The accidents in the street that sustain us

First the restive, urgent, surprising rain this morning as first light fumbled it’s way here, then, later in the day, this lovely email from a Chippo gardener, Paul: ” I want to give names for the compost bins…. Maybe pull name sugestions from a hat? My 1st proposal is Thomas (the bin thats had the highest temp) after Thomas the tank engine because it’s always steaming away….. “ The accidents of the street – such as this – are rich... Read More

Can you put plastic bags in compost?

Not ordinary plastic but some  - that is, SOME, only.  (I’ve used some bags which do not decay despite their labelling assertions.) But. Council officer, Helen Bradley said this to me: ” . . . biodegradable bags do take longer and start by breaking down into pieces and breakdown over a period of time. If they can empty the bag and then just tear it up a bit it will break down quicker. As long as there’s not massive quantities of the bags going into the compost... Read More

65 Degree Compost

Free limes in Peace Park Someone put a box of free limes on the espalier fence in Peace Park.  Thanks. We put some mulch in the potato sacks L to R: Xavier, Rachel, Karlie One of the street compost bins today measured 65 degrees (Rose on corner Rose, Myrtle, south side).  Amazing. We were slack today and knocked off early.  Xavier brought some cumquat and orange marmalade he’d made from street tree harvesting and we had it with morning tea. We took two wheelbarrows of... Read More

Compost bin temperatures

Nathan has made a graph including the latest temperatures in the compost bins in Peace Park, Myrtlle and Rose Streets. Thanks to Nathan, Michael Temperatures in the compost bins – September 2010  Read More

Original Bokashi recipe

To avoid the cost of buying commercial mixes for a Bokashi kitchen composter use this original recipe and make it at home: Original Recipe Bokashi Mix (from Stephen Willis) Dry ingredients (Choose A or B) Preparation A 10 litres rice bran or wheat bran 5 litres fish meal or bone meal or chicken manure 5 litres seed remains after oil extraction (canola, soya, sunflower, sesame or linseed) Preparation B 10 litres rice bran or wheat bran 10 litres fallen leaves or pine needles... Read More

Gardening and compost trial breaking myths

It’s over two years since we’ve been gardening and growing food in the streets and composting there. The compost trial results in Peace Park will be compiled by early 2012. So far the gardening and composting has broken some myths and created valuable new data. Here are some interesting facts: several people come here from nearby suburbs of Pyrmont, Ultimo, Darlington and Glebe to use our compost bins and to garden or to take the fruit and veggies because they are... Read More

Road garden composting progress

This is just a brief report on progress of one part of our community gardening here: public composting. It’s also a thanks to Sydney City Council, it’s General Manager, Monica Barone, Councillors Harris and McInerney, and waste education coordinator officer, Michael Neville, and other staff and councillors; thanks for  your support and vision which is a real confidence booster for us all here.  Together I think we’re doing something positive that could not... Read More