MBCG gets recognised at NSW Parliament
Here is one for the team. Thank you Kobi Shetty for recognising the work of our members. [more]
Frank Portegys
Tom Kha Hed
Traditionally straw mushrooms are used, shimeji, small king oyster, button or oyster mushrooms work fine. The galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime are usually left in the soup when served. They are too tough to be eaten though, so advise your guests or fish them out before serving. serves 4 600 ml vegetable stock400 ml [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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Dealing with citrus stink bugs
When inspecting plants look out for tell-tale signs: the actual animals, often sucking at the most tender leaves. Black adult or orange immature bugs limp and wilting leaves leaves that show brown, burnt areas intense, repugnant citrus smell Preventive measures: Not many predators go for stink bugs because of their caustic defence tactics. Make sure [more]
Dealing with aphids
When inspecting plants look out for tell-tale signs: the actual animals, often sucking at the most tender leaves plenty of ants patrolling the plants limp and wilting leaves sugary, sticky honeydew on the leaves Preventive measures: Aphids are hard to prevent, but there are a lot of predators eating aphids. Companion plant flowers with the [more]
Cabbage butterfly
This 5 cm large butterfly is a common sight in the garden. It has white wings with black tips and dots. There are several species of cabbage butterfly that look and behave very similar. Other names of those butterflies are large white butterfly or small white or simply white butterfly depending on the species. The [more]
Aphids
Aphids are soft skinned sap-sucking insects. They are tiny animals about 2 to 8 mm long. Aphids come in a range of colours: green, black and brown, whitish and light red. Other names are black-fly and green-fly. Most aphids species specialise on particular host plants. They are a serious and if not contained devastating pest. [more]
Hover-fly
Hover-flies look like little wasps. They have a yellow and brown striped back and transparent wings. This mimicry helps them to scare off predators. Despite their looks hover-flies are harmless to humans, they are a real fly. The feature that lends them the name is their peculiar flight behavior. They hover in the air at [more]
Native bee
Native bees are important pollinators in our garden. While foraging for nectar and pollen they also distribute pollen from one flower to another. By doing this they make sure that our plants get fertilised and can set fruit. To attract native bees to our garden we offer them a variety of flowering plants, that we [more]
Honey bee
Honey bees are important pollinators in our garden. While foraging for nectar and pollen they also distribute pollen from one flower to another. By doing this they make sure that our plants get fertilised and can set fruit. To attract honey bees to our garden we offer them a variety of flowering plants, that we [more]
Dealing with caterpillars
Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. They are voracious eaters can can easily destroy a crop. The two most common caterpillars we deal with in our garden are the cabbage butterfly larvae and the larvae of the tomato bud worm. Preventive measures to avoid caterpillar problems Plant companion plants! This confuses the parent [more]
Orchard swallowtail
Who says that pests have to be ugly? The adult stage of this animal is a beautiful butterfly. Indigenous to eastern Australia and PNG these butterflies have a wingspan of up to 14 cm. They are mostly black and white with red, orange and blue patterns on their back wings. The larvae is a [more]
Budworm moth
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 foliage first before moving into buds or developing fruits. Budworm moths choose several fruits for their young ones, in our garden they are a [more]
Dipel
Dipel is a product used to control caterpillars. It is approved for use in organic gardening. It is made from naturally occurring bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) and is safe on bees, ladybirds, birds, fish, mammals and pets. Dipel has no withholding period: vegies, fruit and salad ingredients can be washed and eaten immediately after spraying. [more]
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is the name of a variety of fungi, that affect the leaves of plants. They are present everywhere in the environment and are brought in by wind, birds and insects. Powdery mildew loves warm humid nights and dry, warm and shady areas of the garden. Really wet conditions and constant very high or [more]
Preventing powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal infection, distributed by fungal spores. The fungus favours warm moist conditions to set foot onto a plant and warm dry conditions to thrive. We can’t control the presence of fungal spores and we can’t control the weather conditions but there are some basic rules that help reducing the risk: always [more]
