Green goddess salad dressing

recipe: cookieandkate.com This homemade green goddess dressing recipe is so easy to make! It’s creamy, fresh, completely delicious—and a great way to use up your leafy herbs. Recipe yields about 1 ¼ cups dressing; multiply if desired. ingredients 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, preferably full-fat (made with whole milk) 1 cup lightly packed fresh herbs (tender stems [more]

Garden Celebration – 21 October

Happy 11th Birthday to us! In 2011 an enthusiastic group of locals started campaigning for a community garden, which was approved by Leichhardt Municipal Council, and the Mort Bay Community Garden Association was born. Council awarded the association a license to use the land in 2012. Finally, after COVID disrupted our plans to celebrate our [more]

Kale Strudel

2 servings 1 puff pastry300 g Tuscan kale2 onion2 garlic150 g bulghur200 ml chicken stock2 tablespoon olive oil1/2 tsp nigella seedsPepperSaltDried chili Remove hard stalks from Tuscan kale and roughly chop. Dice onion and garlic.Cook bulghur in chicken stock, drain and let cool.Fry onions in olive oil until translucent, add garlic and fry for 1 [more]

Spring/Summer planting plan 2023

Finger lime

Citrus australasica, (the Australian finger lime), is believed to be up to 18 million years old. It’s a thorny under storey shrub or small tree of lowland subtropical rainforest in the coastal border region of Queensland and New South Wales. Read more from the Wikipedia article or from Sustainable Gardening Australia Growing finger limes Finger limes grow well in either the ground or a large [more]

Xmas stall & Raffle

Come along to our annual stall outside the ANZ bank, corner Darling & Mort St Balmain on Saturday 3 December, 9 – 1pm. We have stalls selling PLANTS, our bespoke BEESWAX WRAPS and COTTON POT COVERS. Buy tickets in our annual XMAS RAFFLE with fabulous prizes! A HAMPER bursting with goodies, gifts and vouchers from [more]

Radical Radicchio Salad!

Radicchio is also known as Italian chicory. It has a slightly bitter flavour, which mellows when it’s grilled or roasted. In Italian cuisine it is usually eaten grilled with olive oil, or mixed into dishes such as risotto. I love it in a salad with the sweetness of orange or pear, walnuts and a soft [more]

Pepernoten – Dutch spice biscuits

These bickies were very popular at our recent Open day. Thanks to Michiel and Suuz for the recipe! Ingredients 250g self-raising flour 150g butter, cubed (unsalted) 125g brown sugar 15g spice mix (see below) 2-3 tablespoons of milk Pinch of salt Spice mix secret recipe 8 teaspoons/parts of cinnamon 2 teaspoons/parts of nutmeg 2 teaspoons/parts [more]

Open day, Sat 4 June!

Join us in the garden from 10 – 2pm PLANT stall delicious home made CAKES and savoury treats sausage SIZZLE Beeswax WRAPS (in 3 sizes) made from Northern rivers Ballina Honey beeswax Don’t forget our RAFFLE – with great prizes: Sackville Hotel voucher – Pepperseeds Thai voucher – Franck Provost Hair voucher Food Hamper from [more]

Planting plan Autumn/Winter 2022

Our garden in viral times

Hello fellow gardeners I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy! This is both – my heartfelt wish and a sentence that gained some gravity in recent days. These are uncertain times and as a community group and garden we need to address some serious questions. I’m sorry that this letter is [more]

Tomatillo Salsa

Recipe from www.epicurious.com Makes about 2 cups Total Time 45 min Ingredients 1 kg fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered 1 fresh serrano chile, seeded and chopped 1/2 large white onion, cut into 4 wedges 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup chopped coriander 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice Preparation Coarsely purée tomatillos, [more]

2019 Xmas Raffle – prize winners!

We congratulate all the winners and thank everyone for supporting the work of our garden by buying raffle tickets and donating prizes.   Prize Winners   Persia won the 1st prize, the large hamper basket with champagne, a bottle of wine, a Xmas cake, 2 ceramic mugs, voucher of Art of Bloom florist, AESOP products, [more]

