Orange trees in plaza, Seville, Spain

Orange trees in plaza, Seville, Spain A discussion with someone who visited the house here to inspect the design and systems, Jim from Kangaroo Valley, produced some beaut photos Jim had taken in Seville of orange trees in the streets. The one above shows orange trees shading a beautiful space and doing so with simple beauty. Thanks Jim, M  Read More

Shepherd Street raised bed garden

New garden, Shepherd St This is the new raised bed garden Sean, Karlie, John and I built last week after Sean bought or salvaged the mulch, plants, timber borders, and leaky ag pipe and we mixed our compost in with some potting mix and soil. With the left over leaky ag pipe Paul and I were able to lay about 15 metres to catch rainwater from the sidewalk along the units at the top of Myrtle Street and direct it below ground to feed the plants.  Read More

A surprise and a new road garden

Chickweed, Myrtle Street While gardening on Friday I met a stranger who showed me some Chickweed he had picked from the road garden. Until Luke, a chef, told me I was unaware of it or that it was there but now he’s pointed it out it’s as plain as day.  Chickweed is in several places in Myrtle Street.  So I just picked a handfull of it, washed it and put it in a salad.  Chickweed’s fresh little leaves in the mix were noticeable;... 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... Read More

ABC doco on Fran Bodkin

The ABC TV documentary on Fran Bodkin will be broadcast this Sunday 15th August at 1:30 PM on ABC1. This program will then be repeated on ABC1 the following Saturday at 11:30AM & will go online this Monday at   www.abc.net… Fran lives, breathes, talks Australian plants, animals and indigenous history. And Fran has inspired me every single time we’ve spoken.  Her knowledge brings me to silence as I listen and contemplate things right... Read More

  • Michael Mobbs

    Michael is a former Environmental Lawyer who is uniquely placed to consult in four main areas:

    • Sustainability Coach and Speaker,
    • Sustainable Urban Farm Design greening, watering and cooling the cityscape, roads, parks, suburbs,
    • Major Projects Consultant Commercial and Industrial,
    • Residential Sustainability Consultant.
    For permission to re-print any articles or to book Michael for a speaking engagement go to Contacts. Please ensure all quotes from Michael's blog include a reference to sustainablehouse.com....au.