Dealing with powdery mildew
Once a leaf is seriously infected it needs to be removed. It can go into the compost because the spores are around in the environment anyway. We can’t remove the spores, but we can make the conditions less favourable for the fungi. We use different approaches and are still testing which works best for us. [more]
Magpie
Members of our resident flock of magpies are a common sight in our garden. Adults and young birds can be seen walking around on the ground inspecting our beds. With their piebald plumage they are easy to identify. One of the most accomplished Australian songbirds they entertain us with their beautiful calls, sometimes even mimicking [more]
Tawny frogmouth
Frogmouths are nocturnal birds. They are often confused with owls but only distantly related. They are native Australian birds and can grow up to 50 cm tall. Frogmouths have an amazing way of disguise. On the day the birds sit on a tree motionless, the head usually held up high: it is hard to distinguish [more]
Fungus eating ladybird
The fungus eating ladybird does as it’s name says: it feeds on fungi. It’s not actually looking for mushrooms – mould and mildew are what the little beetle is after. This native Australian ladybird is about 5 mm long and shows bright yellow dots that look square-ish and somehow frayed. Its larvae is about 10 [more]
Cabbage family
Botanical name: Brassicaceae, also known as the mustard family, cruciferae or crucifers Features of the cabbage family: The cabbage family comprises a wide variety of cultivated plants that are important as vegetables and leafy greens, as spices and as a base for every day condiments and cooking oils. The family is distributed globally. While particular [more]
Basella family
Botanical name: Basellaceae Features of the basellas: Basellas are native to Africa, India and southeast Asia. The plants in this family are climbers with vines up to 10 meters long. These herbaceous plants can be grown as perennials. The leaves are heart-shaped. The leaves and stems are semi succulent. Flowers and fruits are grouped into [more]
Ice plant family
Botanical name Aizoaceae, also known as stone plants or carped weeds Features of the ice plant family Species we grow Warrigal greens or New Zealand spinach, salty ice plant Other common plants in this family [more]
Malabar spinach
Botanical name: Basella rubra Description: Herbaceous semi succulent perennial plant with vines up to 10 m long. The stems are red and soft. The leaves are heart-shaped. Reported to be high in calcium, iron, soluble fibre and vitamins A and C. The whole plant is edible. How to grow: The plant is actually a perennial, [more]
Basil
Botanical name: Ocimum basilicum Description: Basil is a herb in the mint family. It shows a flower fused out of 5 petals and showing an upper and a lower lip, typical for this family. Basil grows best as an annual plant. It has green leaves placed in pairs growing opposite each other on a slightly [more]
Mint family
Botanical name Lamiaceae Features of the mints Plants of the mint family are grown for their aromatic properties, many herbs are part of the mint family. Most of the plants in the mint family grow as herbs or small shrubs. They show a flower that is typical for the family featuring five petals fused together [more]
Lemongrass
Botanical name: Cymbopogon citratus Description: Lemon grass is a herbal shrub and a member of the true grass family, it is related to sugar cane and corn. It origins in south India and South East Asia and grows as a perennial in areas with no frost. Lemongrass grows thick stems up to 2 cm in [more]
True grass family
Botanical name Poaceae Features of the plants in the family of true grasses Species we grow Sweet corn, lemongrass Other common plants in this family [more]
Sunflower family
Botanical name Asteraceae, also known as the composite-, aster-, sunflower- or daisy family Features of the plants in the sunflower family The sunflower family is one of the largest families of flowering plants. Most of the plants in this family are herbaceous but there are also shrubs, vines and trees, they can be found in [more]
Bok choi
Botanical name: Brassica rapa, one of several Chinensis cultivars of this species Description: Bok choi is one of the Asian greens, a type of Chinese cabbage. This quick growing cabbage doesn’t build a firm head but a flattish rosette of dark green leaves, 5 cm high and about 20 cm in diameter. The leaves are [more]
Tatsoi
Botanical name: Brassica rapa var. rosularis or Brassica narinosa Description: Tatsoi is one of the Asian greens, a type of Chinese cabbage. This quick growing cabbage doesn’t build a firm head. It forms a low growing rosette of small spoon shaped dark green leaves with short pale lime green stems. The leaves are the vegetable [more]
Rocket