Level 2 Water Restrictions: Watering guide

  The beds with red signage are fallow. They only get watered on working bees to keep the soil alive We aim for watering being done at least twice per week for all planted beds Only water the garden before 10 am or after 4 pm Water the strawberry beds: turn on the distribution tap [more]

Cate: for the love of snow peas

My favourite veggie is – sugar snap or snow pea! I love to munch on them as I go about garden chores. They are great in a stir fry, blanched and thrown into salads or wrapped into Vietnamese rolls. What do you enjoy about being a member of MBCG? I love it when the Birchgrove [more]

Planting Plan – Autumn Winter 2020

Here are our plans for the Autumn and Winter planting, provided water restrictions will be eased and we don’t have to keep some beds fallow.     [more]

Chilli Coriander Jam

Here is Susan Hamilton’s recipe for the lovely jam she brought to the open day. Makes approx. 1.5 litres (6 cups) Ingredients: 8 large tomatoes (approx. 2kg), cored 2/3 cup (160ml) olive oil 10 cloves garlic, peeled 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 10 small fresh red Thai chillis, stems removed 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 [more]

Spring Fair 2019

Join us in the garden Saturday 26 October 10 – 1pm Join us in the Garden for our annual Spring Fair. There’ll be garden demos, potted herbs for sale and a delicious array of homemade goodies – scones & cream tea, sausage sizzle and produce hamper raffle. Bring the family, friends and neighbours! [more]

Kasper: for the love of potato

Kasper Luel My favourite veggie is ___the humble Potato___ And why is that? It may well sound like a cliché but it’s because of its versatility… mashed, roasted, fried or simply boiled. I even used it in ice cream but that’s a secretly guarded recipe J I’m originally from Denmark and new-season potatoes were a culinary highlight [more]

Roasted Pumpkin & Pear Soup

By Kevin Hall Ingredients 1 kg kent or buttercup pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and roughly chopped. 3 pears, cored and chopped. 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped. 1 brown onion, peeled and chopped. 4 tbsp olive oil. 1 tbsp thyme leaves. 1 litre vegetable stock, warmed. 60 gm butter, cubed. Method 1.    Preheat oven to 180 [more]

Pickled Mexican Cucumbers

  Mexican cucumbers are easy to pickle. They stay crunchy, take on the flavours you add to the pickle and turn into bite-size nibbles, ready to go with any cuisine you imagine. Basic pickling recipe Wash the cucumbers. For a litre of pickling brine mix 500 ml white vinegar (or cider vinegar) and 500 ml [more]

Rosella Hibiscus Jam

In Autumn our Rosella Hibiscus is producing flowers and, more important, the red fleshy calyxes in abundance. The flowers are attracting pollinating insects to our garden and the calyxes can be turned into yummy treats for us gardeners. Carefully remove the calyxes from the stems, so the plant can produce more of them. The seed [more]

Family Fun Day 2019

There will be loads of kid’s activities to enjoy in our garden. follow your senses and find all the plants in our Plant Discovery Challenge plant your own micro-garden in a bottle to take home check out how our worms turn your kitchen scraps into beautiful compost create a Mother’s Day present and design your [more]

Pickled Cucumbers

Thanks to Cornersmith for the lovely recipe:   Ingredients 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) Lebanese (short) cucumbers (the smaller, the better)  2 tbsp salt 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) white wine vinegar 220 g (7¾ oz/1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar ½ tsp turmeric 2 small brown onions, thinly sliced 3 tsp brown mustard seeds [more]

Tzaziki

A classic Greek appetizer (meze), a great use of our cucumbers, super simple to make and a beautiful Summer dish! 1 large Lebanese cucumber, unpeeled 500 g plain full-fat Greek yogurt 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil salt and white pepper to taste Grate the cucumber (remove seeds if [more]

Panzanella Salad

Summer-time, sweet beautiful tomatoes and the gorgeous scent of basil in our garden. Hot days and looking for something light for tea? The people in Tuscany invented this great way to turn stale bread into a Summer treat. 1 kg mixed tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces 750 g stale ciabatta or rustic sourdough bread, cut [more]

