Stop Food Waste Newsletter
Summer Issue, 2011
Welcome!
Summer greetings from all at STOP Food Waste! This Newsletter will bring you information on salads, BBQs, and the best ways to manage your clippings this Summer Season! Thanks for reading and if you have any ideas, tips or stories you’d like to share, send them in to sfw@ctc-cork.ie.
What Food do we Waste?
Summer is a time of BBQs and salads, picnics and ice creams. Getting the most from your food, and making sure that the tasty food you have stored and prepared isn’t wasted, will make the Summer all the tastier! So what are the key things to remember?
We waste food all the time but LETTUCE is one of the biggest offenders. Almost 50% of all lettuce bought is thrown out. This happens for a bunch of reasons: it gets left in its bag down the back of the fridge, too much is bought and then gets left down the back of the fridge, we forget that we have some down the back of the fridge - the fridge has a lot to answer for! Being aware of this is a good start so you can manage your lettuce more carefully but for more tips and some great recipes for salad dressings CLICK HERE:
What to do with all your Grass Clippings? GrassCycling is your only man!
 GrassCycling is the natural recycling of grass by leaving grass clippings on the lawn when mowing. Once on the ground the grass clippings, which contain 80-85% water, decompose quickly returning valuable nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil. There is more to GrassCycling than just leaving the clippings on the lawn and can involve thatching, aerating, cutting, watering and fertilising. Leaving cuttings on your lawn all season long provides the same level of nutrients as one application of fertiliser a year.
What are the Benefits of Grasscycling?
Save money: GrassCycling replaces up to a third of your fertiliser needs. It also saves space in your bins, reducing disposal costs.
Save Time: Even though you might mow more often, you spend less time raking, sweeping, bagging, and hauling cuttings, saving you time to enjoy the Summer.
Enjoy a healthier lawn: The valuable nutrients released through GrassCycling make lawns greener, encourage healthier grass, and enhance soil microbial activity making it softer and more drought resistant (as if we have this problem in Ireland!).
Help the Environment: This simple change in lawn management can significantly reduce the amount of materials going to landfill, conserving energy and reducing greenhouse gases..
Bottom line - Grasscycling is easy and it works. For more information CLICK HERE:
To learn more about a Grasscycling Pilot Study in Killorglin in 2010 CLICK HERE:
 Sweet Vegetables on the Barbie!
2 red + 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and skins cut into bite size pieces
2 medium red onions, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
3-4 tablespoons chilli oil
Place vegetables in a roasting tray (tinfoil or perforated tray)
Add the oil and honey and mix through all the vegetables.
Place the tray on the BBQ over direct heat. And after a few minutes stir the vegetables.
Move tray from hot coals to indirect heat , cook for 10-15 minutes. Turn halfway through.
Close the lid on the BBQ for an oven effect and it will enhance the smokey flavour.
Alternatively:
Place vegetables on wooden pre-soaked skewers and brush with olive oil.
Put vegetable skewers onto oiled BBQ grill and cook turning frequently for 10 minutes.
YUM!
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Fairyhou