Botanical name: Eruca sativa is the garden rocket and Diplotaxis tenuifolia is the wild rocket Description: There are two varieties of rocket. The garden rocket with lobed leaves and white flowers and the wild rocket with deeply serrated leaves and yellow flowers. Both have deep green leaves with a spicy, nutty flavour, the later variety [more]
Pak choi
Botanical name: Brassica rapa, one of several Chinensis cultivars of this species Description: Pak choi is one of the Asian greens, a type of Chinese cabbage. This quick growing cabbage builds a very loose head with long green leaves and succulent white stems. The stems and leaves are the vegetable and are about 30 cm [more]
Choi sum
Botanical name: Brassica rapa var. parachinensis Description: Choi sum is one of the Asian greens, a type of Chinese cabbage. This quick growing cabbage doesn’t build a firm head but long slender crunchy stems with oblong green leaves. The stems are 2 cm wide and up to 30 cm long. The leaves are up to [more]
Sprouting broccoli
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea var. italica, calabrese Description: Sprouting broccoli is a variety of broccoli with smaller heads on a larger number of thinner stems than ordinary broccoli. The plant grows up to 80 cm high. It develops a strong main stem 5-8 cm in diameter with several branches. The dark green leaves are 20 [more]
Kohlrabi
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes Description: Kohlrabi is closely related to broccoli. It is grown for it’s bulbous, swollen stem which comes in a light green and a purple variety. The kohlrabi bulb reaches about 10 cm in diameter. The leaves grow directly from the bulbous stem and are up to 40 cm long. [more]
Black Spanish radish
Botanical name: Raphanus sativus, var niger Description: Radishes are quick growing annual or biennial plants native to Asia, but can now be found worldwide. The black Spanish radish is grown for it’s swollen globular up to 10 cm in diameter tap roots. The skin colour of the root is black, but the flesh is white. [more]
French radish
Botanical name: Raphanus sativus Description: Radishes are quick growing annual or biennial plants native to Asia, but can now be found worldwide. French radishes are grown for their swollen long or globular tap roots, up to 10 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. The skin colour of the root is white or red, the [more]
Daikon radish
Botanical name: Raphanus sativus, var longipinnatus Description: Radishes are quick growing annual or biennial plants native to Asia, but can now be found worldwide. The daikon radish is grown for it’s swollen long tap roots, up to 40 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. The skin colour of the root is white, as is [more]
Curly kale
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea var. sabellica Description: Curly kale is a plant in the cabbage family that produces oblong shaped leaves instead of a head. The leaves are green or purple in colour, about 30 cm long and have a curly rim. Some kale varieties can grow more than a meter in height, the plants [more]
Tuscan kale
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea var. palmifolia Description: Tuscan kale is a plant in the cabbage family that produces oblong shaped leaves instead of a head. The leaves are dark bluish green in colour, about 40 cm long and have a bumpy surface. Tuscan kale plants grow about 80 cm high. Kale originates in Europe were [more]
Chili
Botanical name: Capsicum annuum; Capsicum chinense; Capsicum frutescens Description: There are several genus of chilies. Most chilies, like Thai chilies, jalapenos and long chilies are part of the genus ‘annuum’, which also features the capsicums. The genus ‘frutescens’ has very colourful, small fruits from white over yellow to green, red and purple; tabasco peppers and [more]
Parsley
Botanical name: Petroselinum crispum Description: Parsley is a herbaceous plant in the umbel family. The plant shows dark green leaves that branch into three 1 to 3 cm big leaflets. Italian parsley grows about 40 cm high, curly parsley up to 25 cm, they are both cultivars of the same plant. Parsley is native to [more]
Fennel
Botanical name: Foeniculum vulgare dulce Description: The fennel cultivar that produces a swollen, bulb like stem at the bottom is often called Florence fennel as opposed to it’s herb like sibling the bronze fennel that is cultivated as a decorative plant. Both are cultivars of the wild fennel plant that originates in the Mediterranean and [more]
Parsley family
Botanical name Umbelliferae or apiaceae also known as the umbel family, carrot family, celery family Features of the parsley family A lot of members of this family are aromatic herbs. Native worldwide, especially in north temperate regions. The name giving feature is that the tiny flowers are grouped together in umbels. The plants in this [more]
Onion family
Botanical name Alliaceae, a former family which is now not considered a family anymore but one genus in the family of Amaryllidaceae Features of the onion family Species we grow Onions, garlic, leeks, garlic chives, society garlic Other common plants in this family [more]