Costa’s Garden Odyssey – Backyard Revolution

Watch Introductory Video -

http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/costa/listings/detail/i/1/article/6077/The-Revolution-Philosophy

Edible, Organic Gardening, Sustainability Workshop 17 Feb Paddington, Sydney

Edible & Organic Gardening, Sustainability Workshop

Date/Time: 17th Feb 2010 6:00pm-8:00pm
Location: Paddington Community Garden, Trumper Park, Paddington.
More information: Melissa Allen, Environmental Education Officer, 9391 7095.

Come along to this free, interactive workshop and learn how to grow your own edible organic garden in the space you have, while being inspired by the fruits of the labour of Woollahra’s very own community gardeners.

Suitable for home owners and renters, in houses or apartments.
Growing your own edible organic garden is in reach whether you have a large backyard, or only a tiny balcony.

Topics covered will include:
• what is ‘organic’ and why it is important,
• soil preparation, and
• how to set up a no dig fruit and vegetable garden,
in whatever space you have.

The workshop will be held in Woollahra’s recently established Paddington Community Garden, Trumper Park (access via Quarry Street). The garden site is located at the rear of the Palms Tennis Courts, adjacent to Council Nursery and Paddington Bowls Club.

This is a great opportunity to connect with others in the community, get outdoors, be inspired by other local projects, and gain skills and ideas for your own home.

Light refreshments will be provided and bookings are essential, as places are limited.

For more information call Melissa Allen on 9391 7095

http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/events/events_list/free/edible_-and-_organic_gardening,_sustainability_workshop

CarriageWorks’ Kitchen Garden Project – 6 FEB 1pm – 4pm

It’s back! CarriageWorks presents the second stage of our immensely popular Kitchen Garden Project. CarriageWorks’ Kitchen Garden Project is a series of free community activities and workshops based on the notion of creative sustainability.

SATURDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 1pm – 4pm
CarriageWorks’ Kitchen Garden Project: Stage 2
Launch Expo

Info session, guest speakers and information stalls & demonstrations

Engage with some of Sydney’s most passionate sustainability experts, gardeners and eco business leaders.

Speakers Include:
Michael Mobbs (sustainability expert, author and coach). Aaron Sorensen (community and school garden catalyst and educator). Robyn Williamson (urban horticulturist and permaculture designer). Annie Walker (Community Gardens Coordinator. City of Sydney).

Venue
CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
Train: Redfern or Macdonaldtown
More info: www.carriageworks.com.au or 8571 9099

Edible Schoolyard Set to Spring to Life in Brooklyn

Edible Schoolyard Set to Spring to Life in Brooklyn
by Sarah Parsons, 02/01/10

Teaching city kids about sustainable farming can be tricky. After all, in a bustling metropolis like New York, it’s easy to see why some youngsters think apples originate in bins at their local bodega. Famed foodie Alice Waters and her Chez Panisse Foundation aim to remedy that lack of knowledge with the Edible Schoolyard initiative, a program that builds gardens right on school properties. The latest Edible Schoolyard will be built at PS. 216, an elementary school located in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood. (USA)

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/01/brooklyn-edible-schoolyard/

Fourth Month of our Community Garden – Harvest Celebration Dinner

To celebrate Midsummer Harvest, our wonderful Cooking Team produced a sumptuous feast of Pasta with Pesto Sauce made from the current bumper crop of Basil in the garden, accompanied by the freshest of garden salads. All the vegetables and greens were freshly picked from our bounteous garden plots, just metres away from the dining table.

Members enjoyed the company of two distinguished guests representing both the garden and Woollahra Council. Councillor Peter Cavanagh (Deputy Mayor) and noted garden writer Holly Kerr Forsyth joined in the festivities to celebrate the transformation of a vacant parcel of weed-infested land into a productive, sustainable community garden and happy social hub.

Gardeners young and old came together in a festive spirit to share the delicious fruits of our labour and recount stories and lessons learned from the summer growing season. We marvelled at how, in just a few short months, through shared effort, trial and error, and much laughter, this once neglected piece of urban landscape has been magically re-imagined as a thriving food garden where people of all ages and all walks of life have come together to experience the joys of community gardening.

A highlight of the afternoon was a talk on Seed Saving, presented to garden members by Robyn Williamson, urban horticulturist and permaculture designer.

Saving seeds from the best plants in your garden is a wonderful way to propagate those plants that are best adapted to local conditions, for free.

Seed saving guarantees that the most productive plants will grow in your garden. It’s a much better alternative to commercially available seed stock which often originates in other states or countries, from vastly different growing conditions. By collecting your best seeds and storing them, you’ll have a ready supply of seeds on hand in preparation for the next growing season, as well as extra seeds to exchange with other gardeners for different varieties.

Seeds from plants like parsley, celery, dill, parsnips and carrots can be found in the flowering umbels at the top of the stems, shaped like an upside down umbrella. These can be harvested when the flower heads are mature and used immediately, or stored in clearly marked paper bags and hung up to dry until ready for use. All organic matter except for the seeds needs to be removed eg. through winnowing. For long term storage, seeds must be completely dry and stored in small, air tight containers in a cool, dry place. The less air remaining in your storage containers the better, so try to fill them up to the top with seeds. Silica gel capsules can be used to help absorb any moisture, since this can produce fungal problems.

