ROOTS...local food

ROOTS...local food

We have decided to live our truth and go for what we believe in and create the future that we want to see. We have always believed that choosing the easier road is not always what it seems to be. We aim to take no shortcuts. We are starting with nothing, nothing but our vision. We have jumped from the paradigm of working for someone else trapped in another mentality to creating a future and being present in exactly what we want to see happen. We are grateful for that in its self is a freedom of the mind.

People say all sorts of things like you need money… you need crockery… plates...riedel glasses and so the list goes on and on. This fear mongering that you need money, that you will never make it without those special pieces of paper. We see it differently. We believe that you need the community and people that believe in what you are doing. So we have started our new adventure that will lead us to making our dream come true of having a restaurant so we started a local food service called Roots. We do not need new things. In starting we thought that there is such amazing craftsmanship here in Aotearoa. So the research began in plates and kitchen items. There is such amazing ceramics from the 60s and 70s. Who cares if all the plates look the same! It is more fun to have a story and uniqueness and that sense of local, which really to me in this spectrum says real and quality. So Giulio found people with all of these ceramic NZ crafted plates. They are beautiful. He explained what we are doing to an older gentleman and bought some plates from him. The gentleman then called him back and said that he would love to help out, that he was literally swimming in too much NZ ceramic dishware and that Giulio could take what he wanted at no cost just because he believed in what we are creating and wanted to help us out! We are now realizing if we explain what we are doing maybe people will want to join in or contribute in some way, anyway that they can. It does not have to be with even giving us anything, but just words knowing that what we are creating is also something that others want to see happen and are excited about.

Our concept of food…this should be a book, however, here are some of Giulio’s words from his blog about our project:

“These are very exciting times for us, we have decided to start our own food service focused on everyone who wants to taste honest local food.

Lyttelton is surrounded by food, and by my own experience in the last 10 months I have been eating leaves, herbs, nuts, fruits and flowers that I forage during my daily walks. We are so lucky to have the Farmer’s Market every Saturday, and now starting the spring season we can find something new every weekend. Lyttel Piko is my favorite shop, you can find almost everything there and it is the starting point of my whole food based pantry.

The philosophy is local – organic – biodynamic – animal welfare supporting the local producers and suppliers. It is my dream to create a sustainable food service that supports the community and the community does the same in return. When I think in food I think about sharing, in the end that’s the whole purpose of my craft, but it is not only food, it is food made with respect and love, it is nourishment for our body that is why it has to be healthy and nutritious.

Our food is an invitation to the senses, to experience new flavors or a different culture or a completely new food experience, who said that it is not right to start eating sweets before savory??

Everyone is welcome. Peace”

We offer local food parties (breakfast, lunch, dinner, tapas) as well as cooking classes, and any other cooking needs whether it be for the holidays, a neighborhood get together… you name it…contact us. Christy and Giulio 021 120 8083 cmmartin6@gmail.com

Mushrooms

Our love for mushrooms began a long time ago. From mushrooms in the markets throughout Europe to walking through mushroom forests.

Talks with Ted "Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world" is a great video about the many benefits of fungi.

Then there was New Zealand, and mushroom foraging. However, you really need to know your mushrooms, but they are beautiful.

And now we have just begun a new experiment, growing our own mushrooms! They are the tastiest and the most fresh. In growing them we try and create an atmosphere that they naturally grow in, a forest. When we water, we actually mist them. These ones have been growing for 4.5 weeks and should produce for another 5-6. It takes about 4 weeks from sporing to growing a button. Each bucket will produce around 1-2 kilos of mushrooms. Our first 2 mushrooms together weighed 190 grams.

OUR COMMUNITY PLOT

We were recently allotted a plot in the Community Garden about 5 metres by 5 metres. We have experience planting in square foot gardening situations. For example at our house we have another space about the same size where we currently have our winter crops planted of garlic, broccoli, watercress, red cabbage, lettuces, rhubarb and kumara (which is just about ready for harvesting).

We went to our new plot to prepare the soil for spring planting. We found a kind of black little maori potato and harvested them along with fennel bulbs and silver beet.

We then planted purple carrots, mini sweet carrots, spring onions, red onions, yellow onions, and an assortment of herbs. Our community plot is gr

eat because it gets all day sun, great for the veggies. We have two very special plants in our garden that were there previously. These are swan plants which are breading grounds for monarch butterflies! We also have a mountain papaya tree or paw paw as they are called here in the land of the long white cloud.

Fairview Organic Farm

Yum yum. The most delicious peaches ever. We decided to take my cousin's and sister to Fairview Organic Farm in Santa Barbara, CA. This was a wonderful experience to learn about organic farming. They will be the next generation that needs to step up in this world that we live in today. The farm has different plaques as you walk through explaining the farm, how it works and the difference between organic and industrial farming practices. This information was quite an education for the youngsters.

This amazing farm functions on the principles of diversity, education, abundance, and honesty. The icing on the cake was that the stall selling the fresh Fairview grown produce is an honesty box. This means that no one is there collecting the money. Prices are on all the items and there is a drop slot for the money.

On an informative plaque about the farm it states that "The farm is on 12.5 acres which produces hundreds of fruits and vegetables, feeds approximately 500 families and employs over 30 people." This shows that organic urban farming practices are sustainable, economically and socially viable.

All in all this farm is a wonderful example and should be replicated in communities throughout the world.