Mary Ann and the love of beetroot

my favourite veggie in the garden: I guess beetroot is my favourite vegetable because it is so versatile and bright blush purpley red! It can be savoury or sweet (just like me), all parts can be used – try stir frying the leaves, crunchy or silky smooth. And it turns your fingers (and bench tops) pink. [more]

Pumpkin Pie

EASY PUMPKIN PIE By Kevin Hall 2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry. 2 ¼ cups cooked mashed pumpkin Roasted is best. 395 gm can sweetened condensed milk. 2 tbsp cornflour. 2 eggs. ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground nutmeg ½ tsp mixed spice METHOD Heat oven to 180* C. Line a 25cm pie dish with [more]

Beetroot & ginger cake

BEETROOT AND GINGER CAKE – Inspired by Ottolenghi by Mary Ann Grant 1/2 cup (100g) finely chopped candied or crystalized ginger 1 2/3 cups (200g) flour 3/4 cup (150g) sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 large red beets, peeled and grated finely grated zest of one orange 2/3 [more]

Make your fruit & veg last longer

Some great tips we collected from fellow gardeners on how to store your garden bounty and fruit and veg you bought in the shops: Make berries last longer Wash berries in vinegar, dry them thoroughly and store them on a paper towel lining in the fridge. This will reduce the risk of going mouldy – [more]

Planting Plan – Spring Summer 2018/2019

Urban Agriculture Research

Robert McDougall’s Urban Agriculture Research – Plain English Summary Chapter 1 – How productive are urban gardens? 23/7/2018 This document summarises work undertaken by Robert McDougall, PhD student from the University of New England, on urban agriculture in Sydney and the Illawarra. It is intended to be a plain English summary of the first chapter [more]

Sweet Potato Gratin

  One of my favourite recipes is an Ottolenghi one from his original cookbook. When I lived in London I used to go to his restaurant whenever I could, and fell in love with the vibrant vegetable dishes on display in the restaurant window. I’ve cooked this recipe with milk or stock, instead of cream, [more]

Environmental damage

  Mort Bay Community Garden is situated in  a pocket of native garden land featuring a stunningly beautiful array of gum trees, wattles, tea-trees and banksias between Short Street and McKell Street. Our members support the local bush-care group in their efforts to remove invading weeds and to plant native grasses and shrubs. Our common [more]

Kevin & the love of pumpkin

What could be more taste-quenching than a chunk of well-roasted Kent matched to roasted potatoes, onions and boiled mint-flavoured green peas. Roast lamb added if you wish. Mint sauce if you want or maybe gravy. Sounds very traditional, old-fashioned, bygone, I know.  Love it. Then again the pumpkin can be boiled or microwaved or whatever.  [more]

Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Roulade

6 portions 1 kg butternut pumpkin (any pumpkin will do) olive oil 1 pinch of chilli flakes 2 cloves of garlic 60 g whole peeled almonds 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 6 large free-range eggs 80 g Parmesan cheese 60 g plain flour 5 pinches of grated nutmeg 300 g silver beet 100 g crumbly goat’s [more]

Lyonnaise Salad

For 2 portions 250 g thick cut bacon 2 slices of bread, torn into chunks 1 garlic clove 3 tbs sherry or red vine vinegar 1 tbs Dijon mustard 1 tbs chopped tarragon leaves 1 tbs chopped chives 4 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 4 cups torn curly endive, washed [more]

Blanching Endives and Radicchio

Curly endives and radicchio are two crops in the lettuce family with a slightly bitter taste. They are great mixed with other salad leaves or with a sweet honey dressing. Endive leaves get more bitter the longer they are subjected to sunlight, radicchio even changes the colour of it’s leaves from red to green when [more]

Garden Calendar 2018

Stephen & the love of cape gooseberries

Why the cape gooseberry and do we really have them in the garden!? Yes! When I discovered that Julia had planted a Cape Goosebery in the garden I suffered an intense bout of nostalgia. As a child, the house we stayed in for summer holidays at the Gold Coast had a Cape Goosebery growing in [more]