Seeds from the daisy family like dandelion and lettuce come surrounded by a white winged helicopter seed pod, which allows the seeds to float on the breeze and to corkscrew their way into the soil once they’ve landed. These seeds can be collected and placed in a large bag, allowing the seeds to fall to the bottom, after which they can be sieved prior to storage. The dried stalks of lettuce seed heads can be dried, then broken into smaller sticks and planted directly into the ground.

Wet seeds from tomatoes, cucumber, pumpkin and melons can be scoped out into a jar of water. Shake this mixture and allow it to settle for 2 or 3 days before pouring off the water and spreading the seeds out on a layer of newspaper to dry. This sheet of newspaper can then be placed directly onto the ground where you wish the seeds to sprout, or the dried seeds can be collected for storage.

It is said that 75% of the world’s seed biodiversity has been lost over the past 100 years. Saving seeds from your best plants is one way of maintaining viable plant varieties which will thrive in your local area.

When we plant seeds collected from our most successful plants, these seeds have already been adapting to local conditions (including the effects of Climate Change) while they were in the ground, ensuring that successive crops from that particular seed stock are continually adapting to the specific conditions in our own garden. This means that plants are happier and healthier, have greater pest resistance, produce a greater harvest, require less supplementary watering and are much easier to grow. The art of Seed Saving was simply common sense for our ancestors, and remains a very worthwhile practice for contemporary gardeners.

In our own garden, the crops that have survived especially well this summer in the severe heat conditions, like Basil, will be excellent candidates for our first collection of Summer Season Seeds.

Recommended Reading: Seed to Seed: Food Gardens in Schools – available through Seed Savers at http://www.seedsavers.net/resources/our-book-seed-seed-food-gardens-schools

The surprising benefits from any garden are the lessons learned through failure. Gardening is not difficult when we know the right plants to grow for our specific conditions. This season we’ve learned which species can withstand the blazing sun, hazy humidity and gale force winds of the summer storms which regularly march across the city.

And we’ve learned which varieties to plant either earlier or later in the season, and which plants not to waste our time planting at all next summer. By planting a variety of trees, flowers, vegetable and herbs, we learn through experimentation what will grow best.

The lasting legacy of any community garden is the spirit of comradeship which supports experimentation without fear of failure and encourages trial and error without judgment – because failure itself can turn to victory, through the valuable lessons learned that save us time and resources during the next growing season. Happy plants mean happy gardeners!

As a testament to the vision of the garden’s founders, in a few short months we’ve already begun to see all of our objectives realized. This abundant green space, full of happy people, has become a Meeting Place, a Growing Place, A Learning Place, A Healthy Place, and a Beautiful Place.

Overheard during the Harvest Celebration Dinner –
“This garden sustains me, even when I’m away from it…”

Happy Australia Day!
Happy gardening!

Permaculture – Suburban lawn replaced with garden

Suburban Renewal – One Backyard at a Time

A quarter-acre permaculture project transforming a typical suburban lot. Lawn and driveway were replaced with fruit and nut trees, vegetables and native habitat.

Lemongrass and Mint Tea

Lemongrass and Mint Tea

Ingredients (serves 3)

• 2 lemongrass stems, bruised, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
• 2 mint sprigs, plus extra to serve
• Honey, to serve

Method

1. Place the lemongrass and mint in a teapot and pour over boiling water.
2. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
3. When ready to serve, strain the tea into glasses. Add an extra lemongrass stem as a stirrer and an extra mint sprig to each glass.
4. Sweeten to taste with honey.

From www.taste.com.au

Powdery Mildew – Organic Remedies

Powdery Mildew

Appearance:

Older leaves are covered (especially on the upper surface) with white powdery fur, young growth that is affected can turn yellow and die. More frequent in summer and autumn. Loves humid nights after warm days.

Loves most plants, especially pumpkin, cucumber, peas, roses, grapes, pawpaws, strawberries & apples.

• Don’t water the leaves late in the afternoon
• Pick up any fallen leaves and dispose of… don’t compost!!!!
• You don’t overcrowd your plants, Powdery Mildew loves no air circulation
• Don’t overfeed plants with high nitrogen fertilisers… it’s just bad news!
• Make up a milk mix (about 1 parts full cream to 10 parts water) and spray it on affected plants. It won’t prevent it but it will knock it right back!
• Chamomile tea works a treat, just spray it on.

Try this great Baking Soda spray –
To one bucket of water add 7 teaspoons (20 grams) of bicarbonate of soda and sufficient laundry soap to make a rich lather. Stir the mixture to dissolve the bicarbonate of soda powder. Spray both sides of the affected leaves. (Or just cut down the amounts for a small spray bottle of mixture.)

Pest Control – Fruit Fly and Caterpillars

Fruit Fly Control

Remove all infected fruit from the garden. Do not compost.

Garlic/Chilli Spray for fruit fly
Measurements are approximate and you can vary the amounts.
5 cloves garlic (you can substitute chilli powder or paste)
10 chillies
1 onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 litre water

Chop all roughly and boil up.
Strain and put into spray bottle.
You need to spray twice a week and after rain.
Store away from children and protect yourself so that the mixture does not come into contact with skin or eyes.

Molasses spray for caterpillars

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of molasses into 1 litre of warm water. Add 1 teaspoon of biodegradable liquid soap.

Another good website is: www.annettemcfarlane.com

Corn, Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Corn, Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 cups fresh corn, cooked and cooled
3 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced red onion (optional)

Preparation

For dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and cilantro. Set aside.

For salad: In a large bowl, combine corn, tomatoes and cucumber (and optional red onion).

Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Serves 5.

A light, refreshing side dish for summer BBQs.