Green Building Council office compost onto our road gardens

Geoff, Green Building Council compost and road verge Today Geoff and I picked up three bags of compost from the Elizabeth Street offices of the Green Building Council.  For info about the Council:   www.gbca.org.au   Two fellows, Toufik Refki and Jeff Oatman were waiting on the footpath with the compost in hessian sacks ready for loading into Geoff’s van.   Loaded up, Geoff and I went straight to the area most in need, the road verge outside the units in... Read More

Port Phillip Composting

Just in: email update from the Port Phillip composting trial: Dawkins Reserve Pilot Status Month 3 ish Dane and I headed down to the compost bins on Sunday to see how they were doing. Bin 3 was in a bad way, so with gloves, buckets and shovels we undertook a bit of a compost intervention: http://localcomposting.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/aerobin-intervention-trying-papercard-instead-of-leaves/ This includes some tips on better working compost. We’ve also been really pleased... Read More

Someone burnt two compost bins last night

Two burnt, melted bins and compost Area cleaned and mulched after bins removed Two burnt, melted compost bins awaiting Council collection     The two bins in Myrtle, near the corner of Rose, were burnt last night.   The fire was so hot the plastic was melted to bits.   James and I cleaned it up and we put the compost around the plants with some new mulch over the top so that compost has gone to a good home.   I just rang Russ and Helen from the... Read More

Vertical garden in an hour at $nil cost

Vertical garden with soil exposed Timber pallet vertical garden with soil in sacks Tafe Outreach students built this couple of vertical gardens in my back yard. It took a couple of hours to do the first one but it had to lie down flat for four weeks while the plants took in the soil. The other one was built and lifted up and the top planting done in about an hour; by containing all the soil in the sacks and cutting a notch in the sacks to insert the plants we greatly speeded up... Read More

Cockroach solution

After some six weeks of applying the dust called Roach Pruf to the Aerobins they are almost cockroach free. The product is sold on line and information on the web page says: ROACH PRUFE® Simply The Best Choice You Can Make For Cockroach and Silverfish Control! Active constituent Ortho Boric Acid Very low toxicity to humans Provides long term residual control in indoor, domestic, industrial and institutional situations More effective than many chemical treatments, makes expensive,... Read More

Cockroach crusade and other journeys

These last six weeks, with help and guidance from Russ Grayson and Helen Bradley of Sydney City Council, we’ve been fertilizing, getting rid of cockroaches, and mulching the gardens here. Russ managed the purchase by Council of the lucerne mulch and the organic fertilizer.  I haven’t seen the fertilizer before and here are the details: Paton Fertilizers Gold Citrus Food, 126 Andrews Road, Penrith NSW 2750  tel 1800 644 753   www.paton.com.au Helen managed the... Read More

New Chippo group supports Sustainable Streets Plan

A new group has been set up to support the City Council’s Sustainable Streets and Community Plan. Called, Sustainable Chippendale, the idea for the group and the moving force behind it are Andrew Jacobs and Thais Nascimento.  They’ve set up a Facebook page and say this is how to find and join the group or obtain information there: - The link is: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_146922418707519 , but if you go on Facebook and just look up for SUSTAINABLE... Read More

Compost works wonders with Council support

Here’s a success story.  At its heart is a partnership between local councils and their communities. The three council ‘Compost Revolution’ Three adjoining Sydney Councils (Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick) combined to share resources and a state government grant, part of which was used for a project called, The Compost Revolution.  Here is a summary of the project by Waverley Council’s Food Waste Reduction Officer, Lauren Michener: “The Compost Revolution was... Read More

Food is the second biggest greenhouse polluter after power stations

This quote from the NSW EPA helps to explain why we’re growing food where we live and work in Chippendale: ‘In Australia, the food supply chain is responsible for approximately 23 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second-highest emissions generating activity after power stations. This includes direct emissions from agriculture, and those attributed to energy, transport, food production, processing and distribution.” NSW EPA www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/love-food/environmental-impacts.aspx  Read More

Chippo Garden & Compost Workshop Wed 23 March

On Wednesday 23 March – next week – Sydney City Council will hold a workshop about composting and gardening in Chippendale. Commencing at 630 and finishing at 8 pm at the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, the workshop will enable each participant to express their ideas and opinions and to offer criticisms and to ask questions. The information from the workshop will be used to develop the Sustainable Streets and Communities Plan being prepared for Chippendale by the... Read More