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With warmer days ahead, we say a huge thank you to the 213 brave participants who took to the icy waters as part of this winter’s Ladies Who Jump event. Registrations doubled this year and we closed out the campaign with an incredible $302,628 raised for 24 Carrot Gardens!

Thanks to the generosity of participants and their friends, families and communities, more students across the state will enjoy, grow, cook and share fresh, seasonal food. The funds raised are already being put to good use, helping to grow the program in the north and northwest and supporting our established school gardens with additional staffing and equipment upgrades. 

If you missed out on donating to this campaign we accept donations all year round via our donate page.

With warmer days ahead, we would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who braved the icy waters for this winter’s Ladies Who Jump event. We doubled last year’s registrations...

SPINACH AND RICOTTA GNOCCHI
This gnocchi pairs well with a simple tomato sauce or sauteed spring herbs and vegetables – tarragon, parsley, marjoram, asparagus, peas, sprouting broccoli and zucchini. 

INGREDIENTS:
500g ricotta 
250g baby spinach*
Nutmeg, to taste
¼  lemon zested
1 egg
0.5 cup plain flour (plus a little extra)
*try substituting other tender greens such as silverbeet, stinging nettle, chickweed or mallow.

METHOD:
- Wilt spinach in a pot over a medium-high temperature, press in colander to remove as much moisture as possible

- In a large mixing bowl, add the ricotta, egg, lemon zest, finely grated nutmeg and salt to taste, whisk until as smooth as possible

- Take a small piece, roll into a ball and test if it holds together in salted boiling water, if it doesn’t, add a little more flour until it does

- Roll mixture into logs and cut into individual gnocchi, place on a floured board

- Cook gnocchi in batches, they are ready when they rise to the surface and float for a minute.  

INGREDIENTS:
1 garlic clove grated
1 onion finely chopped 
3 tbsp olive oil
700ml tomato passata 
Salt

METHOD:
- In a saucepan over medium heat cook onion and garlic in oil with salt until softened

Our student workshop program at Botanical in Bridgewater is in full swing for spring, with groups from our 24 Carrot schools visiting each week for a series of learning-by-doing sessions. This term, students have hand-dyed fabrics with natural indigo, created beauty products with everyday ingredients and rolled up their sleeves to help in the market garden.

No 24 Carrot workshop would be complete without a shared lunch — prepared by the students, of course! Our Chef Vladimir Panevin has shared his recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with us, a menu favourite from this season’s workshops. It is quick and easy to prepare, and completely delicious. We served ours with garlic flatbread and a colourful garden salad and we thought we would share it with you — enjoy!

No 24 Carrot workshop would be complete without a shared lunch — prepared by the students, of course! Our Chef Vladimir Panevin has shared his recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with us, a menu favourite from this season’s workshops.

Vlad's Gnocchi - From the 24 Carrot Kitchen

On the cusp of delivering our new garden design with the community of Ravenswood Heights Primary School, we caught up with Rosa Virgo and Adam Holmstrom our long-term collaborators from Inspiring Place.

Working in landscape architecture and environmental planning, Inspiring Place are committed to community-led garden design as a way of delivering abundance and impact.  

Hi Rosa and Adam – can you tell us about your collaborative approach to community-led garden design?

We listen and learn from the environment and people. The garden design process always starts with students, teachers, families, community members and grounds people. Who turns up at the ‘birthing’ stage and the first few meetings is really important. 

This shapes how the project will be realised. We love using creative ways of exploring and witnessing the physical site including site walks and interactions that help us observe and understand the ways in which people interact with what is already there. Landscape elements can have surprising uses. We find dense established plantings are really loved as they provide playful spaces as well as sheltered areas for mindful reflection.

These activities are then complimented by conversations as to what makes for a good kitchen garden (including things like the type of plants, sun position and access to water). We invite people to share ideas through writing, drawing and verbalising a vision for the garden. 

We always stay true to practical ideas for example, plants that can be used in the kitchen. We’ve found Italian herbs are a favourite as they work well in lots of dishes and recipes. In East Devonport, locally sourced kelp is used in the compost to make the garden thrive. Some schools have incorporated materials found around the school like old bathtubs and sinks, others have used class time in other subjects to make structures and work benches. 

How does this approach impact the community and outcomes?

Creating space for multiple needs, voices and insights means increased opportunity for ownership and ingenuity. We like to leave the door and invitation to be involved wide open. This means the whole school – students, teachers, volunteers and community contribute ideas. 

We’ve found this approach gives the garden a reach beyond the garden bed. For example how the garden physically connects to other areas of the school, how produce grown in a school garden can be made available to the wider community and how the garden relates to other food programs in the neighbourhood. 

Healthy eco-systems include healthy environments and humans. As well as looking at healthy soil and produce, we look to where we can create healthy communities. Our next big dream is to support 24 Carrot in their exploration of integrated training and experiences that lead to traineeships and qualifications in horticulture. 

What is your top piece of advice for people who are keen to establish a productive garden?

We would suggest to establish a productive patch, to invest time, energy and most of all, compost, into building healthy, living soil first!

On the cusp of delivering our new garden with the community of Ravenswood Heights Primary School, we caught up with Rosa Virgo and Adam Holmstrom our long-term collaborators from Inspiring Place.