Comments for www.pacific-edge.info

Comment on The farm comes to Sydney Saturday mornings in Darlinghurst by chloe mason

chloe mason — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:47:00 +0000

Good to see coverage of this fine market to let more people know, especially as it’s so easy to reach being on Taylor Square.
My fave are the Champions’ duck eggs (and chicken eggs) for stunning omelettes!

Comment on Locals take paint to boring community compost bins by Jack

Jack — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:29:55 +0000

That is a great Idea, them black compost bins are a little dull to look at.

Comment on Partings by Debbie Hamilton

Debbie Hamilton — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:21:01 +0000

I am Gary Hyde’s sister. He died in 1975 traffic accident, the driver of the oncoming car fell asleep at the wheel Gary was in a Mini Moke, no chance. He lived in Canberra and was travelling to Sydney to meet his family who were coming to Sydney from all over the world for their first Christmas together in nine years. In the clips of film from the ABC program GTK you can catch a glimpse of him and when he is touching his forehead as he was in the Rolling Stones interview he had a migrane. Mick Jagger asked him if he would like to see their “doctor” and that he would “fix him up” Gary politely refused as didn’t know what the “doctor” would give him. Gary’s full name is Gary Hyde Cates. May I ask what your interest is in him?
Regards
Debbie

Comment on A local currency that was by Annette Loudon

Annette Loudon — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:17:30 +0000

Great to see people haven’t forgotten the Australian community currency pioneers!

Ann Jupp, Maleny LETS activist gave a brief overview of the movement at the 2008 National LETS Conference. Conference notes are available in PDF form. Anne’s talk is summarised on pg1 http://lets.org.au/2008%20Nat.%20LETS%20Conference%20Report.pdf

Reasons generally given for the decline of LETS systems tend to include: failure to gain momentum, lack of range of goods and services (easy to earn, hard to spend), too many members in high debit and high credit causing stagnation, concerns about tax, and administrator burnout. Aside from that there’s the counter-cyclical nature of community currency systems. They don’t see much action in the good times, but when money gets a bit tight LETS systems come alive.

Sydney got a LETS system in the end. Started in 2003 by Jacqui Kennedy, who had previous run Illawara LETS. Despite a pretty low profile Sydney LETS is going strong these days. We have about 800 members and trade online using the CES system.

Find out more and sign up online at http://www.auslets.org/sydney

Annette Loudon

Comment on A short and incomplete history of permaculture by Ridhi

Ridhi — Sun, 22 May 2011 07:56:07 +0000

This is SUCH a well written piece. Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m working on a paper on Permaculture. And since I’d only done workshops on Permaculture and implemented it, I think this refresher in the history of Permaculture will help me share whatever I know on this topic much more effectively.

Cheers!

Comment on Community composting – here one day, gone the next by jenny brown

jenny brown — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:47:37 +0000

Hi Russ,
Very interested in upcoming compost trials. Could you keep us in the loop.
Perhaps MVCG bins could be a control group. We also have problem of not enough brown layers but will soon install a covered bin containing the right materials for people to add. No cockies (knock on wood).
I look after the bins – turn weekly, remove foreign material, empty as necessary.
I think in the Chippendale public space you definitely need community members involved in bin maintenance.Perhaps a daily roster – simple task – inspect the bins daily & add brown layer if necessary. Someone to turn bins weekly.
Jenny

Comment on Community composting – think before acting by Michael Neville

Michael Neville — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:21:58 +0000

Part of the original plan of this trial was to assess a variety of types of bins in terms of maintenance regimes to asses what would work best in these circumstances. Limitations in terms of materials storage areas and ‘curing’ points were a problem at this site.

Aerobins are good in terms of generating heat and rapid breakdown of materials, but have deisgn flaws in terms of inbuilt hollows that can harbour cockraoches. Technical support provided by City of Sydney staff always stressed the crucial importance of balanced feedstock materials and regular ongoing maintenance. Training community members to manage the systems beyond initial educational and technical support was also a priority.

In this case there is a verge garden in close proximity to take the finished compost material. Pateince by local composters is needed so that the materials are completely broken down before application tho the garden beds.