'Ditch the lawn' movement in southern Australia shows the benefits of removing the traditional patch of grass in front of homes and planting things that will attract birds etc.
My mother ripped up her front lawn in 1987 and again in her new place in 1993. At the time I thought it was strange but the results in both gardens convinced me that this was a great idea.
If we needed a place for our children to play we walked to a park
It was my first ride as a leader since I broke my arm 6 months ago
It was the first ride for another member in 2 years following knee surgery
It was the first ride back for another member after surgery for a life altering condition
So yes it was quite a ride and the sun shone on us
Cycling is amazing no matter how, where and why you do it ❤️🚲 #cycling#bike#Melbourne#Naarm
Went to the Albert Park farmers market this morning. Oddly I never buy much at these things, it's mostly an excuse to meet up with friends who do buy stuff while I walk around admiring the produce and meeting dogs. So many dogs!
The Albert Park market is in a park once occupied by a gasworks, nice spot. Also easy to get to via the number 1 tram. 🚃
I am looking forward to running a meetup in #Melbourne next Thursday for technical writers and anyone involved in IT work. In it I will explore some fun activities that you can run with teams of engineers to help them improve their writing skills.
There's lego and games involved.
There is still space for you to come. We also would like to hear your ideas and experience in running activities to help people improve their writing skills.
Artificial turf is really bad for the environment and can heat up to 80 or 90 degrees on a sunny day adding to the heat of the house.
When we bought our house it had a backyard with artificial turf covering a large concrete pad. What can we do to cover the concrete with something better? #GardeningAU#Melbourne
Tried a new Coburg cafe today: Grounds of Eden. I had the fabulous Avocado Garden, with avocado and a kale/pomegranate salad on charcoal sourdough with avocado, egg, beetroot hommous and a side of halloumi, along with a few candied nots, lychee and fig and some fresh orange segments + Lemon wedge. Very fresh and tasty! @timrichards wentmore old-style with scrambled eggs
"...most intersection are unsafe to have an automatic green man, as pedestrians j-walk and it creates a dangerous situation with possible filtered right turners. A scenario where people see a green man and run to cross the road creates one of the most dangerous situations, with regards to left and right turners.
Studies conducted by VicRoads and the Australian Road Research Board have proven the safety issues with the above."
I contacted VicRoads to ask about making a pointless pedestrian crossing green automatically when it's safe to cross and their response was very telling.
Something I've noticed about restaurants in this cost of living crisis... if it's an existing restaurant, it'll put up prices but feel the need to have some continuity with their previous prices.
If it's a new restaurant replacing an old one, they just jump straight to high prices, the $35 bowls of pasta etc. And I never pass through their doors.
#melbourne Beach Road is chockers with Melbournians flocking to the bay hoping to catch some #aurora action tonight. Nothing to see at the moment except for creeping fog from the south.
Managed to do a fair bit of gardening today despite battling the start of a migraine (eventually thwarted by caffeine and rest in the afternoon). I repotted a blueberry plant that was in a way too small pot. I also repotted my $5 tubestock camellia I purchased recently.
My big success was finishing sieving my worms from their worm poo and therefore being able to retire one tray of my worm farm. It has taken me many hours over a few weekends to accomplish this because it is the first time I have done it and I didn't know what I was doing. Eventually with advice from @treevan and @earthmothering9 I got it and this morning I was much more efficient. This is what social media is so good for - sharing skills and experience as well as encouraging others.
So I cleaned up a worm tray and felt good! #worms#vermiculture <- newly learned word for me :-)
I used the worm poo slurry for our street garden. After a harsh summer I have been giving it some loving care. Despite the perargoniums being stunted while they held on for dear life during the period of no rain and high temperatures I pruned them a bit yesterday to encourage new growth.
I have grown the pelargonium (geranium) pictured below on the left from a cutting I took from a street planting in North Fitzroy. Those pelargoniums needed cutting to invigorate them and make them bushy. The cutting had thrived in a pot so I planted it out yesterday.
The pelargonium on the right is a slower growing variety grown from a cutting from my mother's garden. I have put it in a more sheltered position in the street garden as it is a slow grower and seems to be a bit more delicate.
While I was tending the street garden this afternoon a neighbour I have not met before stopped and said he likes seeing me take care of the garden so often. That makes me happy because that is the point of the garden. In an area covered with signs of addiction, rubbish and grafitti of the tagging variety, I want this small patch to uplift passers by and awaken in them the thought that it is possible to make things better here. #StreetGarden#Melbourne#StreetGardening#GardeningAU
Today I feel emotionally exhausted. I feel like my life is going to be pre 11 May Aurora and post 11 May. I've been planning for the solar maximum for at least 6 years - would I go to Canada? Finland? spend 6 months in southern New Zealand?
In the end I spent 4 hours on a beach an hour's drive from my home. It was more than I ever dared hope for.
As the beams shot over my head with awesome power I was overwhelmingly grateful to my mother earth, whose magnetic field and atmosphere keep me safe every single second of my life.
Sigh.
I think I need to get a rail replacement bus or something to ground me again. #Aurora#Melbourne#Australia
Hoop House Number One now up and running thanks to our hardworking #KensingtonTownHallCompost volunteers. Made entirely from the surplus urban and industrial materials thrown up and thrown away by the population of #Melbourne. Our latest cool season seedlings have moved into their new home
Sitting on the couch after spending a couple of hours sieving worm poo to extricate bits of plastic from the shredded material I added, and to extricate worms (some tiny) and worm cocoons. I then poured the worm poo slurry onto the garden. #GardeningAU#Melbourne