Becky

I'm waiting for a really amusing response to this graffiti - which has been up there on a wall on Montague Road all week. Council are dragging their heels with this one. They've painted over far less offensive and much more thought provoking stuff a lot quicker.

Can't Eat Coal, Can't Drink Gas

It's estimated that 1100 or 1200 people attended the Food Security Forum yesterday in Brisbane. It was a strange mix of people to say the least. There were Greenies and ultra-conservatives, farmers and conservationists, country folk and city folk.... all on the same side. (As one politician put it, if Bob Katter, Bob Brown and Bob Irwin are all singing from the same prayer book there must be something wrong!) There was a big meeting at the Convention Centre and then we marched to the city for a rally.

Unfortunately, Coal Seam Gas isn't an issue in the upcoming Queensland State election because neither of the two main parties in the race can see anything wrong with it.

A Rush and A Push and The Land is Ours

This is a picture of one of my favourite parts of Australia, in the Scenic Rim on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. This area of stunning natural beauty and prime farming land is under threat, along with vast areas of both Queesland and New South Wales..

It's all because of Coal Seam Gas. It is one of the most frightening things that is happening in Australia today. This is because the extraction of coal seam gas involves injecting chemicals into the ground that can possibly contaminate our water supply forever -  not only for farmland but our drinking water as well. The Scenic Rim isn't the only area affected. There are plans for up to 40 000 wells in Queensland across the state.

"Lock The Gate" is an alliance which allows farmers to band together and say "no" to mining companies who offer giant amounts of money to individual farmers for their land. As a consequence of the mess and noise that they make, the surrounding farmland becomes virtually worthless. Most landowners in the area where I took this photo have one on their gate.

Today I'm heading down to the Food Security Forum to learn more and show my concern. Tomorrow I'll post a picture from the event.

If you want to know more, the ABC have a good website here.

What I like about 'tu'.

One of the things I love about growing turmeric in Brisbane is that for several months of the year it hides away. The only sign it's there is when you dig underground and find the orange root which looks a bit like ginger or galangal and is excellent grated on just about anything. Then, in spring, tiny green spears poke through the soil for what seems like only a moment before they shoot upwards and unfurl these huge thick leaves. After a season or two you start getting the flowers which, as you can see, are really beautiful. But the BEST thing for me is that they seem to thrive with no attention whatsoever. My kind of plant.

My favourite recipe using turmeric at the moment is Parsi Scrambled Eggs. It's the breakfast of champions. Use the powder in the cooking and then grate the root over the top. Delicious!

P.S. Australians born in Australia tend to pronounce this plant/spice without the 'r' and with the 'tu' and in Tuesday. ie ' Tu-meric'. We all know that this is wrong and that the correct pronunciation is with the 'r' and the 'tur' as in 'turban': Turmeric. Feel free to argue with me but I know I am right.

Anyway to make the title work I've adopted the Aussie pronunciation.