About 10 or more of us gardened today; some chefs from a well-known restaurant, some new gardeners, some folk from Total Environment Centre interested in our gardens, some reliables who have been coming for weeks now.  We:

- took compost from several bins, turned them with augers, measured the temperatures and put in some coffee husks from Toby’s Estate

- planted a Meyer Lemon tree which we then espaliered to make it unattractive to thieves in its early months and to set it up to get good sunlight and take up less space, and beside it put in a small plant to attract small birds (Grevillea John Evans) which might also eat insects off the fruit tree, and a couple of Herb Robert plants; to allocate good soil to the fruit tree which has to compete with a nearby mature tree we planted it in a raised bed garden and for the roadside edge of the garden we used bricks, sandstone to lift up the garden bed about 150 mm or more

- dug up some timber edging along the road verges to better catch rainwater from the footpaths and direct it below ground so plants will be watered even if the bed above is compacted from people walking on it; the timber edging will be burnt to make a warming fire and to make ash for the compost bins

- showed how to start a potato pile and made two potato sack gardens

Helen from Sydney City Council worked with us today and as always that’s terrific to share the work and knowledge.  Helen applied some eucalyptus to the edges of the bins with immediate success and her notes on that initiative are:

We inspected the native stingless bee hive located on the top of my chookhouse; for details of these bees and the hive:  http://www.sugarbag.net/

If you’ld like to join us at my place on Monday 20 September at 10 am to learn how to split a bee hive ie make the hive into two hives then please let me know with a comment on the blog here of  4 September so I may book you in – bring a camera if you wish:  http://archive.sustainablehouse.com.au/wp-admin/post.php?post=604&action=edit

It will be over in less than 30 minutes.  (We may follow with a primitive ritual yet to be devised eg smearing of sugarbag honey on the eyelids and swaying while chanting . . . who knows; research is underway about how to honour bees and their productivity.)

Be beaut to see some new faces when we garden again next Friday from 9 to 12.

If you gardened today and have some feedback and comments to put here please submit them so I may publish them,

See you, Michael