When poetry can be enough

Sometimes, by accident when reading, or talking, or listening, I come upon words and ideas, or silence; and then what I see or hear can be enough.  Sufficient.  Sustainable, sustaining. May I offer Will Shakespeare’s 29th sonnet in this sense, and invite you to read it aloud with a song in your heart: When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes When, in disgrace with... Read More

Sleep at last

Sleep is as important as waking. In sleep we make sense of the day, of our life and we restore our body. To see the ravages caused to our body and mind by unhealthy sleep, and to see solutions,  see this article in one of Australia’s leading new publications, The Conversation.  Read More

Jess Miller’s compost facts

Mike Simonds emptying a road garden compost bin in Chippendale Jess Miller is an ideas person who gets local food, composting and gardening going on the ground, the internet and in communities.  In particular, Jess is the founder of the Grow it Local project.  Here are some facts from an email Jess wrote this week to Monica Barone, General Manager of Sydney City Council: “So... Read More

Real food pop up cooking school

Kate Walsh, a Sydney real food seller and promoter, has pop up cooking classes this July. Learn how to make real butter, sausages, tortillas, pickles, ricotta and other foods from the farmers and producers who make them for a living; from Feathers and Bone to Pepe of Pepe’s butter. Information is here.    Read More

More road gardens, from Darebin Council on . . .

  This blog exists for two reasons; to share information I find,  and to hear from you of your doings and thoughts. Here are two thoughts by others. Firstly, the writer who blogs about property on the Sydney Morning Herald, Carolyn Boyd, has written about the pleasures and surprises to be found from her road garden and has mentioned the ecopops I’ve designed in the same... Read More

Bronte sunrise today, Chippendale pollution yesterday

Bronte sunrise, Friday 14 June 2013 Last Friday morning I swam in Bronte pool.  At 19 degrees the pool was clear amidst a clear sky, the light and the moment exactly like the moment Leonard Cohen sings of  . . . ” There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in . . . ” (Anthem). Diving in, there was just silence in my monkey brain and pure sensual... Read More

George Monbiot, words and ideas . . . and passion

George Monbiot – whom I regard as one of Earth’s great journalists and hearts – has written a book about ‘rewilding’.   Look now at this cartoon about rewilding and feel your heart beat in your flesh with hope,   M  Read More

How we save 4 million litres of rain each year for less than $300

Cutting leaky drain to size Each year in Chippendale we save over 4 million litres of water to irrigate our road gardens.  We built the drains for this ourselves at a once-off cost of $300.  The story is here.  Read More

See Josh Byrne’s video about the Fremantle ecopops and his house

Josh Byrne, Michael Mobbs and Mayor Brad Pettit As Josh Byrne, the Western Australia presenter for ABC TV Gardening Australia‘s show, builds his ten star houses in Fremantle he is documenting it and making the plans, costs, data and details available for all to see. In the latest video Josh covers the ecopops as they were being built in Fremantle then takes the viewer to his... Read More

New catering business part of food revolution

A new Sydney catering business, Conscious Catering, is part of the new food revolution.  The founder, Bronwyn Coleman, places her business in the centre of this revolution when she says on her website: “Conscious catering is a boutique catering company, grown from the intention to do what we can to support sustainability and harmlessness.” To get a sense of what’s... Read More