, iron and iodine and full of B2 and niacin.

KOMBU and KELP have yellow-brown pigmentation and are known to be the longest and largest of all sea plants (up to 1500 feet). They can greatly improve the value of all food they are prepared with. Both of these seaweeds are fantastic when added to bean dishes, as their mineral content helps to balance the protein and oils in the beans, making them easier to digest. They are great because they also break down the tough fibres in foods they are cooked with.

NORI is probably the most commonly known and used form of seaweed in the western world now days with the explosion of sushi bars in recent years. It is a beautiful dusky-jade colour and the fronds are hollow-like tubes that flutter away in the currents, like ruffled fans. Nori has the highest protein content and is the most easily digested sea vegetable of all. It can be useful in conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, fatty cysts under the skin, warts and rickets; aids digestion especially when eaten with friend foods.

WAKAME is olive coloured and is one of the highest in calcium (hijiki is first), rich in niacin and thiamine and has been used traditionally in Japan to purify mothers blood after childbirth. It also softens beans and other hard fibres cooked with it.

IRISH MOSS fronds grow like broad forked fans in colours from reddish-purple to reddish-green. It is a superb and nutritional thickening agent for stews, gravies, salad dressings, aspics and gels. Better and less processed than agar-agar. Some of the benefits of Irish Moss are it’s ability to inhibit arteriosclerosis, guards against fat and cholesterol buildup and had a mild anti-coagulant effect on the blood. It also contains a gelatinous substance that treats peptic and duodenal ulcers. Traditional Irish used it as a food; they also extracted carrageenan as a remedy for respiratory diseases.

That’s all folks !

Hope you digest this information gently and learn something you didn’t already know. I urge you to look into seaweeds more if you are interested in diving into the world of underwater goodness. Remember we are all different and what you need is not what your neighbour or your lover needs. Learn about yourself and your bodies needs. Treat it well. Respect it and love it from the inside. You are beautiful.

Oceanic love and mermaidian magic

sister R xx

Fresh and Wild

: The first breaths of morning on the farm

Talofa lava, Sister Rasela serving you up a feast of fresh and wild lingo, blended to a smooth consistency with reggae beats and peaces to put us all on island time … just in case you’re not already there.

Blessed i feel, not to have been away from this succulent Shire of ours, but to have returned to it with a sense of belonging and an enormous appetite. If you have ever driven into Byron from the North, you might well have noticed that not far from the border there is a two way tunnel that plows through the hillside from which i always feel i emerge into another world … the world of plenty. Plenty of friends, plenty of music, plenty of love, and plenty of good, wholesome, nutritious, home grown … FOOOOOD !!

Love of light

One of the farmers in this region who is responsible for the production of this kind of fantastic food is gentleman and farmer extraordinaire – Robin Wolf.

Robin was brought up on a farm in Tasmania and spent his whole childhood as his Dad’s sidekick, learning what he didn’t know he was at the time, but which has gone on to serve him well on his own farm and in the techniques that he chooses to use.

Robin now uses similar methods on his certified organic farm, that his father used all those years ago until the introduction of commercial and conventional methods arrived, which included pesticides and chemicals, in the belief that this was the way forward in farming. For a while they followed these methods on their farm in the South, enabling Robin to experience different options to farming throughout his life. One realisation that occured over time, was that plants need to grow strong and be able to fight for themselves in order to be healthy and more immune resistant, much the same as our bodies work when we are eating correctly and are able to fight off disease and build a strong immune system. So it was an easy choice for Robin in years to come when he had to reconsider the running of his own farm here in Tyagrah.

Morning glory

The conversion from conventional to organic farming seemed a natural progression when in 2008 a ferocious hailstorm attacked the whole of the Shire. The stonefruit orchid, along with all it’s protective netting, was completely wiped out. At that time the farm relied heavily on conventional stone fruit production. Having lost all of the fruit and trees and without the thousands of dollars it would have taken to reinstall the netting, the farm had to wonder … where to from here ?

They had already started farming and growing organically on a small portion of the land, after various health issues and allergies in the family meant that they were exploring alternative routes to healing and wellbeing. Coupled with the knowledge that the conventional market was already saturated with farmed fruits and vegetables on a large scale, they decided to expand the naturally grown side of life and began to undertake the lengthy and expensive conversion to Organic farming, and with it a more sustainable and ethically productive life.

Soul tree

One of the highlights of my time in Byron has been working on the farm as a volunteer. The joy i felt after getting my hands dirty, weeding, planting, sprinkling fertilizers and chatting to other volunteers, as well as the peaceful vibe that permeates the farm, is soul filling. The volunteering starts at 7.30am, breaks for ‘smoko’ at around 10.30am with Robin putting on tea and toast before we all head back out on the ranch and finish up for 1pm. When it’s all good and done you are presented with a beautiful box of vegetables and farm greens for your effort and well earned appetite.

If you think you can’t afford to eat organic … BULLS#*T … put in 4 hours of love and get a box loving nutrition in return. One good deed deserves another and the barter system of sharing what you have is pleasantly alive and kicking in the Shire.

Straight from the ground to the markets - No wonder the farm is called Fresh and Wild

This is hugely fulfilling and a wonderfully satisfying experience. It may be that you wish to learn where some of your food comes from, how it’s grown, are interested in learning about organic farming practices, feel the urge to input your time and energy into the farming community, want to get dirt under your fingernails, mud between your toes or all of the above. Get on down to Tyagrah sometime and get amongst it.

Robin can also be found at the New Brighton and Byron farmers markets on and around his bustling stall Fresh and Wild. He is only too happy to chat about volunteering positions, his fresh vibrant produce or simply just have a good old chin wag with one of his many energetic and appreciative customers. Just look for the stall with the longest cue of happy, healthy looking people … that’s where he’ll be.

My edible wages !!

Here are some details if you wish to contact the farmer direct –

70 Kennedy Lane, Tyagrah, Northern NSW 2481

Tel: 0427 847 485

www.organics-fresh-and-wild.com

organicsfw@internode.on.net

Thanks for lending us your ears and thankyou to Robin for sharing a part of his story with us. Another special member of our extra special community.

I’ll post the island vibe tunes i played through out the show a little later. Until then, keep your belly’s happy and filled with love.

Until next time. Alofa xxx

belly sit in

THANK YOU to honorary belly sister Andy Travis who luciously hosts the Lighthouse Lounge on a Monday from 9am til 11am … apart from this week of course when he decided to stay and play amongst the airwaves for a little bit longer … a whole hour in fact !!

Pepa was unable to make it this week to fill in for me, Sister Rasela, but i’d like to thank her too for offering.

All other belly sisters were off on an eating excursion in the Maldives.