Planting Plan – Autumn & Winter 2018

Squash with cardamom & nigella seeds

Mary Ann Grant (inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi) Ingredients 20g unsalted butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1 large red onion, peeled, halved and cut into 1cm-thick slices (170g) Squash or pumpkin (about 1.2kg), peeled and cut into 3cm chunks 30g pumpkin seeds 1¼ tsp nigella seeds 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander ¼ tsp ground [more]

Slaters

  If you check the soil in our beds you will see them scuttling around: grey, 7 body segments and 14 legs, up to 2 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, curling up into a ball when disturbed: in Australia they are called slaters, they are also known as woodlice, roly-polies, pill bugs and by [more]

The Blue Star Metropolitan Sustainability Awards

The Blue Star Metropolitan Sustainability Awards were hosted by Randwick Council this month at Little Bay in Sydney.  Organised by the Keep NSW Beautiful campaign, it was a day of inspiring speakers, delicious food and a really interesting group of people, councils, parks, community centres and independent agendas. The speakers’ subjects: the Return and Earn – [more]

NYU Student garden visit

NYU students with teacher Jane Elkington On a sunny Monday afternoon in November, a group of students from New York University dropped in to visit our community garden for an hour. They’re here in Sydney for a semester, studying environment and society, and were keen to find out about our approach to veggie gardening, and [more]

Pip & the love of broccoli

To eat or not to eat ….!? Pip Dodd’s favourite colour is green, of course! What is your favourite vegetable? I really love broccoli. Partly because I’m never quite sure whether to pronounce it “brockle-eee” or “brockle-eye”. (You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to….) Also because when you grow it yourself, you never know when you’re [more]

Turkish style Carrot Yogurt Dip

A tasty, refreshing dip inspired by Meyhanee restaurant in Balmain. An ideal accompaniment to your favourite summer beverage. The quantities are not critical, you can make it more carroty or more “yoghurt”, or indeed add your own favourite spice flavours. Ingredients  1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 medium to large carrots peeled and grated 1/4 [more]

Plant propagation: Part 2

Notes from Urban Veggie Gardening Workshop # 4 While most of our vegetables result from planting seeds, there are other ways that plants can be propagated. This is a huge topic so will learn provide a few examples here related to some of the plants we actually grow. Starting from a tuber Sweet potato (Kumera) [more]

Plant propagation: Part 1

Notes from Urban Veggie Gardening Workshop # 4 There is so much magic in a tiny seed. Dormant, still, silent: the seed speaks of an unimaginable potential. One of the most exciting aspects of our work is gardeners is to germinate seeds and generate our own seedlings. Not only is this much more economical than [more]

Fennel {& friends} Risotto

The star is fennel, but it does have very tasty co-stars… I love roasted fennel, and this risotto recipe evolved to incorporate my other roasting favourite – red capsicum.  Then came the addition of homemade preserved lemon, which is always a lovely combo with fennel. Ingredients: 1 brown onion finely chopped 2 cloves garlic 1 [more]

Setting up a Worm Farm

from the Urban Veggie Gardening Workshop, presented by Julie Inhelder A worm farm is a great way to minimise food waste by converting your organic kitchen scraps into fabulous fertiliser for plants and soil. [more]

The Compost System

from the Urban Veggie Gardening Workshop #3 with MJ   Written by Mo McCarthy The successful operation of the MBCG compost system has eliminated our need to purchase commercial soil for the garden. Thanks to everyone who contributes to making our compost system a success. The compost system has three main components as described below: [more]

Herbed Baked Ricotta

Part 1: How to make home made Ricotta If you would like to make your own fresh ricotta, the recipe is here at Not Quite Nigella Part 2: How to make baked Ricotta with herbs Cut a thick slice of ricotta and put it in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Bake for [more]

