Find out what is happening at ACC and in the neighbourhood.
“connecting our community”
Cat’s school holiday Lego program is all about wind and water this time and it’s full of friendship, building, learning and fun. Here are some great pictures that Cat took from the first session this week.
Keen to join in? She’s got another session on Tuesday 6 July. So it’s not to late to be part of the fun! You can book in here.
And … did you know Cat also runs a great weekly after school program here at ACC on Monday nights.
Our first Grow Local Cook Local workshop was lots of fun this week! Benedict from The Practical Beekeeper took us through how honey is made and all the intricacies of a bee hive. Then we headed into the kitchen to cook with honey with Rachael from Melbourne Farmers Markets … and at the end sat down to share our cooking. We’ve got more of these workshops coming up in the second week of the school holidays. Suitable for all ages. Book in here. Thanks Kalimna for taking these lovely pics!
We are taking a much needed break over the holidays and our office will be closed … but never fear, things are on here!
Grow Local, Cook Local - book in to these workshops in week 2 of the holidays down at the Alphington Community Farmgate Kitchen. A great activity for grandparents and primary school aged kids, parents and their children, all adults who’d like to make more of their home garden (and cook what they grow) … and teenagers! These workshops really will be suitable for all ages. Book here.
Lego Workshops - join Cat for Lego adventures. Drop your primary school aged children off for a couple of hours of creative fun on Thursday 1 July or Tuesday 6 July. Book here.
We’ll see you in the other side. Note that our programs will restart on Monday 12 July.
Alphington Community Centre is delighted to partner with Melbourne Farmers Markets to deliver ‘grow local, cook local’ a series of seasonal workshops that link the things you can easily grow in your home garden, with fun, delicious and yummy food you and your family can cook every day.
In each workshop you will get the chance to explore the key ingredient(s), chat to experts and share the joy of cooking locally grown food … and then eat it together.
Our winter series runs through the July school holidays and includes 5 workshops each with a different theme (honey, microgreens, mushrooms, winter herbs and winter greens). This series is suitable for people of all ages, and in school holidays is deliberately family friendly (for children 7+ years of age). Please note that children must be accompanied by a participating adult (who is expected to actively supervise them throughout the workshop). Also note that due to COVID restrictions total numbers are limited to 10 people per session.
Tickets cost $15. The workshops will run from the commercial kitchen onsite at Alphington Community Farmgate on the corner of Yarana Road and Wingrove Street (just down the road from us).
This grow local, cook local workshop series is kindly supported through a sustainability grant from the City of Yarra.
10am-11.30am, Monday 28 June.
This family friendly workshop will explore honey and urban beekeeping, an increasingly popular interest in our local area.
In the kitchen we’ll be making honey joys and muesli bars together and exploring other honey recipes.
We’ll pop over to The Practical Beekeeper to inspect all the equipment, have a look at hives and find out more about keeping bees in inner city areas.
10-11.30am, Tuesday 6 July.
No home is too small for a garden! Just because you have moved into an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own food. In this workshop Farmwall will introduce you to microgreens and sprouts.
We’ll explore ways to use them in every day cooking and we’ll cook a yummy soup together, that is garnished with sprouts, breadcrumbs and a crunchy topping.
You’ll take home some seeds sown in a pot.
10-11.30am, Wednesday 7 July.
Keen to explore the world of mushrooms? This family workshop will start with a tour of The Mushroomery to see how mushrooms grow.
Whilst there we’ll pick some mushrooms and take them to the kitchen to cook delicious mushroom tacos - you can add whatever toppings they like.
You’ll have the opportunity to purchase mushrooms plus mushroom growing kits from The Mushroomery on the day.
10-11.30am, Thursday 8 July.
This workshop will explore how to use simple winter herbs that are straightforward to grow in any home garden.
It will include a tour of the Alphington Community Farmgate garden to look at what is in season.
Along the way we’ll pick chives and spring onion tips and head into the kitchen to making some delicious dumplings (using wonton wrappers).
4-5.30pm, Wednesday 14 July.
Have you thought about using the winter greens that you can easily grow at home in school snacks?
This after school family workshop will start with a walk around the Alphington Community Farmgate site to check out the gardens and discuss what is in season.
Along the way we’ll pick some leafy greens such as sorrel, silverbeet and kale. Then we’ll head into the kitchen to whip up some cheesy green pastry triangles … along with some kale chips. Yum.
Did you know that we have a Toy Library at ACC? We’re noticing that there are increased numbers of people around the neighbourhood living a life that is more family friendly with flexible hours and working from home options. And as a result we’re also noticing that our Toy Library use is growing every week. We’ve welcomed at least 10 new families to the Toy Library over the last month or two and it is so wonderful to think that all those great toys that have been carefully collected and lovingly cared for, for so many years, are getting an outing!
If you know any young families who might like to access a wide range of toys in a sustainable way (ie. borrowing them for up to a month rather than buying them) then point them in our direction.
The Alphington Toy Library costs $30 per year to join (a bargain). Families can borrow up to 4 toys at a time. And we have loads of toys to borrow!
We’re also building up some toy packs that can be booked online and collected any time we are open - ideal for families that can’t pop in and browse themselves. Working families can keep an eye out for these - coming any day now!
Our Toy Library is generally open on Wednesday mornings from 10am-12pm. The opening time coincides with Playtime in the Garden - so you can borrow toys and then also hang out here enjoying our sandpit and some outside craft activities (set up weekly by Lee).
Click here to find out more and/or to join up. Or pop past on a Wednesday to see if it is for you!
