Paw Paws harvested from Myrtle Street this week

Paw Paw tree with fruit ready for harvesting Using a long, extendable pruner this week we harvested about a dozen green paw paws from the tree on the corner of Myrtle and Pine. Five households have them and three of us have made green paw paw salad (I used the recipe in Stephanie Alexander’s ‘bible’).  With nuts, lime juice, chilli, fish sauce, and more it’s a beaut recipe.  Light, easy and quick to make and fine to the taste. We’ve got another... Read More

Chippo is part of Clean Up Australia Day

A new local to Chippo, Thais, has started a Clean Up Australia Day Chippendale site and would love help on the day and in promoting the event. To visit Thais’ site  and contact to get involved, go to: www.cleanupaustraliaday.org… It’s great to have new blood and ideas – thanks, Thais, May the clean streets be with us, Michael  Read More

How to repel stink bugs from citrus

Auntie Fran, an elder from the Dharawal people (aka Frances Bodkin, author of Encyclopaedia Botanica, etc), walked with me around the gardens here yesterday then emailed me today about the stink bugs on the fingerlime tree: “The Stink beetles on the citrus, one sure way of getting rid of them is to hang an empty plastic bottle in their viciinity.    When the sun shines on the plastic it gives off a vapour that repels the beetles.  (If it does that to StinkBeetles, what... Read More

Trees in the middle of the road

Richards Ave, Surry Hills, Sydney NSW Free air con, walk away -Trees in the road One of Earth’s finest arborists, John Lennon, advised us well with his rhetorical question, “Why don’t we do it in the road?” Trees in the middle of the road provide free air conditioning. Which road would you rather walk in, live in and pay the electricity bills in – a road like Richards Ave, Surry Hills, or the thousands of other roads in our cities which have little... Read More

New painted compost bin – tra la!

New painted compost bin Some frogs are on top of the leaves, some under them - look closely . . . A local artist who doesn’t wish to be named has donated paints and materials and her skills to paint a new Aerobin donated by the manufacturer.  Read More

Food prices and weather extremes

The Sydney Morning Herald’s columnist, Paul Sheehan, has today written a column about food prices and weather extremes; see it here - www.smh.com… Speaking of gardening and food, there’s lots of rain forecast for the next few weeks so it’s a good time to be planting, mulching and composting, Michael  Read More

Nuts n tough things in compost . . . do they go?

Elizabeth, who uses the road garden compost bins, emailed me, asking: Can I put these things in the composting bins? avocado seeds pistachio shells (and other nut shells) coffee grounds mango pips olive pips And, I answered, “Yes, all those can go in.” They take a while longer but they decay. And Council’s Helen Bradley, Senior Project Coordinator , Waste Services, who works with us on the bins every second Friday , said: “Yes as Michael mentioned... Read More

Waste doco that includes Chippo in Flickerfest

The new short film documentary, Waste Not, will have it’s world premier at the Flickerfest in Sydney in January and the programme guide on the festival web page says: ‘Waste Not Australia Directed By Ruth Hessey What keeps a 21st Century metropolis like Sydney clean and sparkling? Even as we hover on the brink of a monumental eco-catastrophe, an army of truck drivers, scientists, environmentalists, gardeners and even a famous chef are working to transform the mountains... Read More

Great road gardening last Friday – then comes the next day

Andres from Ecuador plants a tree: L to R: Xavier, Helen, Beth, Andres, Sarah, Harry, Michael Gardening today was sensational. There were ten of us a-road-gardening on Friday: Xavier (let’s put an “x” first for a change), Helen, Janet (who took this photo), Harry, Beth, Andres, Sarah (who comes all the way from Marrickville and is one hell of a quiet achiever). As Andres is returning home to Ecuador (well, he may get there via who knows where . . . ) we ended... Read More

Some eyesong for the heart

Compost bin with heart n soul A bin to make you smile Some things sing to the heart through our eyes and, after a topsy turvy day as this has been so far, I’ve come to this computer to find something which through my eyes brings a little song to my little heart, that thing which bebops away somewhere. Graham Chalcroft’s work painting our old compost bin is full of life and promise, don’t you think? Good luck to it, and thanks Graham for your work so far.  Next... Read More