Curl grub

If you dig the soil in a garden bed, you will probably have discovered curl grubs. They are up to 4 cm long, have 6 legs, are white to cream in colour and have a brown head and a grey end. They curl up to a C shape. Curl grubs are the larvae of a [more]

Improving very clayey soils

Improving clayey soil isn’t an easy task, nor is it quick. It may take several years before your garden starts thriving. Instead of improving your soil, you can build raised beds. Avoid walking on the soil whenever possible so you don’t compact it. Perform an immersion/dispersion test: Drop a 6 mm piece of dry soil [more]

Improving very sandy soils

Very sandy soils are often water repellent. Dry hydrophobic soils can be improved by initially applying a wetting agent. You can use a commercial product, or just soapy water, grey water irrigation also makes soils less water repellent. Another recipe is to dissolve 2 tablespoons of powdered agar agar in 2 cups of hot water [more]

Testing soil drainage

Dig a hole 15 cm square, 30 cm deep. Fill the hole with water and let it drain completely, then fill it with water again. If it takes longer than four hours to drain, drainage is poor. [more]

Testing soil texture

According to it’s composition a soil is classified as ‘sandy’, ‘loamy’ or ‘clayey’. Sandy soil shows great aeration and drainage, dries out quickly, it’s often poor because it doesn’t keep nutrients well and doesn’t break down easily to offer new nutrients Loamy soil shows good balance between aeration and drainage, has good water retention, keeps [more]

What’s good soil made of?

Soil is a heterogeneous mix of water, minerals and anorganic particles (by size) Rocks break down and wash away very slowly, improve drainage and aeration, disturb the growth of root vegetables Sand breaks down very slowly and wash away slowly, improves drainage and aeration Silt breaks down slowly washes away and is blown away by [more]

Soil pollution

Plants take heavy metals like arsenic, lead and cadmium up from the soil and by consuming the vegetables we also consume those pollutants. If we want to establish a garden that can provide us with healthy veggies and herbs, it is important to deal with this risk. Macquarie University’s VegeSafe program is surveying heavy metal [more]

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients 1 tablespoon butter 1⁄2 cup sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1 cup mashed pumpkin (cold) / 750grams Steam until cooked but still firm. Place in warm oven to dry out. 2 cups self-raising flour Directions Beat together butter, sugar and salt with electric mixer. Add egg, then pumpkin and stir in the flour until just combined. Turn on to [more]

Stinkhorn

Phallus rubicundus is the name of this odd looking mushroom in the family of stinkhorns. It’s up to 20 cm long fruit bodies emerge and grow within few hours on warm and moist Spring or Autumn days. Organic matter and mulch offer them great growing conditions. They topple over and decay within a day or [more]

Transplanting Seedlings

If plants are started in a seedbed, they need to be singled out after 3 to 4 weeks. We do this, so the individual plant gets more soil to grow it’s roots in and to reduce competition. The seedlings should show at least 4 adult leaves and should be 4 to 5 cm high before [more]

Carrots

Botanical name: Daucus Carota subs. sativus Description: There is evidence of carrots been a vegetable already 5000 years ago in what is today’s Afghanistan. The original cultivated plant had a purple root, orange varieties first appeared in Europe in the 1700’s. The 20 to 30 cm long roots range from orange, yellow, purple to white [more]

Spanakopita

Spanakopita Margaret Vickers This recipe is based on one provided by Stephanie Alexander. 1 finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 spring onions finely chopped 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint 2 tablespoons chopped parsley freshly grated nutmeg 500 gm washed and chopped silverbeet leaves (if you use some Malabar spinach, cooking and squeeze it [more]

Planting Plan – Autumn & Winter 2017

Here’s our planting plan for Autumn and Winter 2017: [more]

hey presto – PESTO!

by Pip Dodds The garden is overflowing with basil at the moment , and we all know what that means – it’s pesto time! There are a hundred delicious things to do with pesto, and if you’ve never made your own before, now is the perfect time to give it a go. Grab a big [more]

Marika Bauman

Have you seen the white plaque set in stone in the native bushland near the picnic area of the garden? If you come closer you can read: Marika (Sam) Baumann 20th May 2015 Founding member of this garden In loving memory from family & friends ~~~ Marika passed away in 2015. Together with her loving [more]

