Out the back of the Cobargo Co-op on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday mornings you’ll find a lively crew of volunteers running the Triangle Tool Library. If you haven’t visited yet – now is the perfect time to do it.

With gardens overflowing and benchtops stacked with zucchinis, tomatoes and stone fruit, the Tool Library and its ‘Food Tool Library’ subgroup, is a brilliant resource for turning seasonal abundance into something delicious.

Membership of the Tool Library gives you access to a wide range of foodprocessing and preserving equipment designed to help you make the most of the summer glut. Think electric Vacola water baths for bottling tomatoes and stone fruit, passata machines for taming buckets of cherry tomatoes, dehydrators for zucchini chips, grain mills, sausage-making gear, fruit presses, juicers, spit roasts and more. You can browse the full inventory on the website (triangletoollibrary.org.au – use the ‘Kitchen and Dining’ filter).

But our vision goes far beyond equipment. It’s about neighbours sharing harvests, swapping skills and building a community that’s confident and capable of feeding itself. We know that our backyards can grow a range of produce and with a little knowledge and access to quality equipment, people can turn that abundance into year-round food security. Reducing food miles, packaging and waste is simply a bonus.

Email us at thefoodtoollibrary@gmail.com if you’d like to stay in the loop, join our mailing list or become involved.

Enjoy turning your glut into goodness with this delicious recipe.

Ingredients

340 g zucchini, grated
4 eggs
250 g butter or oil
½ tsp bicarb and ½ tsp baking powder
70 g cocoa
200 g good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
300 g sugar
1 cup almond meal
1 cup flour or gluten-free flour
Optional – walnuts and/or cinnamon

Method

Set oven to 180 ºC and grease and/or line a cake or loaf tin
Grate zucchini. Use soft butter or melt butter a little to make mixing easier.
Mix in sugar, eggs, grated zucchini and coarsely chopped chocolate (and walnuts if using). Then mix in all dry ingredients and pour into your prepared tin.
Bake at 180 ºC until set in centre.

Let it cool before eating … mmmm.

Heather Anderson and Thea Constantarids