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

The People’s Supermarket

The People’s Supermarket In England there’s a supermarket called, The People’s Supermarket. The supermarket was brought to my attention by someone I met at one of the events to promote my new book, Sustainable Food, Christine, who also sent me some photos of it and they’re above and below. Christine wrote: “I had a great time at the People’s Supermarket when I visited it in August this year. I got a tour of the whole premises and met some... Read More

New York Times – record droughts now ‘normal’

New York Times – record breaking droughts ‘normal’ from now on; will seem ‘wet’ compared to droughts  that lie ahead in the next decades. www.nytimes.com… ‘It is increasingly clear that we already live in the era of human-induced climate change, with unprecedented weather and climate extremes . . .  Read More

Smaller Aussie bees pollinate more than introduced bees

A friend, Maryanne, has let me know that Aussie native bees are more effective at pollinating than the feral introduced bees used mostly for the commercial honey market, and says:   ‘www.aussiebee.com… The main thing they mention is the smaller size (Presumably can get inside smaller spaces). Some native species , though not the one you have, can also do a different type of pollination called buzz pollination in which they release pollen by effectively shaking... Read More

Carriageworks Kitchen Garden stall at Eveleigh a buzz

Alice, Vera, Stef and Bob Holy stalls Batman.  That was fun. Yesterday Alice, Vera, Stef and I met so many terrific supportive and energy-full folk yesterday at our community kitchen garden stall at Everleigh Markets. Truly, Earth can give a bloke a good day every now and then and the black dog can be locked up in its kennel. Forty-eight signatures for the Sustainable Communities Plan. Several copies taken away by designers, community networkers . . . we’re on a roll. Citizens... Read More

And so . . . to chestnuts

A friend, Stephanie, has alerted me to a source of fairly local (near Canberra) chestnuts, and will roast some at afternoon tea this Saturday.  They’re ordered on the Net from Tweenhills Chestnuts:  www.tweenhillschestnuts.com….au  Fresh chestnuts are available direct from the farm duringApril and May.  Their website says: ‘John and Heather Kane established Tweenhills Chestnuts in 1997. The orchard comprises 1,700 grafted trees on 10 ha. Tweenhills is... Read More

Fejoia is fab

Banana and fejoia I’ve really developed a taste for fejoia; the one I photographed here I bought from Harris Farm, Broadway. The fejoia is the best performing of our street fruit trees; hardy, doesn’t need watering, easy to espalier, and, best of all, not one has been stolen. Try one – you may become a fejoia lover, too; it was a very strange taste the first time, part kiwi fruit, part something entirely new. To eat; cut in half, take a spoon and eat raw... Read More

The Sustainable Communities Plan is on the web

Sydney City Council asked me to make a plan to make the whole suburb of Chippendale sustainable. It’s not just a plan for this suburb; it can be used to make any suburb sustainable – it’s free and you’re welcome to put it to work where you are. Now the Plan can be read on mobiles, kindles and is very easy to search, use and tweet.  Get it here: theplan.sustainablehouse.com… Enjoy. You can see some of the folks who support the Plan. Please sign the... Read More

Another day, another composter

Got home tonight to find this lovely email:   Hi Michael, I’ve seen you today giving a presentation to Canon employees. It was a very good one and it certainly made people think about the energy and water being wasted in our everyday lives. Many thanks! I would like to let you know my thoughts on coffee grounds composting. Many small, local cafes do not produce enough coffee grounds to make farmers interested in reusing them (as in your example) so they need to pay... Read More

Sale at our best gardening bookshop

Imagine a bookshop you can walk to where the staff know all the writers and have most of the books you have heard of and much more you never have – all about gardening, plants and Earth’s growing world.   I reckon it’s Australia’s best specialist gardening bookshop and it’s just off Glebe Pt Road, Glebe.   I’ve received this promo from Gil, the owner, for their annual sale: We open the doors at 10.00am SATURDAY 28... Read More