Sweet potato

Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas Description: Sweet potatoes one of the only two edible and non toxic plants in the morning glory family (the other one is water spinach). They are grown for their starchy root bulbs; the leaves and young shoots of some sweet potatoes are also used as a vegetable. They are not closely [more]

Morning glory

Botanical name Convolvulacea Features of morning glory Plants of the morning glory family show a funnel like flower made up out of 5 petals. They grow as vines or shrubs and have winding stems. The leaves are alternate. Some of them produce starchy tubers. Species we grow Sweet potatoes Other common plants in this family [more]

Healthy environment

Key to successful gardening is to understand the needs and properties of the plants you want to grow the environmental factors that make them thrive or stall the properties and life-cycles of potential pests As gardeners we are constantly learning. Finding out why a particular problem occurs grows our skills. Embrace mistake, it’s a chance [more]

Basic pest-control strategy

Insect and fungal pests are a natural part of our ecosystem. We strive to reduce their damaging impact by trying to understand their needs and changing the conditions in our garden to be less inviting to them by tolerating a degree of pest damage to encourage predatory animals to life in our garden. By eating [more]

Strawberries

Botanical name: Fragaria x ananassa Description: Strawberries (together with apples, roses, most stone-fruit and almonds) are a member of the rose family (rosaceae). Strawberry plants grow 20 to 30 cm high, show dark green serrated leaves and usually flowers with white petals, that look like tiny wild roses. The fruit is conically shaped, dark red, [more]

Gazpacho

Felicity’s perfect gazpacho – Felicity Cloake Word of mouth blog The Guardian The real secret to gazpacho, if we assume your ingredients are ripe and your fridge cold, is good olive oil, and lots of it. Meanness has no place here, unless you’re a frugal peasant – pour it in in great glugs, and then [more]

Crop rotation

In Mort Bay Community Garden we grow a wide variety of crops, which all need a plant-specific set of nutrients and are challenged by different pests. Growing a sequence of different types of crops in any one bed over subsequent seasons is called crop rotation, a strategy already practised by Middle Eastern farmers 8000 years [more]

Garden watering guide

Water is essential for plants to grow and stay healthy. Without the necessary amount of water, plants cannot take up nutrients, they wilt and they are more prone to get diseases. Watering needs to happen on a regular basis Watering should keep the soil moist, but not wet Water the soil not the leaves, leaves [more]

MBCG & urban agriculture research

Hi, I’m Robert McDougall, a PhD student from the University of New England researching urban agriculture. For the last year I’ve been carrying out a range of studies at MBCG and other gardens throughout Sydney and Wollongong looking at how productive these gardens are and the role that ecosystem services (mainly pollination and control of [more]

Lettuce

Botanical name: Lactuca sativa Description: Lettuce plants and their ancestors are native to Europe and Northern Asia. They are usually grown for their colourful green and red leaves that grow 15 to 30 cm high. They have been cultivated to a variety of colours, textures (soft and tender to crisp and crunchy) and shapes (dense [more]

Tomato Bud Worm

  Signs of infestation Young caterpillars feed on the foliage first before moving into flower buds or developing fruits. What is happening and why? Budworms are caterpillars of the Helicoverpa moth family. The moths lay their eggs at night on young foliage close to fruits or flower buds and the young caterpillars feed on the [more]

Broad Bean and Sage Pasta

Peel broad beans, fresh from the garden, or use frozen broad beans. Blanch beans in boiling water for 90 seconds and refresh in cold water. ‘Double peel’ beans, i.e. remove the tough skin from each bean, so that you are left with the tender, vibrantly green heart of the broad bean. You will need about [more]

Crispbread

Ingredients: 1-3/4 cups plain flour (or besan/chickpea flour for gluten free) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup rolled oats (or rice flakes for gluten free) 1/2 cup sesame seeds (white or black or mixed) 1/2 cup flax seeds 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup sunflower seeds 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup water 1/2 cup sunflower oil or other vegetable oil [more]

