Toby’s Estate supports Chippo community garden

New lime tree Mulch from reused sawdust from local craft workshop + coffee husks   Reused coffee sacks in timber pallet garden On Thursday this week about ten folk from Toby’s Estate coffee gardened with me while we planted out some herbs and fruit trees they’d purchased from a list I gave them. And today a new gardener and arrival to Chippo, Anna, watered the new plants, introduced herself to some Toby’s folk and will join them in maintaining these and... Read More

Eating fish caught sustainably

I recommend a new phone App that keeps you up to date with fish that are, and are not, caught sustainably.   Called, Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide, it’s very helpful in a restaurant or cafe or fish shop if you’re unsure what to buy.   It lists the fish and marine critters sold here and can list them in order of sustainability if you wish.   I haven’t bought Orange Roughy and other obviously threatened species for years but now, sadly,... Read More

A murmuration of starlings

Interested in good communication? Me, too. But who of we humans can match this:  get ready for one beautiful vid:     www.wired.com…       Mmmmm  Read More

Of black sapote, bandicoots and the North Head Nursery

John, Black Sapote (donated by Antoinette), Antoinette, Paul This Friday we planted two Black Sapote – Bernicker  -  given as a gift to our road gardens by Antoinette and purchased by her from Daley’s Fruit Nursery; their web page says of this fruit tree: Black Sapote – Bernicker This Chocolate Pudding fruit variety has proved very popular in Australia. The near spherical fruit is medium to large with only 1 or 2 seeds. Superb eating quality and prolific producer. Not... Read More

Hard to believe

See if you can put these two things together. First, have a look at the photo of the Pilliga Scrub. Pilliga Scrub It’s the largest continuous remnant of semi-arid woodland in temperate New South Wales and contains many threatened animal and plant species such as the Pilliga Mouse, Black-striped Wallaby and South-eastern Long-eared Bat. Now, take a look at this map of 500 wells, to be dug 500 metres apart across untouched thousands of hectares of it, all joined by pipes to... 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: www.facebook.com… , but if you go on Facebook and just look up for SUSTAINABLE CHIPPENDALE , you will see us and... Read More

Some riches from the day

I’m staying at Varuna House, Katoomba, the writer’s retreat.  It’s the house once owned and lived in by Eleanor Dark and her husband, Eric.  Painted yellow, facing north, set amidst fruit trees and native plants, its a big yellow grin of a place, full of heart, spirit and truly reflecting the courage and independent lives of Eleanor and Eric. And I’ve just got some riches in this heavy fog day with the rain coming down. Liz, one of the folk there who... Read More

Beaut doco on waste solutions – free screening

WASTE NOT you are invited………final pdf At 4 pm, 7 April Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP will launch the 26 minute documentary, Waste not, produced by the Total Environment Centre. The screening is free, at NSW Parliament House, Macquarie Street. The flier and form above includes this description of the doco: What keeps a 21st Century metropolis like Sydney clean and sparkling? Even as we hover on the brink of a monumental ecocatastrophe, an army of truck drivers, scientists,... Read More

Cat kills ringtail possum today

Today, Saturday, about 830 am, Brian, from two doors down, rang my front door bell and in his hands was a ringtail possum. “My cat’s bitten it and it needs a vet but I’ve got to go to work,” he said, very upset. I rang WIRES but it was too early for them and the recorded message said I could take it to a vet most of whom cared for injured native animals free of charge – something I hadn’t known about.  The message advised to put the possum... Read More

Some native stingless bee tips

Here are some tips for those wishing to keep native stingless bees.  Most of what follows is directly from an email sent to me by a proud new native bee owner, Lynda and I’m grateful for Lynda agreeing to publish this information. What to wear when splitting the hive: Don’t wear dark colours as they tend to attract an agressive response from the bees when splitting. Native stingless bees are NOT the commercial, introduced ones which do sting: Australia has over... Read More