Blog
Our blog features a variety of gardening and sustainablity articles on topics such as soil biology, composting, grafting, pruning, water-saving and irrigation clean energy, waste and biodiversity. Plus we regularly post recipes to help you make the most of the ‘seasonal glut’ and tips on how to live in a more sustainable way.
World Environment Day: “Let’s get active, not anxious”
June 5 was World Environment Day. This year's theme is REIMAGINE. RECREATE. RESTORE. It also marked the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. ‘This is our moment. We cannot turn back time. But we can grow trees, green our cities, rewild our gardens, change...
Crowns – rhubarb, strawberry, asparagus and horseradish
Some fruit and vegetables are grown from crowns and these require careful planting. A crown is defined as a part of a plant where stem and roots meet. Examples are rhubarb, strawberries, asparagus and horseradish. For rhubarb and strawberries, it is important that the...
The role of urban agriculture in a Banyule food strategy
In a previous newsletter (March 13, 2021), I have written about the importance of a food strategy for Banyule. A Banyule food strategy would address issues such as the climate emergency, a secure supply of nutritious food for all residents, regardless of income and...
Good news about single use plastics
The blight of plastic pollution is a frequent reminder of our throw-away convenience culture. But in Victoria at least, the end is near for the pesky large and small single-use plastic items. From February 2023, the state government is banning from sale or supply...
Spending Green for Covid Recovery
With governments worldwide spending significant money to assist their economies recover from economic downturn due to the onset of the pandemic, now is an excellent time for major investment in environmentally sound projects. According to Oxford's UN-backed research,...
Quick composting of autumn leaves
Nature is currently providing us with an abundance of raw nutrients for next season’s garden in the form of leaves and grass clippings, both excellent ingredients for composting. Deep rooted trees pull trace minerals from deep in the soil and deposit them in their...
Hints for pressing and curing olives
Suzy Sharpe, who designed and manages the Sustainable Macleod website, phoned me the other day with a question about olives that I could not answer. I then phoned David Strutt who has a wonderful olive grove at Arthurs Creek, and from whom Sustainable Macleod buys...
Jagajaga Community Volunteer Awards
Congratulations to Terry Cass, Patty Boxhall and Carol Wall who have received recognition in the Jagajaga Community Volunteer Awards for their hard work and extensive contribution to Sustainable Macleod. The awards were presented by Kate Thwaites, MP for Jagajaga, at...
Kulin nation plant use: a free downloadable resource for our area
I’m reading Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, a book I’ve been meaning to read for ages. It’s a fascinating read in which Pascoe says that Indigenous Australians were not only hunter-gatherers. He talks about Aboriginal agricultural practices, including the widespread...
Methane-eating bacteria could help curb greenhouse gases
Trees are the Earth’s lungs – it’s well understood they drawdown and lock up vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But emerging research is showing trees can also emit methane, and it’s currently unknown just how much.
A community battery for Macleod?
Sustainable Macleod and Banyule Clean Energy Group are actively looking at the feasibility of community batteries in Banyule. The building of a large battery storage by Tesla in Hornsdale, SA, brought large-scale battery storage to public attention. The battery has...
How to deal with rats while protecting owls and other birds of prey
Like lots of others, I’ve got more rats in my backyard than I’ve ever seen. And I really hate them, and as ridiculous as it sounds I’m actually scared of them. The growing conditions have created a feast of acorns on the huge oak tree and lots of tasty fruit and...
How to reduce the height of fruit trees
At the community garden, we want to bring down the height of our fruit trees so that none of us need climb a ladder to pick the fruit. Gone are the days of leaving some for the birds, as we now need to remove any fruit that could be infected with Queensland Fruit Fly....
Broad bean bonanza!
Top hints for growing broad beans add potash to soil plant beans 5cm deep support plants to prevent stem breakage remove tips to prevent black fly Broad beans are a wonderful crop to grow for 4 reasons. They are a delicious and nutritious food, they add nitrogen to...
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Become a member and get access to the community garden, the tool library and our seed library. We welcome all members of the community and have regular events and workshops to enjoy.