Broad Beans

Botanical name: Vicia fava Description: Broad beans or fava beans are part of the legume family. The inedible pods of broad beans are thick and spongy, containing 2 to 7 large, flat, bright green tender beans. The plant builds 2 to 4 stems that grow up to 180 cm high. It shows white flowers with [more]

Compost

Here is a summary of the terrific talk MJ gave on one of the last working bees regarding our beautiful compost: Compost improving our soil At Mort Bay Community Garden we use compost as one of the key ingredients to top up our beds and to enrich our soil with organic matter. We recently improved [more]

Beetroot chocolate cake

Ingredients 250g beetroot 200g fine dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids) 4 tbsp hot espresso 200g butter 135g plain flour a heaped tsp baking powder 3 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder 5 eggs 190g golden caster sugar crème fraîche and poppy seeds, to serve Method Lightly butter a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line the [more]

Planting Plan Spring 2016

Have a look at our plan for the Spring planting… [more]

Kale Chips

Garden member Mikaila made these delicious treats Vegan kale chips 283 g chopped kale leaves, washed, thoroughly dried (stems removed) 30 ml grape seed, olive or avocado oil 1/4 cup / 30 g raw cashews, soaked in water for 2-4 hours 2 Tbsp / 14 g raw or roasted (unsalted) sunflower seeds 6 Tbsp 18 [more]

Acidity and alkalinity of soils

While plants differ from each other in terms of their tolerance for acidity or alkalinity, most plants do best in neutral soil. This is because roots cannot absorb nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium if the soil is too acidic, and they cannot absorb trace elements like iron, manganese and copper if the soil [more]

Plants roots and soil

  Healthy plants develop by taking in nutrients through the roots. Roots can only absorb nutrients that are dissolved, so solid soil components and compost need to be broken down through the action of soil micro-organisms. Thousands of fungi and soil bacteria naturally exist in fertile soil, but worm castings are also a great source [more]

Zucchini flower pie

This is a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi – (he calls it Corsican Pie with courgette flowers) I made this one using zucchini flowers, swiss chard and some kale from the garden. Ingredients •1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (85g) •3 celery stalks with leaves, thinly sliced (220g) •8 large Swiss chard leaves, white stalks discarded, [more]

Blue triangle

Blue triangles, also called common bluebottles, are swallowtail butterflies native to eastern Australia and southeastern Asia. They are very quick and skillful fliers and reach a wingspan of 8 cm. The butterfly itself feeds on nectar, its caterpillar specialises on the leaves of Australian native trees and doesn’t affect any of the crops in our garden. [more]

Black soldier fly

Black soldier flies are slender flies about 18 mm long and 5 wide with a dark black body and transparent wings, usually folded together on their backs. The flies are fairly slow moving, often not even trying to escape. They mimic the appearance of wasps to scare off predators but can’t sting or bite. The [more]

Minute two-spotted ladybird

This shy little beetle is just 3 mm big and a native to eastern and southern Australia. It will drop or fly away quickly if disturbed. If we think of beetles the picture of a ladybird is very often the first thing that comes into our mind. The minute two-spotted ladybird doesn’t really match this [more]

Transverse ladybird

If we think of beetles the picture of a ladybird is very often the first thing that comes into our mind. The funny little red or orange beetles with black dots are frequent visitors to our gardens and usually people don’t mind them and find them rather cute. Some people find they bring luck. Some [more]

Ladybird larva

Just shy of 1 cm long and a couple of millimeters wide this little hunter certainly looks like a little alien. Don’t worry, it doesn’t do any harm to humans, neither does it harm any plant. It does mean business though when it comes to its favorite food: aphids, scale insects and mealybugs. Ladybird larvae [more]

Green plant hopper

About 15 mm small and shaped like a bright green triangle green plant hoppers are very well disguised as a leaf. Most often you will only realise they are around when they hop long distances to escape after being disturbed. A member of the bug family they are a pest sucking on the plant’s sap. [more]

Citrus stink bug